Upland
10 Disasters to Avoid with your Gundog
10 Disasters to Avoid with your Gundog I remember as a kid thumbing through an outdoor magazine and noticing a striking advertisement- the product being advertised was evidently irrelevant to the function of my long term memory, but the message must have been worthy. In bold white lettering above a picture of a pointer blasting […]
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The Standard Hunting Poodle
The Standard Hunting Poodle I’ll be honest, I never imagined being in a duck blind with a poodle. The thought of trekking through a field in pursuit of a rooster pheasant and shooting over a poodle just never occurred to me. I would venture to guess that this is true for many of you as […]
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When we Steady our Upland Hunting Dogs
When we Steady our Upland Hunting Dogs Steady to Wing Pointers: For a pointer to be steady to wing (or steady to flush) this would mean that once the dog goes on point, they remain on point while the handler searches for the bird and kicks the bird up (this would also be called “Whoa […]
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Strategies to Obtain more Hunting Ground
Strategies to Obtain more Hunting Ground Locking down permission to hunt private land in Iowa is like winning the lottery. Hunters on private land enjoy higher success rates and influence how often the farm is hunted, how many animals are harvested, and how habitat is managed. Moreover, hunters that respect landowners’ wishes and are willing […]
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50 Ways to Utilize the Offseason
50 Ways to Utilize the Offseason If you are like me your favorite hunting season is when you feel most alive. Calling upon skills you haven’t used for a year, clearing your schedule of nearly all other responsibilities and breaking the gaze into the digital abyss are just a few of the rare indulgences we […]
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Winter Training Drills for Gundogs
Winter Training Drills for Gundogs Do not let the winter season be an excuse to not train your dog. Are you catching onto my theme this year? There are several things we can do with our dogs during the winter months (aside from hunting) to not only keep our dogs sharp, but continue to advance […]
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How to Find the Perfect Hunting Buddy
How to Find the Perfect Hunting Buddy Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general of the United States, has said in recent years that the most prevalent health issue in the country is not cancer or heart disease or obesity. It is isolation. Murthy’s comment is good news to us who are overweight; finding a friend […]
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For the Love of the Hunt
For the Love of the Hunt One of the most enjoyable parts of hunting pheasants is hunting with a good hunting dog. Without one, it’s like trying to find the proverbial “needle in a haystack,” especially when hunting some of the massive public hunting areas around here. Filled with lots of good habitat, I’ve often […]
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2019 Roadside Survey
Iowa’s pheasant population steady, quail down Iowa’s pheasant hunters should expect to find a similar number of birds as last year, with the exception of south central and southeast Iowa, where the pheasant population decline was more significant. Based on the August roadside survey, Iowa’s statewide average is 17 pheasants per 30 mile route, down […]
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Common Errors Made by Pheasant Hunters
Common Errors Made by Pheasant Hunters One of my favorite experiences is the sudden machine gun-like cadence of an eruption of flapping wings, accompanied by the appearance of a long streamer of tail feathers and the beautiful cola colored outline of a rooster pheasant. In the age of digital media overstimulation it’s hard to find […]
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