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After the recent film In Our Veins featuring the fourth generation of the AYA name Alex Aranzabal, there has been an increase in emails and questions regarding AYA shotguns and the revival of this Spanish gunmaker. There is some information floating around about the storied history of AYA shotguns but here we will give a more detailed and accurate account of the history, manufacturing process, and shotgun models that are now hitting the U.S. We've also compiled a list of places you can go to buy AYA shotguns and order custom fit models.

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Nutrition is an area that seems to either be overlooked or over-analyzed by most bird dog owners. Since hunting dogsare canine athletes in the truest sense of the word, though, nutrition should be an area of top concern for all dog owners — and even more so for those running these high-class athletes. You can find a pup out of the best bloodlines in the country and send him to one of the top trainers in the world. But if that dog is not fed a diet designed for optimal growth as a puppy and top performance as an adult, you may be preventing that pup from reaching its maximum potential.

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The memories have a little less intensity to them from the days I was living them, but I can still recall feeling a level of defeat and impossibility when training my bird dog. I could probably list volumes on the mistakes I made, the lack of hope I had, and the just plain feeling of being lost. I dug through books, videos, and articles to ask simple questions, ranging from “Were do I even begin?” to “What in the world is going on?”

One of the smartest things I ever did was to seek professional help. Getting the opportunity to be with a professional trainer, ask them questions and learning hands-on worked for me. It gave my daily training sessions at home a purpose. Although it seemed like I had a plan, still, I felt alone. So here I’ve complied a group of stories, articles, and films that might help you feel a little less crazy about how impossible it can seem.

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While most of Kentucky is privately owned, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife owns or operates over 85 wildlife management areas available to the public. In addition to these WMAs, the state of Kentucky has opened up private properties to the public known as Hunting Access Areas in partnership with land owners.

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Let me be up front. Grasping the idea of shotgun chokes eluded me for many years. All that was ever explained to me was that the more open the choke, the faster the spread. Simple and accurate — but not helpful when it came to practical application. What I wish had happened was that someone would have said to me, “The choke you should use depends on the distance you are shooting at your game.” Being primarily a woodcock and ruffed grouse hunter, wide open chokes have always worked for me.

However, I never fully grasped the science underlying the reasons behind choosing one choke over another. My reasoning was simple: for fast birds in tight cover, I want the shot to spread quickly. My guiding principle should have been the idea that most birds will be shot between 10 and 25 yards, making the choice of a skeet and IC choke make sense in a double-barrel shotgun.

Before we go any further, let’s investigate the history of shotgun chokes.

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Hunting sage grouse without a dog -- is there such a thing? The fact is that many people hunt birds without a dog. Lots of times a big game hunt will need to add some diversity to the hunt, resulting in a walk with a shotgun. Other times people just want to get out in the uplands but don’t have the connivance of a bird dog or maybe just do not want one along.

Sage grouse tend to live in big open country with lots of sage that can look all the same. Walking aimlessly through that country hoping to bump into a bird may work, but there are ways to add  structure and purpose to your stroll.

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If I were to make a top-five list of important gear when I go bird hunting, the Dogtra 2700T&B would be on that list right after my bird dog. That is a bold statement and maybe more of a confession of how much I've come to rely on this collar. In fact, this e-collar has become a part of my daily life, not just for hunting upland birds and training.

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We have all heard the legends of William Harden Foster sitting around upland campfires and no doubt at some point you may have heard him called the “Father of Skeet.” Through the years, that has been interpreted as the founder of skeet. But it turns out that even though he had a hand in popularizing skeet shooting, the famous ruffed grouse hunter, artist, and writer from Andover, Mass., did not invent the sport. That distinction is held by Charles Davis, an avid ruffed grouse hunter.

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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.

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