1. Karen Rynearson, Shawn Dunlap Nierstheimer and 226 others like this.
2. Kpw Lee very impressive product
3. Tina Perron Pretty cool!
4. Jason Waterhouse Can the alpha track our exisiting dc-30 and dc-40 collars?
5. Shane Geno It said in the vidio that they do not track the dc collers
6. Gun Dog Supply Yeah… The ALPHA is NOT compatible any other Garmin Astro or Tri-tronics collars. We wouldn’t have the faster 2.5 second update rate AND we wouldn’t have the 20-dog expandability if the ALPHA was backwards compatible with any other systems.
7. Jason Waterhouse That kinda stinks in a way.I have 7 DC-30 collars and 1 DC-40 Wish I could track them with the alpha.Thanks for the info.
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9. Fully Loaded English Kennels Well I guess the 320 I just bought will be my new back up system
10. Shane Geno What is the price of the alpha with three collers through gun dog supply?
11. Fully Loaded English Kennels But will UKC allow you to use it in a hunt? They banned the Tek 1 unit in comp hunts.
12. Juan Pena will previous models without the training attachment be phased out?
13. Gun Dog Supply I don’t believe so. Garmin is a GPS company first.
14. Steve Horton I’ll be interested when they add a beeper.
15. Georgia Hunter We’ve had ours for 2 seasons, awesome for big running dogs. It will save a dog from getting lost and the owner from a nervous breakdown!!
16. Steve Snell ‎Shane Geno the 3 dog set up is $1399.97 http://www.gundogsupply.com/garmin-tri-tronics-alpha-3-dog-system.html
17. Garmin ALPHA 3-Dog
18. www.gundogsupply.comGarmin ALPHA 3-Dog. Comes With: 1 Alpha 100 handheld Rechargeable li-ion pack …See More
19. Steve Snell ‎Steve Horton – I don’t see a beeper getting added – there just isn’t enough room. Some folks want it but I’m not sure it is possible.
20. Cheryl Applebaum Oh no… something ELSE we will drool over! :O
21. Freeman Hardin Ok, now my $600.00 Astro with the extra $200.00 collar is now obsolete!!
22. Corey Ellegood Defntly getting me one of these for my hunting dog since he’s new to hunting can’t wait!!!
23. Brad Preas Garmin needs to work the kinks out of their existing products instead of trying to continue develop new gear. They are alienating customers! I own the 320 with dc 40′s and it is great when it is working but I am not overly impressed with it. Thank goodness i kept my Wildlife box and Johnson collars!
24. Gun Dog Supply ‎Freeman — Not obsolete! It’s like buying any technology, the moment you buy it you know the next model is already in development.
25. William Harper ‎@brad you’re unit is burned up.
26. John Robert Williamson Can a burned up unit be fixed?
27. Sharon Maynard Watson I think this is a very good idea.
28. Sharon Maynard Watson You can get a vet to put a tracking device just under the skin. And it is a tracking device.
29. Gun Dog Supply MIcrochipping dogs is a good idea, but you have to be pretty close to that chip to read it. Would be nice if THOSE things had a “nine mile” range. — Rob
30. Lynn Garrett-Stephens You have to actually scan the chip to read a number, then call that particular chip company for the owner info. You can’t GPS track your dogs.
31. Lynn Garrett-Stephens I should add, you can track with a collar, but not with the microchip the vet administers…

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I came to Pierre last night.  I had a really hard time finding a hotel room because there’s a couple of conventions in town. I ended up staying in Fort Pierre, which is across the river from Pierre.  I prefer it because it’s smaller and closer to the Ft. Pierre National Grasslands.

I woke up before sunrise to a light rain. I started getting my gear together and then it really started coming down. Instead of exercising dogs in the rain, I waited a bit and the rain slowed up a little bit.  I got everybody exercised and loaded back up in the truck. I finished getting my gear in the truck and I headed toward the grassland. The rain started coming down again.

I rode down to the highway and hung out to kill some time. I went to a nearby gas station on the South end of the grassland and to get a cup of coffee. When I got back into my truck, we had a major hailstorm come through.  I sat that out in the parking lot hoping my truck would not get to damaged.  Finally, the storm blew through and I spent the next couple hours driving and scouting the grassland.

I’ve never been on this grassland before and I needed to spend some time figuring out where parts of it were and to get a feel for the map and the roads.

I found a spot that looked good and took a round with Click and Bu.  I was pleased with Bu.  She did much better and ran a little bigger.  We had one sharptail get up on us wild.  That was all we saw.  I took another round after that with Sage and Stud. Sage false-pointed a bunch, and Stud ran pretty well, but he got away from me a couple times.

I wanted to run a few puppies before lunch.  I ran Apple first and was real pleased. She didn’t find anything, but she ran pretty well.  She’s got a lot of go in her and is a real classy and fancy pup.  I think she’s going to turn out real nice.

I ran Merle after that.  I was real concerned after going Merle on foot.  So far, he’s been way too much dog to hunt on foot.  I ran him on horseback yesterday and he stayed with us. That’s a little easier for a big running dog.  When you are on horseback, you can see the dog further out and he can’t also see you better since you are so much higher off the ground.

I’m pretty pleased how he ran today. He stayed with me.  He went with me.  He hunted.  The few times that he got out of sight he wasn’t gone for long, and he came back to check in.  He was quartering really well and hunting objectives and doing a really nice job.

He had a real nice point on a pheasant.  He locked up just as pretty as you please and stood there.  The bird got up and flew and he stood there. It is not pheasant season, but I shot in the air after she was long gone.  It was a hen, so we would have shot her during the season, but I did fire a gun just to get the gunshot in. He stood there steady to wing and shot.

The biggest disappointment of the day, hands down, was Mac.  I turned him out and he did not handle or listen.  He made about a 900 yard cast running a straight line, chasing cows.  I am going to take some of the fault because I put him into a pasture that had some cows in it.
He’s been cooped up for about two weeks, and it was his first time on the ground.  But he did not show me anything that I’m interested in.  We’ll try him again tomorrow and see if we can’t come up with something a little better.

I got everybody out on the chain gang.  I stopped at a spot on the grassland at a little parking area, and I got everybody out and got them cleaned up.  I got to use my power washer again.
Apple keeps getting car sick.  I’m going to have to give her a day off from food.  Mac is a little runny, too, so he’s going to take a day off.  I’m not sure how much they were getting fed while they were being kenneled, but I’m overfeeding them, I guess. We’re going to back down on both of them for a day or so.

Over all it was not a great day.  I saw a few birds.  Saw a lot of pheasants; lot more pheasants than I would have guessed in this part of the world, but they are definitely around the crops.

I like the grassland as far as the way it’s laid out.  It’s big and it’s real open, easy running, easy walking.  I did not see a lot of birds today, but I think weather played a role in that.  I also don’t think I was hunting in exactly the most ideal spots.
The roads are a little gushy from all the rain, so I’m a little limited as to where I can take my truck.  And that’s going to play a pretty big role this week.  They are expecting more rain tonight and tomorrow. I don’t think it’s going to get any better.

Steve Snell

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Steve Snell

Gun Dog Supply

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We took the first round with Boo and Ted’s dog Lulu.  I was real pleased with Lulu.  She’s an eight month old puppy out of Wizard and Saffron, which is the same breeding as Apple.

She runs really big, but very deliberate. She’s not just running, she’s hunting.  I like to see that in a young dog.  I think Ted’s got him a real nice one. I will enjoy seeing her progress over the next year or two.

I was a little disappointed in Boo.  She’s staying real close to me.  She made a couple of nice casts, but overall she just sort of pitter-pattered around me.  I think a different dog on the ground might help her. I think getting her into a few birds would also help.

We had some chickens get up way out in front of us. It didn’t get her attention.  It was a nice walk but it’s gotten warmer.  It’s 52 degrees and still overcast with a little moisture in the air.

It’s a nice day to run a couple of bird dogs.

We’re going to stop down the road and turn out a couple more out before I head north.

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We made it to Blackwell, Oklahoma last night, and I am now in North Central Oklahoma.  We are headed into Kansas and have about three hours left on this part of the trip.  We are going to stop in North Central Kansas and chase some prairie chickens for a day or two.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. Of the four dogs that are in the truck, three of them are very experienced.  Click, Sage, and Stud have pretty much traveled everywhere I’ve gone.  The only exception to that is Boo.
Boo is still challenging me as far as understanding what we’re trying to do here.  She doesn’t understand our stops, and what I expect her to do when we stop, and the kind of speed that we travel at, but I’m hoping she will get a better feel for that this year.
I have high hopes for Boo.  She showed me a lot of promise in the off season, and I think she has a wonderful nose, but she does not currently travel well. I would like to see that improved if she is going to stay on the A-team main slot.  I’ve got too many dogs to put up with one that creates a lot of trouble.
The only exception to that would be if they find an enormous amount of birds.  It’s amazing what I will tolerate for a really talented dog.

It looks like it’s going to be pretty hot today.  The high is going to be in the 80’s.  I doubt I will hunt today.  I got a late start yesterday and I probably won’t get up there until 11, 11:30 in the morning.  And based off what the weatherman is saying, it’s going to be way too hot to run dogs.

It’s good to be back in Kansas.  I haven’t hunted Kansas in probably four or five years.  Nothing against this great upland bird state. I’ve always enjoyed hunting in Kansas.  Kansas has solid bird numbers most years and it has an insane amount public and walk in land.

Kansas just doesn’t fit my schedule real well.  It’s too hot early season, and by the time they open quail and pheasant, Texas is in full swing.

I’m generally in South Dakota in the middle of November, and it just  gets overlooked.  I wouldn’t mind hunting some more of it and based on the early reports I have seen, this should be a really good upland year for Kansas.

I drove a little different route on the way up just so I could see Southern Kansas and parts of Oklahoma that I haven’t been to in the last four or five years.  It’s also nice to see some new country.

I’m looking forward to a short break before we head to South Dakota.

Steve Snell

Gun Dog Supply

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If I had wanted to have this kind of weather, I would have moved north.  We just are not set up to deal with it.  We don’t have the road equipment and our people have no idea how to drive in it.

You can’t just go at full speed and expect not to hit an icy patch when you get in the shady areas.

School was canceled again and this time they got it right.  The roads were very bad even at 10am when they would normally start a “delayed” opening.  The problem now is that our school year will have to be extended to make up for the time missed.

I don’t mind that so much, but all they are doing is adding days to the year.  It’s not like they are going to really move things around and “learn” anything on these make up days.  It’s the law that they go a certain number of days.  Nobody is really concerned that they “learn” anything on those days.

David was the only one that made it in close to our normal start time.  Last night we had planned to get to the warehouse at 10 am.  I got here a little after 9 and I sent out a text to everyone to hold off until the roads could clear up a little more.  A couple of the girls that live close made in at 10.

I hit two patches on the state highway that I drive into Starkville that caused me to slide.  I took another highway to avoid a a major bridge but it had very little traffic and you could not even see the lines.

Once the sun came out things got better quick.  We had the folks that could make it in show up around 12 and we ended up having a typical day for this time of year.

I spent a good chunk of the day pulling orders and a spent a little time processing.  It felt like a episode of “Under Cover Boss.”  There was a time when I did it all.  Every box that went out the door, I had either picked or processed.  That was a long, long time ago and my skills are not what they once were.

Lucky for me (and my customers) we have a new system that should catch picking errors.  The staff caught all of mine (I hope) and they let me know about it.  Our warehouse is not for the weak willed.  It’s a bit like blood in the water with Great White sharks. If you screw up the ragging can be hard to take.  I can’t really say much since I’ll give as good as I get.

It was a good day to see how things have changed in the way we process.  Toward the end of last year we completely changed our method for processing orders.  I was not happy with our average error rate ( 1.2% for 2010 ) and I wanted something that would get it below 1%.

We implemented the new system the first week of January and went full force on it mid month.

Our new system uses scanners and bar codes to check orders.  It also cuts the number of folks handling a box from 3 or 4 down to 2.  The new system also identifies the two folks so when a mistake happens, we will know who did it.

It still has a few holes in it but I think we are headed in the right direction.  Most of our January numbers looked good and I am waiting  on February to be done so we can see a full month of processing and find all the holes.

I did spend a chunk of the day asking folks “why are we doing it this way?”  I didn’t always like the answer I got.  We change things so often that it’s hard to keep up with the reason.

Over the next couple of months, I am going to spend a bunch of time back there to resolve some of the issues that I see.

It’s a bit of a new world and the volume of orders that we are handling require a new level of detail.  I expect things to move at a certain speed.  I also expect them to be accurate.

Every time.

That takes a lot of over sight and direction.  That means time in the trenches, packing boxes.

Steve Snell
Gun Dog Supply

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Right now I have 16 dogs.  The breakdown of these are 11 pointing dogs that are still hunting, 1 lab that is used for Dove, Duck and Pheasants, 1 pet cocker spaniel and 3 retired pointing dogs (1 english pointer and 2 brittanys.)

It’s rare for me to actually get rid of a dog.  I’m not really sure I ever have really.  I sold one of my younger pups to a buddy of mine, but ended up buying him back a few years later.

I have room for this many dogs and I can afford to keep them.  The question is do I have time to properly train and condition this many.

The other question is how many dogs do I REALLY need on my hunting string?  I think the correct number is 8 active pointing dogs and one lab. That gives me 4 braces in the morning and 4 in the afternoon.  That’s a full day but it is doable when the weather is right.

I can also easily travel with 8 by myself.  Anything over that is more than I really want to deal with on the road.

So if I go that route, who gets cut from the team?

Click, Sage and Stud are in.  Cash, Merle and Brandy are also locked in.  That leaves 5 dogs to fill 2 spots.

Bu, Mac, Apple, Izzy and Axl.

Bu is the dog we found a few years back that had gotten off a chain gang and was lost in Texas.

I like several things about her.   She has an amazing nose but lacks the speed of my other dogs.  She would fit someone that prefers a slower paced dog.  I have put a good bit of time and money into her and she is steady to wing and shot.  Her retrieving needs some work but she likes to find dead birds.

Mac is a half brother to Stud, Click, Merle and Apple.  He is showing a bunch of promise and I think he fits my program as well as any of the five I am looking at cutting.  My only concern with him is that he is very head strong.  While that isn’t normally an issue, I already have a couple of bull headed dogs and I’m not sure I want more.   The other side of this is that he showed more promise as a young dog than any I have ever had.

Apple is a half sister to Stud, Click, Merle and Mac.  She also fits in my system really well and is one of the classiest young dogs I have ever owned.  She is a keeper, but she would also be pretty easy to move.  I have had a couple of offers on her already.

Izzy is out of National Champion Lester’s Snowatch.  She is a birdy dog and I love watching her run.  She shows some signs of being the kind of dog that could replace Em as my number one dog.  I don’t really know how do describe it but there is a certain personality trait that my better bird dogs have shared.  They tend to not really care about other dogs and have a aloof nature about them that I don’t see in many dogs. They also tend to be very fond of me while ignoring other people.  I will have a hard time letting her go.

Axl is a granddaughter to Nation Champion Funseeker’s Rebel.  She has the typical Funseeker look – tall and leggy.  She has an awesome nose and is doing really well on pen birds.  She needs some time on wild birds.  My only concern with her is that she isn’t going to run as big as I prefer.  At this point I am a little up in the air on her.  No question that she will not make a horse back dog but I seldom hunt off horseback and having a few close dogs would not be the end of the world.

If I had to make a decision right now, I would keep Mac and Izzy to round out my 8.

This little exercise has helped me get my thoughts in line, but I still don’t know if I want to let these dogs go.

End of the season really isn’t the best time to sell dogs.  The smart move would be to work them in the spring and summer and make my choice closer to next season.

Steve Snell
Gun Dog Supply

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The large tracts of land are managed exclusively for quail hunting and show what you can do with habitat if you are willing to put a lot of hard work and even more money into having a huntable population of wild quail.

The first day we were there, we attended a horse back shooting dog championship.  It was the last day of the trial and they were finishing up the Derby (dogs under the age of 2) stakes.

I have not attended a bird dog field trial in years.  I ran in a good many when I was a teenager and enjoyed them but I got away from them and directed all of my efforts toward hunting after I started college.

One of the biggest reasons that I stopped running in our local trials was because they used only pen raised birds.  There was not a large enough population of wild birds in Mississippi to run a trail on them and I really didn’t enjoy working on pen birds.

I really don’t have time to trial these days between running Gun Dog Supply and time with my wife and kids and all the hunting I do with my dogs, but I could see myself getting back into it some time down the road.

I think I would only be interested in running in trials that used wild birds.  It’s something for me to think about at some point.
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I was reading a  message board article about why some folks Field Trial their dogs and why folks don’t.   It was more about the barriers to new folks getting into the sport.  Click here
http://gundogforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=27414

What I found most interesting about it was the “kennel blind” conversation.  I think I may have some issues there with my dogs.

I was real disappointed how my dogs performed on the days we ran them in Georgia.  I have good dogs.  They are not great and I know that but they are good.  I run with a good many bird hunters and my dogs are as good as most that I see.

The issue for me is that I need to see a higher level of competition from time to time to keep me on my toes.

What I really think is that my dogs are not in the physical condition that they need to be in to hunt at the level that I want.  That is not so much a lack of talent as it is a lack of effort on my part.

I was very surprised how quickly my dogs got winded in the heat.  It wasn’t freaky hot but it was warm.  My dogs seldom run off horseback but they do from time to time.  They were giving out in 10 to 15 minutes and were getting beaten to the birds every time.

I hunt a bunch compared to most folks but my season starts in September and runs to beginning of March.  The issue is that I can have weeks of downtime in there where my dogs are just sitting in the kennel doing nothing.

This year in Texas, I had similar results.  My dogs did fine if the weather was ok but on the warm days, they just didn’t have much left in the tank.

I have gotten in the bad habit of letting them “get in shape” during hunting season.  This isn’t really a smart way to spend my time.

What my dogs are going to require is an off season “roading” program.  There are also going to need some weekly roading (3 times a week) during the off times that I have in between hunting trips.

Roading dogs is a bit of a mystery to many of our customers and I be putting together an article on it pretty soon and we may also throw in some video.  I grew up exercising my dogs in roading harnesses and it works better than any other kind of physical activity to get them in shape and develop “wind” or stamina.

Click here to see my favorite roading harness

Steve Snell

Gun Dog Supply

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1/8/2010 Aspermont, Texas

It’s 17 degrees. There is very little wind or I would be back at the hotel.  I love to quail hunt but I’m just not that tough.

My first round was with Sage and Click.  Sage had a nice find on a small group of bobs. Click backed. Both dogs were steady to wing.

We headed back to the truck.  I put the rest of the group on the chain gang to air them out.  I travel with 8 to 12 dogs at one time.  Without the chain gang, I would spend all my time walking dogs.

Next I ran Apple, Mac and Izzy. All three pups did really well. Apple made a 600 yard cast and came back. Izzy made a 350 yard cast and came back. All three ranged out but kept up with me.  Mac works a little closer but runs well for a foot dog.

Mac pointed and held his first covey of Bobs. I flushed the covey.  It was a really nice group of 25 to 30 birds.

We went after the singles. Mac, Apple and Izzy all found and busted singles.  It’s always fun to see the light turn on when they find wild birds.

I ran Brandy by herself.  She found a covey of bobs and busted them. She ran pretty well considering how little I have worked her. Time to fix that.

The only issue is that I have with her is that she is running behind me a bit.   I really do not like a bird dog that spends any amount of time behind me.  She’s also a little out of shape.

Ran Cash. He did well for a few minutes but than he left the country.  He has a bunch of run in him and I have to get it under control if he is going to be a foot dog.

I went back to the truck to go pick him up. He went on point multiple times but I am not sure he was actually finding birds.

Once I caught up with him we did some ecollar work on turning. He did much better

I finished up the day with Stud.  He ran well considering how long it’s been since I have run him. The last trip for him was Nebraska.

He still takes a lot of stim. I have to set my 1825 collar on the high collar setting and then it takes at least a 4 to turn him. After a few corrections he seems to stay in the area and hunt for you.

He did go on point but gave it up before I got to him.

I spent the rest of the time checking a few areas that I need to hunt next month.

I fed everyone and put them on the stakeout chain and then drove to Midland.

1/9/2010 Midland

25 degrees. sunny with a  5mph wind.  It’s a little chilly but not bad. Nice weather for quail hunting.  I am always amazed at how “hot” it can be in this part of the world even with temps below 50 degrees.  There is something about the sun in West Texas.  It just seems to burn brighter here.

Ran Sage and Click. Nice pairing.  I enjoy running these two dogs together.  They give me very little trouble and they hunt well together. I didn’t have to yell or use my whistle once.

We ran into lots of scent and a few points but no birds.

Turned out Mac, Apple and Izzy. They all took off down the road. Finally turned at about 350 yards.  All three finally came in and hunted. They stayed with us and turned well.

Mac found his second covey of quail. His first covey of blues and held them. He then found and bumped two singles. That makes him two for two. He might just be worth feeding in the off season.

Izzy runs really big but she turns back and hunts with us. I did not have to look for her during the round.  Apple really likes her birds. She will also runs pretty wide for a pup.

Over all I am very pleased with all three of them.

Ran Cash next. He is still running a little big but he will turn when you tell him. I walked into some birds but couldn’t get him on the right side of the wind to find them.

Ran Stud. He did a nice job. Pointed a couple of times but no birds. Really pleased how he has held up with no work this fall. He should have a good couple of hunts before the end of quail season.

Ran Sage and Brandy. Area looked good and both dogs were doing well.

All of a sudden Brady’s DC 30 Astro collar stopped working.  She was about 150 yards out and it lost the signal. There were no cover issues and the ground was pretty flat between me and her.

She came back by but my hand held system didn’t pick up her collar. I kicked myself for not grabbing her drag line.

She made a big cast and it took a very long 5 minutes for her to come back by. I spent that time trying to figure out what I would tell Sam and Kathy if she got lost.

When she came around I caught her check cord and brought her in. The collar was completely dead. No idea why. It should be fully charged from last night.

This will be one for the Garmin engineers to figure out. Very odd. We just have not had many issues out of the DC 30.

Ran Cash with Click. If I can get the kinks worked out this will make a nice brace.
Got into 3 coveys of blues. Click pointed two of them. Cash busted all three.

He is handling better and running with me.

1/10/2010 Midland

25 degrees and Sunny.

Brandy and Sage. Nice round but no birds. I like the cover but no sign of birds.

Brandy ran well. I put a Tracker collar on her as back up to the Garmin Astro.  I seldom run a back up tracking collar any more but this dog belongs to my 11 year old son and I’m not taking any chances with her.

I really like the k9 Comfort drag line over a regular check cord.  This particular material does really well and since it is a hi viz orange, it is easy to see in the grass.  It also does not pick up any burrs and it is water proof.

Ran Izzy and Apple together. Both handled well for pups. Apple found a single and I saw the covey get up in front of us. We went to them and both dogs scented birds and flash pointed before busting them.

I really like these pups. These two will run big but they both handle and check back in.

Ran Mac and Click. I figured it was time to move Mac up to the big leagues.  He is finding birds and wanting to hold them.

About 200 yards from the truck Click rolled into a covey. He relocated twice and then I saw two birds get up way out in front.  We headed toward them. There was some thick cover in front of us and I figured there might be a few birds hold up in it.

What happened next made the whole trip worth it. Click pointing singles. Mac pointing singles. It was perfect.

Mac found as many birds as Click. One time Mac was on point and Click came in to back.  I cussed myself for leaving my camera in the truck.

We had points on 10 birds and nice dog work all around. Mac is ready to move ahead in his training. He reminds me of Click as a pup. This round makes Mac 3 for 3 on this trip. No other dog on the truck can match that record.

Ran Sage and Cash. Cash ran well. Sage got birdy and worked a covey over 150 yards into the wind.  Cash came in and busted them. Went to the singles. Worked Cash on whoa a bit. Sage got to the singles and pointed.

Brought Cash in got him stopped. Bird flushed and I killed the bird. Sage found it and brought it to me.

I tossed the bird back into some cover and let Cash find it and hold it in his mouth. He likes them but has not put it all together yet. He is thinking about them but he needs more bird contacts.  This just isn’t a great year to have a bunch of young dogs.  We don’t have the number of birds to make the training easy.

Ran Stud. Handled well. Made a 380 yard cast and locked up. Held the covey until I got there. Had them pointed at about 50 yards. Steady to wing. He lived up to his name today.  Considering how frustrated I have been with him since I bought him, things are starting to change.  He is learning how I want him to work and he is coming around to my way of doing things.

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Midland 12/5/2009

Hunting this week with Ted.  Made our first round with the little old ladies bird dog.  Em is 12 and Dottie is 9.  This pair of English Pointers can still out hunt all the young guns that know too little and run too fast.  They have both really slowed down but they do a nice job and are fun to hunt together.

We found two coveys and killed two birds. Really bad shooting with lots of opportunity to for both of us to look bad.

There was still some trace snow on the ground in the shady areas.  We could see blue quail bird tracks in the snow as we went after the singles.

Next we ran Click and Vegas. Click had a real nice find on a covey of Blues. We killed a couple of birds from the singles.

Our third round was Sage and Richard. They worked well together but I generally prefer a bigger running dog than I get from this pair. One of my favorite combinations  is to run a big running pointer and a medium range GSP.  Sage and Richard both make great foot dogs but it’s seldom that either gets out more than 200 yards.

Sage had a nice covey find.

That afternoon we went to North East pasture. No birds but the cover looks great.

Found a few more coveys in the last couple of rounds.  There are this year birds but not like the last couple of years.

Midland 12/6/2009

Today we hunted from the Quail Buggy.

Ran Em and Dottie first. No birds during the first round.  I find that Blue Quail tend to get moving a little later in the day than Bobs.  I have a habit of starting my day early and prefer to be on the ground around 30 minutes after sunrise but I find that does not work as well with blues as it normally does with Bobs.

Our second round was Click and Richard. Click found one covey. We got 6 birds.  Nice singles work from both dogs.

Our third round was Sage and Vegas. Sage found one covey. We didn’t do any good on them.

We decided to try Em and Dottie again. Em found real nice covey. Both dogs found singles and we killed 4 birds.

We ran Click and Richard back to truck. No birds on that round so we broke for lunch.

The first round after lunch was Sage and Vegas.  We found one covey and Ted killed one bird

Next we ran Merle and Dottie. Merle ran really well but did not find any birds.

Next was Sage and Vegas.  We found 3 coveys but only killed 2 birds.  That happens with Blues….

We tried Merle and Dottie again. We dropped Merle right to the location that the last covey landed to see if he could find some singles.   He busted a single and went with it. Dottie pointed a single.

Merle came back and ended up right in the middle of the covey. Got him to stop for a second or two.  We have a lot of work to do with him in the Spring and Summer.

We ran Click and Richard again. Click had another really nice find. Killed one bird. Click found him and retrieved. He was also steady to wing and shot.

Ted noticed that Clicks urine was a dark rust color. We brought him
in to the after hours emergency vet clinic to get him checked out.

All is good.

Midland 12/7/2009

Cold, damp and foggy. Yesterday was hot but today it is about as cold as I prefer for quail hunting.

Ted headed north to avoid a winter storm so I am scouting and running pups.  I “hunt” a good bit by myself nowadays but I find that I seldom shoot anything when it’s just me.  I tend to work my younger dogs when I am alone.  I only kill birds for them when they have reached a certain point and need to be finished up or when they do a particularly good job on a covey.

I am using google maps on my iPhone to find the right roads. It really works well.  The advantage to using a aerial photo over a standard topo map is that you can see the private roads that don’t show up on normal mapping software.

A good chunk of this particular lease has plenty of oil well roads on it but there is no map.  It ALL looks the same and getting around on it has been really challenging.

Once I started using the maps on my Iphone, it all came together.  It really helps that I can also see my location on the map as I move around.  It has made learning this lease very easy.

Em and I took the first round. She likes to go first and I don’t mind. It’s rare that it’s just me and her out together. We had a nice round. She stayed in with me really well  the majority of the time except for a couple of big casts.

We hunted the South East pasture. The cover in this area is some of the best I have seen. It’s a nice mix of broom weed ragweed bunch grass. Brushy cover and mesquite.

While Em was on a big cast, I walked up a nice covey of Bobs. It is rare to see them on this lease.  Over the last 3 years, I have only ran into 3 bobwhite coveys in Midland.

I ran Cash and Merle and then Sage and Richard from the buggy. Cash and Merle ran well but did not get into birds.

Sage had a real nice find and we did some dog training. Richard needs some work on staying steady.

The temperature has kept on dropping and now it’s too cold to hunt from the buggy.   There is ice forming on the bushes and my gun is also covered in ice.  I really don’t need to flush birds in this kind of weather.

On my way out I ran into two road coveys. I worked cash on the second one but did not go after the singles.

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Be careful where you walk!

I have hunted out west for 20 plus years.  My encounters with rattlesnakes have been few and far between.

Some of that has been luck and some of that has been from avoiding places that snakes prefer to hang out.  I also don’t run my dogs when it gets really really hot.  If the temperature goes over 70 degrees, I head for the truck.

Early season is the time when I have the biggest chance of running into snakes.

A few years back, I started getting my dogs vaccinated with the Rattlesnake Vaccine from Red Rock Biologics.

This vaccine is designed to protect dogs from the bite of the Western Diamondback.  Because of similarities in venom, it offers some protection against other snakes including  the  Prairie, Great Basin, Northern and Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes, Sidewinder, Timber Rattlesnake, Massasauga and the Copperhead. The Red Rock vaccine provides some       protection against the Eastern Diamondback.

I have yet to have a chance to test this vaccine in the field and I hope I never do.  I have seen dogs that had been vaccinated and how they responded after getting bit.  It’s pretty amazing how well they did compared to unvaccinated dogs.

Snake bites are very serious and I highly recommend that you get your dog to the vet ASAP after a bite.  The biggest advantage that I see in the vaccine is that it gives me time.  It isn’t uncommon for me to be 60 to 100 miles from the closest vet when I am out hunting.  Getting a dog to the truck and to a vet in time can be a big issue.

The first time a dog is vaccinated, it requires an initial vaccine and then a booster one month later.  After that one you can do it once a year.  I time mine based on when we will be hunting.  The vaccine works best for the first six months or so.

Dogs that have more exposure throughout the year may require additional boosters.

Like any other vaccination, I recommend that you consult your vet.  You can get more info on Red Rock Biologics on their Rattlesnake FAQ.

Steve Snell

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Rizzoli the cop tells Isles the medical examiner that she needs her to perform an autopsy in the field instead of at her lab.

Isles’ sarcastic response is “sure Jane, just get me a leatherman and some Duct tape and I’m all good to go.”

Shoot – all she needed beyond that would be some zip ties and it would be the guys trifecta to fix anything….

Steve Snell

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I could not do it.  Maybe it wouldn’t be worth doing it.  Either way, I have no plans of finding out.

I am a hard guy to shop for.  I normally don’t like many products and the ones that I do like, I am not going to wait around for someone else to buy them for me.

A few years back my brother got me a Leatherman multi-tool for my birthday.  I had never carried a multitool with me before and I wasn’t 100% sure that it was the right piece of gear for me.  Looking back, I am not real sure how I made it
though the day without it. He got me the Leatherman Juice Xe6  in Thunder Purple …

It  features a

• Clip Point Knife
• Serrated Knife
• Pliers
• Wire Cutters
• 3 sizes of Flat head Screwdriver
• 1 Phillips Screwdriver
• Scissors
• Wood/Metal File
• Saw
• Bottle Opener
• Can Opener
• Awl
• Corkscrew with Assist
• Lanyard Ring

My Leatherman Juice Xe6 has a stainless stell body with outside-accessible Tools and Knives.  With some of the Leatherman tools, you have to open the pliers to get to the tools on the inside.  I prefer one that allows you access to the tools on the outside.

I have beat this one up pretty bad.  It gets used everyday.  I have even used it as a hammer from time to time….I am tough on my gear. Leatherman backs them with a 25 year warranty.

My only complaint is that it didn’t hold it’s color very well.  After a few years, the Thunder Purple has worn off.  Keep in mind that I keep mine in my front right pocket and it rubs against two sets of keys and my money clip.

One of the main things that I use my Leatherman for is removing cactus, porcupine quills and other fun objects that get stuck in my bird dogs when they are out in the field.  I used to carry a knife and a pair of needle nose pliers for doing these things.

Having the Leatherman Juice has allowed me the option of only having one tool in the field. We like them so much that we now sell them at Gun Dog Supply.  Click here to see our selection of  Leatherman multitools knives and flashlights .

Just to show off how useful my Leatherman Multitool can be, I am going to keep up with all the times I use it and see what sort of list I can make.

Just yesterday, I used it at least to remove the contact points from an old containment system collar for a customer that needed her strap replaced. And today, I used my Serrated Knife blade to open a knuckle  bone for my puppy english pointer Axl.

More to come…

Steve Snell

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Hello . I am looking for longer prongs for a training collar.  Do you sell them without the collar?

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Thanks for contacting Gun Dog Supply.  We do sell the long replacement probes for all the major brands of remote training collars.

Here are links to the brands we carry

• Innotek replacement contact points
• Ultra Smart probes
• SportDOG Long Probes
• Tri-Tronics Contact Points
• Dogtra replacement probes
• DT Systems Contact Points
• Petsafe Comfort Fit probes

Proper collar fit on your dog’s neck is really important to get a consistent stimulation from your remote dog training collar.

I think one of the biggest issues we see with new folks using a training collar is how they put the collar on their dog. Most folks don’t put a dog training collar on tight enough on their dog’s neck to insure good skin contact.  (Rob: How do you do this?)

Without good skin contact, your corrections are going to be intermittent at best assuming that your dog will feel them at all. Most folks are concerned that having the collar on the dog too tight will some how hurt the dog or it will be uncomfortable.  This is not the case.

You can actually cause more damage with a loose collar. The probes moving around on the dogs neck can cause more irritation than a tight collar will over time.  Time being the biggest issue here.

Remote training collars, containment fences and bark collars are NOT designed to be worn more than 10 to 12 hours a day. Keep in mind that this is only an average.  Some dogs can have a collar with probes on for longer periods of time and some dogs will have neck issues in less time.  It varies with the dog.  It’s very important to keep a close eye on your dog’s neck when you first start using any kind of training collar on them and see how they react.

For the most sensitive dogs, we offer the extended contact point pads and comfort adapters. The idea behind these products is that it spreads out the area of the contact interface. This allows for less pressure on the dog’s neck, thus less irritation.

Steve Snell

Gun Dog Supply – http://www.gundogsupply.com

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I purchased a Tri-Tronics G3 Sport Basic and I love it!!!  I use it with my 95 lb Lab. This remote collar is an amazing training tool.  If I understand this correctly, I can use up to three collars with this one hand held remote?  The other dog I want to train with it is a ten pound terrier.  Is there a smaller collar that will work with the G3 Sport Basic?

Jim
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Jim

Thanks for contacting Gun Dog Supply.  Glad to hear the Sport Basic has worked well for you.

You can add up to three collars with that transmitter.

Tri-Tronics now has the smaller “Sport Junior” collar. The Junior is smaller than the standard EXP collar.  It gets less range and uses a user replaceable 3 volt battery.  While you can use it on any size dog, we recommend it for folks that have dogs in the 8 to 12 pound range.

Here we have a side shot of both Tri-tronics collars next to each other

Here are the instructions to add your extra collar / receiver

1. Install strap of the desired color on the new collar and charge new receiver for two hours.

2. Set transmitter dog selection switch to the color of the strap.

3. Set transmitter intensity dial to a number, not a letter.

4. Turn the collar on.

5. Press and hold collar on/off button, then press and hold a “continuous” transmitter button. Hold both buttons down for about 5 seconds – until you hear two quick beeps (ignore the long beep that sounds right away). Release both buttons.

6. The collar will now be set to match your transmitter, and will be turned off.

7. Check for a successful match by turning the collar back on and pressing a “continuous” transmitter button. The collar light will turn on. If you are not planning to use the unit now, turn the collar off after testing.

Note for Classic 70 G3 EXP or Trashbreaker G3 EXP: When adding a receiver for dogs 1 – 3, use the button that matches the strap color and place the dog selection switch in the UP position. When adding a receiver for dogs 4 – 6, use the button inside the colored circle that matches the strap color and place the dog selection switch in the DOWN position.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  We do appreciate your business.

Thanks,

Steve Snell
Gun Dog Supply – http://www.gundogsupply.com

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Yesterday morning we went out to shoot a new video for the Autobacker at my kennel.  We set up a bunch of pigeons in bird launchers and worked 3 different pups to show multiple dogs at different levels of training using the backer.

Everything went pretty well and we will have the finished video up later. 

Around 7pm, I went down to the pen to make sure all the birds had come back and to lock up the Varmint guard.

While counting birds, I noticed some thing odd in one of the pigeon boxes.  It took me a couple of seconds to realise that it was a really, really big snake.

I not really afraid of snakes but I have a very healthy respect for them and I don’t mess with them unless I have no other choice.

I went up to the house to get a hoe and a rake to pull him out. 

The boxes in my pigeon house are removable so I was able to pull the box out and drop it on the floor of my pigeon coop and get a good look at him.

He was a good bit bigger than I originally thought and it was obvious that he had eaten either a bunch of eggs or one of my younger birds.

It took me a bit to make sure he was not poisonous and get him in a position to pull him out of the house.

The good thing about him eating so much is that he was not interested in moving too fast and didn’t put up much of a fight.  The one thing I know about snakes is that they can really move fast.  I pulled him out of the house and let him make a break for it.

Now I have to figure out how he got in and stop that from happening again.  I’ll also be real careful the next time I reach in to catch a bird.

This is been a really “Snaky Spring” for us at the snell house.  Between me and Sammy, we have run across 5 so far….

Steve Snell

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Thanks for contacting Gun Dog Supply.  The Astro handheld can track up to 10 dogs.  If you and your guys are only running 10 dogs at one time, you can all track each others dogs.  You can use an unlimited number of Handheld Astro Receivers to track these dogs. 

If you run more than 10 dogs you would not be able to track them all at one time from the same unit.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  We do appreciate your business.

Thanks,

Steve Snell
Gun Dog Supply – http://www.gundogsupply.com

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The Whoa Post is by far my favorite part of the Ronnie Smith Seminar. It is an
amazing way to teach a dog to whoa or sit.

I told several folks today about the first time I saw the whoa post in
action in it’s current form. I grew up using the “Delmar Smith Method”
for teaching whoa. It was similar but it used a leather pinch collar around
the neck instead of a half hitch around the dogs flank.

The reason the Smith’s changed it over to the flank was because of
improvements in Ecollar technology. When the stimulation levels got
low and you could raise them as needed it changed the way you could
use them. That allowed them to use the collar on the flank.

The idea behind the Whoa post is that you have a stationary object
with a rope attached to it with a snap. You have your dog on a
checkcord. You bring the dog to the rope and run it between the
dogs back legs. You tie a half hitch around his waste and attach the
snap to the D ring on the dogs collar.

This makes a Point of Contact at the dogs flank. When you pull tight
on the lead checkcord the dog gets stimulation at the flank. He has no
where to go. He is stuck between you and the stationary object. He can
fight it all he wants, but as long as you hold on, your dog is going to
stand still.

Most dogs fight it at first, but quickly learn that the fastest way
out is to stop the second they feel stimulation at the flank.

Once you have repeated this drill 30 to 50 times depending on the dog,
you can move on to the ecollar around the flank.

It allows you to stop a dog dead in his tracks at any distance. Once
you have this down, you can take the chase from a dog and get him
steady on his game. After that, you can get him steady to wing, shot
and dead fall. These are major parts of developing a fully trained
hunting dog.

The first time I saw this technique in action was at a Rick Smith
Seminar that I attended in 2002 in Pleasanton, TX. It was my first
seminar since I was 14.

Rick was getting ready to start the Whoa Post and needed a dog that
did not know what whoa was and had never stopped for anything. I had
the perfect dog for him.

Ruby was out of my Em dog and Shadow’s Mark. She had more go than she
knew what to do with and I had done very little work with her at the
time. She had no idea how to stop or any good reason why you would
want to stop.

Rick put her on the post and worked her through the basics. He then
moved her past that and had her understanding the “concept” and
stopping as soon as she felt the smallest amount of pressure at her
flank.

He then moved her to an ecollar around her waist. He worked her out to
a check cord toward a bird in a remote release trap. Once she got the
scent and went on point, he stimed her around her flank. She stopped
and held point. He then flushed the bird and stimed her again. She
stood steady to wing.

The next part really amazed me. He walked away and left her standing
there. Rick came back over to where we were sitting and talked a bit
more about what he had done and how to go about training your dog this
way.

I really didn’t hear much of what he said because I was watching Ruby
the whole time.

There she was standing still 75 yards away from anyone. She had never
done this before and she had nothing holding her back. At any point
she could break and run. She had no tracking collar on her and I would
have no way to find her if she did break. My only hope was that Rick
knew everyone in the county and somebody would find my dog.

To make matters worse, about a thousand black birds started flying
over her. Wave after wave of birds started to blacken out the sky. She
watched them all, standing completely still with all four feet planted
firmly on the ground.

I know for a fact that most folks at the seminar thought she was a
plant. A fully trained dog that was brought in to show folks how
talented Rick was and how effective his training would be on their
dogs.

I knew that this particular dog had no idea what she was doing. It was
the Whoa Post – not the dog.

Rick finished up his talking and walked out to my pup. He grabbed her
check cord and quartered her off like it a regular day and she had
done it a thousand times.

Now we were not finished. I had to work her on the post and get her to
fully understand the concepts and move her to the flank. It worked
really fast.

I use this method on all my dogs now and it works like a charm.

Click here to read part one of Rick’s “Whoa Post Redux” and here for “Whoa Post Redux – Part 2″

Steve

Gun Dog Supply

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When Do I Start Training My Puppy?

One of the most common questions we get asked is “when do I start training my puppy?”  The answer really seems to surprise most folks. 

You start training the first time you pick him up.  What?  That can’t be.  Yep, it sure is.

Every time you touch your dog some form of “training” is going on.  Now it might not be “good training” but it is training.  Every interaction with your dog will result in him learning something.  Every time you do something with him or let him “get away” with a behavior he learns what he can and can’t do.

One of the best examples of this was shown to me by Rick Smith.

Rick always tells the story of the first time most folks pick up their puppy.   The pup wiggles and squirms trying to get away.  Most folks will tend to immediately put the pup down and let him go play.  Now you have “trained” your pup. He has learned that all he has to do is wiggle and wiggle and you will give in. To get what pup wants, he just has to put in a little effort and you will cave.

What you should do in this situation is apply a little pressure.  Lightly squeeze pup close to your chest and restrain him until he stops wiggling.  Once he is calm, place him on the ground.

You must wait until he stops moving, no matter how it takes.  It seldom takes more than a couple of seconds.  Now pup has learned that when you place your hands on him he needs to be still.  This is TRAINING.

A still dog is required in all forms of training no matter the breed or what you do with him.  We need it for basic grooming, first aid, giving medication, vet visits and sitting at the park.  It’s required for pointing dogs while pointing or backing, retrievers in the duck blind and flushing dogs that are steady to wing. It makes a big difference when you are putting on dog boots, dog vests, e-collars and tracking collars.
 
Every time you put your hands on your dog, you want him to be still.  Little did you know that you have now taught your 8 week old brand new puppy that this isn’t required.  He has learned that all he has to do is put in a little effort and you will cave.

This same concept applies to every other interaction you have with your dog for the rest of his life.  When you put him into a situation where he has a choice to comply or not, if he picks to not and you let him get away with it, you have trained him.

The original question of “when do I start training my puppy?” is where most of our customer’s “dog issues” begin.  They don’t understand why they have a 85 pound lab that likes to jump on people and knock them down.  How did this happen?  Well, they let the 8 week old pup jump on them.  It’s cute and there is no harm done.  Sure, that isn’t a problem, but you are training your pup that this is acceptable behavior.  You have no one to blame but yourself when he knocks your little old lady neighbor over and breaks her hip.

My rule with pups is that we don’t allow them to get away with things as a puppy that we don’t want them doing as full grown dogs.  It’s a pretty simple rule but you have to make a few decisions up front and stick to them. 

 Now some folks might take part of this the wrong way.  I’ll give an example.  I expect my retriever to be steady in the blind.  That means he will wait to go on a retrieve when I send him not before. 

We don’t start pups out this way.  I don’t expect my pup to be steady the first time we throw him a bumper.  I want him to break at a young age.  I’ll teach him not to once we make sure his drive is solid and we get past bird and gun introductions.

I just don’t let him wiggle his way out of things or jump on people because it’s cute.

Steve Snell

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The last day of the Texas hunting season we started early to get the right light for taking pictures.  Rob prefers that magical hour right after the sun pops over the horizon and that means we have to be on the ground before sun up.  I have to get out there early so I can prep my gear and get my dogs exercised.

I don’t like to put out a stake out chain at the hotel at 6am out of respect for the other hotel guests that are still asleep.  Nothing like the sound of a sledge hammer to wake you up in the morning.  I seldom have barking issues at the hotel because I make sure any of my barkers are wearing bark collars.  I can’t stand having to get up at 3am because a cat decides to cruise by my truck and gets the crew worked up.

I started using the chain gang more this year since I made more trips to Texas on my own.  I doubt I will go back to walking dogs since I can do this SO much faster.  I can exercise 12 dogs in about 20 minutes.  That’s start to finish and it includes clean up and poop scooping time.  I couldn’t do that with two or three guys helping me.  It also allows more time on the ground per dog.

We got all the dogs settled and started the first round.  I ran Em, Click and Sage.  Em prefers to go first and Sage and Click are my “pretty” dogs.  They take better pictures and Rob wanted to finish up a few specific shots. 

I knew 5 minutes out of the truck that I had a problem.  Em was having a leg issue.  She had ran well the two days before and overall she had a pretty nice season.  She may look her age but she can still run. 

She had recovered well from her torn ACL from last summer.  The TPLO surgery had really fixed the issue and I was real pleased with her progress. 

I could tell from the way she was holding her leg that she had screwed up the repair job.  My guess was that one of the plates had come lose or worse.  I called her in and took her back to the truck. 

She did not appear to be in any pain so once we got her settled, we moved on to another spot to finish running dogs. 

Once we got back to Starkville, I took her in to my vet to have him look at it and see what had happened.  He called me back that morning to tell me that the hurt leg was not the one she had messed up last summer but her other leg.  She had torn her other ACL.

I guess in hind sight, it’s a good thing that the repaired leg held up.  I had just forgotten which leg it was that was hurt last year.

My vet gave me my options but I really didn’t need to spend a bunch of time thinking about it.  Em is the reason I bird hunt today and really the reason that I am running Gun Dog Supply.  She was my third bird dog.  I got my first one Dee, when I was 9.  My next was a duaghter of hers names Babe.  My dad bought Em when I was 28.  She quickly became my dog.

 At some point, I’ll spend more time writing about her, but needless to say, I’ll do what ever it takes to make her time left here comfortable.

I could not be happier with the way she responded to her first TPLO surgery, so I had little or no doubt that this one would also go well.  It’s never easy to make this kind of decision on a dog her age, but I felt pretty comfortable that it would work out.

I had my vet set up the appointment in Birmingham and we headed there two days later.  I had them check her and no question it needed to be repaired.  I left her over night and came back to pick her up the next day. 

The Doctors were real pleased with how it went and I thought she looked better than the last time.

Now we begin the two weeks of little or no movement and the daily regiment of pills.  She also has to wear the stylish Elizabethan collar that keeps her from chewing  out the staples.  Last time I gave her some time with out the collar but I was pushing my luck and I don’t need to do that this time.  She will wear it unless I am with her.

I set her up a new smaller dog run in the garage.  This way she is close to me and does not have to deal with the other dogs.  She can stay in the crate in the house at night and come to the office with me on most days.

She hates taking pills.  I have always been good at getting pills dog a dog, but I think if she had any teeth left, I would have lost a finger by now.  Only a few more days left of pills and less than a week until we get the staples taken out.  We will both be much happier after that is done.

Then it’s on to physical rehab.  It will be good for both of us. 

I’ll right more in the near future about the TPLO surgery and using a roading harness to keep your dogs in shape during the off season.

Steve Snell

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These youth hunts were supported by funding from the 2009 Youth Participation Initiative Program of the MDWFP and from the generous support of
our two event hosts, Millbrook Plantation and Prairie Wildlife Preserve.

Mississippi Quail Hunting Youth Event was sponsored by the Golden Triangle Chapter of Quail Forever in cooperation with The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks and Mississippi State University Extension Service.

These youth quail hunts were developed to introduce young hunters and their parents to quail hunting, quail management and conservation.

The objective was to introduce quail hunting to kids that may have hunted before, but have not had the opportunity to bird hunt.  The long term goal is that some of them will maintain an interest in quail habitat management and upland bird hunting.

The first hunt was at Millbrook Plantation in Stonewall, MS on February 27, 2010 and the second hunt was at Prairie Wildlife Preserve in West Point on Saturday, March 6, 2010.

These two quail shooting preserves were selected because they have realistic habitat settings and practice sound upland wildlife management.

The Mississippi Quail Hunting Youth Events taught the principles of hunting and firearms safety, particularly as it pertains to upland bird hunting.  Habitat management was taught based on the the daily life needs of a bobwhite quail throughout the year.

Other activities included wing-shooting practice (clay targets), field dressing quail, quail biology and a prescribed burn demonstration.

Youth participants also had the opportunity to watch bird dogs work and participate in a real quail hunt.

I missed the first event since I was quail hunting in Texas but I made sure I was around for the second one.  It was really nice to see kids that had never had the chance to quail get to experience it.

I thought hunts went very well and were well received by all participants.  Special thanks go out to all the volunteers that made it possible.

The Youth Participation Initiative Program is a great idea. In it’s first year, MDWFP was able to fund 24 YPI applications.  In total, nearly $900,000 was requested with over 1 million dollars in matching monetary. This program has helped highlight a great deal of interest and concern for youth outreach and recruitment when it comes to getting Mississippi’s youth back into the woods and on the water.

Contact  Justin Thayer,  MDWFP Youth Outreach and Recruitment Coordinator at (601) 432-2014 for more information.

Steve Snell

Gun Dog Supply

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Not everyone has a place to raise them and keep them.  If you don’t, you’ll need to find either a dog training club, professional dog trainer, or a shooting preserve where you can keep birds or buy them as needed. 

If you DO have a place to keep birds then you need proper housing for them. 

If you are handy with a hammer and saw, you can build your own.  We sell plans for a pigeon loft.  It’s a pretty easy design and will fit in most backyards.

We have also have plans for one of the nicest quail recall or “Johnny Houses” that I have every seen.  The Phantom Quail Kennel is the Taj Mahal of recall pens.  I don’t have one yet, but I will someday soon.

If you are not handy with a hammer – like me – then you can get out your wallet out and have one built. 

If you want to get a really, really nice one built then check out W.L. Jaggers Quailty Pigeon Lofts & Recall Pens.

W.L. is a bird dog man and makes a mighty nice bird pen.  I have seen several of his in the field and they are well worth the price tag.  The cool thing too is that he can ship you one almost anywhere.

Here are a few images of his work.  Check out his site for more info. 

You have to have birds to train a bird dog.

Steve Snell – Gun Dog Supply

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We stayed at a pretty high-end hotel with an insanely well trained staff.  It went way beyond the little touches.

For example, every time I called down stairs they would answer the phone ” Hello, Mr Snell how may we assist you?”   Lucky for them Rob and I have the same last name.  It was neat to watch it.  I am a bit of a Customer Service junkie and I like to find folks that are good at it.

I also like to find the holes.

The moment it all fell apart was 4:20 am the morning we left.  I got my wake up call on time and I even got the backup call they recommended since my call was at 4 am.

When I called down to the front desk to arrange for a cab to the airport I got no answer. It took 4 calls to the front desk to get someone on the phone. Once I did she was perfect just like every other time.

It placed an odd moment in an otherwise very “high level service” experience.  I also was impressed at the greetings we got from the staff on our way out at the early hour.

My expectation of service was raised by the hotel and I was quite annoyed when they dropped the ball.  It was really out of place.

It brought up two emails that I got earlier that week that I think require at least some examination.

The first customer started out his email with the sentence. “I doubt there is little chance this email will actually get to Steve Snell but…..”  He went on to ask some questions about the differences between the Tri-tronics Sport Basic G3and the SportDOG 1825 that I use. Most of his questions where based on the use of vibration and training.

I once answered the majority of the emails. Well, that’s not totally true. When my father was alive, he did a big part of them.

Later I brought in folks to do the easy ones.  Tracking numbers and basic questions.

Today we have 5 folks that over see email plus me. We get a bunch and I expect them to be answered quickly.

I do still see every email and every answer. I still answer my share (even some of the easy ones) and sometimes I’ll add additional info emails if I feel our answer needs some clarification.

Email is one of the biggest ways we interact with our customers and it’s important.  We are nowhere as good at it as I would like to be, but I think we do a good job.

The other email came from a customer that had some issues with an automatic waterer he had just received in the mail.

Based on his multiple emails and the level of detail in his email there was no question he had put in the effort to get the product to work. It was a dud product.  It happens.

My issue was that he  felt he was “getting ripped off.”

I am always amazed how folks expect to get screwed in business transaction. Sometimes it’s the first thing they run to without ever giving us the chance to make it right.

I have to be real careful how I deal with these folks because I sometimes take their reaction the wrong way.

Our family has been in the mail order business for 37 years. We have not done it by ripping folks off.  Our goal is to sell a high quality product and give a high level of service. Before and after the sale.

Does it always work out?  I wish.

Mistakes happen. Defective products happen. Sometimes things out of our control make the buying experience less than pleasant.

All I want is a chance to make it right. If we can, we will.  It’s not real common in today’s market, but it is how we run our company.

I emailed the customer (midnight on a Friday while I was 1000 miles away from the warehouse) just to let him know we would correct the issue to his satisfaction.

He was pleased (and a little surprised) that we responded at all…..

Steve Snell – Gun Dog Supply

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I am not much of a gun guy.  I have a few and once I find one I love, I tend to stick with it. 

I’m also not the best at taking care of them.  I clean my guns at least once a year even if they don’t need it…..

OK, I’m really not that bad, but it isn’t my strong suit.  That’s why I use Clenzoil.  It’s a all around great gun cleaning product.  What I really love about it is that it works great on metal, wood and leather.  I can clean my entire gun with one product. It’s also a cleaner, lubricant and metal protector.  That cuts down on the number of things I have to carry with me.

I first read about Clenzoil in an Quail Unlimited article by Bill Hanus.

It sounded so good, I had to give it a try.  It’s easy to use and does a great job.

Here are a few places you can buy Clenzoil

Optics Planet

Cabela’s

Clenzoil

Steve Snell

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“In The Shadow” (call name – Buster) is owned by Carl Bowman of Louisville, KY.   He is  handled by Robin Gates and was scouted by  Robin’s son Hunter Gates.

  Buster ran his brace on 2/11/2010 and had 10 finds.

Click here to read about his winning brace and here for the Brace by Brace Synopsis.

Photos from the trial are here and you can read newspaper articles from the NY Times, Commercial Appeal and WHNT.

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I picked up my last new puppy for a while……I swear….no more.  Not until these are all trained.

Axl is the grandaughter of 2007 National Champion Funseeker’s Rebel 

She is out out a Funseeker’s Rebel Joe and a daughter of CH Sir Lancelot Phantom’s Shakira

I got to see both dogs run last summer in South Dakota and was so impressed I had to have one for myself.  I wish I had picked up a direct son or daughter before Funseeker’s Rebel pasted away.

Axl is as bold of a pup as I have seen in a long time.  I expect her to make a really nice bird dog.  

This gives me dogs out of the last three National Champions.  Should be interesting. 

For those of you that don’t know, she is named after Axl Rose of the rock band Guns n Roses. 

 I named my Lester’s Snowatch pup “Izzy” after guitarist Izzy Stradlin.   I’m not that big of a fan, but they really had cool names.

I guess that means the next pup will be “Slash”…..when I get my next pup…..four or five years from now……I swear….

Steve Snell

Gun Dog Supply

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If I can drive it I will. 14 hours from Starkville is my cutoff.  I find that I can’t do more than that in a day and be worth much the next few days.

One of the joys of flying out of this part of the world is that you can’t get a direct flight any where.  Everything has a connection.  Nothing better than flying from Starkville to Atlanta, waiting an hour and then flying back over Mississippi to get to the west coast. 

If you want to fly west, you have to drive to Jackson or Memphis.  That’s a couple of hours there and back.  It really adds to the trip.

14 hours is my cutoff point so Boston was way out side of that since it’s 21 hours from Starkville.

This morning at 5am I had another example of the reason that some folks just should not fly.

The line to security was insane.  We get up to security and folks are running stuff through the x ray machine.  The guy in front of me has a mallet in his carry on bag.

I am not talking about a little hammer. This monster was at least a foot and a half long. It looked a little like ”Mjolner” the hammer of Thor- the Norse God of Thunder.

Needless to say, the TSA folks freaked.

Steve Snell

www.gundogsupply.com
1-800-624-6378

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We just wrapped up the 2009 – 2010 Texas Quail Season.  I still have to post all my notes from the year.  I’ll get that done in the next week or so.

It was my longest bird season ever.  I started it in August in South Dakota and ran until the end of February.

We hunted South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas.

That covered Sharptail Grouse, Huns, Pheasants, Bobwhite Quail, Blue Quail and too many species of ducks and geese to name.

It was a mediocre year at best.  We had good bird numbers up north, but the weather and the late corn harvest made getting to them tough.

Our Quail numbers were better than most of Texas based on folks that I talked to throughout the year, but they were pretty bad.  It was one of those years that makes us appreciate the good years.

The good news is that the parts of Texas that I hunt have gotten winter rains.  This year we had mud in Texas.  That’s pretty rare.  All the stock tanks are full and there should be plenty of greens and cover.

Quail can bounce back at a staggering rate when everything lines up right.  If we ever get a repeat of the 2007 – 2008 season, I might just spend the whole season in Texas.

I was real pleased with the progress of my main dogs.  Click, Stud and Sage had a good year.

Stud really found his groove. He understands now how I hunt and what I want from him.  It took a little longer than it should have, but most of that was my fault.

I have a hard time believing Click is only 3.  This was his fourth hunting season and he really took off this year.

What I like about down years is that it really shows you the talent level of your dogs.  Any dog can find birds in a boom year.  It’s the bust years that tell you want you want to know.

Em held up better then I expected after her TPLO surgery but she may have made her last trip.  12 is pretty old for an English Pointer.  Keep in mind I said the same thing about her last year….and the year before.  She will get to go as long as she wants.

Now, it’s puppy time.  I have 6 dogs under 1 1/2 years old.  Cash and Brandy are behind where I want them but I can fix that pretty quick.  Mac is way ahead of where he should be.  Izzy, Apple and Axl are right on target.

Steve Snell

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Last trip of the 2008 – 2009 bird hunting season.  Texas starts on the last Saturday of October and runs to the last Sunday of February. 

I made this trip with our head buyer, Jonathan.  Jonathan owns a female German Shorthair named “Chick”.

She gets to go with me more than Jonathan does (since she doesn’t mind riding in the dog trailer) but every once in a while we take him along with us.

We headed over to my Aspermont lease first.  The drive to Midland is pick much for one haul, so I like to head to Aspermont first.  We run dogs there a day or two and then head southwest.

While Midland has mainly Blues with a few Bobs, Aspermont has Bobs with a few Blues. 

We get many more of your traditional “covey rises” at Aspermont and the birds don’t run any where as much.  It is a little more relaxed.

We first ran Em and Chick.  Chick found one covey and  two singles.

Next we ran Click and Richard. Both ran well but we didn’t find any birds.  Johnny walked up two singles.

The next brace was Sage and Stud. They found 6 coveys total. Sage found three of them and Stud found two.  The last group got up wild. 

Sage did a real nice job on his coveys. He also had 2 singles.

Stud ran well. When he streched out he found two coveys. Held both until we got to him. Very Em like….

Ran Chick and Richard on the hill close to camp. We have really bad sandspurs in this area and we had to boot the dogs.

The Ruff Wear Dog Boots did a good job but the socks did not work for me.  I could not get them to stay in place.  I may try either vet wrap or wrist bands for the dogs that have rubbing issues.

Richard found 1 covey. He also nice job on finding a winged bird.

We ran Sage by himself  north of 448. No birds.  Early afternoon it got to hot to hunt and we called it a day.  We packed the truck and headed southwest.

2/20/2009 Midland

Ran Em and Chick first morning.  Em found a nice covey. Both dogs found singles and worked them well. Killed 1 bird.  Walked up 3 more coveys.  It was very windy and the dogs were having major issues locating birds.

Ran Sage and Click next.  Click had a nice find. Killed one bird.

Ran Stud and Richard.  Both did great. Stud had 3 covey points and 4 singles.  Richard had 2 coveys and 4 singles. Killed 6 birds.

2/21/2009 Midland

Ran Em and Chick. Wind was blowing about 35 mph. Really had no plan of seeing anything so we checked a new spot.

4 coveys later and 11 birds in the bag we headed back to the truck.  Both dogs pointed nultiple coveys and singles. The found all our dead birds and did a really nice job.  Chick is doing really well for a dog with very little experience.  She has a lot of natual ability and is a good overall bird dog.  Our GSP’s  come from Wildrose German Shorthaired Pointers and I have been really pleased with all of them.

Stud had a really good day with mutiple finds on coveys and singles.  He needs some work on ”steady to shot” and “steady to kill”  issues but he is finding birds.  I can fix his manners in the spring.

Richard and Sage also had a really nice round.  It was a really good day.

2/22/2009  Midland

Last day of the 2008 – 2009 season.

Ran Em and Chick. Em made a 800 yard cast and went on point. By the time we got there the birds had moved.

She relocated and found them again. We killed 2 on the rise. She picked up one. Good way to end the season with her.

Richard and Click have hurt feet and are done for this trip.  The sand has been tough on them this year.

We made the last round with Sage and Stud.  Sage found 1 covey. Stud found 2. Both did really well.

We had a really good season.  It was nothing like 2007 – 2008 as far as number of birds, but it was easily in my top 5 of all time.

We ended on a high note with this trip.  I have a bunch of training to do in the off season and I am ready to get it going.

Steve Snell

www.gundogsupply.com
1-800-624-6378

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1/23 Midland

I came over early before meeting up with the SportDOG boys.  I spent the day hunting with in the Quail Buggy.

We found 7 coveys.  While I was originally not a big fan of hunting out of a vehicle, I have changed my take on it after doing it a few times.

There are a couple of really big advantages, especially if you hunt with really young dogs still in training, or if you like to run older dogs.

I do both.   The advantage with young dogs is that you can put them on the ground for how ever long it takes.  Once they get the bird contacts that they need, you can put them up.  It might take 10 minutes.  It might take an hour.

Once you have had success, you are much better off to get them up and let them think about it.  If you have to leave them on the ground while you are headed back to the truck, you stand the chance of them screwing up something or running into a bad situation where the training falls apart.

Since you had success and put them up, you also have the opportunity of running themn again once the other dogs have been on the ground.  It’s win – win.

The advantage for older dogs is similar.  Em is 12 now.  She still loves it and still finds as many birds as the next dog, but she just can’t go as long.  I can run her for 30 minutes and put her up.  I can run her multiple times of the day and give her long breaks between.  If I feel she has had enough, we load her in the buggy and let her relax.  It’s hard to take short rounds when you are hunting on foot.  The buggy fixes this problem.

I also hunt in the heat.   The buggy lets me carry more water and rotate dogs faster.  It’s a big advantage it certain parts of the world.

1/24/2009 Midland

Hunting with L and S.  Kiled 21 birds. Lost count on the number of coveys.  Everyone had a good day.

1/25/2009 Midland

Bad hot today.   Ran Em and Richard first.  No birds.   Ran Click and Sage.  Found 3 coveys of blues.

1/26/2009  Midland

Hunted South East section for the first time.  Found 5 coveys.  I was really pleased with the size of the coveys especially for this time of year.

2/10/2009-2/13/2009 – Midland

 It was me, my brother and Sam.  It had been years since the three of us had traveled together and we had a blast.  Rob came out to shoot photos for the website and do a few product videos.

 Click here to see all the pictures.

It was a good week for the dogs and we actually got a bunch of work done.
Steve Snell

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Hunted for the first time with longtime firends and suppliers Chuck and Blanche Johnson.  The Johnsons own  Wilderness Adventures Press where we get many of our books including the popular and really handy Wingshooter Guides.

Chuck and Blanche have also written a mighty fine cook book – Savor Wild Game Cookbook  and Training The Versatile Hunting Dog – a guide for training and bringing out the  natural abilities, desire, search, pointing, and tracking in the versatile breeds.

Chuck also writes the Versatile Dog column for the Pointing Dog Journal.  You can read about his trip to Texas in the November December 2009 issue.

Chuck brought two of his fine German wirehaired pointers.  It was their first trip to hunt Texas Bobs.  I was very pleased with how they ran and handled their birds.  

The first day out was pretty typical Texas.  Hot and Dry.  We were only able to make a few rounds and did not move any birds.  It was my first “shut out” of the season.

We headed back to town and will try again tomorrow.

1/22/2009 Aspermont

Ran Em and one of Chuck’s GWPs. Em really needs a couple of  days off.  She  hurt her foot and I had to carry her back to the truck.  She just turned 11 and is really starting to show her age.

We ran Richard and Click. Richard found two coveys. Click got to back a couple of times.

Richard did a really nice job.  I think many of  his issues in the past whave been from a  lack of maturity. He still has a way to go, but he will make a fine bird dog.

Ran Stud and Sage.  Sage found one covey.  I killed one bird on the rise.  Stud found it and retrieved to hand.

Stud ran much better.  I really love the new SportDog 1825 high stim collar.  It’s the only collar I have found so far that will get Stud’s attention.  The thing I have to be most careful about is making sure I reset the collar back to medium before I put it on another one of my dogs.  It’s really easy to switch it back and forth between settings.

I worked Roxy on a few blind setups just to keep her sharp and then ran the pups.  The heat finished another day early for us. 

That’s just part of bird hunting in Texas.

Steve Snell

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A few days before Christmas,  my family went out to the movies.  You would think it would
be a simple operation, but it’s more like moving a small army.

I took the kids to see “Avatar” and Kathy went with her folks to see “The
Blindside.”

 After getting out of the movie I checked my phone to see
if I had any messages.

I had several from our alarm company.  When I got them on the phone
they told me that the alarm had gone off and the sheriff department
had been dispatched.

I called the Sheriff Department to see if anything bad had happened.

They said the back sliding door was open when they got there but
everything seemed fine and they locked up.

I immediately knew I had a major problem.  Brandy and Lucy were in the
backyard when we left for the movies.  Lucy knows how to open the
backdoor if you don’t lock it.  My guess is that one of the kids put
her out and forgot to lock the door.

She opened the door after we left and set off the alarm.  When the police
got there, either the dogs were upstairs or since they were already inside
the officers figured they should be there and left them inside.

Lucy isn’t really an issue.  She is not a chewer anymore and behaves
pretty well.

Brandy is another story.  She just turned a year old and loves to
shred anything she can.  She is about as high drive of an animal that
I have ever owned.

I just knew what I would get home to…..every Christmas present torn
open, the Christmas tree dragged across the house.  Stuffed animals
ripped into small pieces, every Santa figurine of my wife’s in small,
spit covered hunks, and several dead small pets (snake, rat and
bearded dragon were in the house unprotected from the Brandy tornado)

Much to my surprise, there was very little damage.  They had dragged a
bunch of stuffed animals out from under one of the beds.  They also
found a bag of food for the rat that was too tasty to pass up.

Not a single Christmas present or decoration was touched.  Hard to
believe.  Maybe Brandy is coming around as she gets older….or it
could have just been a Christmas Miracle.

Steve Snell

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The issue that we run into is folks that have a 90 pound Labrador and a 15 terrier.  They want to be able to work both dogs at the same time from one hand held transmitter but they feel that they need a different size collar for their two dogs.

Some folks feel that a “standard” size ecollar is way too big for a dog under 20 pounds.  This really isn’t the case, but it is important that folks feel comfortable that the collar their dog is wearing is not too much weight for their dog.

The other concern that we run into is that folks feel that the size of the actual electronics relates to the “power” of the stimulation levels.  The bigger concern here is that a “bigger” collar would be two strong for a small dog.  The assumption is that the size of the dog has something to do with the required level of stimulation that a dog needs or can handle.

This really isn’t the case.  Some of the smallest dogs require much higher levels of stimulation and some of the largest dogs need very low levels to get the desired reaction.

It has nothing to do with the size of the dog.  That’s why we always recommend that you start low and work your way up with stimulation levels on your ecollar to find the right level for you dog.  You just can’t tell what’s needed based off the size or temperament of the dog.

While all this is easy to explain, folks still want an appropriate sized ecollar for their dog.  That’s where the Cross Compatible units come into play.

We first got this option from the folks at SportDOG way back in 2004.  The 1800 series systems, 800 systems and the 400 series systems are “cross compatible.”   This means you can buy an 1800 Sporthunter system and add the 400 / 800 extra collar if you have a smaller dog.

You can also add the 1800 Add a Dog collar to a 400 or 800 tranmitter if you want the smaller tranmitter but need a little more range.

Tri-Tronics joined the party last year with the introduction of the Sport Junior collar.   The Junior collar is the same size as the Tri-Tronics Bark Limter and will fit on dogs down to around 8 pounds.  The other features of the Junior are that it uses a replaceable 3 volt battery and has built in safty lights that you can operate remotely from some Tri-Tronics Transmitters.

The Sport Junior collar can be added to any of the current Tri-Tronics Sport or Field & Pro Units if you want a smaller addtional collar for your little dog.   The Junior collar and transmitter also work with any of the older G2 systems.

You can also pair the Junior collar with any of the replacement transmitters that we sell and make your own uniqe system.  We did this already with our Basic Junior.   

We now also have this option from DT Systems since they have introduced their line of expandible systems for 2010.  The Micro IDT Plus and the H2O Plus allow you to add additional collars at any time and they also allow you to mix and match collar sizes if you need a smaller collar or a bigger collar.  Both expandible collars now work with either transmitter.

Right now, Dogtra is the only major ecollar company that has big dog collars and small dog collars but does not have an expandible or cross compatible option.

Knowing which systems you can mix and match can be a bit confusing.  If you want to setup a system to fit the different sizes of your pack of hounds, let us know and we can help you get what you need.

Steve

Gun Dog Supply

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