Digging Holes   If you have bird dogs, many or just one, eventually time will run out.  It’s a sad fact that from a tiny puppy to digging a hole in the pasture is a span of time measured in “not long enough”. When they start hunting for you at a year old, until they are the senior dog asleep in the front seat awaiting the call 12 years later, they work their hearts out, and they deserve a good ending.  “A good death” is the phrase.  My Germanic ancestors call it “dying well”.    We have a dog cemetery, here on the farm.  I picked a co ..read more

Snakes   “Cheh... Cheh………Cheh.”     “That’s a weird bird noise,” I thought to myself.  Cheh..Cheh..Cheh, Cheh.   “It must be some sort of Prairie Dog, or bird, or something.”  I noticed the volume and frequency both increased just a bit while I was thinking about it.     This was Grouse Camp.  I was in the high, hill country in Wyoming with six other bird dog enthusiasts.  We were in a great area for Hungarian Partridge, but still in the grass so there were no Sage Grouse (no Sage) and no Dusky Grouse (no ..read more

Chukar   “So, down this hill is a bench.  Along that bench, there is usually a covey of Chukar. Once we get down there, we can walk along the bench and let the dogs find the birds.  Easy, peasy!”   The day was sunny and cool.  A perfect day for bird hunting in Wyoming.  My friend, a resident of the Cowboy State and bird hunter, was driving me around in his 6X6 and pointing out places he found birds in the past. In the past few days, we found numerous Hungarian Partridge coveys and even a large grumbling of Sage Grouse.  It was a bird ..read more

Friends   One beautiful Fall day I was working with my dogs along the Snake River in Idaho.  When I could find access to public land, I would hunt down to the water’s edge. Valley Quail and Hungarian Partridge were having a great season that year.  The issue wasn’t finding numerous coveys but finding them on accessible land. Generally, we hunted between the Snake River and the access roads or canals that followed alongside the big river.  I love the Snake. There was occasional ice in it, due to a cold snap, and the big, deep river was impressive. My dog, Ace ..read more

The Doldrums   I don’t have any use for summer.  Except for an hour after sunrise, it’s too hot and humid to train dogs.  The pasture grass is too high, and the ticks and fleas are nasty. Unfortunately, we have plenty of summer here in Georgia. The dogs get a few months off.  Shaded kennels and a huge shop fan keep them happy and cool.  On really sweltering days, they have “The Condo”, an insulated room with air conditioning and a dog door. But I think that may have been a waste of effort.  They really don’t use it much, and prefer to lie ..read more

Baron Some pretty good dogs I have known   By Scott Linden   I am the luckiest guy on the planet. I get to hang around bird dogs. Some are mutts, others are refined canines of the highest order, with pedigrees boasting an alphabet’s-worth of capital letters.   Some have entrenched themselves in my memory, become the stuff of campfire stories or inspire subtle smiles during business meetings. I’ll bet you have sigh-inducing recollections of dogs that shared a field with you. Maybe they’re like mine …   Missy was a mutt, half Lab, half Brittany. A pint-sized bun ..read more

  It’s the eternal problem of bird hunting all over the country from September to February.  Not only can you not expect good roads, you should plan on mud, snow, sand, and rocks.  Let’s go over some items I carry and a few things that are just part of the truck.  First, 4-wheel drive. I know you could drive all over dirt and gravel from Montana to Arizona in your 2WD vehicle. I’ve done it. I had a 1989 F150 with a positraction rear end that went everywhere. Until it didn’t. I met a nice Georgia farmer with his tractor that day. Every truck I’ve had since then was 4WD ..read more

Jade (JD) 10 mos.    JD and me- AZ Desert Maybe it's just me, but puppies seem to be getting smarter.  OR, I suppose I'm not. This little demon might just be the end of me.  She is 100% what I asked for from the breeder.  Like an idiot, I said "big runner, on the ragged edge of control, tough, smart".  You know the adage, "Be careful what you pray for, you may get it."   She is not two years old, yet.  But, she just finished her second season hunting 6 western states.  I put no pressure on her at all.  What she learned was ..read more

FlyBoy Ace's Delta Captain (Cap) I came across this picture of my Brit, Cap, from NM 4 years ago. We were hunting Gambels Quail around an old corral. The initial cast was away from the corral, up in the hills. The whole time, Cap kept slowly working toward the corral, and I would call him back. Eventually, I told my partner I was going to swing down that way. I saw probably 100 quail in several coveys over the next hour. Cap knew where they were. The issue here is that there was plenty of old, low-slung barbed-wire in the area. His tracking, pointing, and retreiving took him over and un ..read more

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