"Lords of the Fly"

 

In "Lords of the Fly" Monte Burke brings the history of tarpon fly angling and the biggest names in the game to the page in this great accounting of the fish, men, gear, lifestyle, and the fishery that make the amazing sport. A spectacular page turner...

"Doubling Down"...

In an August 2, 2022 blog Greg McReynolds, Mouthfil of Feathers (mouthfuloffeathers.com), announced they were ..."doubling down on the blog, ...recruiting new contributors, and printing the book." The book, Mouthful of Feathers - Upland in the West, was released originally as an e-book and, is no longer in print. However the print edition, Mouthful of Feathers - Upland in America, is due to be released the summer of 2023. To pre-order go to the Mouthful of Feathers blog or mouthfuloffeathers.bigcartel.com.

As promised, the group has "doubled down." The print edition of the book is in the works, new contributors have been recruited, the reading is fabulous!

Prairie Blues

 

2019 Southwestern Championship, Johnson Ranch, Trail City, SD

You're rolling in at sunset with a truck of restless dogs

And the whistling wind comes, sounding rather scary.

Unlock and open camp, then light the lanterns and the stove.

And we'll face another summer on the prairie.

Tomorrow we will cull them. And you'll say your string's the worst,

But, of course, it's far from extraordinary.

Some mornings on the check cord and some hunting of young chicks,

And they'll carry all their days the mark of "Prairie."

You'll wrench an arm - and bounce - when your brainless nag departs

After dropping you kerplunk - (you were unwary)

A skunk gets you from one side and a porcupine the other

If you dismount haplessly upon the prairie.

Your best dogs point them, too, and there's little you can do

To correct their "varmint finds" - unneccessary.

If hail and twisters lay and you find the birds today,

You may still get somethiing done out on the prairie.

The summer speeds away and you feel you've come to naught.

Then your dogs show form that's due next January.

When the money trials come up, you don't place a single pup,

So you fold your camp and vow to shun the prairie.

But, dreaming, longing nightly for the blue flax fields in bloom,

When your June time state side life is sedintary,

You'll jam the truck with gear and set your wheels for northern roads,

Towards the hopes, dreams - and mirages - of the prairie.

From the book "The Unforgettables and Other True Fables" by Bill Allen. The book is now in it's third printing and available at www.strideaway.com.

"Duel"

Mike Gaddis' "Duel on Tabernacle Mountain" is a great read. A tale of an amazing young setter, and his nemesis, a wily ruffed grouse "wisdom bird." Duel is a page-turner, a must-read for all upland bird hunters who appreciate a good bird dog, and love to see one work. The book was published in a limited edition of 200 copies; leather bound with gilded edges, and presented in a one-time only, heirloom-quality, signed, numbered, and individually personalized. Find it at www.duelontabernaclemtn.com.

De La Valdene

Guy De La Valdene is mentioned several times, in Thomas McGuane's "The Longest Silence, A Life In Fishing." Poling Key West with McGuane, angling for bonefish, tarpon, permit (the big three), and mutton snapper among other species. A quick web search put me into a list of De La Valdene's books, and I chose "Making Game...", mostly because I hadn't done much reading on woodcock and the description of the contents of the book sounded interesting. This book covers a few good hunts, but also focuses on habitat, migration, the conservation of the species, and the bird as table fare. I don't know any woodcock hunters, but after reading it, I imagine this book would fit into the niche of "a must have" among the tried-and-true. Russell Chatham illustrated the book, Jim Harrison makes an appearence or two, you get the point..... good stuff!

McGuane

"The Longest Silence, A Life in Fishing," was composed by Thomas McGuane some twenty-plus years ago. His essays of both salt and freshwater angling span the globe, as McGuane pursues gamefish that most of us only dream to oneday have on the end of our outfit. Anyone that has spent any time on the water will appreciate how McGuane puts you in the moment; whether it be poling the flats of Key West in search of tarpon, permit or bonefish, or presenting a dry to a fat cutty on a gin-clear Montana stream, it's as if you're there with him, wind at your back, hauling line, presenting, and anticipating the strike. I found this book hard to put down. A great book for the spring season, when most of us are looking for a spot to wet a fly, trying to get our birddogs in order, and anticipating the upcoming fall....

The Invitational Champions

A must-have book for the field trialer and pointing dog aficionado, The Invitational Champions, by John P. Russell, covers extensively the past 56 champions of what has been deemed the "dream trial" by the late William F. Brown. The Quail Championship Invitational is limited to 12 invited contestants, the best of the best of the previous year's major circuit all-age competitors. "The trial seeks to identify a bird dog with strength, courage, intelligence, and character at the highest level, the best of the best." "The trial provides the most comprehensive and equitable test of the major circuit all-age dogs of the field trial sport." John Russell does a great job of compiling information on each years champion which includes; the authors narrative, a portion of the report from the American Field, a list of each dog running that year - it's handler and owner, information on the champions pedigree and win record, and more. The book is available at Lulu.com, and possibly Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Reflections

Republished in late 2018 by Strideaway, this book is a must-have for the field trialer and bird hunter alike. In this book, the now late, Ed Mack Farrior reflects on the great handlers and bird dogs of a bygone era, resurrecting them in narrative form for our reading pleasure. It's a hard-to-put-down read with a ton of great illustrations. The book is available at www.strideaway.com.

The Raw And The Cooked

 

I purchased this book some time ago, and after reading it filed it away with the other favorites on the bookshelf, where for most of the year they sit collecting dust. But winter has a way of creating opportunities for dust-laden books to be resurrected from the shelves, to be dusted off and, if interest is peaked, opened for review. Such was the case for "The Raw And The Cooked". This book is a compilation of letters to friends, and articles from magazines, in which author and poet Jim Harrison goes into detail about fabulous meals, prepared both by himself and others in locales across the United States and the world. It is a must read for the hunter/epicurean.  JT

John Yates lives on

I returned from a trip to Arizona on Wednesday and found a surprise in the mail - a book sent by John Yates' widow, Donna Yates. The book is Wolfspeak - the collected works of John Yates - vol. 1. 

John was a friend, a writer, a breeder of English setters, a trainer, a contributor to Field Trial Magazine and this blog, founder of the American Sporting Dog Alliance, and a good man who fought the good fight until his death from cancer on September 15, 2009.

John helped me get Ted started and we ran dogs together in Oklahoma, then continued our friendship through frequent calls, e-mails, and work on issues confronted by the ASDA. 

I did not know that Donna was working to assemble and publish John's writings until this book arrived. I started reading immediately. I'm impressed. Here's a small sample of John's bird dog wisdom on unproductives:

Unproductive points are the bane of many field trial dogs and have cost many good dogs placements. An unproductive means that a dog is found on point, but the handler cannot produce a bird. They are also called unproductives or barren stands. 

While there is no written rule about unproductives, the rule of thumb for most field trialers - and most judges - is that one doesn't hurt you, two hurt a lot, and three are fatal.

All pointing dogs have unproductives on occasion, and most dogs will have an occasional bad day with several. When this happens, a handler simply shrugs and figures that his or her luck will even out at next week's trial.

Other dogs will go through a period during their development when they are prone to unproductives, but will grow out of the problem with patience and time. These dogs also are not of great concern to a trainer. 

The dogs that we have to worry about are the ones that consistently have a lot of unproductives. 

Our first job is to figure out why, then how to deal with it.

Figuring out why is the hard part. That is because trainers often don't know what has happened when a dog is found on a barren stand, and because I have never yet met a trainer who had a decent nose compared to a dog.We simply can't smell what a dog is scenting.

Thus, there are no easy rules for dealing with unproductives. To handle them effectively, there is simply no substitute for experience that will allow a trainer correctly interpret a barren stand. WIthout the the perspective gained by understanding, it is likely that a trainer will do the wrong thing at the wrong time...

To get the rest, get the book - $16 on www.createspace.com or on Amazon. 

New (old) books

For a couple bucks a copy I found these two books on Amazon.com

Practical Education of the Bird Dog  for Hunting and Field Trails by J. A. Sanchez Antunano

and 

Modern Breaking - A Treatise on the Rearing, Breaking and Handling of Setters and Pointers - by William A. Bruette

I am always a sucker for old sporting books. I also enjoy learning a bit more about dog training. If I find something that I want to share here, I'll post it up...

The Meadow, by James Galvin

In The Meadow James Galvin writes of the Western landscape and illuminates the character of the people, their inter-dependance and how the land that we call The West shaped them. This book reads like an accounting of life, not a novel, but fulfills the requirements of both. Here's a sample:

Almost everything Lyle did was hazardous. And after his brothers had gone he mostly worked alone: felling trees with chainsaws; balancing on the top log of a barn; hewing with an axe so sharp that a couple of fingers or toes wouldn't even slow it down; or just out fencing – old wire can snap under the stretcher and come at you like a snake...

Lyle learned to pay attention, to think things through and not get ahead of himself, not to lapse into inattention ever. After a while he couldn't not pay attention, shaking a stranger's hand, tasting Mrs. So and So's pickles, setting fenceposts. It endowed all his actions with precision. I gave him total recall. It obliterated time.

The Meadow by James Galvin,Henry Holt and Co., 1992

Unforgettable

Bill Allen's book of fables is a truly fabulous reliving of some of his memories of dogdoms not-so-distant past. Mr. Allen recounts many of the dogs, trainers/handlers and owners, that made up a most significant era in field trialing. His prose puts the reader "in the moment" with first-hand accounts that play out vividly in ones mind. What I am reminded each time I read through this extraordinary recollection is that the game is about the dog, and that our emphasis as promoters of the breed should be to skim the cream off the top and not settle for mediocrity.

The Unforgettables and Other True Fables is in it's second printing and is available at http://www.strideaway.com/

A worthwhile book

With a painter's eye and a writers pen, Russell Chatham dissects the sporting life from a very personal point of view. Little escapes comment as he ranges across lessons on life, old friends, places gone to rot, food, death, sex, art, sportsmanship and sport in the outdoors.

Included in this collection is one of my favorite pieces, which first appeared in Gray's Sporting Journal in the seventies, I think. The Great Duck Misunderstanding – a story that is pure Chatham. And since I love eating ducks it has remained in my mind for over 35 years. It is good to find it here in this collection.

Chatham grew up in the California of my youth, now sadly gone. Having fled to Montana in the seventies, he has the benefit of some distance now. “In an odd way,” he says, “ it's a curse to have been born and raised in one of the most sublime places on earth. I've been around the world and have never seen another place of such sensuous, languid character, or where the climate is so benign.”

In Pumping Irony Chatham mourns and quietly rages over what is now gone – striped bass fishing in California – which is clearly an indicator of the abundant and free California he knew in his youth. And he was right about the future of this state over 40 years ago.

Read this book.

PS: Russ Chatham has written a number of books and is a celebrated painter. One of his first was a little gem in paperback published in 1977 by the San Francisco Examiner, Striped Bass on the Fly - A Guide to California Waters. The pencil illustrations, observations and specific information are priceless, if dated.

AFTCA Guidelines

Guidelines to Field Trial Procedure and Judicial Practice is a pocket-sized reference book distributed by the Amateur Field Trial Clubs of America (AFTCA). This book contains a wealth of information including descriptions of the All Age and Shooting Dog Standards; what is expected of the Field Trial Marshall and Reporter; minimum qualifications for, and the expectations of, a Judge. And a lot of questions and answers to many issues and situations that a field trialer will run into, from the advertisement of the trial through the running of dogs. The book can be found at http://www.aftca.org/, and is reasonably priced at $3.95 a copy.

another book review

A while back I posted a review of Dave Walker's Bird Dog Training Manual. Dave was a student of the legendary Bill West, a man reknowned for his desire to let dogs develop with as little, and as gentle molding as possible. This new book from Glade Run Press, Training with Mo: How Maurice Lindley Trains Pointing Dogs, written by Martha Greenlee describes the West method as practiced by SC trainer, Maurice Lindley. To quote the book: '"What I like about Bill's method," Maurice explains, "is that the dog thinks it is his idea."' As the first chapter goes on to say, while Mo uses some different techniques from Bill West, the bird is the teacher.

Like I said last June, I wish I had known this method when I got my first dog. And he would probably have appreciated it, too. Unlike my younger dog who despite being started a little differently has since taken to the method, I find myself backtracking with my older dog in a way I wouldn't have needed to if I had understood and followed a method like this. For me at least, and I sense I am far from being the only one, I started seeing each step of training as a progressive sequence, rather than understanding the final goal and seeing how the first steps were a necessary part of that goal. I don't mind saying that I had no idea if I or my dog could get through a JH, let alone a SH, or a broke-dog stake. Each milestone was intialy an end rather than merely a milestone, a marker on the way from puppy to finished gun dog. The West method by necessity takes the long view: virtually every dog is capable of acquiring those skills if we, as trainers and handlers, don't get impatient, pay attention to each dog, and for the most part keep our mouths shut.

Punchline spoiler alert: this is a really useful book, especially if you have Dave's book, too. They complement and diverge from each other really nicely -- and assuming that most folks are familiar with the core of West method, I will simply pick out some parts of Training with Mo that I thought particularly useful. (For those of you looking for other resources on the West method, I encourage you to check out the Steady with Style website.)

Birds make a bird dog. While paying clients and their pros can often migrate to follow wild bird populations to let the dog learn from the bird, most of us amateurs can't. The challenge then becomes how to introduce young dogs to birds in a way that stimulates their drive and engages the genetics deep down in them, the genetics that will tell them when to stop chasing and slow down to a point. Mo, like Bill Gibbons out in AZ, uses carded pigeons and there's good information in here as to how to use them -- however, being a city dweller, I don't mind my dogs being interested in pigeons, but I don't want to reward them for pointing every single one. The more useful notes for me are on how Mo uses launchers to teach a variety of skills to dogs of intermediate and advanced status.

I think the sections on how Mo introduces intermediate dogs -- dogs which normally point, which have begun to understand the stop and stand still cue -- to pen-raised quail are thought provoking: why, for example, he will plant birds in the center of a thinly covered field; why he will try to have a helper to flush birds during early loose bird work; and how he introduces gunfire. I also found Mo's chapter on 'Problem Solving' to be interesting and useful -- through issues like blinking, circling, and flagging. My younger dog, for example, is pretty damned close to being broke, but somewhere in the last eight months, he began to flag on birds unless he can see them right in front of him or till you get in front of him to work them. It's not an uncertainty issue in terms of not trusting his nose and, heaven knows, I've beaten myself up enough trying to figure out what I did. Seeing Mo describe my exact scenario and ascribe a developmental phase to it is tremendously reassuring.

To paraphrase Mo, dog-training isn't (or shouldn't be) a race. For those of you interested in Mo's adaptation of the West method, Martha Greenlee's clearly written book is an easy read and a valuable perspective into developing a bird-dog over the long haul.

The National is upon us

With the 111th running of the National Championship for All-Age dogs due to start on Monday, February 8th, at the famed Ames Plantation I wanted to let folks know about Brad Harter's series of DVDs of the event.

While I largely field-trial vizslas and exclusively, for now, in AKC trials, I did get out to the American Field's Northeastern Open Shooting Dog Championship this past October and while only able to watch a single day did get to see the brace that produced both the winner and runner-up. In short, I like watching birddogs of all shapes and sizes run hard and find birds. Even if some of them are largely white and have long tails. And while it might be a while before I can get to Ames, I wanted to get a sense of both the location and the action.

While nothing can substitute for watching a performance in person, Brad has been documenting the Nationals on film for over 20yrs. (He has also served as the trial's official reporter for several of those years, too.) And between carrying his own camera and having others strategically positioned on the course, he misses very little of the birdwork and captures a whole heck of a lot of the excitement. While editing with the benefit of hindsight can certainly help frame a great performance, it was pretty easy to see that Gary Lester's Bud (Lester's Snowatch) had put down a heck of a race -- and therefore why, in judges' minds, Bud's total performance had eclipsed that of 2006 winner, Shell Creek Coin, despite one fewer find. The interview with Gary Lester at the end is a nice tribute to both man and dog.

With many of the contenders from 2009 -- Bud, Coin, Game Maker, and Strut -- nominated to run again next week, this year's National should be an exciting one. Unless you're lucky to get there yourself, in the meantime treat yourself to 90mins on the couch and not 9 days in the saddle.

Marksmanship for the bird hunter

Let me start by saying that I am not a great fan of Orvis. Having read most of what is available on the subject of shotguns and shooting I have found some texts that are very helpful in the practical application of technique for the upland bird hunter, and many, many that did not, or could not, distinguish between target shooting (trap, skeet, sporting clays) and the needs of the upland bird hunter. The Orvis Wing-Shooting Handbook does.

Looking for something to read last night I picked Bowlen's book from the shelf and re-read mytattered copy. Bruce Bowlen has a structured, simple approach that most bird hunters will find useful - especially those that, like me, like to carry a lightweight doublegun. 

In the early 90s I abandoned International Skeet and clays. I sold my heavy O/U target guns. I wanted to learn to shoot a light game gun well, and could not make adequate progress using the techniques that worked (mostly) for me when shooting targets in competition. I struggled to figure out how to effectively shoot a sub six pound SxS gun. Since a friend and fellow shooter, Jon Ogilvie, offered high level instruction, I also turned to him for help. After a period of years (I must be a slow learner) I evolved a personal style (a jumble of Move-Mount-Shoot and instinctive techniques) that allows me to shoot lightweight double guns reasonably well in most any field situation. I still have my off days, but I now have confidence that any bird in range is at risk.

If I had read Bowlen's book when I started in shooting truly lightweight guns at game birds in the early 80s, I would have suffered much less pain, sweat, cartridges, and embarrassment. Bruce writes clearly and lays out a clear, step-by-step method uncluttered by anecdote or self aggrandizement. This is a welcome relief from the run of the mill 'outdoor writer' for which I am very grateful. I recommend this book for any upland gunner, even one who has already figured most of it out. 

I also recommend a text by a pair of Brits, Shotgun Marksmanship by Percy Stanbury and G.L. Carlisle. This requires wading through the 'whilsts' and 'one musts' to get to the meat, but it is good. 

A good book for meat lovers

I enjoy bagging (or buying), preparing and eating meat. I offer no apologizes for this. I enjoy preparing meals and have a decent library of culinary books. Recently I was looking for a classic partridge recipe, including guidelines for hanging birds prior to cooking. A book I bought about two years ago - The River Cottage Meat Book, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (published by Ten Speed Press) has a lot of informed and practical information on cooking all types of meat, and has an excellent treatment of all types of game - game common to the British Isles, anyway. The photography by Simon Wheeler is excellent and mouth-watering.

Fearnley-Whittingstall is a hunter and dog owner (this is the connection that justifies its inclusion on this blog...), a chef, and owner of River Cottage farm. In his introductory pages he bows to the typical British sensitivity regarding animal welfare and expresses regret that some game animals are not dispatched cleanly.  A concern that most hunters also share. 

"... As I pull the trigger and the bird falls, or the beast tumbles, I feel the gap between me and the quarry, which a moment ago seemed unreachable, closed in an instant."

And he does not shy away from straight talk about other possibly sensitive culinary subjects. Here is what he has to say about fat in food...

"Fat gets bad press. Because few of us want to ge 'fat', and because the consumption of 'fat' (the noun) has been identified as one possible cause of people becoming 'fat' (the adjective), fat the substance has been effectively demonized. Yet fat has a critical role in brokering the flavor of meat-not just meat, in fact, but in many of our favorite foods. That's why we put butter on our bread, beef fat in our Christmas pudding, and crated cheese on our pasta.

The critical thing is that many flavor-bearing molecules are soluble in fat but not in water. In addition, the flavorful substances into otherwise dry foods are far more effectively absorbed by the taste buds when combined with or accompanied by fat..." 

On hanging game...

"The other thing to say about gaminess, besides, perhaps, that not everyone likes it, is that its level, or intensity, is not a given. It can be encouraged or discouraged, according to the length of time for which the creature has hung." And there follows an in-depth discussion of hanging (or aging) all types of game.

Bottom line, I find tis book even more useful (and inspiring!) than either The Complete Meat Cookbook by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly or Roasting by Barbara Kaufka, both good books in their own right.

New Book from Nancy Whitehead

Recently I was visiting Bob Welch in Hailey, Idaho and he introduced me to Nancy Whitehead, who is known for the images of sporting dogs she has contributed to popular magazines. Nancy keeps a kennel and travels widely to run her dogs and photograph on assignment.  She has just published a new book of her sporting dog images - In the Field, a photographer's journey with sporting dogs. The book is quite striking, and is available for sale on her website. I bought a copy, but didn't have the good sense to ask her to autograph it for me while we stood and talked dogs for over an hour.