Sharptailed Grouse Hunting | Bluestem Kennels

Our son’s first Sandhills hunt

October 25, 2023

Charity Upchurch AWPGA, Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Sire and Dam Ability, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Duck Hunting, Heartland NAVHDA Chapter, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA, Nebraska Sandhills, Puppies, Sharptailed Grouse Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Our son’s fall break coincided with the perfect time of year to do some sharptailed grouse and duck hunting back in my homeland of the Nebraska Sandhills, so we took the opportunity to do it. Caleb has been pretty fit his entire childhood participating in various sports clubs in elementary and middle school, and now AFJROTC in high school. The Sandhills demand considerable athleticism, therefore this was a bit of a forge for him.

It was a comeback for myself after battling a few years of orthopedic issues, starting with a bad flare-up of high school sports generated osteoarthritis about five years ago, followed by a horrible case of plantar fasciitis in my feet right around the plague times. I went through a long period where I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to walk any sort of distance again, let alone go hunting. I switched to low support shoes to get my feet in shape while walking, then took up swimming to work out the bugs in my knees (I swam 100 miles last year). Even with all of that work, there is nothing that gets you in shape for hunting like just doing it.

We spent more days in the car driving from South Carolina and back than we did hunting, but it was totally worth it. We also got to see our two adult children living in Omaha, then my mom and extended family in Valentine.

On our way up (Caleb and I were in a seperate vehicle), Charles surprised me and stopped off at our old NAVHDA chapter, Heartland, in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and re-qualified Obi for NAVHDA Invitational. So Obi now has two Utility Prize I awards and is going to Invitational 2024 in Iowa to try again for the Versatile Champion. He had more points than some of the dogs who won the 2023 VC but was just knocked out by his break on the shot on the double mark.

Charles and Obi (UT I again) with our old friend Pam Robinson of Robingun Kennels Small Munsterlanders

But back to the Sandhills: I like to hunt by myself there with a dog or two. I know where I am, I know the lay of the land, it doesn’t bother me to be alone. I am also low tech in that I don’t use a bunch of GPS stuff, so I can only get away with being low tech and alone on my home turf. The first day, Caleb and Charles took the boys (Obi and Duke) and didn’t manage to see anything.

I was with Ruth and our “training aid” rescue English Pointer, Dolly. Luckily within the first 15 minutes I stumbled across a single at about 25 yards and was able to take it down with a right-to-left pull through as it flew across my line of sight. Ruth fetched it right up for me and brought it to hand.

Dolly is hard for me to keep up with, English Pointers like to move a bit faster than I can. Dolly and Ruth busted up another group of about eight or so an hour later, but they were way out of range for me.

My single sharptailed grouse was the only bird that we took that day, the boys didn’t see a single thing. But I was back on the board after a six year drought and was extremely happy about it. Especially to have done it with my female who’d had pups go home just a few weeks before.

The old mama squad: Charity and Bluestem Peaches En Regalia NA I, UPT II, UT III “Ruth” and a sharpie

The second day we opted for walking one of our favorite creeks with Duke and Sally to see if we could jump hunt some ducks, but it became apparent to us right away that someone had recently beaten us to the punch, with human footprints and dog prints visible. We walked it anyway, seeing (and missing) mostly snipe. In my twenty years of hunting I had yet to take a snipe, but always take shots even though they are hard to hit. So we shot after snipe and shot after snipe and missed. Of course, right when Charles and I are talking loudly and yelling across the creek at each other we finally jumped a pair of teal out of range.

The teal went back down further up the creek and I had it marked. As we approached a wide spot, I could see them ahead and warned Caleb and Charles by giving them the old “pointing at the eyes” hand symbol. Yet even though we knew they were there and were able to get close, we still didn’t knock them down as we all three emptied both barrels. But the ducks were starting to tire and went down again up the creek.

Caleb switched to my side of the creek, so now he and I were walking together. This time it was Charles who spotted the ducks on the water ahead and sent Caleb and I in for the flush. Charles was able to pinpoint them and had Caleb walk right up on them. Caleb flushed the ducks but missed them both. We both tucked down and I hid my face under my hat as the ducks circled behind our backs. I waited and hid, crouched down and I turned towards them with my face to the ground until I knew they were flying in range. At just the right moment I stood up and let it rip with both barrels, taking the second one down on to dry land. It took awhile but young Duke found the teal under Charles’s direction and retrieved it to him since he was handling.

The boys decided to continue on a little ways farther down the creek to see if they could find some snipe or anything other ducks. I opted to sit in this grove of dead trees next to the creek where a beaver had conveniently knocked down the trunks, making for some comfortable benches. I was just sitting there enjoying the nice day and out of nowhere three snipe landed around me within five yards. Two of them took off when I looked up at them, but I knew that there was a third. So I stood up. And as he flushed to fly away, I finally harvested my first snipe. After twenty years and at least a hundred shots at their fast, zig-zag flying, squeak squawking swamp bird survival skills, I finally had one.

And not fifteen minutes later, I was standing right behind Caleb as he shot his first bird of the Sandhills, also a snipe. Duke was also on the retrieve for him. It is almost never that Charles is the one who walks out of a field with an empty game bag, but it was that run.

Charity with a teal and a snipe, Caleb with his snipe and Duke

You can see Caleb’s face in this photo but Duke’s legs got cut off

(As an aside: I am not wearing the same clothes every day, I have two versions of the same outfit and alternate.)

There was a nice pond our our way out where we had pushed some ducks out of, so we decided to stop at that and let Charles have a shot at not getting skunked on the day.

Charles was able to jump a flock of bufflehead ducks up from the pond and knock a couple down. I wish that I had grabbed my good camera and put the big lens on it to capture the retrieves, but I was tired and hand the phone in my hand, so that is what we got.

Obi, Charles and the two bufflehead ducks

Day three was a big push for grouse. Charles was anxious to get some in the bag and I didn’t want to have to run behind the pointer anymore, so Dolly and Sally went with Charles. Ruth and I went off on our own and covered a whole ridgeline. Similar to Charles and Caleb’s first day, we saw absolutely nothing in our hills.

I could hear shotguns going off on the other side of the valley, so I was hoping that Charles and Caleb were having good success and I was right. After I had wrapped my walk up and was sitting in the truck eating lunch, they even pushed a few right over the top of my head as I had a mouth full of food. But they soared another 500 yards off into the distance never to be seen again (I tried to find them with no luck).

But Charles had a limit of sharptails so all was right with the world. It had been a long three days marching the dunes and we were ready to go back to town and visit family.

Charles, Dolly and Sally with a limit of sharptailed grouse

Dolly is naturally a bag of bones. We have had her almost a year and have tried feeding her as much as she can eat and she just does not put on condition. Just poops it all out and looks neglected. The nicest dog you will ever meet though, just loves all of the people. I like how she pushes our Griffons to not be lazy bootlickers.

Charles continued on to North Dakota from the Sandhills, then back to Nebraska before coming home to South Carolina. Those are photos and stories for another day.

I really need to get back to finishing my Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Photos gallery, I am almost done adding all of the pictures and then I just need to add captions. The AWPGA is keeping me busy lately organizing the 2024 National Specialty and doing secretary duties, but once I get the locations booked for the specialty and meet with the host kennel club at the beginning of November things should calm down a bit.

We have two litters planned for the spring, Duke and Ruth, then Obi and Sally. The girls won’t come into heat until around Christmas, I will keep everyone posted on that. I do have a reservation list for the litters, but feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to inquire. Stay safe out there in the fields until next time.

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.

Beginning of Hunting Season 2014

September 17, 2014

Charity Upchurch Hunting Forecasts Dove hunting, Ducks, early teal hunting, Hunting Nebraska, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska Sandhills, Sharptailed Grouse Hunting, Taking kids hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

I think that I overdid the adventures this summer and it rattled my hunting cage. I carried a gun the days that we hunted up in the Sandhills the weekend before last, but the few cracks that I took at doves felt way off. I will either opt to carry a camera this season, otherwise I will have to go back and re-read my favorite shotgunning book, Breaking Clays by Chris Batha, and get over to the skeet range before the big ducks start flying.

Nebraska Sandhills Sharptailed Grouse

We devoted Friday, September 5th to chasing grouse with our old buddy, Ryan. After 4 hours in the field, we didn’t see a single bird.

Charity, Charles, and Ryan take a selfie in the grouse field.

What we did end up getting were two dogs with faces full of porcupine quills.

Charles pulls quills out of Sam as Ryan restrains BB.

Another shot of the quill pulling

Conservation Officer Frank Miller of the Valentine office of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission stopped Charles and I on our way into the field Saturday morning and verified that grouse numbers are way down from normal, but just slightly better than last year. Hopefully once the weather turns and they bunch up, we will see them on future trips this fall.

Charles talks to Conservation Officer Frank Miller

Early Teal

After checking a few ponds with no ducks, we were able to put the sneak on a mixed flock and jumped them up. There were too many mallards in the mix as they rose from the pond and the group of teal was circling around them really fast, so I didn’t even dare take a shot. Charles was able to drop one teal out of the group. The last day for early teal in the low plains region is this Sunday, high plains is already closed.

Our 10 year-old son, Conrad, came with us on the trip and learned a great deal about getting around out in the Sandhills.

How to open a western gate

Conrad celebrates dad’s teal and 2 doves

Dove

Dove numbers are strong statewide, with Charles harvesting limits at the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers in the east, as well as during our trip to the Sandhills. We’ve been making these bacon-wrapped dove poppers with them and they are quite delicious! http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/bacon-wrapped-dove

Bacon-wrapped dove poppers

Charles and a Sandhills dove limit

Other friends around the state are also getting their kids out on the doves!

My friends Ashley and Matt's son Gavin and his first dove harvest in the Sandhills.

My friend Ashley’s son Gavin and his first dove harvest in the Sandhills.

Carter and Cadence loved watching their dad Matt shoot doves near Lincoln.

Snipe and Sora

Last weekend I followed Charles, BB and Fire around the swamp chasing after teal, snipe, and sora. There was quite a bit of fast action and good success.

BB retrieves a sora

Fire, BB, and Charles

Snipe in flight

BB brings a snipe to hand on a mud flat.

Charles and Fire inspecting the snipe.

Charles and the dogs circling the pond.

BB and Fire with Charles and 2 teal, 4 sora, and 4 snipe.

Overall a decent start to the 2014 hunting season so far.

Pupdate

George over in Wyoming had a great opener on Blue Grouse with Harry from our 2014 “H” Litter of Sam and Mae, “Attached you’ll find two pictures of yesterday’s blue grouse with Harry. This was her first exposure to wild birds, and she pointed and retrieved them all. One was still somewhat lively for the retrieve and I’m glad she had the experience with a grouse instead of a rooster pheasant! Happy hunting!”

Harry and Blue Grouse

As always, thank you to my puppy owners for sending such great updates and photos!

Until next time, good luck out in the hunting fields!

Sharptailed Grouse Hunting Opener and Other News

September 16, 2013

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Upland Hunting Trips Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Duck Hunting, Ducks, Gun Dog, Korthals Griffon, Missouri Early Teal Season, Missouri River, Nebraska Sandhills, Puppies, Sharptail Grouse Hunting, Sharptailed Grouse Hunting, Teal, Water Retrieve, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

Reservations and Breeding Plans

At this point, I have taken 10 reservations with deposits for my Spring 2014 litters and continue to get interest daily. Even though I am planning three litters (from Mae, BB and Velma), I won’t even start breeding for another three months or so (which puts whelping 5+ months away and homegoing 7+ months away). I just want everyone to know that I am a bit hesitant about taking additional reservations right now. If everything goes as planned, I could have 12-20 puppies in 2014, but I just don’t know right now.

Sharptailed Grouse and Dove Opening Day: September 1, 2013

Charles had a great opening day of grouse in the Nebraska Sandhills on Sunday, September 1st. We set out into the northern dunefield of our usual opening day spot. Our “usual opening day spot” consists of two east-west running dunefields with about a mile wide valley in the middle. I let Charles, Sam and BB head deep into the dunes, while I waited behind at the truck with Mae. Once they were out of sight, I set off eastward into the rising sun. I was probably 100-300 yards south of Charles and clearly heard one shot about 15 minutes into our walk. I had a single bird get up to my left about 5 minutes later, but I missed the shot, which was the only one I had on a grouse all weekend. Not long after I heard another single shot. Charles and I met up at the eastern fenceline of the section about 45 minutes after we had started and talked about what we had seen. He had seen a few large flocks of grouse and had 2 in the bag, so we headed up into the northeastern corner of the section to make sure that we had covered everything, then turned back around to go west towards the truck. Once again, Charles was to the north of me in the higher dunes and I was working the southern edge. Sure enough, not 5 minutes after we parted ways, I heard another single shot. I went over to him and he had his limit of 3.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Hunt Sharptailed Grouse

Sam, Charles and BB with their limit of sharptailed grouse on opening day 2013

We worked for another hour walking westward where he had seen the larger groups, but we didn’t see a single grouse. We then set up our decoys at a windmill and sat for doves for an hour and a half or so, each taking one, but it was too hot to sit the whole day, so we headed back to town to spend time with the family.

Charles and Charity with the obligatory one dove each to start the season

The following day we set out into another spot that has been an annual producer for us. I walked for 3 hours and Charles walked for 4 and neither one of us saw a single sharptail, which is very odd. Some folks say it was last year’s drought not leaving enough cover for nesting, others say they were killed in the massive summer hailstorm that hit the area, but all I know is that they have been in this spot for 15 years and they weren’t there on Labor Day. We called it a hunt midday on Monday and headed out to the lake with friends and family.

Charles has spent the last two weekends working with BB on the duck search and retrieve for her second shot at the NAVHDA Utility Test in October. This coming weekend we will be heading down to Missouri to try our hand at the last weekend of their early teal duck season. Sam is usually our main duck dog, so he will have to hang back back at the truck while BB finally gets her chance to be the waterfowl star.

Pupdates

Got a message and photos from Bob in Minnesota about his pup Ed, from Sue and Sam’s 2013 “E” litter. Sounds like he is doing great and has some fun adventures in store for this season:

Ed is a big boy and tipping the scales just shy of 60 pounds on his 6 month bday. He is loving our weekend camping trips to the lake and is a hard charger in his water work. In fact he gets close to the lake and will rip the leash out of your hands to go in while carrying his bumper. Last weekend he pointed 2 grouse sitting in the woods near the lake on one of our walks. Ed is looking real nice on his points but still is breaking so I have some more work to do. He is retrieving to hand and I am hoping that continues when hunting season begins here in MN. I have taken a break the past week on training as we have been having triple digit temps up here and it is just too hot. Ed will be heading out in mid September for official gun introduction and bird and gun association. Out pheasant season starts on October 12 here in MN and then we are headed out to North Dakota on November 6 for our first North Dakota adventure of the fall. Thinking trip number 2 will be in December but that will depend on the weather and how he does this fall on our other outings.

Ed at 6 months chillin’ on the deck

Ed hanging out in the house

Ed and his toy pheasant

16 month old Chester from Sam and Mae’s “C” Litter of 2012 lives out in New York and has been practicing hard for the upcoming season with his owner Sal and trainer Hoss. He’s pictured here at a Hudson Valley NAVHDA Chapter training day.

Chester on point

Another shot of Chester on point

Chester retrieving

And handsome three year old Whiskey out in Nevada from Sue and Sam’s “A” litter of 2010 has been caught by owner Deborah being very silly these days.

Whiskey thinks that crocs make great chew toys

Whiskey peeking out from his blanket

As always, thank you to the puppy owners for taking such fabulous photos and sharing them with us!!

I just talked to my eyes on the sky down in Missouri and he said that with this warm weather there aren’t many teal flying, but this coming weekend is the last one of the season, so it is the only shot we’re going to get on this particular season. Since we’ll have our Missouri license anyway, I see us heading down there for some other waterfowl seasons this year too since it is only an hour and a half away. So wish us luck and we’ll keep you posted!!

Bluestem Kennels

Our son’s first Sandhills hunt

October 2020 Hunting Recap

Hunting Season Opener 2020

Beginning of Hunting Season 2014

Sharptailed Grouse Hunting Opener and Other News

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