BLIZZARD???

Well whoda thunk it was possible that Ft.Worth would ever get a blizzard. Yet here it is Christmas eve and I just heard on the radio we are to expect snow, ice and 40 mph winds. It was 65 degrees out yesterday. I almost broke out my shorts. Well if you know about Texas you know what they say about the weather here. Just wait a few minutes and it will change.

HAT TRICK

Finally competed in my first field trial. Rode with my puppys breeder all the way from North Texas to central Kansas.
We decided to stay at the "Barn" instead of going back to the motel in Harper. Not a completely bad idea. It was plenty fun and we had a great time. The drawback was that this place was LITERALLY in the middle of nowhere. it was so remote that there was no electricity. When we needed to have light or hot water we had to run the generator.
Dolly had a small foul up in her first puppy run. actually she did exactly what she was trained to do but failed to mark her one flushed bird. So we waited til Sunday for the North Oklahoma trial. To say I was nervous is an understatement. Dolly finally opened up and her pattern got real smooth and fluid. She made two traps without doing anything crazy. I cast her off after bird number 3 and she made all of 5 steps when I saw her head snap left -- she broke into an up field run and I about had a heart attack!!!
At over 30 yards out she made a maneuver I have never seen any other dog make. when she came up to the bird she planted her right foot while the rest of her body was in motion around the bird. The bird flushed just as her butt hit the ground in this wild maneuver. The bird was shot and she retrieved to hand completing her run. I was so pumped going back to the trailer I didn't know what to tell Dolly -- So I looked at her and said "that'll do Dolly"
We decided to leave Kansas behind shortly after and headed for home. We got the news later from Dolly's trainer Mark who stayed for the awards. I think everyone was shocked at the announcement of that one Most especially me.

Kansas here we come!

Just getting all that I will need for the next four days together. I will need to look at what the weather will be like there. I will pack for warm, rain and cold so I should be covered no matter what. Seems I need way more than I can carry.
The excitement is starting to build, but I will just play it cool like nothing is up. I don't want to get the dog all nervous. That would be all I need, a nervous dog!
I'll be alright -- just remember to use the whistle and hand signals. Remember 1 for stop 2 for turn 4 for come back --- simple --- yeah right.

practice day

Took Dolly out to the grasslands to run her on some live birds today. She is doing quite well but, she is having some obedience issues. Steadiness is not a problem, once a bird is put up she puts it in park just like she has been taught. The problem comes afterwards. Laser beam focus on marking the bird seems to distract her from listening to commands. If a bird is not hit she will want to chase after she is released, instead of returning. I suppose you could chalk it up to determination and drive. Not a big deal, just one more item to add to the list of things to work on. All I can hope for is that the gunners in Kansas put down all the birds she puts up. We will add working on "gone away" to our list.

October

The cool weather has decended upon North Texas. It feels wonderful not to be broiled on a daily basis. The cool weather also signals the start of hunting season.
My prodigal bird dog has returned home. Having spent the majority of the summer in Mississippi, she seems to be wound tight. I think being housed in a kennel for the past three months with minimal exposure to play and love has a bit of a brainwashing effect. Now that she is out of the cage and and moving around more freely, her wild, unruly side has returned. We are traveling next week to Kansas for a big field trial, my hope is that a portion of the training she had is still in there.
I had an invitation to hog hunt with a co-worker this weekend. He produced pictures of a monster he had recently harvested. If this is one of the many feral swine present in Texas, all I have to say is we are not removing nearly enough of them.

Texas Wing Shooting

I have been mulling over what to post and it would seem that an explanation of Dove hunting would add nicely to my blog.
So what type of bird is found on a Texas Dove hunt? There are 3 major types that are seen statewide. First and most prevalent is the Mourning Dove. A smallish fawn colored bird with black at the wing and tail tips. Next is the Mourning Dove's larger cousin the White Wing Dove. This bird is the same shape and general color as the Mourning Dove but overall slightly larger. As the name suggests it has white patches on the leading edge of the wing closest to the body. Lastly we have a newcomer which is actually an invasive species from Africa I believe. Known as the EurAsian collared dove. This bird has the fawn coloring but in a lighter hue. and a distinctive black ring the almost encircles the neck. This bird is larger still and approaches the size of a pigeon. Dove of these variety have some preferences for food which makes finding a good spot to hunt easier. Dove seem to thrive on wild Sunflower, and seem to engorge themselves on it's seed in the morning. As the day progresses they move to roost in a shady spot and late in the afternoon come to water.
The Texas season for these birds begins on the first day of September. Shooting begins at sun up and is quite a thing to behold. If a good spot has been selected and enough guns are present. the sky will teem with their small bodies like miniature fighter planes buzzing all about. Maneuvering and darting quickly they are indeed quite a hard target.
I have always tried to put any game I harvest on the table. The thing that puzzles me is that for the expense and effort the Dove is almost not worth the effort. The only part of the bird that is big enough for any yield is the breast. As with many birds the Dove has all dark muscle which is somewhat hard to make palatable. The most popular method of cooking is to take 2 breast halves and season with salt pepper and garlic and place a fressh jalapeno slice between and wrap with bacon and secure with a toothpick. then grill over mesquite wood. This is quite tasty but a full limit of birds can be consumed as a snack.
My estimation is as with most hunting sports it is the gathering of friends and family makes the hunt worthwhile. I was started on the path of wingshooting at a young age. I can still remember chasing down my fathers birds and being too small to handle a shotgun. In later years I was given a single shot .410 which was quite ineffective but which I enjoyed nonetheless. I think about the time I started high school I got a birthday present of a new Remington 1100 12 gauge. I still use that same gun to this day.
So why do we do it? Why waste time driving all over the state trying to knock down an almost worthless bird. I would suspect that for most just like myself it is a part of who we are, a piece of our heritage. A gathering for the beginning of the fall harvest. A time to share our love of the hunt.

Random thoughts

Although the first entry in my blog was --- shall we say deep I think it to be a success. I am attempting to load a slideshow at the bottom of my blog. I am under construction.
It is the off season for hunting right now (waaayyyy too hot)but as it starts to cool off we know the season is not far off. For those of you outside Texas cool weather here is anything below 90 (no joke). The traditional season opener is September and Dove season is the first.
My goto dog is away in Mississippi with Mark Hairfield, who is one of the premier pro trainers of Springers in the South. He says that he and Dolly get along real well and he thinks highly of her. Time will tell. She will be going to a field trial with him in September so all I will have is our pup Ellie.

In the beginning

So where do you start when you make your first blog?
I wanted this to be a journal of my adventures hunting and training my dogs. Possibly someone out there likes the same types of recreation I enjoy. So what better than to share your thoughts with those of a like mind?
I would have to say without hesitation that first and foremost it is a love of outdoors and nature. Some out there would say that because I hunt and fish that I am destroying what I love most. I would retort that through hunting and fishing I immerse myself within the soul of the outdoors and bring the inner animal even closer to its roots. Animals of the wild partake in the hunt and in doing so they must learn the habits of their quarry and learn the surroundings and how best to blend in order to get close to their intended harvest. The hunter of the bipedal nature is blessed with a logical reasoning, supposed higher inteligence. Nature in it's wonderful ways is full of contradictions and mystery that more often leave the human gray matter in a quandry. In order to hunt you must check your humanity at the forrest door to think and feel and sense like the animal you wish to bag. It is in this way that in becoming lost in the senses you find the animal.
The animal is you.