Hi Guys,

Having finished this falls season I'd hope to share a few pictures. Babe and I usually make some kind of effort to hunt locally while the waterfowl are here and then later in the fall travel south to hunt with friends.

This year although the hunting was good and we had time to go we never did make it up the Nushagak River. Day trips were made to Lake Alegnagik and we ended up with one swan and a few ducks.




In December we traveled to North Dakota to hunt with a friend. We were scheduled to hunt in October for snow geese but had to delay until December and settle for canada geese and pheasants.


This was a giant that went after Babe at first but then turned to run and as Babe doesn't believe in fighting fair she whacked him from behind.


Lots of good pheasants in heavy cover and holding close for good flushes and retrieves. Weather in the single digits with one night of freezing rain.


I try and try to get good pictures but it doesn't seem like I got the quality on this North Dakota trip I was hoping for.


We're back home now and done 'til Mothers Day or so. Hopefully we'll get some more good decoying duck work then.

Great photos

Scott
Your season opens in May?
Is that a big duck season or early teal?
How big of a hassle is it to fly with your dog.
The first picture of Babe in the boat came out good. I pretty much gave up on pictures of dogs in action. It seems you might get one in 100 that turn out OK.

Hi Brad,

Rural Alaskans are allowed a "Subsistence Harvest," regulated by the USFWS that is intended for freezer filling so to speak.

The actual productive part of the season is really only 2-3 weeks but in that time if I have the time I use it to add to the larder to be sure but also to get in some good dog training. Because the hunting pressure is negligible I am able to pick my shots and promote "Steady to Shot," and "Steady to Hand," with Babe.

We're allowed a bag of all waterfowl species excepting those Threatened or Endangered. The allowance includes but is not limited to gulls, owls, snipe, swans and on. I usually try for male sprig and mallard and whitefront geese. Babe loves to retrieve speck's.

Flying the dog is not a hassle if you choose your airline and your dates. Avoid holidays. I fly Alaska Airlines as exclusively as I can. Keep your credit card handy and do not pay attention to the amount being charged. Sign where your supposed to sign, think about something else, give the agent a blank smile and move on. I expect to pay close to the same price for the dogs airline ticket as my own.

Dog pictures are tough! I use the burst function on the camera and as you say come up with 1 in 100. Black dogs make it tougher. That one in the canoe is a favorite and I have it framed at work. I get a kick out of the eyebrows.

This one is another favorite.

Although poor focus this one speaks volumes.

Scott
Thanks for the reply.
Black dogs against a light brown background like above seem to show the dog the best. They blend in to well in other back grounds it seems.
Do you get to hunt Ptarmigan in your area? Labs are hunting machines. My older male will point and hold as well any of the pointing breeds. It came natural to him. He also thinks he's a human. My younger male doesn't think. Dumb as a rock but tough as nails and also a hunting machine.
We get to train all year long down here. HRC started in Louisiana so we get plenty of weekends to play the games. My older male, "Pete" should get his Grand title this year.
My hunting buddy is a pro trainer and I send my dogs with him in the summer to Michigan. It's just to damn hot down here for the dogs. Taking it easy is not in a labs vocabulary, which I'm sure you know. Babe looks like a beast on those big birds.

Labs are great dogs Iam on my forth now two yellows ,a black and chocolate now.

quote:

Originally posted by brad may:
Scott
Thanks for the reply.
Black dogs against a light brown background like above seem to show the dog the best. They blend in to well in other back grounds it seems.
Do you get to hunt Ptarmigan in your area? Labs are hunting machines. My older male will point and hold as well any of the pointing breeds. It came natural to him. He also thinks he's a human. My younger male doesn't think. Dumb as a rock but tough as nails and also a hunting machine.
We get to train all year long down here. HRC started in Louisiana so we get plenty of weekends to play the games. My older male, "Pete" should get his Grand title this year.
My hunting buddy is a pro trainer and I send my dogs with him in the summer to Michigan. It's just to damn hot down here for the dogs. Taking it easy is not in a labs vocabulary, which I'm sure you know. Babe looks like a beast on those big birds.

We do get to hunt ptarmigan but I don't. I don't have any readily accessable fall hunting opportunities and winter hunting them via snowmachine doesn't interest me. Not very sporting and not condusive to good dog work.

Although I've mostly posted pictures of Babe and birds like big honkers and swans in reality she performs much better on the smaller waterfowl. Babe is a sensitive dog and at times a tentative dog. She'd shine the brightest in a pit blind/ rice field situation but does well enough around here. I've run a volume of birds thru her so shes gotten the experience to know what to do but she doesn't seem to have the eat thru a brick wall to get a bird instinct I've seen in others. Doesn't matter, I love her dearly.