Some photos from the trial season

Nikon F4 - Nikon 80-300 f2.8 - Fujichrome Velvia

A tiny brag

Ted and I ran in the AFTCA Region 11 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship at Little Panoche Wildlife Area this weekend. There were 16 dogs entered, all with AF placements and some of them already champions.

Ted ran for an hour, had four solid broke finds, two backs, a stop-to-flush and finished well with no errors. I was very happy with my young dog - his best performance yet.

The winner was Kelly's Rebel Maggie, pointer female, second brace--owned and handled by Sean Kelly. This is her 14th championship win! The runner-up was "Tuffy", a Sheldon Twer customer dog run by Jim Wolthuis in the 8th brace. Maggie had five finds and "Tuffy" had six. I could be ungracious and note that the six finds came in the final brace after the course had been 'reseeded' with birds multiple times... but I won't.

Proud of my young dog!

Chukars -- Everyman's Game Bird

Chukars are a pointing dog’s delight. They covey in large numbers and provide great singles and doubles shooting after a covey flush. These great game birds are available on public ground to anyone that takes time to learn the trade.

In the Northwest, open, south facing slopes with rocky rims and outcroppings are good places to start searching for birds. Look for tracks in roadside dust, or droppings in basin heads, saddles and on rock outcroppings. When I find these signs, I park and walk a loop bracketing the elevation where I suspect the birds are, going out a quarter to half a mile or more, looping back above or below my original line of travel. Once you find the level the birds are at, hunt laterally across the slope at that level. Conventional wisdom, which is correct in my experience, says don't hunt up towards the birds, they will just run uphill and flush at the ridge top without (usually) offering a shot. I try to stay out of sight when working to flush birds in front of a point -- and approach from the side at (or slightly below) the level you suspect the covey is holding.

To kill chukars consistently, you must hunt them aggressively - cover all the likely areas in a basin head or rim before moving to the next area and pursue immediately after the covey flush. Remember, when that flushed covey lights, they will be scattered and will immediately begin to make efforts to re-assemble, calling and moving up-slope. By aggressively following up, you can disrupt their re-assembly and your dog can find and hold the singles and doubles. - Photo by Clair Kofoed

For more on chukar hunting go to the story Chukars! At UplandJournal.com

Satellite dogs

I broke down and purchased a Garmin Astro. A global positioning system for dogs. My curiosity got the better of me, and it arrived on Tuesday in the mail. I had to go out for AA batteries.

I used to bell my dogs, but years of shooting and getting a bit older has made my hearing less acute. People have suggested beeper collars, but I don't like the idea of a bird dog that sounds like a garbage truck backing up.

The other side of the story... 

I admit that I am a 'traditionalist' in things sporting.  Old side by side shotguns, big running setters, cane fly rods and leather boots with stitch down soles. Wool shirts and ball caps. Stuff like that. 

But I am not a Luddite. I will probably use the Astro for Jesse and Tommy. Jesse has always required me to pay strict attention when he is on the ground. As the day gets longer, so does he. About the time I am ready to head back to the truck, he is likely to be half a mile away. Always been like that. Tommy is showing early signs of extended range too. 

So I now have an eye in the sky. 

Line Breeding and Inbreeding

Line breeding means:"The mating of related animals less closely related than inbreeding."

Line breeders usually breed out every couple of generations to similar, but unrelated, line-bred dogs. This greatly diminishes the possibility of the 'deleterious effects' of inbreeding and overcomes breeding 'drag' - the tendency toward average over several generations.

Actually there seems to be no agreement among sporting dog breeders about where the line between inbreeding and line breeding is, exactly. There have been a number of very healthy and successful field trial dogs with COIs as high as 16.5. The average competitive setter is probably closer to 3.0 to 6.5 COI. I have one that has a 10 generation COI of 12.0 and is a very fine animal.

Line breeders do not breed brother to sister as an inbreeder might. They may breed a sire to a littermate's offspring to better fix characteristics that they value. The effects of in-breeding and at what level of COI they are manifested in dogs is not well explored with performance dogs that are bred and culled by breeders.

Carolina wild dogs are a small population that has apparently bred in the wild for many hundreds of years. As long as Darwinian principles are at work there appear to be no deleterious effects of inbreeding in this small population.

A useful discussion of Canine genetics by Dr. Jerold Bell, which defines out-breeding, line breeding and inbreeding may be found HERE

Big Montana

At the end of September, I traveled to Montana from training camp in South Dakota to hunt sharptailed grouse and gray partridge. In Malta I met my friend and hunting partner, Pete Houser of San Diego. Pete had driven nearly non-stop pulling a 23' travel trailer with his two setters, Rosie and Silk. Shortly thereafter, Mark Copeland of Dallas joined us at our camp with his trailer and two shorthairs. With the three dogs that I brought along it made an active and interesting camp.

As soon as Mark arrived and backed in, we were off hunting sharptails. We did well with grouse for the week that Mark was with us, and hunting continued to be good through the following week. After Pete returned to San Diego, I moved operations to Big Timber, staying at the Grand Hotel and hunting around Harlowton and Judith Gap for an additional week. 

Ted's Training - work, work, work!

In Late september I was at training camp in South Dakota with Keith Hickam of Waco, TX. Keith had been working with my young dog, Ted, to prepare him for a life of birds and adventure. Keith's website may be found HERE. Ted enjoyed the whole experience, especially the birds. Keith was working to refine Ted's manners around birds, as Ted likes them a little too well. 

Nothing makes a bird dog like birds. I have developed Ted since he was a puppy, working him on wild birds in Washington, Oregon, Texas, Nevada and Oklahoma. John Yates worked with Ted in Oklahoma on wild bobwhites at his winter camp when Ted was less than one year old. Ted had a couple of hunting seasons with lots of exposure before he went to camp with Keith. 

When I picked up Ted at camp at the end of September he was a better bird dog. I took him directly to Montana for three weeks, then returned to South Dakota for a week of pheasant hunting. Returning to the West Coast in November, I entered Ted in a US Complete Shooting Dog trial and he placed, so he is now qualified to run in AF Championship trials. Ted is currently with Sheldon Twer being polished to compete in the Region 11 Amateur Walking Shooting Championship in February.