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AKC Walking Field Trials and other updates

February 11, 2013

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Waiting for puppies

Sue is very pregnant and about 3 weeks away from whelping and Mae is definitely showing and about 5 weeks away from whelping.  I really need to get into gear and get the whelping boxes and areas ready!  Right now I have 13 reservations with deposits.  I would be willing to take additional reservations, but at this point have no idea how many puppies I will have.  Anyone who makes a reservation and does not get a pup out of these litters can either have their deposit refunded or have it carry over to next year’s breeding season (I have 2 reservations for next year currently).

AKC Walking Field Trials

Charles and BB participated in the first AKC Walking Field Trial in the area for the year, down in Osborn, Missouri (just east of St. Joseph) over the weekend, put on by the Heart of America German Shorthaired Pointer Club.  This was a much more relaxed atmosphere than the 250 dog trial that we went to near Lincoln last year, it really felt a lot like a hunt test, except that we were the only ones there with kids.

Unknown judge and handler in the Gun Dog stakes

Unknown judge and handler in the Gun Dog stakes

Charles and BB, center, head out for the Amateur Walking Derby run

Charles and BB, center, head out for the Amateur Walking Derby run

There were four dogs entered in each of the stakes that they were entered into: Amateur Walking Derby and Open Walking Derby.  There was a male and female Vizsla pair that was braced together, then BB and a male German Shorthaired Pointer were braced together.  In both stakes, the Vizslas took first and second, BB took third and the GSP fourth.

Charles and BB at the trial grounds with their third place ribbon from Saturday

Charles and BB at the trial grounds with their third place ribbon from Saturday

The weekend's ribbons: third place in both the Amateur Walking Derby and the Open Walking Derby

The weekend’s ribbons: third place in both the Amateur Walking Derby and the Open Walking Derby

I would really like to see more diversity of versatile breeds in the AKC Walking Field Trials.  Charles told me that one couple who traveled from Colorado to St. Louis for a WFT two weeks ago had a Spinone Italiano that was entered.  I would love to see griffs, Weimaraners, Spinones and the other versatile breeds recognized both by the AKC and NAVHDA participate in the AKC Walking Field Trials, not just GSPs, GWPs, Vizslas and Brittanys.  The way that BB is winning over her bracemate is NOT by running like a bat out of hell and ranging far and wide.  That’s not to say that she’s “pottering” as is the technical term for what we normally call “bootlicking”.  She is just diligent in finding every single bird in the field.

On Saturday, the bird planters double planted the field, hoping to get the two Amateur Walking Derby braces covered with one trip.  Well, the GSP had one find and BB had FIVE.  She “cleared the field”, as they call it, and had to plant more birds for the next brace.  They didn’t make the same mistake the next day, but there were still plenty of birds, as the GSP once again had one find and BB had three.  Some of the positive things that the judges said to Charles is that BB is very smart, meaning that she knows how to analyze the terrain for bird cover, understands how to work the wind and the bird scent cone.  Of course, the judges would like to see her range farther, but there really is a place for these closer working dogs in the walking field trials.  It really should be about finds and not about running haphazardly and missing birds.  Like I say, I want to see more diversity of versatile breeds out there so we can show the judges how we do our thing.

The next field event in the area is the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Lincoln’s Hunt Test and Walking Field Trial on March 9-10.  E-mail Tresha Moorberg at lincolngspc@gmail.com if you are interested in receiving premiums.  As BB turns two at the beginning of March, she will age out of the Derby Stakes and now need to qualify for the Gun Dog Stakes.  The AKC Field Trial Gun Dog Stakes require the same skills as the AKC Master Hunter test.  So in the Derby Stakes, you are basically at Junior Hunter level skills, now we need to move up to MH skills.  Our biggest challenge is stone steadiness on point and on honor.  As my dogs are allowed to relocate without commands in the hunting field, they have a tendency to creep when the birds start moving.  We are going to see if we can get Sam and BB ready for Senior Hunter test runs and Gun Dog Stakes walking field trials in time for the March test, but if not, it is something we will be working on all off-season.

Pupdate

Rick sent a great write-up with some photos of Sam and Sue’s 2012 “D” litter pup, Dottie, who is now 8 months old:

I wanted to give you an update on our pup, Dottie, and a recap of our winter hunting season here in Eastern Nebraska.  The drought really took it’s toll on the habitat this year.  We spent a lot of time trying out new CRP fields.  Dottie has really developed nicely over the season. She did a good job with obedience and acclimating to the fields on her first outing in the fall.  She covered a lot of ground, but the experiences were all brand new.  We kept taking her out about every weekend, and by the last hunt in January, she was really doing great hunting out the birds.  We didn’t encounter many pheasants for her to hone her pointing skills on, but it was a great year for quail, and she really did a great job working them out.  Below are a few pictures from the season.
 
Here is a picture from our December 16th outing.  Dottie sees something of interest here.  We saw a few hens this trip, but the field must get hunted a lot because they spooked and flushed out pretty early.
Dottie checking something out.

Dottie checking something out.

December 28th. Rick and Dottie with the first “all Dottie” quail.  She pointed the covey and located the dead bird!  We’re still working on retrieving.

Rick and Dottie got a quail!

Rick and Dottie got a quail!

We went out again on a January 13th Hunt.  This time Joey, my 9 year old son, was able to see Dottie in action.  Once again, all we brought home was a single quail. (good thing we’re not counting on my hunting skills to feed the family all winter!)  Joey sure liked seeing his dog in action.  I think we’ve created a new hunter in the family.  He’s asked to go every week since then.

Joey is fired up about bird hunting with some help from Dottie!!

Joey is fired up about bird hunting with some help from Dottie!!

Dottie and I were very fortunate the last weekend of pheasant/quail season to be invited out to my friend’s land to hunt with him and his griff, “Bear”.  We had a lot of fun and got into a covey of quail that kept us busy for an hour or so.  The dogs did great pointing out the covey after it broke, but we weren’t much of a shot.  We bagged one out of the ordeal. (I can’t come home with just ONE quail AGAIN! 🙂 ).  Luckily, the last field we hit yielded us some roosters to end the season.  We bagged two to end the year.  

Dottie and Bear found some roosters!

Dottie and Bear found some roosters!

All in all, I’d have to say that reflecting back on the season, we had a pretty good first year with Dottie.  Unfortunately, a lot of the CRP land we used to hunt is either out the program this year, or mowed down due to the drought, so it was a tough year to find good habitat for the birds.  We’re really happy with Dottie.  She is just excellent with the kids, and has a great demeanor.

 I’m interested in working with her more this spring.  I’m going to try and watch for any field trials that might be close to Omaha.  I know you guys do this quite a bit, so any help or pointers would be great.

 Thanks Again!

Rick & Dawn and Family

We are seeing if Rick and Dottie want to take a shot at Junior Hunter at the GSPC of Lincoln event in March, looks like she is ready to me with all the wild bird hunting, but I’ll let Rick and Charles talk through that one.

I had hoped to get the pregnant females out on some birds, but we might run out of time.  This weekend we’re finishing preparations on the whelping areas, the weekend after that we’ve got our first Heartland NAVHDA Chapter meeting of the year, then the weekend after that I’ll be hovering over Sue waiting for the puppies to come.  But we might be able to scrounge up some quail and do it this weekend, who knows.  Thanks to Rick for the great write-up and photos, they are always appreciated and enjoyed!  I’ll keep you all posted as to the latest.

Good luck tomorrow to the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon gang out in NYC for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, I have plans to join you some year (just as a spectator!).  Also, those of you going to Pheasant Fest in Minneapolis this weekend have a good time, hope some AKC griffs make it into the Bird Dog Parade!

Waiting for puppies

February 3, 2013

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Mae is about 2 weeks along now, so we don’t see a whole lot of belly with her just yet, but Sue is definitely showing that puppies should be here in about 4 weeks!

Sue taking it easy in the house

Sue taking it easy in the house

Sue in the yard

Sue in the yard

The kids got a day off from school on Wednesday for a snow day, so we took the opportunity to sled and hang out with the dogs.  They are always a joy to be around and we never have to worry about them hurting the kids.

Two moms-to-be on the run. Mae in foreground, Sue in background.

Two moms-to-be on the run. Mae in foreground, Sue in background.

Profile of Mae looking paunchy at 2 weeks pregnant

Profile of Mae looking paunchy at 2 weeks pregnant

Sam checking on the kids

Sam checking on the kids

Here comes BB!

Here comes BB!

BB and Sam tearing it up.

BB and Sam tearing it up.

Sam giving Conrad a kiss

Sam giving Conrad a kiss

BB and Sam having a good time while Cordelia sleds down the hill.

BB and Sam having a good time while Cordelia sleds down the hill.

All four dogs outside: BB, Mae, Sam and Sue

All four dogs outside: BB, Mae, Sam and Sue

All four dogs inside: Mae Sam, Sue and BB

All four dogs inside: Mae Sam, Sue and BB

 

We will continue to give you updates as the two mama’s pregnancies progress.

Pupdates

We received a couple of updated photos from our “A” litter of Sam and Sue.  Brothers Whiskey and Winston are looking good and all grown up!  Here’s Whiskey out on his last chukar hunt of the season this year in Nevada.  I just love his big mop of hair on his head!

Whiskey age 3 up on the mountain

Whiskey age 3 up on the mountain

 

His brother Winston has a bit shorter “do” on top.  Here he is on the left, with his big “sister” Stella, a German Wirehaired Pointer.  They live up in Minnesota and you would never know that they are two different breeds by looking at them.

Winston the griff on left, Stella the GWP on right

Winston the griff on left, Stella the GWP on right

 

Thank you to Whiskey’s owners Pete and Deborah and Winston’s owners Kelvin and Nancy for sharing the updated photos.  Even though there is snow on the ground here, the robins have returned and that is a sure sign of the spring (and the spring births) to come!  Keep checking back for the latest!

 

 

 

 

Hunting Season Ends, Puppy Season Begins

January 27, 2013

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update , , , , , , Leave a comment

Puppy Season Begins

Sam and Mae mated from January 12-15, so that puts us with another litter around March 15th.  So Sue will whelp around March 1st and Mae will whelp around March 15th.  It will be a busy spring around here!  Sorry to be out of touch as of late, but we are also working on a big development for our family and kennel that we aren’t prepared to announce just yet, but hope to have the news finalized by mid-February.

For those who are looking for a puppy, I do want to be up front that I currently have 14 reservations for the two litters.  I could very well have two large litters and have no problem producing more puppies than that, but there are no guarantees.  We are planning four litters for next spring/summer breeding season, so anyone not getting a pup this year could hold their reservation over to a pup next year.

Sue and Mae are definitely looking pregnant and I will be sure to get belly pictures of them next weekend.

Hunting Season Ends

Charles and Matt have figured out the new game in these parts and had some end-of season success with Sam and BB.  Last weekend Charles got a couple of wild quail, but no pictures, so we had to resort to the picture in the house after dark.  Conveniently, Sam retrieved one and BB the other.

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Charles and the dogs took two male bobwhites the weekend on Jan 19th.

Yesterday they returned to the field for the final push for the year, as wild upland season in Nebraska ends on January 31st.  Charles took one hen quail, with Matt filling the game bag for the day with 2 male bobwhites and the elusive Nebraska rooster pheasant.

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Matt, BB and Sam in the parting shot of 2012-2013

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Can you see the griffs? Matt, Sam and BB take on some quail.

Pupdates

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Nate and pup Ben, from Sam and Sue’s “B” litter of 2011 from near Palmyra, Nebraska.  Here’s what Nate had to say:

It has been a while since I had given you an update on Ben.  He is doing fine and we really enjoy having him.  He is an excellent family dog and we are starting keeping him in the house more and more so we can spend more time with him.  He does well hunting (I need to work on his retrieving) but our hunting has been very tough this year.  I couldn’t find any birds in my grouse spot this year and pheasants and quail have been very few and far both at my place and in central Nebraska.  Finally had a good half of day of hunting yesterday in central NE that would have been better if I would have shot better but that is the way it goes.  I am going to try to do some things this spring after season to make up for that like participating in hunt tests, buying some birds, and maybe even go to a preserve (which I never thought I would say).   I have attached some pictures of Ben pointing some birds this evening.

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Ben two years old from our “B” litter

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Ben pointing, from behind

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Ben checking out the snow

Of course TracHer up in North Dakota continues to have adventures with her griffon pals Mr. Favor and Zephyr and people, Susan and Tom.  TracHer is also practicing wearing her cross country skiing harness, to join everyone on their next trail adventure.

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 We hope that everyone has had a good beginning of the New Year.  We are looking forward to more griffon adventures ourselves.  Charles is planning on putting on what we’re calling the “Old Bitches Hunt”, where he plants some farm raised quail for the two pregnant females and me to hunt up, since I’ve missed the last part of the season while Matt and Charles figured out the new game for this area.  We’ll take it slow and easy, but we think it is good for the pregnant females to hunt to send the hunting endorphines to the pups.
I’ll get some pictures up of Mae and Sue next weekend, but until then, stay griffy!

Mid-season Slowdown, Pupdates and Happy Holidays!!

December 13, 2012

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

After the big hunting trip to North Dakota for Sam, BB and Charles, filling the game bag has taken a pause.  It isn’t that we haven’t tried!  Charles went out for deer the first two weekend in November on our friend’s land on the Platte River and saw deer but didn’t have any good shots.  Our freezer is full of birds anyway, so I think he was really just getting out of the house.  The latter part of November and the first part of December he’s gone out for ducks, pheasants and quail, with very few sightings and no shots.  There were two weekends where he drove 3 hours one way (in different directions), even going down into the Flint Hills of Kansas, but still no luck.  We are hoping that when the snow finally comes (we’re at a historical record for days without snow), that we might be able to come across a few roosters, but are really looking forward to our planned grouse hunt on the Sunday before Christmas up in my Nebraska Sandhills home.  For the most part we’ve given up on Eastern Nebraska this year and are going to turn our attention to getting Sam and BB trained up to take a shot at some legs of the AKC Senior Hunter test over the course of 2013.

Looks like we’re getting closer to breeding with Sue and I suspect that Mae won’t be too far behind.  I won’t have an exact calendar of events until pro-estrous (bleeding) actually starts, but there are definitely changes going on and I just have to keep watching.

Yet despite our slow time here lately, things appear to be going well in other parts of the country with our puppy owners!  Aaron of Ohio and “Pepper” from Sam and Sue’s 2012 “D” litter (age 6 months now) posted an update on our Facebook page saying:

Pepper, aka Derry, from the D litter is doing very well. We worked her on quail in a call back pen all late summer and early fall until the quail “went native”. On Monday we decided to shoot over her for the first time after a fair bit of work with a starter pistol. She pointed and retrieved two chukars with no concern for the gun fire. She trailed a wounded bird to a groundhog hole where it escaped. She is also doing great in the house.

It’s so exciting to keep up with all of the pups and how they are doing, knowing how much joy a good dog brings to the home and field.  Randy and “Roxy”, from Sam and Sue’s 2011 “B” litter, out of Utah are having an outstanding year.  Randy wrote:

Man, has the light ever came on with Roxy.  She did all that could ever be wanted while hunting Iowa, North Dakota, and Utah this year.  Best all around dog I have ever had in the 50 years of hunting.  I will attach a few pictures.  Thanks you guys for making my hunting career come together.

Click on any of the photos to enlarge:

Randy, Roxy (18 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon female) and company after a great day in the field

Randy, Roxy (18 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon female) and company after a great day in the field

Randy and Roxy (18 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon female) had a great time in North Dakota!

Randy and Roxy (18 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon female) had a great time in North Dakota!

Another great day for Roxy (18 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon female)!

Another great day for Roxy (18 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon female)!

I really love the last photo of Randy and Roxy because aside from being absolutely gorgeous, it’s a great shot showing that she looks exactly like Sue’s head on Sam’s body.  Of course, having a hunter say that you’ve given him the best hunting dog that he’s had in 50 years of hunting makes a person feel like a million bucks!!  But that is our goal!!

Cliff down in Oklahoma and his pup “Belle” out of Sam and Mae’s 2012 “C” litter, which is 9 months old now, are having a great time thus far in Kansas and Oklahoma:

Wanted to give you a quick update on Belle.  We’ve been out every week since the season opened in OK & KS.  I had to work the weekend of Nov 10th & 11th, but that was just as well  because it was so warm and windy.  Belle & I hunted the following Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning in KS.  Saw very few pheasants (no quail) and bagged the only one I shot at.  That was Belle’s first pheasant.  Attached is a picture of us with #1.
 
The following weekend in KS we got 2 more pheasants.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving we hunted Kansas once again and got into a covey of quail and bagged 2 birds.  Belle as having rock solid points and also found a bird that had been hit and flown a considerable distance to which we only knew a general location.  With the quail, Belle made the connection that she was to bring them back to me, so she now brings the birds back to me in addition to fetching the paper daily.  So far the hunting reports across the state of Kansas are what I have experienced.  The bird population has been severely impacted.
  
Yesterday was opening day for pheasants in OK.  When I got up it was 59 degrees and windy.  The high got up to 76.  I should have had my OK limit (3 roosters), but missed the easiest shot of the day Crying face.  We saw a good number of birds, but with the weather most flushed far ahead.
 
Overall, I am very pleased with Belle’s performance.  Responds to commands, hunts close, has a great nose, does not flush birds wildly, and has learned to hold point and to find and retrieve downed birds.  I just need to keep giving her the opportunity to hunt so that we can refine her skills.  I have attached additional pictures.

Cliff and Belle (9 month old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) with her first pheasant

Cliff and Belle (9 month old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) with her first pheasant

Belle (9 month old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) and the Oklahoma opener game bag

Belle (9 month old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) and the Oklahoma opener game bag

Awesome success, Cliff and Belle, so happy for you!!  It gives us hope that there is still upland bird hunting to be had out there since honestly, we’ve been in a bit of a funk about how things have been going lately.  I have pictures from the 1990’s of Charles and our Brittany “Sheaf” going out every weekend and getting a limit of pheasant here in Eastern Nebraska.  It really hurts my heart that those days are probably gone and we’re going to be stuck with three options: 1) extended bird hunting safaris to the Nebraska Sandhills, North Dakota and other states with sustainable bird populations 2) joining a hunt club 3) buying and planting our own birds on the local dog training wildlife management area or on a friend’s land.

Okay, back to something happy for the holidays!!  Joel and Jenn from Kearney, Nebraska shared this picture of Roxy’s brother, Mowgli, from Sam and Sue’s 2011 “B” litter.  He looks like he enjoyed the snow that they had out there!  What a face!

Mowgli (18 month old male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) chillin' in the snow

Mowgli (18 month old male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) chillin’ in the snow

Keeping in the holiday spirit, Sal and family in New York were kind enough to mail us a Christmas card with a cute photo of Belle’s brother, Chester, also from Sam and Mae’s 2012 “C” litter (9 months old):

Merry Christmas from Chester (9 month old male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon)

Merry Christmas from Chester (9 month old male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon)

Many thanks to all of my puppy owners for making this blog fun to put together and read!  You really go out of your way to take the time to send us great photos and write-ups and it is appreciated more than I can ever express.  We put a lot of time and love into our puppies, so it is a big warm fuzzy to see that loving spirit carried on in their lives in their forever homes.

Wishing all hunters and lovers of griffons, our puppy owners, friends and family the Merriest of Christmases, from Bluestem Kennels and the Upchurch family!

"Not a creature was stirring..." Clockwise from top left: BB, Mae, Sam and Sue.

“Not a creature was stirring…” Clockwise from top left: BB, Mae, Sam and Sue.

More Field Trial Action and Pupdates

September 28, 2012

Charity Upchurch Field Trialing, Kennel Update, Puppy Update, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

On Field Trials

Saturday, September 22nd was a big day for AKC field events in the Lincoln, Nebraska area, so the kids and I hit the road to visit friends and family involved.  Our first stop was the Missouri Valley Brittany Club’s AKC Hunt Test at Yankee Hill Wildlife Management Area just southwest of Lincoln, near Denton.  Although Charles and I lived in Lincoln for a couple of years in the 1990’s, I had never been to this WMA.  It is very nice, lots of good cover and space, I can see why the Nebraska Game and Parks selected it as a new spot to plant pheasant for the youth hunting weekend in October.  Yet I digress.

I was headed to the test to visit with my friend Sally Jo Hoagland from North Platte.  Although she is probably closer to my mom’s age than mine, she is one of the top (if not THE top) Weimaraner breeders in Nebraska (Weimshadow Kennel) and one of the only professional dog trainers in Central Nebraska (Four Paws Dog Training).  We had met at the Grand Island Kennel Club Dog Show earlier in the year after first connecting on Facebook, due to our mutual involvement with NAVHDA and AKC.  It was funny that at the hunt test I not only knew Sally Jo, but probably 90% of the people at the test and what was even funnier is that we were not the only family of spectators.

The hunt test environment is very family friendly, there are usually multiple families with elementary age children running about, so we all look out for one another’s kids and there is never any worry about any of the dogs being mean.  The dogs typically sit quietly in their crates or on their stakeout chains and love to have the kids mess with them.

Following lunch at the hunt test and a good visit with friends and fellow local hunt test junkies, we loaded up and headed north to Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds near Raymond.  Although we had been there for hunt tests in the past, this field trial environment was completely different.  The German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Nebraska’s field trial over last weekend was four days long and had 235 entrants, making it one of the largest AKC field trials of the entire year.  Our “camp” was out in the back 40, so when the kids wanted to go to the clubhouse to get some sweets and sodas, we had to wade through the melee.  As most field trials are on horseback, most of the other camps consisted of a camper/horsetrailer/dogtrailer combo, a stakeout chain of 10-25 dogs and at least one horse.  Anytime someone walked down the dirt road in the midst of the gypsy village, all 235 dogs barked and spazzed out on their chains.  This was with the exception of BB of course, who really wanted her people very close to her in this strange setting.  I don’t think that any of us were comfortable and felt pretty alien: a family with small children and one griffon surrounded by herds of barking shorthairs, German Wirehaired Pointers and Vizsla dogs along with their owners who reminded me of the rodeo crowd; not sure if their faces are red from being sunburned or last night’s whiskey, or both.  The only time that I saw any other women is when they came out of their campers to water their dogs or smoke a cigarette.

A string of German Shorthaired Pointers at the AKC Field Trial on Saturday

Maybe I’m only drawing these caricatures because I was nervous and scared that my 3 year old was going to wade into a pack of freaked out hunting machines.  I don’t want to hurt any field trialer’s feelings and I’m sure we’ll be back for more, so I’ll get more comfortable and quit seeing things that make me want to point them out.  But as the hunt testing environment is where my fellow griffoniers find themselves, I wanted to point out the differences before anyone else decided to strike out into the field trial world.  Not that I have any serious ideas of other griffoniers going this route, as a few of them have raised questions about participation.

Our take on it is that Korthals wanted to breed a foot hunting dog that was faster than the bootlicking continental breeds of his time.  We do not believe that hunt testing does enough to test the athleticism and endurance of the animal, as it is a brief exercise that is only looking for the dog to satisfy the training requirements of the test (search, pointing, retrieving, steadiness, honoring etc.).  Even in NSTRA and BHU trials, the field is too small for it to be a valid test of athleticism.  We intend to continue to participate in walking stakes at AKC field trials and other trialers at the event encouraged Charles to look into American Field’s Region 19 events.

In my brief readings on American Field Region 19, these are events that last longer than an hour and are on open terrain and wild birds, which is a lot like what we are doing for hunting anyway, where we walk for at least an hour before stopping for water and usually two hours before we really stand or sit around for any lengthy period of time.  I would suspect that BB would be the first griffon to ever participate in American Field, should we decide to check it out.

BB placed 4th out of 5 in the Amateur Walking Derby stakes last Saturday, beating out a Vizsla her same age, working the terrain more thoroughly and having the one bird find of the run.  Although we are flying in the face of current convention with the breed, we worry more about the prevelance of designer house pets and conformation show-only dogs than about our involvement in walking stakes at field trials.  I really just wish we could channel the spirit of Korthals to ask him himself, but in the meantime we’ll just keep doing our research to support our methods and having fun with our dogs.

BB’s Fourth Place Ribbon.

Pupdates

TracHer is busy as usual in North Dakota, she’s 7 months old now and been out on a few sharptail grouse and Hungarian Partridge hunts.  She’s even retrieved a few of them!  Most recently, she brought a live rabbit into the house through the doggie door while company was over, luckily they were fellow hunters!

TracHer on left (7 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) with Susan and her old buddy Zephyr with Tom and their limit of sharptail grouse!

TracHer and her bunny (7 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon)

TracHer retrieving a sharptail grouse (7 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon)

Mike out in Colorado has also been working with TracHer’s “twin” sister Frankie on some pheasants.  He’s been working on steadiness on the point and he says she’s doing a great job!  Both TracHer and Frankie are from our 2012 “C” litter with Sam and Mae.

Mowgli is 18 months old and is from our 2011 “B” litter out of Sue and Sam.  Quite the looker!  I saw his brother Duke’s owner at the movie theater when I was taking the kids to see Finding Nemo 3-D, so hopefully I’ll get to see him soon.

Mowgli (18 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) and his neighbor friend the Dachshund chilling on the deck

Coming Soon to Versatile Hunter

Well in less than a week, we’ll be headed back out to the Sandhills for some more hunting.  There are no words for how terrible Eastern Nebraska has been this year thus far.  The swamps are too dry for early teal and snipe, then the prairie chicken grounds have all been mowed for hay.  Damn drought.  We are going to have to start commuting to not only the Sandhills, but the Rainwater Basin of Central Nebraska, the pheasant fields of South Dakota and Southwestern Nebraska as well as the quail fields of Kansas.  I hope that this is a temporary blip in the hunting situation in this part of the state because I don’t see us moving anytime soon.  But we are in fear of this being the beginning of a total collapse in hunting in Southeastern Nebraska.

Shirts!!

Oh and one last thing, be sure to check out the new t-shirt designs on our Shop!!  You can either click the button at the top of the page or go directly to http://www.wirehairedpointinggriffongear.com Buy a shirt to show your griffon pride, 100% made in the USA, from the shirt itself, the artists designs to the embroidery and screenprinting!!

A New Year’s Training Day

January 6, 2012

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Kennel Update , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Sunday afternoon we ventured to Country Lane Game Breeders in Dwight, Nebraska  and picked up some quail and chukar partridge.  It was a longer drive than we usually take to buy training birds, but it took us down some Nebraska highways that we haven’t been down before.

Monday morning we set out with our two oldest children, 10 year-old Cordelia and 7 year-old Conrad, to plant some birds and get some one-on-one work with 10 month-old “BB” and 5 year old (but just finished her first month with us) “Mae”.

(Author’s Note: Please click on any of the photos to see a larger version)

Conrad and Cordelia were troopers on a cold, windy day

Charles takes down a quail in front of BB

BB retrieves the quail

Charles takes the retrieve from BB

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Charles walks into BB pointing a chukar

Charles takes aim

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

BB retrieves the chukar

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Mae on point

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Charles walks in for the flush and shoots the chukar

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Mae on retrieve

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Charles walking into Mae's point from the side

Closeup of the same point by Mae

A surprise double flush (see the second bird getting up behind Charles?)!

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Mae bringing in the retrieve

We started at the field around 10 AM and the kids lasted on the march (without a lunch even) until 1:30 PM.  Charles and Mae stayed out another hour after we returned to the truck and picked up some more birds out of the woods.  Monday night we dined on chukar/quail chili and Tuesday night was chukar/quail pot pie.  Important work for the dogs and delicious meals to boot!

Charles is talking about taking Sue and Sam back to our training field this weekend to clean up the escapees, but other than that we are looking forward to a slow weekend around the house after the holidays and before the last push of wild bird hunting in Nebraska for the season, ending January 31st.

Canadian Whiskey

October 5, 2011

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Good ol’ Whiskey, a male out of my 2010 litter who lives in Nevada, is up to the business of hunting again.  His hunter, Pete, took him up to Canada for some goose hunting and they experienced some great success!

“Bring on the geese!!”

“Here you go, dad!” says Whiskey retrieving a snow goose

Pete and Whiskey had a successful day

 

A Day for BB

September 28, 2011

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Hunting Tales , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Saturday brought us BB’s first solo wild bird adventure in the field, on a snipe hunt with Charles.  It is good for the six month old pup to run with the older dogs to learn the ways of the game, but it is essential that she also be allowed to hunt independently.

As there has been a warm spell up in the northern area of the flyway, the migrating snipe were not yet noticed, just the resident population that we last hunted at our snipe swamp in Southeastern Nebraska.  Charles and BB put up several snipe, but he passed on many shots since the birds start out flying so low to the ground, it is often a risk to the dog.  He also didn’t want to shoot birds on the edge of range, as he wanted an easy “hunt dead” for BB, so that she would not get discouraged.

BB has mastered the art of the search, knows bird scent, gets birdy and points.  Right now we are still working on the retrieve with real birds, as she will mark the bird and pick it up, but not yet bring to hand reliably.  She will retrieve a dummy or dokken to hand without fail in the yard, heck, she’ll even retrieve our 2 1/2 year old’s stuffed animals when he throws them with the fetch command.  It is all just part of the process that we’d like for her to work through naturally within the next few months of hunting, knowing that with her griffon instincts she will put the pieces of the yard training and the field work together in due time.

BB's first wild bird after a long day in the snipe swamp

Another busy week

September 22, 2011

Charity Upchurch Guiding Hunts, Hunting Tales, Puppy Update , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Charles and I started the week chasing Southeastern Nebraska prairie chicken.  As the population in the area is somewhat sparse, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission limits the number of birds harvested to three the entire season, from September 1 to January 31, and a hunter must obtain special tags to harvest in this area.

We spent five hours of our Saturday walking in a drizzle and didn’t spot a single game bird of any kind.  Our intention was to return to the field on Sunday, either for prairie chicken or the last day of early teal, but we were rained out.

One of our puppies from this year’s litter, Ben, was out in the South Central part of the state and had some great luck on sharptails out there.  Ben is our top prospect for a mate for our 6 month old Canadian import girl, BB.  Great job, Ben, and owner, Nate!

Ben, Nate and Nate's father with the grouse harvest

A visit was also paid to us by another puppy from this year’s litter, Duke.  He is growing big and there are plans in the works to get him out on some birds with our guidance before his November pheasant hunting trip to South Dakota.

The Duke at 6 months

On Monday, Charles guided another successful preserve pheasant, chukar and Hungarian partridge hunt.  The hunting party consisted of two native Nebraska gentlemen along with a father and two sons from Long Island, NY.  We had a wet start after an early morning rain, but by 9 AM the sun had emerged, so that the grass and our soaked clothes were completely dry by the time we wrapped up mid-afternoon.

Hunters walking the thick grass

The father shoots a chukar, while Sam points another bird on the ground

One of the sons shoots a gorgeous rooster pheasant

Sam retrieving a rooster pheasant

Sam does a water retrieve on a pheasant shot over the pond

The hunting party and birds

Family picture with the birds

An interesting aside about a native bird that we encountered on our hunt.  In the wetness of the morning, we flushed a few sora rails in a densely vegetated, low, wet spot.  As they are in season and we had a Nebraska licensed hunter on one of the guns, he harvested one of the sora rails.

The sora rail’s flight is best described as “dumpy”.  They don’t fly very fast or far when they flush and are easily recognized: fatter than most song birds, black body with a yellow, triangular bill and long, greenish legs that hang down when they fly.  Sora rail hunting is most popular in the Northeastern Coastal areas, where they often use small boats to hunt them in seaside marshes.

The hunter didn’t have any desire to take the sora home with him, so we brought the bird home to add some tasty bites to our meal for the evening.

Caleb, age 2 1/2, practices his hunter pose with the sora rail

Reflections on Snipe Hunting

September 13, 2011

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Sire and Dam Ability, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Sam, Charles, Sue and BB with 4 snipe, a teal and 2 doves

The habitat of the snipe is nothing that I had ever expected.  As we wandered our way down the path through the cattails, I kept my eyes sharp, looking for the zig-zag flight of the long-billed swamp bird.  Yet my vigilance was wasted in those areas of dense swamp cover and we eventually wandered into a 20 acre flat, recently grazed by cattle.

“This is where it gets interesting,” Charles warned.  We split up to cover opposite sides of a small creek that ended in a cattail marsh.  I mistakenly headed once again into dense cover, thinking that the sneaky birds would tuck themselves into the reeds.  I was sinking quickly into the mud and got my rubber boots stuck, just in time for an incoming snipe, who landed in the distant short grass.  I was able to extract myself from the mud and we walked towards where we saw the bird land.  He jumped up way out of range, but it became obvious that we were dealing with a resident population, as they did not want to leave their 20 acres.

We worked over the creek half of the plot, spotting a few more snipe getting up out of range.  Our favorite technique for birds that won’t hold tight is to tire them out, flush, then follow, flush, then follow, until they are too tired to be overly flighty.  There was no luck to be had in that half of the small territory, so we headed towards the area where the flushed birds landed.

In a spot that we had covered, next to the tiny creek in tightly grazed grass an unexpected snipe popped up with its classic, “screeee, thwicka, thwicka, thwicka”.  Aside from its larger size, the call of a fleeing snipe is the one sure way to tell it apart from a killdeer.  The chosen path of the snipe is frightening for the hunter, as it begins by flying very close to the ground, at the same height of the dogs and sometimes right among them.

The bird flew clear of the dogs and Charles made the shot, with Sue on retrieve.  Right after that, a dove flew by me in range and I watched it go, choosing to focus on trying to get my first snipe.  Another shot was fired from my husband’s gun and he took down the dove, with Sue doing another great job on tracking the small bird to deliver to her master.

Our walk continued towards a small pond, where all heck broke loose.  Charles quickly bagged another snipe in the flat next to the pond and while he was busy with Sam’s retrieve, the crazy swamp creatures were zig-zagging all around above my head.  I missed several shots on snipe, while a couple of teal busted out of the pond.  Charles was lucky to be close enough to the pond to take one of the teal, which landed in the water still alive.  The injured teal made its way towards the cattails on the edge of the bank in an attempt to hide from the encroaching dogs, but Sam was able to snatch it out of the water.

Close-up of a snipe, with a blue-winged teal in the background

The pond was completely shaken down, so we decided to head back to the creek area we had already covered.  I was in a hurry to cross the watery thread and thought I spotted a muddy area that was dry and vegetated enough to handle my crossing.  Epic fail!  I was immediately sucked thigh deep into the mud, both legs.  Charles was still trying to give me hand signals as to which direction we were going and began to walk off into the distance, so I had to shout him down to come and hold my gun so that I could attempt to remove myself from the gluey muck.  I wiggled and squiggled, but my cheap rubber calf boots were not budging.  My only choice was to leave the boots in the mud and concede defeat to the snipe swamp, pouting my way sock-footed towards the truck.

Defeated by the swamp

Not wanting to wander too far in my socks or ruin Charles’s hunt, I stood on the edge of the 20 acres as he walked back and forth with the dogs, taking two more snipe and one more dove off in the distance.

My adventure ended in the style of a proverbial snipe hunt, as defined in Wikipedia, “…also known as a fool’s errand, a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task.”  Yet I am intrigued by this interesting hunt and unusual habitat.  I will be purchasing some hip boots before I try this again, but am sure to be back and better prepared.

If you are interested in reading more tales of snipe hunting from around the globe, check out Worth Mathewson’s rare book Reflections on Snipe.

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