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K.I.S.S. when it comes to commands |
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Boy howdy, did a recent talk I gave generate some feedback and fascinating stories of other dog owners' trials, tribulations and triumphs. The most intriguing discussion after each presentation had to do with which words to use for which commands, and why. Compare my ideas to yours, and of course, your particular situation, and then let's talk in the comments section.
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On some of my best hunts, I don’t even carry a shotgun. |
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Letting a friend shoot while I handled Buddy was a brilliant move today, if I do say so myself. You might try it on your young dog.
Knowing flying birds would probably yield to Rob's shot, I was free to focus completely on Buddy: steady to wing, shot and fall, then a more complete retrieve to hand. I became a much better trainer, he a better bird dog.
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They're some of the strangest-looking, most secretive, most intriguing game birds in North America. Most hunters call them woodcock; Keith Sutton of Arkansas calls them timberdoodles. He says when they migrate through his state they offer some of the testiest wing shooting in the entire outdoors.
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The woodcock is a migratory upland bird. It nests and raises its young in northern states and Canada, then in the fall it migrates to its wintering ground in Louisiana. The woodcock is a prized game bird because of its erratic flight pattern and its dark, delicious meat.
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It's certainly not uncommon for hunters to sprain an ankle or turn a knee. Anybody can experience minor joint injury, and one of the best things you can do to treat this is to apply ice to the joint. Ice cuts down inflammation and reduces swelling and pain. Follow a proper icing therapy after such an injury, and it just may save your hunting trip.
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Deserving or not, most dog owner-hunters pride themselves on their bird dog's performance. If you want to be invited back, or maintain a friendship, keep these dog protocol tips in mind:
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Maximizing your bird hunting preserve experience |
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You spend time and money on your preserve hunt. And while the preserve operator has done a lot to ensure you have a good time, there's someone else whose experience and expertise you should trust. That someone can't speak, swing a shotgun, or write a book. But if you follow the hunter with the longest nose, you'll learn a lot about hunting. And that hunter (in most cases) is your dog. Here are the first of ten discoveries I've made with help from my four-footed partners:
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Quail Hunting on Horseback |
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Another advantage of hunting quail on horseback is you can hunt any land the entire season, regardless of the weather. Often quail will covey-up on the edges of soybean fields after the beans have been cut. And if you're hunting river-bottom swamp land, those fields become muddy bogs quickly, making walk hunting for quail impossible.
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Mountain quail can be impossible to hunt early in the season. They prefer to live in manzanita patches that are impossible to hunt without a bulldozer. You can hear their purring calls as they run beneath the thickets of brush, never flushing while you and I try to battle our way through the tangles and our hunting dogs worry the edges of the patches, unable to follow, let alone flush, the birds.
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