projectupland.com On The Go

Weatherby’s addition of a new side-by-side shotgun can be viewed as a welcome newcomer or a resurrection story. The original Weatherby Orion side-by-side shotgun was first produced in Spain from 2002-2003. Next came the Athena D’Italia side-by-side shotgun, which was Italian-built. The newcomer is a very exciting play on the entry-level side-by-side Turkish market called the Weatherby Orion SxS. Its $1,099 MSRP makes it a real player in a small line of side-by-sides under $1,200.

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The upland scene has recently seen many first-time Mearns’ quail hunters. My hunting buddy, Kyle Hedges, and I are no exception. Mearns’ quail are the ultimate bucket list quail species in the United States. They are rivaled, perhaps, only by the mountain quail. In the age of social media, many hunters have discovered this dynamic little bird with males so beautifully colored they almost don’t seem real. Their beauty, coupled with their gorgeous oak-juniper savanna habitat, means Mearns’ quail have gotten lots of attention lately.

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My first bird dog, Cooper, and I had just begun our journey into the uplands when I learned about falconry. Initially, I found falconry through social media. Online, I saw folks using various species of birds to hunt multiple species of game, including goshawks on quail, red-tail hawks on squirrels, and falcons on prairie grouse. What set falconry apart from any other sport I enjoyed from afar was seeing the various ways falconers incorporated dogs into the hunt. 

So many different breeds of dogs are used to achieve success in the field, including Dachshunds, terriers, sighthounds, and bird dogs. After creeping on falconry social media accounts, I took a few trips to the desert to watch falconers fly their birds over Vizslas, setters, terriers, and Brittanys on quail. That was that; I was hooked on falconry. Hunting upland game with a bird of prey over my dog was written in the stars of my future.

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f you find yourself reading this, it is because you are interested in becoming a bird hunter. In the cultural sense, upland bird hunting is the pursuit of upland game birds with gun dogs to shoot a bird on the wing. This definition and methodology have evolved with time based on strong conservation ethics, something we will discuss in greater detail shortly.

Contrary to popular belief, the term “bird hunter” is similar to “big game hunter.” Like someone saying, “I am a deer hunter,” or “I am a bear hunter,” people often identify by the species they hunt. For example, folks will be more specific and state, “I am a grouse hunter” or “I am a chukar hunter.” Each upland bird species has its own complex behavior, habitat, and even hunting methodologies. Be wary of “Upland Hunting 101” articles when searching for information for this exact reason. 

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For most dog breeds, there is no black-and-white answer regarding the best time to neuter or spay your dog. Although several studies now support later sterilization, some breeds still don’t have a lot of data on them. Another component, and perhaps the most important piece that needs to be considered, are the dog’s owners themselves. A dog owner’s ability to keep and maintain intact animals and shoulder additional financial responsibilities that may come with them is a huge consideration when deciding when to neuter or spay your dog.

Here’s my professional opinion regarding when to spay or neuter your dog.

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One of history’s most famous 16-gauge shotguns was known as “The Little Gun.” It was built by Parker Bros in 1889 and “was billed to Mr. D. W. Parker, then treasurer of the Parker Company.” In 1893, it went to Everel Harnden, the grandfather of the famous “godfather” of ruffed grouse hunting, William Hardnen Foster. Foster would shoot his first grouse on the wing with it at 12 years old in 1898 before he went on to write the iconic classic, New England Grouse Shooting, published in 1942. 

For the most part, the 16-gauge probably garnered its popularity in the United States by pellet counts. Classic American manufacturers like Parker Bros, A.H. Fox, L.C. Smith, and others helped the gauge gain familiarity and popularity. The gauge peaked in American culture in the 1940s and 1950s when almost a quarter of all shotguns sold were 16-gauges. The 12-gauge accounted for just over 50 percent of shotguns sold at that time, according to author Layne Simpson of Shotguns & Shotgunning.

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A wonderful collection of charming stories about days spent afield with gundogs was published in 1938. The title was The Dog in Sport, and in it, author J. Wentworth Day wrote, “There were Ponto and Tanto, the two great, solemn-eyed, double-nosed Spanish pointers who lurked in a dignified way about the house, a gentle gloom upon their countenances. They were the grandchildren of the Spanish pointers owned by my great-grandfather, Robert Asplan, the little, old, dapper gentleman who wore black knee-breeches with stockings and silver-buckled shoes.”

When I first read those lines I almost said aloud, “What the heck is a double-nosed Spanish pointer?” I’d heard about Spanish pointers; they were said to be the granddaddy of the modern (English) pointer. But “double-nosed”? What was that? A nose that did double duty, air scenting and tracking? Or did double-nosed describe a physical feature? Searching the literature, I eventually found out. Freeman Lloyd, a noted American journalist, wrote in an issue of the AKC’s Gazette magazine published in the 1930s that some dogs had noses “like the double barrels of a shotgun.”

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Is steel a more than effective option for upland bird hunting? Before anyone spins this story into something it is not: lead is more effective than steel. I will not claim otherwise. But, the efficacy gaps we have come to believe are infinitely smaller than we think and, in my opinion, insignificant in the discussion of lethality for upland game. Scientists have looked into everything from killing efficiency to the impact of steel on shot patterns. As we will find, the story we have been told does not match up with what research has shown.

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“Time’s up! Please turn in your exam,” announced my Biology 101 professor. Are you kidding me? There are time limits on tests? Did I even use the right study guide? Feelings of bewilderment and dejection swelled in me as I sheepishly handed over my first big test failure during my freshman year of college. It was a wake-up call to the fact that I wasn’t in high school anymore. Eventually, I figured out what it took to be successful, and I made my way through the course.

Just like a high schooler entering the real world, an accomplished dog in its testing doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be an accomplished dog on wild game. In fact, I can almost guarantee that there will be an adjustment period. Until the dog bridges the gap from training birds to wild ones, they’ll flounder. This begs the question: why do dogs sometimes struggle to make this transition? Also, what is our part as handlers in helping our dog make the transition? Here’s my reasoning behind why many dogs struggle finding and pointing birds during hunting season and some suggestions to help them transition.

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n Mongolia, among the Kazakh people of the Altai mountains, there is an ancient poem that lists the things every true nomad should have. Chief among these are a “brave eagle” and a “swift dog.” Of course, a fast horse and a loyal wife are important too, but there is a reason that eagles and dogs win the top spots. For thousands of years, trained golden eagles and sighthounds—sleek sinewy dogs built for speed and endurance—have worked together in pursuit of hare and foxes.

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