The Games We Play

exploding clay

In shot gunning there are many different ways we can improve our hit percentage. Skeet, Trap, Sporting clay, or just going to the local sand pit with a hand thrower are all ways to have fun and perfect your shot gunning skills. In this podcast Brett and I attempt to explain the different shooting game’s we enjoy and think you will too.

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Video: Grouse and Woodcock in the North Woods

Here’s a cool video by my friend Lisa Savard, filmed in the woods near Cabins at Lopstick, which she owns and operates with her husband, Tim. Living in the Connecticut Lakes region of far-northern New Hampshire, Lisa and her dogs have access to thousands of square miles of woods, but you can see that this is no walk in the park. The cover that grouse and woodcock prefer can be thick stuff, where it’s difficult to even get a shot at a flushed bird.

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Murph’s First Bird: Picking at Sandanona

I’ve been training Murphy for almost a year now, and he’s seen his share of feathered bumpers, goose scented tennis balls, and frozen ducks, but the opportunity to get his mouth on freshly downed birds was not something I was taking lightly. I wanted a somewhat controlled, but real environment, and a Continental Release at Sandanona Shooting Grounds in Millbrook, New York, seemed just the place.

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Video: Huntin’ at Zeke’s

This is no lodge experience. Hunting at Zeke’s Rooster Ranch is the North Dakota equivalent to a Vermont deer camp, only on a grander scale. During pheasant season, men and dogs congregate from all over the country to hunt pheasant and enjoy some time off the grid. To explain the history of how all these men are connected and how I got there would take. . .
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To train your hunting dog, you must be a leader

Murph looking for leadership

Your hunting dog already knows what to do in the field, but he or she looks to you for leadership.

photo by Paul Fersen

Some of the most interesting things about working with Mike Stewart of Wildrose Kennels—I was taking a dog-training course and writing a book with him at the same time—are the subtleties that are far beyond the actual mechanics of running drills. Perhaps the most important premise (and the thing that most people simple don’t get) is that dog training is more about training yourself how to train the dog.

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Sharptails and Setters in Big Sky Country

Sharptails and Setters 1

Hunting in such open country offers the pleasure of following the dogs and watching them work.

photo by Bill Reed

Having spent nearly thirty-five years chasing grouse and woodcock throughout the Northeast, with an occasional foray for southern quail or pheasants in Iowa and Kansas, I was excited to get the opportunity to hunt sharptails and huns in north-central Montana. And in one word–Wow!

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Tips for Creating Upland Bird Habitat

Thoughts about how to manage upland birds vary widely depending upon where your geographic location. One thing that is, unfortunately, the same everywhere is the decline in upland bird numbers, especially quail. For the past 50 years, the quail population has been slowly decreasing on a national level. Programs such as Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), . . .

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Breaking Clays Tips: The Teal Station

Fridays at Orvis Sandanona Shooting Grounds mean one thing to me: Clay Breaking Sessions. I hold these 3-hour clinics both in the morning and afternoon. Each is limited to just four shooters with a focus on a particular target presentation you’ll find on any sporting clays course in the world. While nothing compares to being taught on the course, I will tip and insights now and again to improve your shooting. This week: the teal station.

 

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