Written by: Karen Mann, The High Lonesome Ranch
The diversity of terrain at HLR puts a lot of demands on a hunting dog.
Photos courtesy The High Lonesome Ranch
The High Lonesome Ranch is known for its fly-fishing for five species of trout and upland-bird hunting for pheasants, chukar, and quail in pristine coverts—all sitting along the spine of the continent on more than 400 square miles in western Colorado. Award-winning dogs have always been part of the mix, and the 40-dog $1.5M state-of-the-art custom kennels are a testament to The High Lonesome Ranch commitment to excellence.
Steve Nicholas’s dogs have won a slew of awards, and HLR is excited to benefit from his training methods.
The ranch is happy to announce that Brookside Gun Dogs is joining their team as integral partners in their wingshooting program. The Nicholas family are guides and trainers, and the dogs are worked off season so they’re in top shape year-round and ready to go when the hunting season starts, which is just around the corner. The dogs live for their work, and it shows that they love what they do. Shorter, cooler days, tall grass, and hundreds of acres of pristine upland coverts give a man and a dog some of what really matters at the HLR.
The whole Nicholas family gets involved in the dog-training program.
Steve, Dillon, Lauren, and Zach have joined The High Lonesome Ranch to train their current generation of English Pointers, Pointing Labs, and Flushing Labs, as well as those generations to come. Steve’s eyes sparkle when he talks about his clients’ dogs, the ranch’s dogs, and HLR management’s own personal dogs. The understanding he exhibits when dealing with a dog that is gun-shy or has more drive than nose is magical to watch.
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