Hunting Amendments, post election

I mentioned in an earlier post that several states had placed "right to hunt and fish" amendments on the ballot for this November. Well, three states have passed these amendments (AR, SC & TN) and the folks in Arizona defeated the amendment.

That adds 3 states to the following where the right to hunt is already law: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

the hunt test

The LIGRC Hunt Tests last weekend at the Peconic Headwaters WMA in Calverton were Sport's first tests. We had a good day on Saturday and Sunday his retrieving on the land series was very good. The water portion of the test on Sunday was more challenging to him. He loves water but the pond is known for its layout and angles. Unfortunately we had not trained there before and he hesitated entering the pond. He knew where the duck was but kept running along the edge of the water.

Why wouldn't he just go in and swim to the duck? I don't know he never told me, however he finally retrieved the duck. He did not qualify on Sunday but he did not get wiped.

Return of Quail

I just read a blog from the "Show Me" State of Missouri, the Department of Conservation, they report that quail have returned to the property surrounding the main office of the Missouri Department of Conservation. Quail and other wildlife are back after a ten or so year period without any birds. How did this happened? Well, the folks in Missouri understand that there are several ways to reduce upland bird populations, the first is to have large scale farming operations that require lots of open land. No trees or wood, no brush areas just open land. Another way is to abandon fields and let nature overtake abandoned fields without regard to the birds and animals that live there and in the surrounding woods and forests. This creates an environment which increases woodland species at the expense grassland species.

The department fixed up 150 or so acres which is surrounded by residential and commercial areas with road and highways. They cleared out brush, created ponds, food areas and brushy cover for the birds. They thinned trees from the wooded areas and used prescribed fires to create a more open landscape so that more seed producing grasses could grow. They identified invasive plant species, these were controlled or removed and thickets of cedar were cut back to allow more light to reach the ground. This will increase insect and plant diversity and reintroduce seed and insect eating birds and small wildlife.

Yes, quail and other wildlife can be successfully reintroduced into an area that has been "neglected" for years. It does not take much to repair the fields and extend the benefits of good management to all species and that is the beauty of nature is, if given proper encouragement it will flourish.

Improving the habitat is important whether you hunt or not, whether you train your sporting dogs for hunt tests or not and whether you live in and urban/suburban area or not. Nature can rebound when properly managed and while sometimes a forest replaces acres of farmland that once supported both song and upland birds. Controlled management can enhance an area far more that just leaving it alone. Continued

hunting amendment?

Here's a link to an interesting article. I found this on the Maine Hunting and Sporting Dog Owners blog. Do we need an amendment? You may not think so, but then there are groups who think you have no right to hunt.

As always forewarned is forearmed and it better to be safe now rather than sorry later.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/02/1805476/states-being-asked-for-right-to.html

Whistling For Quail

I am not the best whistler, I have never been able to whistle with two fingers or make any noise loud enough to get anyone's attention (I have an Acme Thunderer for that), I can carry a tune but late this afternoon I was able to get responses from the quail that are living in the north fields at the preserve. It was interesting to try and match the birds' calls and hear them as they moved closer to me.

My dogs had flushed the quail from a hedgerow that encircles the fields and they were happy to chase after them into the tall grasses. After I called back the dogs I heard a hen to the west of where we were standing, I whistled back to the hens and thus our call and recall went on for several minutes as the hens moved closer to the place in the hedgerow they must have used for their covey.

July

When it's 90 plus degrees training session require extra precautions to protect the dogs. Even though you start early in the morning there is a cut off point after which you need to take make sure you have shade and water. Don't leave the dog in a car without the windows open and a fan blowing on the crate.

We arrived at the fields early, set up the holding blinds, gunners' station and starting line quickly but it was hot. Fortunately there was some breeze and shade from the scrub oaks and pines, such as it was.

The dogs ran well, Sport was steady at the line when the guns went off and he found the pheasants without any problem. He returned to the line with a wagging tail and what I felt was a satisfied look. I was glad because as before he picked up the bird and returned directly to me when whistled into the line.

After training we went over to a water area where Sport got into the water and cooled down. The pond full of lilies but the water was clear and it felt about 10 degrees cooler than the training area.

The next day was another training session, here we worked in the water so the dogs were kept cool from the start. Again we picked up the birds with the exception of a cripple that kept swimming away from Sport. A good lesson for him to keep going after a bird, but the to be careful when it tries to swim away.

Where are the quail?

There was no sound of any quail at the training area the other day, not in the tall grasses nor at the edge of the tree line. I did not hear them the next night as we trained so I suspect they either moved to another safer location or more likely were dispatched by the feral cats or foxes.

Training started at 5pm on the shady side of the white pines, there was a breeze but it felt so much cooler than in the open areas. The temperature was dropping but it was still hot in the sun.

We had some birds and Sport was another dog. He does not really care for bumpers, he will go out for them but every time he sees a bumper he lopes out to it and returns to me not in a straight line but in a curved path.

Something is happening at the training area that I find very encouraging for everyone who visits the area. The other day around 5 PM we heard "Bob-bob-white" coming from the unmown areas. Yes, it appears that some quail have found their way into the fields.

Spring Training

(Some of these posts were in draft form and misplaced so with apologies for the delay here we go again. They are in date order.)

Spring field training has begun and this is the first chance for the dogs to get out and work with birds. The fields were still brown, what remains of the tall grasses is stubble and broken stalks. There are few areas where the grass has started to grow and the dogs have an easy time watching the birds fall.

Today, we had about 20 dogs and handlers and for those who continued to train this winter it has paid off. There is something special watching the dogs go out, hunt up and retrieve the birds. The dogs were eager and they love working and do not expect much in return. We ran on land with pheasants. Senior dogs went first with doubles, then the juniors with 2 singles. It was good to see a number of puppies out for training as well.

As the sun is setting later every day we can go out training in the evenings after work. Soon we will set the clock ahead for daylight savings time and we will gain another hour of evening light. This okay but it changes the whole morning program as the sun is “rising” an hour later.

The cold weather has let up for a few days, so Maggie, Sport & I went down to the nearby fields for a short training session. We had not been out training since Thanksgiving and it was time.

As always Sport showed his usual enthusiasm to get out and bring back the bumpers. The field was short grass, the snow had melted everywhere except under the northern shade of some of the firs and in one or two remnants of the drifted snow. It was hard ice and crystalline. There were spots of mud.

200 yards away was the gaggle of hundreds of geese that had come in and more were starting to collect in the field, they were looking for grass. This was a mixture of resident and migratory geese. I had not been to these fields for some time and can see that the geese have been using it as a big rest stop.

I met two others from the group and we threw some quick series of singles and a few doubles for each dog. Singles first for each dog, then singles and 2 doubles. Nothing fancy, we wanted to push the dogs further out with each bumper to get them to move greater distances from the line. Then we turned to another area and pushed their limits in another direction. All the dogs did well. No playing with the bumpers on the retrieve, though the temptation to stop and savor the goose shit was a problem.