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Summer comes to a close…

August 13, 2013

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

It has been a very busy summer of work, family, travel and dog training here.  Sorry that I have not had a chance to keep you all updated, with the kids all at home with me, it makes it challenging to find the time and quiet space to do it all.  I suppose it would make the most sense to me to work backwards chronologically with the news.

On Friday we will be traveling up to Sioux Falls, SD to run Sam and BB in the NAVDHA Utility Test at the Fall Test of the Midwest Tri-State NAVHDA Chapter on Saturday.  They have been doing well in practice and I’m hoping that they both prize.  Some folks grumble about whether they get prize I, II or III, but it is one day in the life of a dog.  If the dog is having a bad day, there is something in the environment that they don’t like, the conditions are not what we are used to, etc., etc., the dog might not get the prize we want.  In the recent issue of Versatile Hunting Dog, NAVHDA’s magazine, two of my most respected dog training mentors ran dogs in UT and NA and didn’t prize at all.  These are folks who have been doing this way longer than we have, or most folks I know have, for that matter.  We don’t reach some sort of state of dog perfection and never have a bad day or a bad score.  So any and all NAVHDA prizes are celebrated here!

The last couple of weeks we have been on the road on summer vacation.  The dogs stayed over with our friends at Pheasant Bonanza in Tekamah, Nebraska (http://pheasantbonanza.com/) while we were gone.  They have a full training and boarding set-up there, we elected to board only.  It is nice to take your dog specifically to a place for gun dogs that is clean and well-maintained.  The dogs came back healthy and happy. (Not a paid endorsement)

BB’s OFA hip certificate came in the mail while we were on vacation, so she will be ready to be bred sometime around the new year.  We are still working out who we are going to use as a stud, so we will be sure to keep you posted.

BB OFA

While we were traveling, I spent the day in the Lion Country Supply office.  Right now, I am in the process of updating their catalog of over 2300 dog training supplies.  It was cool to meet the people and see the facility.  My favorite part of the office was the gun dog humor found on the restroom doors.  Instead of Women and Men it was Setters and Pointers, ha!

Setters and Pointers on the restroom doors at LCS

Setters and Pointers on the restroom doors at LCS

The kids dropping me off at the office.

The kids dropping me off at the office.

Before we left for vacation we were training every chance we had!  Every weekend was spent on trips to the pond and field.  Even when we were sitting around the backyard, we were practicing blind dummy retrieves and “whoa”.

Sitting in the yard: Mae, BB and Sam

Sitting in the yard: Mae, BB and Sam

BB brings in the goose Dokken Dead Fowl dummy from a blind retrieve

BB brings in the goose Dokken Dead Fowl dummy from a blind retrieve

Sam's goose blind retrieve

Sam’s goose blind retrieve

I suppose I should explain a blind dummy retrieve.  That is where the dogs have to stay in the yard on “whoa” and one of us goes way back into the woods and hides the dummy without them seeing where we placed it.  One of the dogs is then released to go fetch the dummy.  The dummies are not scented and the dog is only finding them by sight, which is fairly difficult for them.

We had a cool new dog box shipped out to us from Michigan.  It is a hound style box and the dogs have lots more room and are able to stick their heads out of the side of the box.  It will make the long distance trips much more comfortable for the dogs and we are glad to have finally retired the “slave ship”.  It was a nice enough dog box, but it just didn’t have enough room for multi-day roadtrips.

BB and Mae getting ready to depart on the maiden voyage of the dog box

BB and Mae getting ready to depart on the maiden voyage of the dog box

Sam and Mae at the pond in the new box

Sam and Mae at the pond in the new box

Well that pretty much sums things up for the time being, I will be sure to update you all next week as to the outcome up in Sioux Falls, keep your fingers crossed for a good Saturday for us!  I am still running behind on returning voice mails and e-mails, so I apologize to those of you who have reached out to me and I haven’t gotten back to you.  I have dedicated time set aside this week to get caught up before we head north on Friday.  Talk at you next week!

Oh and hunting season starts in two weeks!  Woot!

The Stay-At-Home Wingshooter

November 27, 2011

Charity Upchurch Uncategorized , , , , , Leave a comment

Charles and the dogs guided a father, son and daughter on Wednesday

The area outlying the Omaha metro may not be blessed with the best wild pheasant numbers, but there are some fine preserves to enjoy the fresh air, sunshine and shooting.  For the past year, Charles and the dogs have been lucky enough to guide hunts for Pheasant Haven Hunting Acres http://www.pheasanthavenlodge.com/ just to the west of Omaha’s Elkhorn neighborhood, in Elk City.

As Steve Smith so eloquently stated in his article “The Semi-Traveling Wingshooter” in the September/October 2011 issue of Pointing Dog Journal:

We owe it to the dog, after all, because he doesn’t care.  He’ll get as much satisfaction out of pointing a preserve pheasant as he will cornering a running Nebraska ringneck; the released bobwhite he nails will stir his soul like a dozen-bird Kansas covey.  That dog doesn’t look down his nose at anything.  He’s just happy to be out there obeying the commands shouted into his ear by his chromosomes.

A father and son team took to the field Thanksgiving morning

Preserve experiences cannot completely replace wild bird hunting for die-hards, but for many urban/suburbanites who want a pleasant morning or afternoon close to home with guaranteed flushes, the preserve experience is perfect.

Pheasant Bonanza http://www.pheasantbonanza.com/ is about an hour and a half north of the metro and was featured in this year’s production of Scott Linden’s Wingshooting USA television show.  The episode has yet to air, but here is the blog post covering his visit: http://scottlindenoutdoors.com/2011/10/19/pheasant-bonanza-yes-it-is/

For those poor souls living outside of the wild pheasant zone, preserve hunting may be the only reasonable chance at a rooster.  The Aberdeen (S.D.) newspaper recently published an article about how out-of-state hunter numbers are way down this year, as the cost of gas and travel is prohibitive to many in the down economy.  There is no shame in wanting quality time in the field close to home with your dogs or someone else’s.

“This is the vital role of the modern shooting preserve: to maintain a tradition of quality shooting wherever that tradition is fading under the onslaught of suburbia, and where the joy of dog and gun may otherwise be lost to tomorrow’s men.” — Winchester’s Conservation Department, Shooting Preserve Management (1967)

To locate a hunting preserve near you, visit Quail Unlimited’s comprehensive directory: http://www.qu.org/main/huntdir/huntdirectory.cfm


Pheasants Forever Youth Hunt: Heartland #491 2010 and Pheasant Pot Pie

September 27, 2010

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Sire and Dam Ability, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Charles and Sue had a grand time guiding at Pheasants Forever Heartland Chapter’s Youth Hunt on Saturday, September 25th at Pheasant Bonanza in Tekamah, Nebraska http://www.pheasantbonanza.com/.  I wasn’t there to witness, but Charles said that Sue did a great job pointing and retrieving the birds.  She’s got the point part down on the bird box.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Sue pointing the box of pheasants

The best tale I heard was where a pheasant went down on the far side of a barbed wire fence and Sue had no problem going through the fence to retrieve and back through with the bird in her mouth without dropping it.  There will be more pictures of the youth hunt forthcoming from other members.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Unidentified youth, Sue and Charles at the 2010 Pheasants Forever Heartland Chapter Youth Hunt

Since I knew that Charles would be bringing home EVEN MORE pheasants to put in the freezer, he pulled a couple out before he left that morning for me to do something with.  So I made my most easy, “half-homemade” pheasant pot pie.

  • Place two whole plucked and gutted pheasants in a large stock pot.  Fill with water and boil for a couple of hours or so.  Defrost two frozen roll-out pie crusts
  • Shred/debone pheasant meat, preheat oven to 375
  • Sautee about 5 sliced mushrooms, mix with pheasant meat in a bowl
  • Add about 3 cups of frozen mixed vegetables
  • Add 1 can of cream of chicken soup, mix
  • Warm the whole mixture up in a sauce pan on the stove, but don’t cook it too much
  • Grease a round casserole dish and place one of the frozen pie crusts in the bottom
  • Dump the grub in and put the other pie crust on top, cutting slits
  • Place foil on the crimped edges of the pie and bake for an hour and a half or so

Pheasant Pot Pie