Upland Hunting

Getting Youth Involved in Pheasant Season

Bird Habitats in Iowa

Bird Habitats in Iowa Iowa’s landscape is home to many bird species. From timber to grasslands and wetlands, different habitats support both migratory and resident birds. These landscapes not only provide food and protection for Iowa’s avian friends, but also benefit water quality through erosion control, water filtration, and pollinator support. Intense agricultural practices have […]

Train for Upland Game

Train for Upland Game Let’s face it, upland hunting is less enjoyable without a good bird dog. I’d even say it’s not enjoyable to hunt without a dog. Similarly, it’s not enjoyable to upland hunt with an out-of-control dog. It’s common sense, a dog will cover more ground and find more birds than we ever […]

Why Your Dog Isn’t Steady

Why Your Dog Isn’t Steady If you talk to any hunt testers they will tell you that there are two kinds of dogs; dogs that do not break, and dogs that haven’t broke yet! It is a subtle joke that stems around the idea that all dogs have the possibility of breaking, both in a […]

Selecting Loads for Pheasant Season

Selecting Loads for Pheasant Season It’s that time of the year again, when many of us dream about opening day for hunting the wily rooster pheasant. For nearly 60 years, which starts to date me, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed chasing the old rooster, almost always behind my favorite dog. We have always enjoyed the experience hunting […]

Benefits of Frost Seeding Upland Habitat

Frost Seeding Upland Habitat Have you ever wanted to improve your upland hunting and wildlife viewing success on private land? Maybe you have an area you can improve. Iowa has lots of monocultures of pastures that have overtaken idle areas. These monocultures lack structure and variety that wildlife crave, and in turn do not support […]

Hunting Cut Silage for Doves in Taylor County

Hunting Cut Silage for Doves in Taylor County When I first got interested in dove hunting it was something I had only seen on outdoor shows on television. I had recently left active duty and had been hunting waterfowl while living in Cajun country in southern Louisiana. Even living in a state known as “The […]

Your New Puppy Pt. 4: Starting our Gundog

Your New Puppy Pt. 4: Starting our Gundog Finally, we have reached part 4 of our mini-series covering how to bring our puppy home, what to focus on, and how to progress in our training program. At this point we are ready to introduce the electronic collar, begin introductory field work and conditioning our dogs […]