Before I get into the hunting photos, I just noticed as I logged into the dashboard to write this post that this is my 400th blog post. What started out as an easy way to show puppy photos to my families has really grown into a passion project. Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey that has taken my mediocre writing all over the globe. I started writing poetry and essays in elementary school, eventually moving on to high school, college and small town newspaper, then corporate technical and catalog writing and now this. We are in a semi-retirement period in regards to puppies and do not currently have any breeding plans and are not taking any reservations or deposits. We’ll let you know once that changes. I’m always at bluestemkennels@gmail.com to answer questions from my owners or puppy updates.

Alec Schrank has Luna, a 2025 X Litter puppy between Obi and Sally. I somehow missed his quail hunting photo with his buddies from last year when I was compiling the pupdates over the last month or so. She did 26 retrieves!

Three hunters posing by the back of a pickup truck, with a hunting dog sitting on the tailgate and a collection of game birds laid out.
Alec with Luna and his buddies, along with a bunch of quail

She also got a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize I with a maximum score of 112 points at the Volunteer Chapter test over in Tennessee recently. He said, “Rainy morning in Pelham, TN. We got delayed about an hour for lightning, but then it was great conditions aside from the light wind. Luna KILLED the pheasant track.” I’ve always thought that the pheasant track is the hardest part of the natural ability test, sometimes the dog gets way off and never does find the bird. I’m so proud to hear that Obi and Sally’s pup got down to business! Congratulations to Alec and Luna!

A person in an orange safety vest kneels next to a large dog in front of a banner that reads 'VOLUNTEER CHAPTER NAVHDA' with logos and a scenic green landscape in the background.
Alec with Luna at the Volunteer Chapter test with a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize I, maximum score 112 points

Nebraska Sandhills 2026

Our son Caleb went out to the Nebraska Sandhills over his fall break with Charles and had a productive hunt. It was in the 90s in the afternoon, so it was too hot to hunt the dunes. He didn’t get to connect with any grouse, but he did get a drake woodduck while jump hunting ducks along the creeks. That is one of my favorite ducks to harvest with them being so colorful. Caleb said that he enjoyed getting some shooting in. He was annoyed with the fact that the woodduck dove under the creek bank with some heavy brush after it had been hit and Belle couldn’t get in there to get ahold of it. He ended up having to reach in there and grab it with his hand. But at least the duck was retrieved. The hen woodduck pictured here was harvested by Charles.

A young person in camouflage clothing stands in a grassy field, holding two ducks in each hand while displaying a shotgun slung across their body against a clear blue sky.
Caleb with a drake and a hen woodduck

Charles finally did get into some sharptailed grouse after Caleb flew back to the Carolinas. NAVHDA senior judge and longtime Griffon owner Ron Granai along with Ted Gagnon of Wet Acres Griffons made the trip out there from Massachusetts, but they all had a sparse hunt. The Sandhills involve so much walking and many times you are chasing birds hundreds of yards from one dune to the next, it is definitely not easy!

Two dogs resting in a field with tall grass, beside a fence displaying a shotgun and hanging game birds under a clear blue sky.
Molly and Belle with a couple of sharptailed grouse on October 10th
A brown and white dog playing in tall grass, holding a toy in its mouth.
Belle retrieving two sharptailed grouse at once on October 11th

Charles then took a break to work-from-home at my mom’s house before he headed up to North Dakota. This also gave the dogs a well-needed rest.

North Dakota 2026

Charles had a banner year in North Dakota, probably the best in the last decade. The corn and sunflowers were still standing dry and the soybeans were harvested. They had a cool, wet spring, unlike the moderate drought conditions in the Sandhills. Obi and Belle did the heavy lifting with pointing and retrieving. Molly was along for the hunt, but did find a downed rooster before the others did towards the end of the hunt.

Three dogs standing in a field next to large straw bales with a blue sky in the background. Some hunting birds are visible on top of the bales.
Obi, Molly and Belle with the rooster limit on October 17th
Three hunting dogs sitting on grass in a field, with a fence in the background. Several pheasants are hanging on the fence, and the sky is clear with a few clouds.
Obi, Belle and Molly with a grouse, two green winged teal and two roosters for October 18th
Three dogs sitting in front of a pickup truck with a metal dog crate, surrounded by tall grass and two dead pheasants on the tailgate.
Obi, Molly and Belle with the bird bag for October 19th
A grassy landscape with two hunting dogs lying on the ground and three pheasants standing near a wooden post with a blank sign.
Tired dogs: Obi, Belle and Molly with a nice mature North Dakota rooster limit for October 20th
Two dogs sitting in a field with two birds hanging on a fence in the background, under a clear blue sky.
Obi, Belle and Molly with a couple of roosters for the last day on October 21st.

Charles will make one more trip out to Nebraska later on this year for a late season pheasant hunt in Nebraska. He also has a woodcock hunt in the works for somewhere here in the Southeastern U.S. I did not dress my dogs up for Halloween for yet another year, but I love to watch social media for the other dressed up dogs. Everyone out there keep enjoying the fall litters, hunting, hunt testing and all other things dog fun.