Scott Linden Outdoors

Your response to last week’s post was most gratifying. So here are some more ideas and suggestions to make this season’s hunting more productive and more fun … for you and your dog.

– Chukar hunters should be loath to give up altitude. If you are finding birds at one elevation, stay there, sidehilling to cover ground. Unless there’s a good reason, don’t follow escaping birds down the hill only to have to climb it again.

– The best bedding in an outside dog kennel or house is grass hay. It breaks down slower than straw and makes less dust. Cedar shavings are pretty strong-smelling and might impact a dog’s scenting ability.

– Remove the entrails of shot birds immediately after they’re retrieved to help them cool quickly. In wintry conditions, stuff some snow into the body cavity. Scuff a hole in the dirt and bury the guts – unless your dog is riding in the back of the truck – bird innards are fart fuel.

– When fogged-over shooting glasses leave you stranded in a pea-soup of your own making, turn your hat around. Put the bill in back where it won’t catch your exhaled breath, hang around your glasses, and condense on the lens.

– Introduce all current and new dogs to each other on neutral territory. When picking up new puppies we meet in the breeder’s yard, not mine, and avoid turf battles. The same strategy works with dogs that are going to hunt together.

– Having trouble getting your dog to give up whatever he’s got in his mouth? Gently pinch the loose skin on his flank, or blow sharply right into his nose. If that won’t work, toss your hat or something else into his line of sight – he might chase after it, dropping the bird.

– Lost your dog? Track into the wind, as there’s a good chance he got a whiff of something attractive like a deer, possum or female dog. Notify mail carriers, etc. Put a shirt you’ve worn, along with a bowl of water, where you last saw him and check back in the morning.

– Burning eyes and fatigue are common early signs of dehydration in humans.

– As you approach a bird to flush it, don’t look where the bird is sitting – look in the general direction you expect it to fly. Your eyes (let alone your gun muzzle) can’t move as fast as a flushing bird and you’ll likely shoot behind it.