projectupland.com On The Go – Details, episodes & analysis

In this article, Ryan Dawson writes about ruffed grouse populations and habitat in Virginia and how fire may just be what southeastern forests need to recover Appalachian ruffed grouse.

This article originally appeared in the winter 2024 issue of Project Upland Magazine.

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In this article, Mike Fitzgerald explains useful practices for raising domestic quail during all four seasons.

Check out Mike's recipe for pickled quail here!

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I heard the jokes about water swatting American coots long before I became a licensed hunter. But when I finally took up waterfowl hunting, I discovered that the humor surrounding coots was actually a well-placed sentry guarding a well-kept secret: American coot is delicious. 

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You’ve done your research, picked the ideal dog breed, selected a reputable breeder, and now have a much-anticipated date circled on your calendar. Your new puppy will soon arrive in your home, full of unbridled potential and the uncanny ability to create chaos wherever it goes.

The weeks before the new pup arrives are the best time to gather supplies, puppy-proof your home, make an early puppy training and socialization plan, and—perhaps most importantly—get the whole family on board with the plan. This early preparation work will go a long way toward ensuring a successful transition into your home and building a solid foundation for your new bird dog.

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My first experience with Arizona quail occurred as a covey of about 30 Gambel’s quail raced across the public two-track road before us, sprinting to a pond to get water. Not believing our luck, I pulled the truck over. My father, James, and buddy, Kyle Hedges, helped me boot up three dogs. 

While the process took about 20 minutes, we were confident that the birds would still be somewhere close. Based on our combined years of bobwhite quail hunting experience, we thought perhaps they’d be in the thick brush surrounding the pond or down the draw below. Thirty minutes later, only one bird in the whole covey flushed. That’s when we realized that these critters were different. 

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If you were to ask a bird or rabbit hunter in nineteenth century England which dog he would prefer to accompany him, the answer was often a Curly-Coated Retriever. That may surprise you, given the rarity of the Curly today. Hunters in the 1800s knew the Curly-Coat as a persevering, talented, hardy hunting dog who could handle both fur and feather in upland and waterfowl work. The Curly was also useful in a secondary role as a guard dog.

The Curly-Coated Retriever owes much of its early popularity to the simple fact that it was the first retriever breed to be developed. While the Wavy-Coat Retriever was being developed around the same time, most canine historians give a slight edge to the Curly’s claim of being the oldest by a few years. In the nineteenth century, guns were increasingly more accurate and accessible and retrievers were the up-and-coming canine specialists. With more accurate guns, hunters could shoot birds from much longer distances. Shooting no longer required a pointing or setting dog to range far afield and hold a bird on point while the hunter hurried to get close enough for an accurate shot.

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Kansas’ reputation as a classic upland hunting state has long been known. Bobwhite quail hunting here is legendary during boom years and remains solid during average years. While pheasant hunting in Kansas has decreased over the last few years due to habitat loss, the state is still consistently among the top three to four states for roosters. Additionally, Kansas is the country's top greater prairie chicken state, providing great opportunities to harvest the charismatic grassland dweller. 

A chance to harvest these three species on a single trip, maybe even on a single walk, makes Kansas a special place to hunt in the fall. Here are a few tips to help you plan your attempt at the Kansas Grand Slam.

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One hundred and fifty years ago, the people of Germany struggled to create a united nation out of a patchwork of tiny kingdoms, city-states, and fiefdoms. Around the same time, german hunters also struggled to create a national breed of short-haired pointing dog. Eventually, both goals were realized. 

Today, Germany is a rich and united republic and the German Shorthaired Pointer sits in triumph as the most successful continental pointing breed in the world.

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The Kansas Flint Hills prairie rose 100 feet above the low-lying soybean field I was hunting. Each day, two groups of greater prairie-chickens screamed down from the grasslands and into the field to feed at unbelievable speeds. I had these birds dialed in; I knew exactly which electric pole they flew past every morning. I was set up well before dawn, ready to pass-shoot them.  

The first group came in well in advance, but I was unprepared for how fast they were. I missed, wildly behind. I adjusted my swing on the next group, got lucky, and dropped a bird at the tail end of the group. Was it the bird I was shooting at? Probably not. But in any case, I had my first late season chicken. 

That chicken hunting experience was more like pass-shooting waterfowl than upland bird hunting, but it was utterly unique and incredibly fun. Every upland hunter should try it. These tips will help you connect on a greater prairie-chicken during the late season.

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While people will always disagree about which breed is the “handsomest and perhaps the most generous,” everyone agrees that trying to follow all the twists and turns of the setter’s creation story is more or less impossible. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something more about them by taking a look at some of the more interesting, and even surprising, stops along the way. 

 In 1872, Edward Lavarack, the father of the modern English setter answered the question by writing “… the setter is nothing more than the setting spaniel improved.” Ok, so setters are spaniels that, at some point were “improved” to become setters. But what exactly is a setting spaniel, and what exactly were the “improvements” that turned them into setters? 

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