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I thought I would answer some of the questions about upland hunting today. If I miss any, I will add them tomorrow, but please ask again so I make sure not to miss them. I am also going to share some pictures from Thunder’s hunt.
Thunder hunted a completely different area than Storm hunted. The area Storm hunted was a bit of a drive, but the area Thunder hunted is fairly close to the cabin. We are hunting state land so there could be other hunters in the area but we rarely see any. There were no other cars parked in the areas we hunted, so we were not too worried about running into other hunters.
Firearm deer season does not open until November 15th and grouse and woodcock close on that day for the length of the firearm deer season (Nov 15 to 30). Archery deer doesn’t open until October 1. Bear is open, but the way people usually hunt bear and archery deer, we do not worry about a hunter mistaking the dogs for a bear or a deer. In both cases to be successful, you really have to have a very clear shot and usually they are hunting over bait piles while sitting in a blind. During firearm deer season, we do not venture onto state land with the dogs.
Our dogs wear bright orange collars which are actually very visible and probably more visible than a vest because it can be seen above the cover. Also, with upland hunting, the dogs can get warm really fast so adding a vest is probably not wise. In fact we try to find a nice pond for them to cool off.
Upland hunting is different from waterfowl. When the dogs are waterfowl hunting, they are to sit quietly and not move until they are sent to retrieve. Upland hunting is all motion. The dog uses its nose to search for the birds, sometimes tracking them if they are moving.
The dog should be working fairly close to the hunter because their job is to not only find the birds, but to flush the birds and retrieve the ones that are shot.
If the dog is too far ahead of the hunter, then it may be too far for the hunter to hit the bird after it is flushed.
The reason most of my pictures are to the side and behind the hunter and the dog is because I am trying not to get in the way. The hunter needs to keep track of the dog, where I am, and any birds that are flushed. If I stay behind them then I am out of the picture as far as the hunt is concerned. The dog is working ahead of the hunter and usually flushing the birds away from the hunter. The birds are shot well above the dog and if the birds do not flush high enough, then best not take the shot. My husband is very careful when he hunts and he is particular about who he hunts with when the dogs are involved. Safety first.
Hubby has hunted two dogs at once. In fact Thunder showed Storm the ropes and then her natural ability took over. She is actually a better upland dog than Thunder. She can find birds in the thickest cover. It was so fun to watch her work last Saturday. All of the heeling work must be starting to pay off, because last year she hunted a bit too far out, but this year she worked nice and close.
We would like to get Freighter out to work with either Thunder or Storm because he has not yet put sniffing in the woods and flushing a bird together. However with the thick cover, it is just too hard to keep track of two dogs. Also with only one hunter, two dogs is probably too much.
Believe it or not, it was raining when we first parked the car, but the sun came out and then it really warmed up. I did not go with Freighter because it was getting late in the day and I had a couple of things to do. Hopefully I can get out with him and take some pictures. The area Freighter hunted was along the river and I understand he had a nice swim. 🙂
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Happy Thursday 2browns 🙂
Very action packed and interesting to read about the life of Storm and Thunder hunting. 🙂
Do the dogs have a preference for upland hunting or waterfowl?
What a lovely day.
Great story and such a change from the usual water frolicking!
One thing we tried and actually works well is that we tie blaze orange and neon green or pink bandanas on the dogs necks and it lets us know which dog is which in the underbrush.
That is an excellent idea. Maybe we will try it once more leaves are off the trees.
Interesting. Since we know nothing about hunting, it always sounds so dangerous which is why Mom would probably have herself and us covered from nose to paw in orange. You know what you are doing which is a good thing.
Interesting! Thanks for showing us the facts! A happy Thurs, 2BrownDawgs!
Following your blog on Bloglovin!
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Hi Y’all!
Great pictures. Too bad Thunder didn’t get the satisfaction of finding a bird.
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Great post – thanks for sharing all of this info it’s really interesting. Not sure my Labs will ever be hunters, but it’s fun to read about the work that goes into it and see how well your dogs do.
That’s great how the dogs have learned so many different types of techniques for different types of activities and seem to do such a nice job. They are quite the talented crew!
Great explanation of flushing! Thanks so much. I bet that is a fun sport for them, I think my dogs would even like that. 😀
I really felt I was with you. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, I especially like the fact you put your beloved dogs safety first. I love the tips of ensuring that the dogs have clear bright collars on. Really enjoyed reading this and makes me want to go out and do the same. I am looking forward to your next post.
Once again thanks for the education. I wish I would have paid more attention to my Dad and his hunting dogs, but I was too young. I am curious about something though. How much food do they eat before and after a hunt? Is it dry food, wet food or mixed? I would think it would be very difficult to hunt with more than one dog at a time. The pictures are lovely. Thanks for sharing them with all of us. Your dogs are simply beautiful and so strong. Beautiful coats.
This is interesting and it reminds me that hunting season here will begin in a few days. We will have to be a bit more careful on our walks. Most of the dogs are not trained, they just run as a pack. (This is wild boar hunting in Spain.)
What nice pictures with the beautiful trees, colors of fall, the dead tree and beautiful dog. It is so much fun to watch dogs find and flush out birds. Sorry sweet Thunder found no birds. He seemed to be enjoying looking for them though. I so love being in the woods and all your posts and pictures bring back lots of memories for me. Have a great weekend! Hugs and nose kisses
Poor Thunder, no birds. Great scenery pictures showing what a grouse hunt is like.
It’s so interesting to see them put their training to practical use. It sounds a lot more fun than deer hunting where you sit behind a blind and wait.
Great post! Since my hubby used to hunt, I know a little about it, but he had stopped bird hunting before I knew him so I know less about that. We work at a store where we check in turkeys and deer, so we hear a lot of stories there too. I’m so glad to know that you and your husband take the safety seriously, we see too many people that just don’t, and it’s downright scary!
I loved the photos….I actually read this post when we were away, with painfully slow internet that only worked half the time, so I never got to see the photos then!
Someone else already said it, but your posts always make me feel like I’m there. You keep it simple enough for those of us with no hunting experience to understand everything, and yet detailed enough for folks to really get a feel for what’s going on. Plus, great photos to really tell the story.
Sorry no birds this time, Thunder! Next time… next time.