Grouse hunters are oddballs. I know, because I am one. While a lot of people think it’s strange to spend your free time walking through the woods with a dog, a gun, and no place to go, there’s nothing I’d rather do in October and November. The Savage Fox A Grade is also an oddball. Even though it says “Fox” all over it, this side-by-side shotgun has little in common with the original A.H. Fox shotgun. And that’s what I like most about it.

Difference Between the Original Fox A Grade and the Savage Fox A Grade

Raspy trumpets descending from the heavens broke the crisp silence and broke me out of my ice fishing trance. It’s easy to lose yourself while staring into the flashing circles and lines of a Vexilar screen, but the first sandhill crane calls of the year would snap anyone back into reality. I looked up through my copper-tinted glasses and counted nearly 200 cranes flying west over Blue Mesa Reservoir towards Montrose’s agricultural fields and milder temperatures. That’s more cranes than were left in Wisconsin in the 1930s. Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) are one of North America’s great conservation successes. This enormous bird species was extirpated from many states within its home range almost a century ago. Today, they can be found across the entire North American continent and into Siberia. Amazingly, in 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated their population to be 945,996 cranes. They’re the most abundant crane species in the world. Between 1966 and 2019, their populations have been increasing about four percent annually, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Additionally, Partners in Flight estimates there are 560,000 breeding birds.

The Sandhill Crane: Habitat, Life History, and Hunting

The Remington Model 10 shotgun represents a time when shotgun advancement for repeating firearms was happening at lighting speed. First developed in 1908, it was used by the United States in World War 1 as a “trench gun” with shortened barrels. It became the first pump shotgun to use a bottom-ejecting style action. A model 17 in 20-gauge was introduced soon after. The shotgun’s legacy would go on until the Remington Model 29 was introduced in 1930. The only pump-action model shotgun Remington still offers today is the&nbsp;. Today, used Remington Model 10 shotguns can range from roughly $300 dollars to just over $1000 depending on the quality and condition. Below is part of an article entitled&nbsp;Bottom-Ejecting Shotguns, by Willis O. C. Ellis in the Firearms &amp; Ammunitions section of National Sportsman, October 1924. National Sportsman Magazine was a Boston-based publication edited by iconic upland and author&nbsp;.

Remington Model 10 – Pump-Action Shotgun

I worked part-time at a gun shop during my college years, which offered me the privilege of handling hundreds of used shotguns. As I stepped behind the gun counter one day to start an afternoon shift, I spied a unique 20-gauge side-by-side on the rack. Etched on the side of the left barrel I read, “BROWNING ARMS COMPANY.” Stamped on the right barrel was “B-S/S SPECIAL STEEL 20 GA.” I was instantly intrigued and, after breaking it open to be sure it wasn’t loaded, swung it on an imaginary covey rise of&nbsp;. I was abruptly awakened from my dream by Paul the veteran gun salesman barking at me, “You’re too late, kid, your buddy Fritz already bought it.” Fritz was the nickname of my colleague and friend who had, in fact, purchased it two hours prior to my arrival after it had been taken in on trade.&nbsp;Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s bird gun. But covet it I did. More of that story later…

Overview of the Browning BSS Side-by-Side Shotgun

I stood stock still, staring at the wall of ammunition behind the counter. Glancing over the multi-colored labels of flying pheasants, committed ducks, and scampering rabbits, my eyes glazed over. What did all of those numbers on the front of the boxes mean? I knew my&nbsp;&nbsp;was a 12-gauge, but beyond that I had no idea what I was doing.&nbsp;I was kicking myself for not asking more about the shells my mentor had handed me over the weekend. After several long moments of silence, without an attendant in sight, I lost my nerve and left empty-handed. It was a pretty rough day in my newly-fledged hunting career. Humbled, I reached out for guidance. That evening we dissected a&nbsp;&nbsp;from packaging label clear to the wad. Holding the pellets in my hand and seeing the gunpowder made it all click. The next time I was at the gun counter, still a bit awkward, at least I knew which box of shells I wanted.

First-Timer’s Guide to Buying Shotgun Shells

Truth be told, there is no foolproof method for ensuring that you never serve shot in the birds that you cook. However, there are several techniques to help reduce the chances of doing so, as well as some things to keep in mind if you’re worried about dishing out a smattering of shot with your upland meals.

How to Avoid Serving Shot in Your Upland Bird Meals

The sinkbox was effective for&nbsp;&nbsp;because it was flush with the water’s surface and nearly invisible ducks and geese, particularly to the low approach of&nbsp;. Its popularity began early, three decades before the Civil War, and it remained a waterfowling tool for over a hundred years. Originating on the North Atlantic Seaboard, its use eventually encompassed all the East Coast states, the Great Lakes, Salt Lake in&nbsp;, and south to&nbsp;&nbsp;and west to&nbsp;.&nbsp;Market hunters were the first gunners to embrace sinkboxes, and it later spread to the more intrepid of America’s sport hunters.&nbsp;

History of the Sinkbox

When it comes to evaluating&nbsp;—whether for breeding purposes or bragging rights—the methods and philosophies are as varied as hunters themselves. What constitutes a “good” hunting dog, and whose opinion counts? One hunter’s ideal dog could be a terrible match for someone else’s style, and vice versa.&nbsp; Non-competitive hunt tests came about as an attempt to standardize the evaluation of hunting dogs at various levels. The tests aren’t perfect, but they at least provide a consistent measuring stick for assessing the natural and trained skills of a hunting dog. For the versatile&nbsp;, perhaps the most well-known system is the&nbsp;&nbsp;(NAVHDA) testing system. NAVHDA offers four levels of non-competitive hunt tests: the&nbsp;, the Utility Test, and the national-level Invitational Test. Each of these tests is designed to mimic real-life hunting scenarios and assess the dog’s ability to focus and complete a given task. While the Natural Ability test is focused on the innate skills of pointing, tracking, and swimming, the higher-level tests introduce more trained subjects such as retrieving and steadiness.

NAVHDA Utility Test – A Complete Overview

I grew up during what appears today to be the stone age of upland hunting. It’s hard to believe we could simply throw on a bell and go out hunting. Admittedly, there were plenty of frustrating days when the dogs were having a really good time without us. It was just part of the gig back then. We talked to our dogs a lot, constantly commanding to keep them close and if possible, correcting what we could see and more often what we could hear. We were trained to follow the bell and never let it out of hearing range. When a dog went on point we would break into search parties to locate it. If we couldn’t find it, a shot would be fired into the air in hopes we would hear a ding of the bell.&nbsp; With the development of today’s hunting technology, we now have the luxury of knowing more about our hunting dogs than ever before. We can hunt comfortably, saying very little to our dogs while enjoying all the sights and sounds our covers have to offer. We know where our dogs are, where they’ve been, how fast they are moving, when they are pointing, or when they are not. We are even able to extend our physical influence out for miles. Though electronic collars (e-collars) are amazing, it’s important to recognize that they are your best friend and your worst enemy at the same time.

Introducing a Dog to an E-Collar

Nowadays, when we think of duck hunting, we imagine scenes of wing-shooting&nbsp;&nbsp;in a marsh or stubble field. However, before the invention of firearms, ducks were not shot on the wing. They were caught with snares, shot with a bow and arrow or driven into nets. Eventually, techniques were even developed to lure ducks into cages. So for centuries before the invention of the modern shotgun, the main goal of waterfowlers was to get as close as possible to sitting ducks. And even when the first shotguns did appear, they were too heavy and inaccurate to use for wingshooting, so hunters still had to somehow get close to sitting ducks so they could shoot them on the water. They had two choices: crawl, wade or paddle closer to where the ducks were or, somehow, lure the ducks closer to shore. One such luring method was ‘tolling,’ a technique that hunters learned long ago by watching wild foxes draw ducks closer to shore.

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever in History and Today

The English Setter was America’s first bird dog. And rightly so; they’re known for being incredible hunting partners regardless of the terrain or quarry. As a result, they have a long history in North America, and evidence of that can be found in classic upland bird hunting texts like&nbsp;&nbsp;by George Bird Evans. However, this&nbsp;&nbsp;was originally developed across the Atlantic Ocean in England.&nbsp; Rather ironically, the more time passes, the&nbsp;. “Wildly popular in some regions, more or less unknown in others, they face extinction in their native land,” says Craig Koshyk in his book&nbsp;. Over 15,000 pups are born in Italy each year, and only 250 are born in England. Italy, France, and Norway have taken the English Setter as a breed and ran with it, and their “influence on the development of the breed cannot be overstated,” said Koshyk.

English Setter: Characteristics, Abilities, and History

The Labrador Duck was a beautiful black and white type of sea duck considered the first species of North American birds to go extinct during modern times. The last Labrador Duck to be hunted was shot in 1878 in Elmira,&nbsp;. It is presumed that the species went extinct shortly after.&nbsp; The loss of the Labrador duck is not your typical ecological warning about the dangers of over-harvesting, market hunting, or a general lack of conservation, but a reminder of the fragility and interconnectedness of our ecosystems to the flora and fauna that inhabit them.&nbsp; One of the many challenges for biologists and historians when researching past hunting, harvesting, and taxidermy records of the Labrador duck is that it’s a species with many names. It’s an eider-type sea duck, also known as a pied duck, which includes the&nbsp;&nbsp;and Surf Scooter, leading to confusion about which historical entries are appropriate for which duck. Colloquially, it was also known as a skunk duck and the sand shoal duck due to its respective skunk-like black and white appearance and proclivity for sifting through sand bars near shallow estuaries.

The Labrador Duck: A Tale of Modern Extinction

When your dog is in a&nbsp;calm&nbsp;state, they are ready to learn and will do so even if you’re not intending to teach them anything. I was at a sportsman club in Maine chatting it up with folks when my&nbsp;&nbsp;started tugging at the lead. Without much thought I&nbsp;reached in my pocket, called her in and treated her throughout the day. What I had inadvertently done is intermittently reinforced an undesirable behavior of lunging on the lead. The dog learned that if she goes to the end of the lead the doggie Pez dispenser unloads its payload of treats. I’m to this day trying to extinguish that behavior.

The Five Mental States of Dogs in Training

During my time at Deerfield Elementary School in southern&nbsp;, my fourth-grade teacher taught us about Wisconsin’s geological history. I recall learning about glaciers, the formation of our local drumlins, and how unique the unglaciated driftless area is when it comes to midwestern landscapes. However, I don’t recall Mr. Meyer teaching my class about the&nbsp;&nbsp;located in the northwestern part of the state.&nbsp; This habitat type was also formed by glaciers, although they had the opposite effect. This expanse of poor-quality, sandy soils is exactly where the glaciers scraped across the surface of what is now Wisconsin. Post-ice age, pine barrens covered 2.7 million acres in this region. Sadly, interconnected barrens broken up by young stands of jack pine are difficult to come by these days. In fact, pine and oak barrens are a globally threatened habitat type. “Red, white, and jack pine as well as oak and some aspen were present in historic pine barrens, but in patches, not large swaths of forests,” said Mike Amman, the Bayfield County forester and the Vice President for the&nbsp;. Amman continued, saying that reforestation created dense stands of red and jack pine, which were and are managed for timber production. However, the tree density and sheer total acreage of these areas came at the expense of the historically open barrens. Barrens-related species’ populations have fallen drastically, including the&nbsp;.

Sharp-tailed Grouse of Wisconsin – Firebirds of the Northwest Sands

The Ojibwe, the indigenous people of the Great Lakes region, tell a story of how they were starving and aninaatig (sugar maple) fed the tribe with syrup (zhiiwaagamizigan) that gushed forth from its wood. Soon, the people took the gift of sugar from the Creator for granted. They lay under aninaatig all day and just let the syrup drip into their mouths.&nbsp; One day, the trickster&nbsp;&nbsp;saw this and poured water into aninaatig, diluting the syrup into watered-down sap. He wanted the Ojibwe to work for the blessing of maple syrup and make them truly appreciate it. Today, this is why it takes about 40 gallons of sap and a lot of effort to make a gallon of syrup.&nbsp;&nbsp;

How to Make Homemade Maple Syrup

Have you ever hunted over a dog with a sixth sense for finding birds? Perhaps the dog had a higher-than-average drive to push out to find game. Or maybe it was highly intelligent and sought the most productive cover. Its exceptional nose could’ve been dialed in. Regardless of the attribute, it must have had a cooperative temperament, trusted its handler’s leadership, and would follow them to the ends of the world.&nbsp; The culmination of all of these characteristics creates a legendary&nbsp;. However, the dog knows how to search for a cover in a manner that leaves little opportunity for birds to be missed outperforms all other dogs.&nbsp; Developing this level of teamwork starts with a dog willing to hunt for and with you. For me, this begins through teaching it to quarter with the&nbsp;&nbsp;starting at a young age.

Developing a Hunting Dog's Bird Searching and Quartering Skills

Bird&nbsp;&nbsp;at its core is&nbsp;behavior modification reliant upon catching your dog in the thought process and being able to read their emotions. Doing so allows us to predict behaviors before they occur, thereby maximizing the potential for learning. Also, the character of the dog at that moment and the behaviors they are exhibiting dictates the amount of pressure required to gain compliance. Pressure&nbsp;comes in various forms. Understanding pressure and how to use it is entirely another article in itself. Basically, pressure can be generated in a variety of ways.&nbsp;Food&nbsp;pressure is when the dog feels internal pressure to&nbsp;. The leash and collar is an example of&nbsp;physical&nbsp;pressure. Standing in the proximity of your dog places&nbsp;spatial&nbsp;pressure on them and using corrective tones places&nbsp;verbal&nbsp;pressure on them.&nbsp;Social&nbsp;pressure can even come from the competition of using other dogs.

Training to the Character of Your Dog

Some say the sweetest springtime sounds come from . As many turkey hunters have experienced, real turkeys aren’t always the ones producing that cacophony of yelps. Oftentimes, on crowded small parcels of land, one may be seduced by the sounds emanating from what turns out to be a hungry hunter, not a . Hunters using turkey calls have tricked birds and humans alike for years.

Hand-Carving Turkey Pot Call Strikers

I’m sure you noticed that you can’t make a move your bird dog doesn’t notice. It’s kind of creepy at times finding your dog at the door staring at you the moment the thought crosses your mind to go out&nbsp;&nbsp;or hunting, as if they are somehow reading your mind. It’s because they’ve been studying your every move since the day you brought them home. They know things about you that you don’t even realize. They have learned to become a bilingual behaviorist to be able to read you as well as their own doggy world. We owe it to them and it’s to our benefit to attempt to figure out how to read their language to become bilingual ourselves. It’s only then we learn to develop that harmonious hunting relationship we all dream to have with our dog.&nbsp;

Learning to Read a Dog’s Body Language for Training

Being part of the hunting and shooting industry, I get to try the latest and greatest new guns every year. But when I’m not toting a gun for work, I’m usually carrying a vintage shotgun. My duck and pigeon gun turned 100 this year, and my&nbsp;&nbsp;isn’t far behind it.&nbsp; I have a safe full of old&nbsp;,&nbsp;,&nbsp;, and&nbsp;, and I’ll probably never get rid of them. Sure, I’m a sucker for patina, nice engraving, and all of the little things that make an old gun great. But what I love most about vintage shotguns is learning about where they came from, how they were made, and how they handle in the field.&nbsp;

Why Hunt With a Vintage Shotgun?

So what if my dog has a wiggle butt and flags a bit on point? It’s kinda cute and still gets meat to the frying pan. If that’s the case and your dog will efficiently hunt, locate plenty of birds for you and stand point, I would happily agree with you. More often than not, however, it will affect your hunt in some aspect as it’s a symptom of underlying holes in your bird&nbsp;. It could develop into, amongst other things, a restrictive search, blinked retrieves, self hunting, ripping birds, stealing points and retrieves—which not only limits productivity in the field, it guarantees relentless ribbing from your hunting buddies. In my last&nbsp;Project Upland&nbsp;article, we discussed some of the nuances of reading your bird&nbsp;&nbsp;and figuring out what they are trying to tell you. I referenced flagging as a specific undesirable action in a&nbsp;. Let’s delve into that a little bit deeper to gain some understanding.

Understanding and Flagging in a Bird Dog

Our bird dog training routine has been completely uprooted, though my dogs are thoroughly enjoying all the extra training. Unfortunately for many people, what would have been the start of training season with friends and professional trainers has now become a stay-at-home DIY situation. Nevertheless, we can take this extra time to get some excellent training drills put together and maybe even include the family in the routines. For starters, we will look at building up one of the most important commands in the&nbsp;&nbsp;world –&nbsp;“Whoa.”

Whoa Training on Your Home Staircase

The reverberation of a&nbsp;&nbsp;drumming during early mornings in spring forests is one of the most magical sounds. When you hear it, it starkly contrasts against all other sounds found in the springtime. Its unique nature provokes human curiosity and admiration. No doubt, that very same feeling we get today is what sparked&nbsp;&nbsp;to write a letter to his home in England in 1750, describing the unusual behavior of a bird he called the Ruffed Heath-Cock.

Ruffed Grouse Drumming – The Mysterious Noise of Northern Forests

Sit and stay is a tall order. I don’t know about you, but this is no easy task for me or my bird dogs. Many of us are now quarantined in our homes. I’m sitting here writing this article with four very patient&nbsp;&nbsp;huddled up beside me awaiting anything remotely training related. And so place training is one of the things that can be accomplished at home and even with some help from the kids. If you have ever been&nbsp;&nbsp;with a young or developmental&nbsp;, you know how stressful whining and barking can be. Instead of watching that sunrise with your favorite cup of joe, you find yourself wrestling your hunting dog to keep it quiet and still. It’s in those times we realize that we should have better prepared our dog to control its emotions. Blaine Carter from Merrymeeting Kennels has created a series of at home drills that helps eliminate the issue.&nbsp;

Place Training in Your Home

As you might guess from the name, the Eurasian collared-dove (Streptopelia decaocto) is not a native bird. In fact, its original range is in the Middle East and Asia, but they spread throughout Europe and were introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s. From that short flight to Florida, it has had no problem colonizing much of North America in a very short timeframe. Like other dove and pigeon species, it thrives in urban and suburban areas with ample food sources available, but can survive well in dry, open farmlands and scrub-shrub habitats too. Keep reading if you’d like to learn more about this aggressive intruder that could provide you with a lot more hunting opportunities.

Eurasian Collared-Dove – A Migratory Game Bird Profile | Written by Ryan Lisson

“It’s just an old Stevens, nothing special,” I said, when asked about the gun. I have to admit, the metal two-gun Americase I was traveling with was likely worth more than its contents. But then again, humans have a penchant for assigning value to inanimate objects, not based on outright cash price, but rather based on sentiment, history, or perception. I was at Grouse Camp in Minnesota, with folks who were sporting , , , and I remember defending the gun, while feeling a bit ashamed. It was no fault of theirs by any stretch, and it was certainly not the first time I felt like I needed to defend my little 20-gauge.&nbsp;

The Stevens 315 Side-by-side Shotgun, History, Cost, and Use

Let’s face it, a truck or sport utility vehicle makes for the ideal hunting rig. But let’s consider that for those who own neither, but drive a passenger car or even a van, how does that affect their capability to go bird hunting?

Bird Hunting by Car - Working with What You Have

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