Henry is 7 months old now, with about a month until the hunting seasons begin. Chris and his sweet black lab, Ryder, joined us for a training session on a perfect Colorado Sunday morning. I hope you enjoy the pictures of these beautiful bird dogs!
Tag Archives: Gun Dog
Henry at 4 Months
Our Deutsch Kurzhaar (German Shorthair), Henry, reached 4 months a few days ago. He is growing fast and has a wonderful demeaner. He takes life in stride. His training is going well. He knows wait, whoa, here, sit, off, leave it, no, and NO! DAMN IT! If a treat is involved he will actually execute these commands, unless he is in the coup shaking one of the hens like a rag doll. He is a good boy and I can’t wait to get him on game birds. Soon, I hope.
King Henry the First!
Continue readingFiled under Bird Dogs
Puppy Pics for Easter!
Henry is just over three months old and is doing great. He is completely assimilated into the family and is such a wonderfully biddable dog. We think he is super intelligent, mainly because he likes to watch TV and has learned a few commands. Our only issue is that when we think he is finally house-broken, he will piss on the carpet. I am sure in a week or so, he will cross that finish line! Here are some new pics of him. We will be glad we captured some of his puppy days because he is growing fast! 31 pounds today. I hope you enjoy these pictures.
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My Brother from Mexico.
Hey everyone, today is my 3 month birthday! It has been a crazy 90 days. About a month ago, I was transferred to a new family. My suspicion is that there was a cash transaction involved, but surely not. I refuse to believe that my mother would allow such a thing as trafficking in puppy flesh. But I don’t know; I can’t seem to shake that feeling. I do believe my new overlords are decent people. They are moderately intelligent but inconsistent and naïve in how they try to manage me. Their attempt at potty training has been hilarious! Once they think they finally have me trained and celebrate my “getting it,” I like to drop a pint of puppy urine on the carpet. They absolutely lose their minds! Just a week or two more, and then I will make them proud. Of course, I know what they want; I always have.
And I hesitate to mention this, but they smell. Not overly offensive, just different. As long as they keep feeding me, I am sure I will get used to it. Also, the male, who is clearly junior to the Alpha Mrs. Birdhunter, is a bit over the top with the picture taking. It is a minor annoyance because he swears we are going to do all kinds of bird hunting – many states, many species, all wild birds, top-notch accommodations, etc., etc. If that happens then we are good. If this is one of those “two preserve hunts a year” homes, then I am outta here.
Then there is my 70+-year-old curmudgeon Chihuahua stepbrother Jack. That’s him in the picture below on the left. Mexican Jack, as I like to call him, is generally pretty fractious. It doesn’t help that I am only about three and a half, but clearly, I irritate him to no end.
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Destructive Innocence
This is Henry, our 10-week old Deutsch Kurzhaar (DK is German for German Shorthair Pointer). If you haven’t read the earlier post on these dogs, you can read it here. Henry came from the fine folks at Vom Gansehimmel in North Dakota. After 2 weeks with him, it is clear that he has the potential to be an outstanding bird dog. It is also clear that I forgot the exercise in patience and constant, diligent oversight that a puppy demands. Right now, in our house, one character is being shaped while the other is being tested! He is the sweetest little guy, but he will playfully rip your face off without a thought. Cute puppy stuff! Not to sound proud, but he is a strikingly handsome dog. I hope you enjoy these pictures!
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Setter Points
Meet Dodger and Layla, two exceptional English Setters. Here are some shots from a fun afternoon on preserve chukars. It was dastardly cold, but the light was wonderful. Dodger is six, at the top of his game, and Layla is about 7 months. She performed well, naturally honoring and retrieving. I hope you enjoy these beautiful bird dogs.
Filed under Preserve Bird Hunts
Bird Hunting Update
So far, this hunting season has been fun but a bit challenging! A near birdless hunt in Wyoming, some preserve hunts thrown in for fun and then slim pickings on Kansas public land. We had high hopes for the Kansas hunt because the talk was that this could be a good year. The local biologist proclaimed that we would see “a covey of bob-whites per hour”. I knew that was optimistic but having the local state-employed biologist make that pronouncement seemed a pretty good omen. One expert we ran into at the local Kansas donut shop said it was back to “pre-drought bird counts” and that too sounded like a good thing. Not to get melodramatic but 10+ hours of hunting through some of the most perfect habitat imaginable yielded a mere 2 coveys of quail. Two sweet bobs were taken, enough for a small appetizer. Anyway, we hunt with a terrific group of guys and always have a great time but the bird tide has got to turn. And I am sure it will! We have some great hunts on the calendar and this season is far from over. I did get some good photog and below are the pics . . .
Tex has his game face on!
Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
Sage Grouse and Garmin Pro 550 Plus Review
My favorite Son-in-law, Kyle, and I went to Wyoming to hunt Hungarian Partridge, Chukar Partridge and Sage Grouse. First, you should know that the birds in Wyoming are WAY down. Three and a half days of hunting, 20+ miles of hiking and plenty of road hunting and we saw zero Huns, zero Chukar and only a few Sage Grouse. We were checked by a Wyoming game officer and he confirmed that this is a pretty dismal year for bird hunting. Not quite what I expected given that all the great plains states are no longer in a drought but the game officer thinks that these things go in cycles. I hope he is right and we look forward to better hunting in the future. Despite these depressing statistics, we had a terrific hunt. Kyle is a new bird hunter – he has not yet enjoyed a game rich hunt and he was elated when we succeeded on sage grouse. It was time well spent and a great hunt in all the categories that matter!
There is nothing like a Modelo Especial after a 4 hour hike of futility!
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Huns
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Here are some pics from our hunt on the rolling prairie a few weeks ago. This is a good year for Hungarian Partridge. Not the covey counts you find on Texas quail but enough to keep our interest and make this a great hunt. I am thankful that we live in proximity to such beautiful, wild country!
The Hungarian Partridge is a fast flying covey bird. They don’t hold as well for a point like quail or pheasant but when they flush it is some fast shooting. Beautiful bird!
Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
Tex turns 3 today . . . Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!
It is hard to believe that Tex turns 3 years old today. Time has certainly flown by . . . all the more reason to hunt often and hunt hard! Hopefully we have a decade of hunting together in front of us.
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Birdhunter 