Upland Hunting Trips | Bluestem Kennels

Busy Spring News

March 2, 2023

Charity Upchurch AKC Hunt Tests, AWPGA, Hunting Tales, Puppy Update, Regional Update and/or Misc., Upland Hunting Trips Arizona Quail Hunting, AWPGA Eastern Regional Specialty 2023, Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Bird Hunting, Puppies, South Carolina Woodcock, South Carolina Woodcock Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

I apologize for my absence from the blog and social media in general. Organizing the trophies for the Eastern Regional Specialty Dog Show in York, Pennsylvania has taken up so much time. Not only did I have to figure out all of the placements for three shows, but then I had to figure out the budget for each placement and order a prize. I think that I’m getting closer to the end of the process. The trophies are all hunting dog items, so where I’ve written for hunting dog catalogs and have just been a bird dog junk junkie for 15 years it was actually fun to shop for the items. I was able to give business to all of the major players: Cabela’s, Orvis, Filson, Gun Dog Supply, Lion Country Supply and Ugly Dog Hunting. Those are all unpaid shout outs and they all had something unique to contribute to the cause.

If you are in the area and are interested in attending the field day, shows and hunt tests, there is still a bit of time to get signed up. You can hang out at the show and hunt tests without registering, you have to register for the field day if you want to attend. Here is the official link for everything on the AWPGA website: https://www.awpga.com/2023-eastern-regional-specialty.html?fbclid=IwAR033mOiXX-XiL6OPJn4xiZJYNeRTyoUns6W4kUXN9M4nAWs1FmKcxpPkVM

So here is the basic schedule: Thursday is the Field Day at York Pointer and Setter Club, Friday is ALL DAY of dog shows: Sweeps, Supported Entry and Regional Specialty. For those of you new to dog shows, what will happen is that the classes of the first show run, then we go through best of breed for that show. Then we go to the second show where the same thing happens, you go through the classes, the best of each class is awarded, then it goes to best of breed. We do it a third time for the Regional Specialty. It will be a very exciting day to see many old friends, but also stressful and chaotic with so much going on. I have never helped with that many shows all in one day, they are usually spread out over multiple days. This whole schedule is intense, since we are doing double/double AKC hunt tests Saturday and Sunday.

Due to the intensity of the schedule for the performance events and the fact that it is St. Patrick’s Day that Friday night, there is no banquet scheduled. Those of us who are running dogs Saturday morning in the hunt tests have to be at the field ready to go by 7:30 AM, so we’ll need to start moving in the morning around 5:30 AM. We’ll probably get some dinner groups together at the show for Friday night just by word-of-mouth and those of us who have to be up early the following day will be done by 9 PM.

I am running our young dogs Duke and Sally in AKC Senior Hunter at the York Pointer and Setter Club. Since it is a double/double, I’ll be doing four runs a day (two runs a day with two dogs) for a total of eight runs. There will be lunch available to purchase at the hunt tests both Saturday and Sunday. Once again, there are no formal dinner plans and we’ll just bunch up and figure things out during the day.

In the event that you are looking for me at the shows or the hunt tests, here are some pictures of me. I am usually behind the camera instead of in front of it. I have a blaze orange knee length dress that I am planning on wearing to the shows, so I should be easy to spot.

Breeding Update

As of right now, I have eleven reservations with deposit for my Fall 2023 litter between Obi and Ruth. As my deposits are fully refundable until the pups are three weeks old, these numbers can change rapidly depending on peoples’ life situations. I have frequently had four or five folks defer to the following year in those first three weeks. Obi and Ruth will be having their last litter before Ruth’s retirement in the Spring of 2024, so should there not be enough pups in the Fall of 2023 the reservations can roll over. We’ll also be breeding Sally and Duke in Spring 2024. Feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to express interest in the litters. I know that I have a few emails sitting in my inbox needing responses, so if one of those is yours from the last few days, I will be getting to them this afternoon (I also had to get my tax information to my accountant this week, so I’m sort of on brain fry mode, sorry).

As far as the specific breeding schedule for the fall, Ruth had her winter heat cycle at the end of January. So that means if my experience from the past is correct, her summer cycle will be at the end of July. Pups would then be born at the end of September and go home around Thanksgiving. That is all guesstimation from past experience and Mother Nature is in control.

Social Media Info

I am not going to be on TikTok. I downloaded the app and started looking at videos one day and the very next day the financial information stored in my phone was compromised. I caught it before my bank did since I was looking for it. So no TikTok for me.

Instagram is a lot of ads. Also, the AI censors hunting photos from hashtags. So if I have dead birds and a gun in my pictures, it gets wiped from the hashtag almost instantly. I am going to use it sparingly. Once I start backing up old hunting photos again this summer, I will get those posted. I will try to be more active on it, but like I say, I am a bit salty about the censorship. The two pups from the “R” Litter are very active on there under the accounts @griffons.griffon and @thelifeandtimesofbeatricebriar. The first one follows Chase Wiley with his family here in the Charlotte suburbs, the second follows Beatrice Briar as a Kentucky ultramarathon trail dog with her veterinarian dog dad.

Even though this blog/website is thirteen years old and my photo galleries are pretty sketchy with their organization (I will fix it this summer), this is my primary tool. I have to use my English degree skills somewhere. I am not good at little tidbits of information spread out through days and weeks. I have to sit down and write you an essay. I also like Facebook since it is full of Boomers and Gen X, those are my people. My page there is old and has a lot of followers, so I’ll just keep riding that until we are all in the nursing home I guess. I do not have anyone else with login access to this blog. I do not have a “last post” written and in storage anywhere. The thought of doing estate planning on this website does not appeal to me and I’m just not there yet. So hopefully the construction dumptrucks of the Carolinas continue to avoid hitting me.

YouTube is what I use to make videos of puppies anymore. I would love to do grooming and training videos someday, but I need to figure out the whole Patreon racket so that I get paid for views. And although I have the hardware to do video content, I also need to invest in Adobe Creative Cloud software, specifically the Premier Pro video editor, to do my art the way that I want it to look. And then I need to train myself on it. So hopefully more YouTube content will be rolling in the next year or so (weekly low budget puppy videos will continue as normal without change for now).

South Carolina Woodcock

Charles and Obi wrapped up the woodcock season at the end of January with one in the bag. I have to be honest, as much as I love the Carolinas, Charles is dying to get back to Nebraska at some point. The hunting here is not what he wants. I’m in love with the Carolinas and am determined to stay here. Although we have a piece of raw land way out in Western Nebraska, we’re talking about having a second home close to our kids in Omaha so that he can go out and hunt, he can work remotely and access the airport if needed. Both of us moving back and forth as needed. We are at least a year away from that possibility with two kids in college right now, but that is in our minds pretty seriously. Send us good intentions for the manifestation of that dream.

Oh, but the woodcock with Obi! Here it is:

Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffon South Carolina — The trusty SKB 12 gauge, Obi and the woodcock from the end of January. Photo by Charles.

Fire in Retirement

I loved seeing this picture of Fire (now “Bella”) on the right, enjoying her retirement life moving between Arizona and Minnesota with one of our old pals from Pheasants Forever in Nebraska. Out getting in on some wild quail action in Arizona with her GSP buddy. Thank you Ron for giving her a great retirement home. She is the mother of our current females, Ruth and Sally.

Fire/Bella on right enjoying her retirement with some Arizona quail.

Well the day is getting on and it is time to wrap up the blogging. I have a gobzillion dog hunting items to unbox sitting in my entryway! Spring is really springing here and I hope it makes it out to the frozen wasteland in North Central Nebraska and South Central South Dakota. They are in a top 10 snowiest year on record and folks are pretty miserable about it. Keep our beef cattle ranchers in your prayers as they are having a tough start to calving season.

Good luck to everyone with spring pups and doing training/testing. Talk at you again soon with the update from Pennsylvania.

Nebraska and North Dakota Hunt

November 15, 2022

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Upland Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Bird Hunting, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Sandhills, North Dakota hunting, Pheasant Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you are interested in reserving a pup from our planned litter for Fall 2023. We will not be breeding or hunt testing in the spring due to some family travel obligations.

While I was in South Carolina wrapping up raising our last litter of pups, Charles took Obi, Sally and Duke out to the Sandhills of Nebraska and the prairie pothole region of North Dakota for some mixed upland and waterfowl action. The trip was a great success, especially with the new technology allowing Charles to work his regular job remote for a few days, then hunting a few days.

I don’t have a ton of details except that the dogs covered lots of ground and had plenty of wild bird action.

The first morning in the Nebraska Sandhills with a limit of sharptails. Obi, Sally and Duke.

Duke went solo went some teal (also on Day One in the Sandhills)

The end of the day photo from the first day in the Sandhills: a grouse limit, a woodduck and four teal.

The second day he had to work for his grouse limit, which he didn’t wrap up until the middle of the afternoon. He added one teal to this photo before he headed back to my mom’s house.

Grouse limit for day two in the Nebraska Sandhills. Obi, Sally and Duke.

He spent the next three days working, then picked back up for another grouse limit and a ringneck duck.

Sally (farthest away), Obi (on left) and Duke (in the foreground) pointing an antelope.

Sally, Duke and Obi with the three sharptailed grouse and a ringneck duck on the third day of Nebraska Sandhills.

Charles then worked another handful of days before heading out again. I was really surprised with all of the negative reports that I had been hearing from locals and ranchers due to the drought that he had such great success each day.

His last day in the Sandhills was a super windy day (you can see by the dogs’ head furnishings blowing in the wind in the photo) and he decided to focus on waterfowl for the day. He took Duke out for the three snipe and Sally for the mallard drake. Mallard drakes are super difficult to jump hunt and Charles just happened to pop over a hill and the the duck was right there as he got up from the water. I have never shot a mallard drake.

Duke and Sally with three snipe and a mallard drake for the last day in the Sandhills.

Charles had another first when he shifted his hunting to the prairie pothole region of North Dakota. The very first spot that he and some of our neighbors down here in South Carolina hit had a low flying flock of Canadian geese. Charles was able to snag a goose out of the bunch. Although Sally is pictured here, none of the dogs really knew what to think of the goose flopping around since the largest birds they’ve ever messed with up to that point were mallards and pheasant.

Sally and the North Dakota Canadian Goose from day one.

Although he and the neighbors were there for four days, I didn’t really get a good run down of the bird numbers. As near as I can gather from our texts, the second day the neighbors got three roosters, Charles got two roosters and four ducks.

Griffons, pointers and setters on the prairie, with the neighbor Quentin on the right.

I don’t have any photos from the third day, but the report was that Charles got a pheasant double off of Obi’s point, two grouse and one duck.

The fourth day was another mixed bag, with the neighbors getting one rooster, Charles got three ducks, a snipe and the most exciting part was a Hungarian partridge! This is only the second hun that Charles has shot. I’ve only flushed one covey up in Montana in 2016 but never got in a shot.

Duke, Obi and Sally in harvested corn in North Dakota

So that was a wrap! Here’s the traditional North Dakota trip game bag shot, with the dogs posed underneath:

Obi, Sally and Duke with the 2022 North Dakota game bag

Aside from missing the hunt, I missed seeing the usual people of the towns that we visit down there. They are such interesting characters, I’m glad that Charles went and laid eyes on them. The cafe is still going, the same ladies are at the registers at the grocery store and the gas station owner still recognizes the regulars. Charles headed home after a long journey but the neighbors continued on to South Dakota where they had better pheasant numbers. But to us, sometimes the comfort of tradition beats the number of birds in the bag.

I have more news about some hunt testing success of some of our progeny, some health test results for Duke and social media pages where you can follow some of our pups, but I need to get on with the day for now. Good luck to those out in the hunting fields, Charles will be at it again in a few more weeks. I am going to wait patiently for woodcock hunting down this way after the first of the year. Talk at you more in a week or so.

“R” Litter Six Weeks and Hunting Ends

March 7, 2022

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Puppy Update, Upland Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, South Carolina Quail, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

The two girls are really getting active, come when called for the most part, explore, eat just hard kibble and love lots of hugs and pets. They go in for their shots and microchips a week from today and so we’ve sorted out who goes where. Reba will be going home to Kentucky and Rosalind with be rolling out for Pennsylvania in a couple of weeks.

Rosalind through the fence, you can see Reba’s rump squeezing between the posts

This is actually a shot from last week that I forgot to include. They moved from the inside whelping box out on to the covered patio with a kennel and dog house. Outside is much more entertaining and where they start eating primarily solid food, they get pretty stinky to be indoors.

They also have spent time with our older puppy Duke and our son Caleb. It is fun for them to get exposure to dogs other than Ruth and people other than me.

Here is their six week old video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_yAKsP4BAg

End of hunting season

Charles and Quentin went out one last time on the final day of quail season in South Carolina. It took them all day, but they each put one in the bag. It was dark by the time they wrapped up, so there were no dead bird photos. Charles did snap this pic of the sunset with the pointers, setters and Griffons all together.

This was actually back on President’s Day but I somehow forgot to post this photo of our almost thirteen year old son Caleb with Charles, Obi and Sally and a big haul of preserve quail. Charles wanted to get Caleb even more excited about bird hunting and this seemed to do the trick!

Caleb and Charles with a big haul of preserve quail with Obi and Sally

This has taken me way longer than I intended, so it is time for me to get on with the day. Next week will be our last video before the puppies go to their new homes! See you then.

“R” Litter One Week Old

January 30, 2022

Charity Upchurch Puppy Update, Upland Hunting Trips Bird Hunting, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, South Carolina Woodcock, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

The three musketeers of the “R” Litter have made it to one week old. We went to York Vet on Thursday for a health checkup and to have their tails docked and dew claws removed. We also had Ruth examined and blood drawn from her to make sure that everyone is healthy. There are no outward symptoms of any sort of infection, so we are anticipating the bloodwork to come back clear.

The two females are just huge since there are so few puppies to compete with, then little brother is about half of their size. He moves normally and latches to the teat on his own, so we’ll just hope for the best unless things take a turn. This next week is extremely critical as we count down to when their eyes open and they can start taking a little bit of canned puppy food mush.

Little brother nursing while the two big sisters nap

Last day of hunting season

Charles and Sally went and harvested a couple of more South Carolina woodcock yesterday, as it was the last day of the season on public land. They are having good adventures in the cane swamps of the central part of the state. Charles says that it is tough shooting through the tree branches and the terrain is pretty uneven, so it is a challenge. But nice to see them put birds in the bag in a new state.

Sally and the last two woodcock of the season

So keep us in your doggy prayers this week as we wait for the bloodwork results on Ruth and hope that this little boy keeps on trucking. Our two weeks of winter are winding down here and it will be spring later on this afternoon, it looks like. It is so strange going from five months of winter with a few subzero weeks to pretty much no winter at all. I’ll take it though! I’ll be back next week, hopefully with all good news from here on out.

Puppies on the way and first South Carolina harvest

January 17, 2022

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, NAVHDA, Regional Update and/or Misc., Upland Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Bird Hunting, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, South Carolina Woodcock Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 1 Comment

We are expecting our “R” litter from Obi and Ruth in the next week or two. I currently have 18 reservations with deposit. The largest litter of Griffs registered in recent times is 16 puppies, so I assume that I have homes for this bunch. If you are interested in waiting until our Fall 2022 litter, email bluestemkennels@gmail.com. Once the spring litter is two weeks old, I should know where my fall list stands.

Here are some updated photos of Ruth sporting her very pregnant belly. It doesn’t seem to slow her down much!

Another belly shot (a little fuzzy phone pic)

Pregnant Ruth running in the snow (I circled her so you can see her)

Now it is just a matter of waiting for puppies to arrive! We just finished our whelping box setup this morning. It will be so nice to have them in a bedroom in the house instead of the heated garage. That way I have a bed right next to the whelping box in case of all-night puppies!

This will probably be my last blog post until after puppies arrive. As they are being whelped, I will keep my Facebook page up-to-date. Then I will contact folks who have reservations once we are done whelping and I’ve had some rest. Finally, I will make a post here to the website.

First South Carolina Woodcock!

Charles is getting Sally ready for her UPT in May up at the Hudson Valley NAVHDA Chapter in New York. This is the NAVHDA chapter nearest to Charles’s hometown of Newburgh and he thought it would be fun to get up there to run some tests. He will also be re-testing Obi in UT to see if he can get a Prize I.

In the meantime he is trying to figure out the hunting game in these parts and he and Sally had success this weekend. They only saw one woodcock pop out of a cane swamp on some public land and they were able to put it in the bag. Charles is pretty sure that this is his first woodcock and it was Sally’s first wild bird.

I was really excited to hold a bagged woodcock, as I’ve only flushed them in the Missouri River Valley back in Nebraska while out exercising dogs maybe three or four times. I’d only ever seen photos of them up close. Their feathers are much more colorful than a snipe and their bodies are stubbier.

Here’s a random photo of Sally training in the yard with Charles back in November that I just noticed in my files.

Here’s another random photo of Obi bringing me a stick the other day when I had my good camera out.

Having snow on the ground in South Carolina is pretty fun and we are so glad that it isn’t day after day with feet of snow piling up like it was back in Nebraska. I think it will be all melted by tomorrow. But for now I will throw on my boots and go muck around in it with the dogs.

Keep an eye on my Facebook page for the latest on the puppies whelping and keep us in your thoughts and prayers for good health.

2021 Puppies on the way

January 19, 2021

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, NAVHDA, Puppy Update, Upland Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies Leave a comment

We have a litter due to be whelped the first week of February between Bluestem’s Prairie Fire, NA I and Bluestem Otoe Chief, NA II. I currently have ten reservations with deposit and a backup contact list in the event that anyone decides not to take a pup this year. Should you wish to be included on this contact list, please email bluestemkennels@gmail.com. Our pups are placed in hunting homes only and need to be picked up at our residence at eight weeks of age, air cargo is no longer available.

I took Fire down to Hillcrest Animal Clinic in rural Lincoln, Nebraska a couple of weeks ago to have an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy. They saw 12-15 embryos in there! Whether they all turn into viable puppies is a mystery, it is not unusual to have a couple of stillborns or one or two that are born alive who fail to thrive in the first week or so. But it was fun to find out two weeks earlier than usual that she was indeed pregnant and it is something that I plan on continuing in the future.

Fire getting her ultrasound

View of the pups

There is no mistaking now that Fire is pregnant!

Fire eating at six weeks along

Fire flopped out with a full belly

Late Season Hunting

Charles has been staying busy in the field while I’m trying to finish healing a torn up right foot from a year ago. My goal for 2021 is to swim 100 miles (I’m on mile 5), so I’m hoping that by grouse season in September I’ll be ready to rock and roll again. I don’t walk with a limp and really only start to have pain when I get up in the 10,000 step range, but that is a normal day in the bird field. My oldest son is at the end of his high school career and the beginning of his life in the work force, so I stay plenty busy keeping him and his younger brother (who starts middle school in the fall) on track. I figure that as long as I stay in shape that I have the rest of my life to bird hunt, but only have a few more years with kids in the house.

The neighbor Sam and Charles headed over to close out Iowa’s hunting season with some success. Compared to southeastern Nebraska, which hasn’t had a decent pheasant population since the nineties, it is a paradise! I’m going to have to think about getting an Iowa license in the future. We think that it is just the difference in terrain and agricultural practices. Southeast Nebraska is flat enough that you can farm it fenceline to fenceline with no scrubby borders like pheasants need. Iowa has more hills and draws, so you either have terraces that have the lip on the end that you can’t hit with a tractor, or just naturally occuring draws and creeks with the thick cover.

Obi our Griff and the neighbor’s DD Elsa with an Iowa quarry

Last Friday, Charles and friends braved the blizzard in Eastern Nebraska to head out to the southcentral part of the state to see if there were any birds left from the last time. There were plenty of cars in the ditch and going off into the ditch between Omaha and York, but things were clear sailing by the time that they got past there.

It was a long Saturday hunt walking nine miles for the people and far more for the dogs, but with plenty of success. Obi is getting lots of good practice running down and retrieving poorly hit birds that are still alive. No offense against the shooters, it is just that the pheasant is a tough bird and can take some pellets. The dogs really have to work some thick tumbleweed cover and it is very dry out that way (a town almost burned down from a prairie fire last week and had to be evacuated at 4:30 AM). I am really proud of their hard work on these wild birds in wild country.

Obi, Ruth and the southcentral Nebraska birds

This old bird caught Charles’s eye and I thought that it looked like Gonzo from The Muppet Show.

The neighbor is trying to get his DD certified in fur, so we’ve been trying to live trap a raccoon, but ended up with an oppossum instead. He was happy to play dead while Obi fetched him (the oppossum was not injured and lived to see another day).

Obi and his oppossum

So I’m now on puppy watch and we’ll see if Charles takes these last couple of weekends of Nebraska bird season off (ha) or not.

It is easiest for me to keep my Facebook page up-to-date, so keep an eye on that for when the puppies start to arrive! I’m expecting them sometime between January 30th and February 5th, but the Good Lord and Mother Nature will let me know when it is time. Keep us in your good thoughts for a safe delivery.

October 2020 Hunting Recap

November 11, 2020

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Upland Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Youth Mentoring Nebraska Game and Parks, Nebraska Sandhills, North Dakota hunting, Sharptailed Grouse Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

For those of you looking for puppies, we are planning one litter in the Spring of 2021 between Chief and Fire. I consider the reservation list full, but we may get a surpise with more puppies than reservations. Feel free to shoot me an email at bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you wish to be on the backup contact list.

In Memoriam

The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon world recently lost two special breeders, Jan Resler of Potowotomi Kennel in Wisconsin and Philippe Roca of Des Vignes Rouges Kennel in Kentucky.

Jan was a strong woman with an intense passion for the breed. She bred, trained, showed and hunted Griffs and excelled at all of it. She and her dog Amstel won Best of Breed at the 2013 National Specialty and I captured this shot of her celebrating by drinking some wine from the trophy! I thought that photo really represented her fun-loving spirit. We shared many good times all over the country at Griffon events. She is missed by many.

Jan Resler celebrating Best of Breed

Philippe was our American breed ambassador to France and cannot be replaced. When I was editor of the breed club magazine, he called me at least twice a month to talk about Griffons. We worked intensely on a few of his articles together that really captured some important breed history from Europe. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to help clarify his vast knowledge of the breed. A native of France, he felt most at home on his sheep farm in Kentucky. He told me many tales of how he incorporated dog training into everyday farm life. I promise that I will learn French when my kids graduate, Philippe.

A side note to this photo by Barbara Young, is that the dog in the photo is Owen des Dunes du Captelat, our foundation female Sue’s grandfather and also in our new male Obi’s pedigree.

Philippe Roca and Owen by Barbara Young

October Hunting Sandhills and North Dakota

October was a whirlwind of activity with Charles on the road hunting and I’m back in the classroom substitute teaching middle school. Not two weeks before the district asked me to come back, I told another substitute that I’d probably never go back into education! But here I am and it’s keeping me active. But it does keep me distracted from hunting and blogging. Luckily, Charles can’t seem to stay out of the field so the dogs get plenty of action.

The COVID is even impacting hunting, one of Charles’s hunting buddies ended up in quarantine due to his daughter testing positive and missed out on the trip to North Dakota, so it just seems to be more and more pervasive.

Before Charles made it up to North Dakota, he stopped by the Nebraska Sandhills for a few days of hunting. The entire trip was warm, but the dogs held up throughout. In the beginning, he only had one or two at a time out of the box to keep their competitive energy in check. This photo is from the first morning on October 7, with our friend Ryan joining him on sharptailed grouse.

Obi and Ruth with Charles and Ryan’s sharptails

Later on that afternoon, they took Ruth out again for some duck jump shooting. The toughest thing about jump shooting ducks is keeping the dog on “heel” so that they aren’t running and swimming ahead and busting up ducks out of range. It was good to see our usual creek produce yet again.

Ruth and some jump hunted Sandhills ducks

The second day of Sandhills hunting, Obi was the star with Charles’s first limit of snipe in his hunting career. This is impressive to me since I have shot at probably 100 snipe in my hunting life thus far and I’ve never hit a single one of them. Snipe hunting really tunes in the dog’s pointing and retrieving skills because they are such a small bird to scent to both point and locate to retrieve.

Obi with Charles’s first snipe limit on October 8

The day of October 9th was spent driving from Nebraska to North Dakota and getting set up in the house with the other guys. I don’t know their names and they never make an appearance in any of the photos, so I apologize that they sort of get left out of the whole story. They are a part of the harvesting though, so not all of the North Dakota birds were taken by Charles, but the dogs did get to do all of the pointing and retrieving which is what is important to me.

Ruth, Obi and Fire with the mixed bag from October 10th in North Dakota

North Dakota landscape photo by Charles Upchurch

By the time Sunday, October 11th rolled around, the dogs were worn down enough to have all three running at once. All of the crops were harvested in that area of NoDak, so it made for some fun cattail hunting. It is hard work for the dogs busting through dried cattails, but at least you know where the birds are hiding out.

The October 11th game bag

You can also tell that Charles is starting to get a little tired because he isn’t posing the dogs for photos for a couple of days! He said that the dogs would be tired and sore at night, but when the tailgate dropped the next morning that they were ready to go to work again.

October 12th NoDak game bag with dogs boxed

Fire, Obi and Ruth with the final day’s mixed bag in North Dakota, October 13

It wasn’t the best year he’s ever had in North Dakota, but it wasn’t like the last time that he and I went up there in 2017 either. 2017 we hardly got into anything and some days we got skunked. At least this year there was game in the bag every day. I really appreciate the other gents who were there to help put birds in my dogs’ mouths.

Back Home

The weekend after Charles and the dogs returned from their big trip, he and Ruth hit a local swamp and got two teal and a snipe.

Ruth with two teal and a snipe in southeast Nebraska

Most exciting of all is Caleb’s first roosters at the Nebraska Youth Pheasant Hunting opener the weekend before Halloween! Charles said that there were gobs of roosters flushing everywhere and Caleb was just blasting and they were falling down. There are miracles in hunting, I’ve seen it. And Obi just really loves Caleb, so this photos is just perfect. They also had one taken by Nebraska Game and Parks, so keep an eye out in Nebraskaland and you might see him.

Eleven year old Caleb with his first two pheasants. Obi on retrieve and kiss.

In Closing

Write about one trip and get ready for Charles to go on another soon. Deer hunting is just around the corner and he is taking the dogs to hit some fields on the way.

We got Obi’s Penn HIP results back and the doctor said that they are the best sporting dog hips that he’s ever seen. Greyhounds have the best hips all-breed and the vet said that is where Obi’s are. Just off of the charts. I am working with a new scanner and will get those ready for my next post. But great news.

The weather is finally cooling off and I’m thinking about getting out for some roosters and quail myself after rifle deer season ends. It also sounds like I’m getting roped in to handling Obi with Caleb at a European tower shoot at the end of November.

We’ll see what all of this brings. After Thanksgiving we are having our kitchen and main level bathroom floor torn up to replace the dying pergo with porcelain tile, so that will be an event. At the same time we’ll be tearing down a gazebo in the backyard that will be replaced with a dog kennel set-up.

Oh speaking of dog kennels, one last thing. My worst nightmare happened to someone else. Desbattures Benelli Bro, NA II UT II was stolen from his kennel at the Wild West Lodge in Grenville, South Dakota. Owned by Coppershot Griffons Cliff Koele but used as a guide dog by the John Andersen of the lodge. Bred by Dominic Brisson and Claudette Blackburn of Quebec, Canada. He is very special breeding stock for Griffons in the Great Plains of the US and he needs to come back! Reward offered, please contact Wild West Lodge or Cliff Koele on Facebook with any leads. Look at other people’s trucks while hunting, like if they have a mess of mutts and this guy. Or if you use any guides in the Dakotas. He could be anywhere at this point.

STOLEN: Desbattures Benelli Bro

Hunting Season Opener 2020

September 17, 2020

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, NAVHDA, Puppy Update, Sire and Dam Ability, Upland Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons NAVHDA, NAVHDA Natural Ability Test, NAVHDA Utility Test, Nebraska, Sharptailed Grouse Hunting, teal hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Like everything in 2020, our opening weekend was a little different than normal. Many of our “go-to” spots are still flooded out, but luckily the bounty of the Sandhills still provided.

Opening day we split into two parties, with Fire and I taking one dune ridge and Charles, our buddy Ryan, Ruth and Obi went on the ridge to the south of me. It’s funny the difference that one valley makes. Fire and I hiked for five miles and saw absolutely nothing, while Charles and Ryan saw about 14 sharpies and Charles limited out by noon. Which was good because the high temperature got up to 105 that day, a record for a September day in Nebraska. Obi was having a great first outing as he got all of the retrieves that day.

Charles and Obi headed back to the truck

Obi and Ruth with Charles and a limit of sharptailed grouse opening day

Day two we decided to all three hunt the same ridge with all three dogs. Charles and Ryan stayed up high and I worked the mid-level hills closer to the valley. We had planned on crossing the valley once we got to the fence, but they had seen a group of birds get up that I did not, so I met up with them at the top of the ridge and we headed back the way we came. I saw a group of about ten of them get up and go around a dune, so I hoped that we’d be into birds soon.

It wasn’t too much longer until Fire went on a super-stylish point down in a little bowl. It was one of those where their body is posed in one direction and their head is cocked to the right as if to say “The birds are right here!”. With scenting conditions so difficult in the Sandhills, I’ve only had this happen one other time in twenty years of hunting. So I ran down in front of Fire and sure enough, a group of five got up right in my face. Due to the direction of the wind, with them taking off right into it, they shot straight up into the air and I shot right underneath of them. One peeled off and flew back towards Ryan and he took it down.

Ryan is a traveling geology technician, so he hadn’t been out with us hunting in five our six years while he’s been on the road. It was great to have him on the bird board again. We continued our push and I sort of meandered toward the lower hills like I normally do. Up at the top of the ridge the guys got up another small group and Ryan took another bird out of it. Fire was hanging around with me, so we hiked up to where the guys were to try to help them find the bird since they seemed to be struggling to locate it. It took us a good five minutes, but Fire put her nose to the ground and went about 40 yards to the south and came back with the runner.

I’ve been battling plantar fasciitis in my right foot for about nine months, since we chased roosters in January outside of South Sioux City. Where I used to be able to do 8 miles of dune stomping in a day, I’m down to about 5. The guys used to be up in the 10-11 mile per day range and now they’re at a little over 8. We’re all between the ages of 45 and 50 now. Ryan made the dreaded statement that, “Someday we’re not going to be able to do this anymore!”. I’m hoping that isn’t for another 25 years or so, but I guess we just don’t know. The oldest grouse hunters that I’ve seen have been in their mid to late 70s, but that was 10+ years ago. We’re the old hunters of our part of the world now.

With that being said, I bailed out of the last three mile push of the day all three days. So when the guys went out on day two and Ryan brought back his third bird for the limit, it was a great feeling just to be there. I don’t have a good idea of how many sharptailed grouse and prairie chickens I’ve taken out of those hills, but I’ve done it. And it hope to do it again, but it just wasn’t this trip.

Ryan and Fire with a limit of sharpies

Day three was at least a bit cooler. At least the outside temperatures. Let me just say that if you buy the Kindred Creamery Ghost Pepper Colby Jack Cheese, which is the hottest pepper cheese that I’ve ever eaten in my life, wait to eat it until you get home. Don’t eat it during the hunt or you will regret it.

We went to the spot that we call “Lone Tree”, but the pasture with the lone tree and the grouse flock that we normally hunt had cows in it. If there’s one thing that we’ve learned over the years is that the grouse don’t hang out with the cows. So we tried a new dunefield. And sure enough right when we got into it, a group of about ten got up at about 150 yards and sailed away. We walked for another hour looking for them, but never saw them again. The guys hit one more spot and Charles took a single with Ruth on retrieve. It was the end of the trip and everyone was done posing for photos.

Charles with some worn out dogs and a single.

Someone made a post on one of the Facebook bird hunting forums that three guys and three dogs had been in the Sandhills for three days and hadn’t seen a thing, so I feel lucky that we didn’t get skunked. I hope that we get out chukar hunting in Nevada someday because I’d like to see how it compares to the difficulty of hunting sharpies in the Sandhills. If it wasn’t for my bum foot, which is only impacting me at long distances, I’m really in the best shape cardivascularly that I’ve been in 10 years now that I work as a lifeguard part-time and swim a mile once or twice a week, then walk once or twice a week too. The orthopedist said that it will take time to resolve, so I just need to be patient and keep training.

“I’m getting skunked in the Sandhills”

Introduction to Iowa

There is a big swath of public swamp right on the other side of the Missouri River from where we live, so Charles decided to pick up an Iowa license and took Ruth over there a couple of days ago after work. They managed to stir up a blue-winged teal and a dove.

Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Teal

Ruth in the back of the truck with an Iowa teal in her mouth

Hunt Test Pupdates

Congratulations to Brent Haefner and Bluestem Madeline the Huntress, NA III can now add a UT III to the end of her name. They passed the very difficult NAVHDA Utility Test at the Minnesota Chapter Test recently with 174 points. Brent said that the hardest part of the training was for the duck search, where the dog has to stay out in the pond for ten minutes swimming and searching for a duck. Maddy is from our 2017 “M” Litter between Chief and Fire.

Brent and Maddy Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Bluestem Madeline the Huntress, NA III UT III and Brent

At the IllIowa Chapter test, Derek Gilsdorf and Bluestem Captain Augustus Mccraer “Gus” got it done in the NAVHDA Natural Ability Test, earning a Prize I 110 points. Here’s Gus with his recent haul of teal down in Kansas. He was from our surprise 2019 “P” litter between Zoro and Ruth.

Bluestem Gus Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Gus got the ducks

I love to hear news of our past puppies, but it is tough to stay in touch with 150 people (that’s why I have a blog). Feel free to share your pup with us at bluestemkennels@gmail.com and I’ll be sure to share it with everyone here.

The Griffon that started it all…

Good old Sue is still out on the prairies of South Dakota doing her retirement thing at almost 17 years old. She is the great-grandmother of our current female Ruth and the first Wirehaired Pointing Griffon that we ever owned. It makes me happy to see her spending time with the family; her current mama Debbie is from Texas originally and moved to South Dakota to be a nurse on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation.

Stan and old Sue

Up next

The hunt tests all have waiting lists these days, so it doesn’t look like we’ll be running Ruth here in a couple of weeks in AKC Senior Hunter like we had planned. Charles will be back in the Sandhills for duck season in a few weeks and is headed up to North Dakota with our pal Aaron too. I’m going to stay home with the kids and wait for Nebraska pheasant season to open on Halloween.

Obi went to the vet today to get his PennHIP x-rays. He weighs 54 lbs and Dr. Arndt of Harvey Oaks Animal Hospital said that his hips look “terrific”. That is such great news, so it seems like the stars are finally aligning for us to have a quality outside stud after seven years of trying.

We’ll check back in after Charles returns from North Dakota and see if he gets any interesting photographs. And hopefully some birds and great outdoor experiences too. Best wishes to everyone out there chasing their bird dogs around the wilds.

Nebraska’s Late Hunting Season Surprises

January 14, 2020

Charity Upchurch Upland Hunting Trips Nebraska, Pheasant Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies Leave a comment

We’ve had a mating with two ties on Thursday and Friday of last week between Bluestem’s Prairie Fire, NA I “Fire” and Bluestem Otoe Chief, NA II “Chief”, so we’ll be expecting the arrival of puppies sometime between March 8 and 13, for homegoings eight weeks later around May 3 through 9. This is all my calculations at this point and subject to change once the pups are actually whelped. I currently have ten reservations with deposits, but feel free to e-mail bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you would like to be on our backup contact list in the event that a potential new owner drops out or if we have more puppies that I have reservations.

Nebraska Late Season Hunting Adventures, Part I

On a tip from a good friend we headed north a couple of weeks ago to make an attempt at pheasants and quail, and were pleasantly surprised. There was 4-5 inches of hardpack snow throughout the fields with butt-deep drifts in places and the cover was pretty thick to begin with, so it was not easy walking. Our first field we walked for a good half hour, seeing hundreds of pheasant tracks in the snow, but put up nothing. Then we saw a couple of roosters get up way out of range and the dogs started pointing hens like mad. There was one point of Ruth’s where she had the hen pinned on one side and I walked towards her nose and the hen almost hit me in the face when it flushed. We probably got up seven hens in that field, but no roosters in range.

The second spot that we stopped at, a covey of quail got up in the wide open about 15 yards into the push, but I had no shot since they were all around Charles and he was uphill from me. He took a quail out of the bunch and I’m pretty sure it was Fire on the retrieve. We worked our way another 75 yards and there was this scrubby ditch full of plum thickets and gnarly burr oaks. He got on one side, I was on the other and the dogs were really birdy as we pushed down it. Charles said, “They’re both on point!” in a loud whisper. Two or three roosters get up, Charles takes down one right by me, I unloaded both barrels on one flying at the edge of range and four more go soaring by me totally within range (of course my gun is empty and I can only watch), while a few more boil out of the shrubs going away from us. I seriously think that there were nine roosters in that group and it was the biggest bunch that I have ever seen in my life in Nebraska. Ruth picked up the rooster for Charles and we finished the circle on that field, seeing nothing else.

So at that point we were getting up on 11 AM, I’d already marched over five miles in the snow after not having hunted all season. I had been so focused on swimming to train for my lifeguard test that I hadn’t been hiking or hunting. Let me tell you that swimming and hiking/hunting do not use the same muscles at all. Deciding to pick up hunting again at the end of the season was not optimal and I need to make sure to get after it right away in September if I want to have any success next year.

Charity with her skunked face on

The next spot that we hit was right by a busy road and I didn’t see any really scrubby parts of it, so I was like, “Nah, I’ll sit this one out for the next one.” Charles worked his way over the hill for about 30 minutes and as he and Ruth were working their way back, I started taking pictures. It was cold and I had taken my coat off, so I just snapped a few and jumped back into the truck.

Charles walking in to Ruth on point on two roosters

It wasn’t two minutes later that two shots rang out and I saw the last pheasant go down. Charles shot a double! Once I talked to him about what happened I found out the Ruth retrieved the first one, which was hit hard, then dropped it because she wanted to go after the second one which wasn’t hit as hard. They lost track of the first bird but Ruth was able to retrieve the second one to hand. I saw that they were struggling to find the first bird since they had lost their place, so I let Fire out and she and I went to where they had taken the first shot and found the bird. Charles had a limit of roosters and a quail by noon. It was a long drive home and we had gotten up very early, so we called it a day.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Pheasant and Quail

Charles with a limit of roosters and a quail, along with Ruth and Fire

Although Charles had completed his Nebraska Upland Slam on his trip with his buddies out to the southwest, he didn’t have the photographic evidence to submit it. So this was the photo that got him to finish the Nebraska Upland Slam for the season.

Charles Upchurch upland slam

Welcome Obi, Part I

Over the weekend we headed out to Wyoming to pick up our new male pup Obi. In my next post I’ll take apart his pedigree to show you why I picked him for the next candidate for our stud dog. Today I’ll just show you pictures.

Things you see in Wyoming:

The official welcome sign

The real welcome sign

Someday I will hike in the Vedauwoo, but this weekend was probably my twentieth drive-by.

Traveling with Obi photos:

On my lap

In the crate

Charity Upchurch Wirehaired Pointing Griffon bath

Charity giving Obi a bath at the hotel. Photo by Charles

Ruth welcoming Obi into the pack at the hotel

Charles Upchurch Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Obi rolling down the road on Charles’s lap

Nebraska Late Season Hunting Adventures, Part II

On our way home from picking up Obi in Wyoming, Charles hit one spot for pheasants. The weather was blowing in on Sunday, so we didn’t have much time. We passed on the first spot that we drove by since it didn’t look right, but the second one that we pulled up to had all of the things that a pheasant would like in the cold. A windbreak to the north, harvested corn on one side, baled hay on the other side and plenty of thick and tall grass cover in the sizeable field. I wish that I had been running a video camera as I watched him walk away, because about 20 yards into his walk a beautiful rooster flushed and he took it down. He only broke its wing and it was still running but Ruth got in there and snatched it up.

Nebraska Pheasant Hunt

They had a second rooster flush wild on the far side of the field but come back into the thick of the middle since it really had no place to go and it was starting to flurry a bit. Both of the dogs locked up in a patch of old sunflowers and he was able to bring a second rooster home.

With the weather getting nasty, it was time to take a photo and get back on the road home.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Nebraska Pheasant

A couple of southern Nebraska roosters for Charles and the girls

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon First Pheasant Eight Weeks

Obi got to see his first rooster

Obi and I ran around in the ditch while they were hunting

Welcome Obi, Part II

Caleb is glad to have a new pal

Obi meeting everyone at the vet

End of hunting season

The end of January marks the end of hunting season in Nebraska. I have had a lot of distractions the last couple of years but plan to get back into the field with renewed vigor in September. I think that Charles might get out a couple of more times and we’re going out to another European tower shoot on Monday, with me handling and Charles shooting. Practicing shooting at the tower shoots and over the summer with his sporting clays and skeet makes all of the difference for him. Hunting wild pheasants in Nebraska is tough and you have to be able to hit since there are not gobs of birds.

A few pics from our New Year’s Day walk:

Other random things

I am going to start the process of monetizing the blog and my YouTube videos. I have the raw footage to make a grooming video, but it is going to take me at least four hours to edit and I need to figure out a compensation structure for my creations. I want to keep my puppy prices in the affordable range so that real hunting families can adopt them. But expect to see changes coming to the blog and our YouTube channel in the future.

I’ll make sure to keep you posted about the end of the hunting season and the beginning of our “Q” Litter of puppies. Yes, that means that this is my 17th litter. Who would have guessed that ten years later it would turn into this!

Stay warm.

Fall’s Abundance

October 17, 2019

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, NAVHDA, Upland Hunting Trips, Waterfowl Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Duck Hunting, grouse hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

We are planning a litter of pups for Spring 2020 between Bluestem Otoe Chief, NA II “Chief” and Bluestem’s Prairie Fire, NA I “Fire”. The reservation list is currently full, but feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you would like to be placed on the contact list for in the event there are additional puppies.

Ruth (Bluestem Peaches En Regalia, NA I) won’t be bred until 2021, but we received her OFA Hip scan and it came back “Good”.

Ruth OFA

Currently the plan for 2021 would repeat my surprise breeding from last year, using Stonyridge Zoro as the stud. His sire, Stonyridge Otis “Cooper”, is now VC Stonyridge Otis, NA II UT I. For those of you who don’t speak hunt test alphabet, the “VC” stands for NAVHDA Versatile Champion, meaning that he passed the 2019 NAVHDA Invitational Test, the highest level test in the club. In order to qualify for that, he recieved a Prize I on his Utility Test, the highest level in the adult hunting test. The NA II means that he got a Prize II on his Natural Ability test, which needs to be completed by the age of sixteen months. NAVHDA offers three open tests: the Natural Ability test, the Utility Preparatory Test and the Utility Test. Each test has three levels of scoring with I being the highest and III being a pass. The best way to learn about these tests is by attending a NAVHDA Handler’s Clinic near you.

General Dog Health Information Update

A few things that come up in conversation with my fellow dog breeders online that I feel like I should pass along. This was a bad year for outdoor fungi and algae with dogs. Blastomycosis (dirt fungi) and blue-green algae ravaged the country and had a big impact on hunting dogs training this year, with many deaths occurring. Especially with first year pups, keep an eye on vomiting and lethargy and make sure to take it seriously and go to the vet. The dog can be saved if steps are taken immediately.

Grain-free diets. Just don’t. Or if you do, it’s at your own risk. The FDA has started the research to back up the numerous cases of dialated cardiomyopathy that veterinarians are seeing in otherwise healthy young dogs.

Three Dog Day: Fire, Ruth (on top) and Zoro

Dead Bird Photos? Yes or No.

Scott Linden of the TV Show Wingshooting USA posed the question on his social media recently of whether or not dead bird photos are necessary or appropriate. For people who operate hunting dog kennels they are mandatory. We have to put birds in front of our breeding stock and our clients need to see that it is happening. Right now, I am just not able to get away to get into the field to take live action hunting photos. The time that I do get into the field, I want to spend hunting right now. Once the boys are older, I will have more time for field photography, but for right now we have to settle for the dead bird photos. So dead bird photos? YES.

Snipe and Rail Hunt

Charles took Zoro just down southwest of where we live to a spot where we can reliably get into rail and snipe. The birds are not much larger than your average tweety bird, so it is good pointing practice for the dog to get used to stopping on very little scent. It is also a good way to work on preventing “hard mouth”, since the bird is very small and the dog has to hold it gently to bring it to hand.

We normally get into sora rail, which have the yellow triangular beak, but this year was the first time that we’ve taken any Virginia Rail. They have the more reddish hooked beaks.

Zoro and his snipe, with long beaks on left, and rails on right

From left: three sora rail, four Virginia Rail, and six snipe

No Dogs Allowed: Sandhills Antelope 2019

Charles spent four days this week hunting antelope out in the Nebraska Sandhills. He passed on some small bucks and settled on a doe. We already have antelope horns on the wall, so the trophy pressure was not there. He got to see lots of wildlife and some dumb grouse hunters (hint: sharptailed grouse and prairie chickens are not in the trees).

The smaller antelope bucks that he passed on.

The gun perspective, he likes to belly crawl in close

His classic gun and big game photo

Sandhills Ducks and Grouse

Yesterday he finally got out with the dogs and chased some birds around. It sounds like Ruth had an adventure with one of those ducks going down still alive and swimming under a muskrat mound to get away. But she was able to dive down to grab it. I wish that I had been there to see it, I always love to watch the dog work a duck retrieve like that. (Somebody didn’t wash the antelope blood out of the truck bed, sorry about that. Gross.)

Ruth with two mallard hens and two snipe

Fire and Charles did get into some more grouse and prairie chickens but with Fire being a little out of practice, there were a few slow points with wild flushes and birds flushing on the edge of range. But a prairie chicken in the bag is better than nothing.

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It sounds like that he is out again this morning, so there may be additional photos to tack on to this post as the day progresses. He drives back home tomorrow and then we wait for pheasant season to open up here.

My favorite pheasant spot is along the river and is probably going to be flooded out this year, so I’m most likely going to be working my way south and west of here looking for quail and pheasant while the kids are in school.

Happy hunting for those of you out in the fields this fall. We are truly blessed to have well-managed public lands available to us all around the country. I hope to see more of them in the future once the boys are grown, but for now I’ll just get out when and where I can and watch everyone else get the rest of it done on social media.

Bluestem Kennels