I know that, I was just ribbing trapdye.

Lugnut Thanks for starting your post about your dogs .There is no better way to get a young kid involved in hunting than hunting pheasants The weather is usually nice the fall colors are at peak or near to it All the outdoors is at is most splendid time of year .The kids always love the dogs and the dogs love to hunt If you can find some place to find birds some action is usually liikely So there is generally enough chances for new hunters to. bag a bird or two. I have two bird dogs also They like most hunting dogs know when we are just going for a walk and when we are going hunting . They are charging to go but when properly trained know what they are born to do .That kind of enthusiasm is bound to rub off on the hunter also While I am not a big fan of going to a regulated shooting grounds to hunt birds .I have done more of it over the past 25 years Many of my friends have some breed of hunting dog .And of course if you have a dog you want to go bird hunting That option is really a great way to take a new bird hunter out to see just how much fun it can be As for just plugging away at it .I always said I do not mind working for the chance at a few birds .I don't know if they taste better but a few hard earned roosters in your game bag have a way of puting your mind in a very good place And keep posting

Yep Lugnut, He's new-fangled & thick headed. Very soft mouthed & likes to sneak up on birds.

Thanks West Side. I actually do have a young hunter in tow. He's the neighbor kid and he's a good kid, maybe one of the rare ones. I've known him since he was very young, he's twenty-three now. He's an Eagle Scout, I wrote a great letter of recommendation to the eagle Scout Review Board at his mother's request and was happy to do it. He went to vocational school for diesel mechanics and had a great paying job as soon as he graduated; a good, honest, hard-working young man.

There are no hunters in his family so I don't know where his enthusiasm comes from but it's great. He actually joined my camp last year. Just what this old man needs to keep my enthusiasm high.

My yellow is a blockhead as well. Interesting about the sneaking up on them.

Lugnut I also have a similar experience I mentored a relative of mind to help him kill his first buck and a couple of doe He got a job and had not hunted since than After that a friend had a grand son that he was mentoring He also got his first deer the first year he hunted a doe A couple years later we where all together and he killed another doe .Than i have twin boys living next door to me After they where born they came home from the hospital and moved into their new for them home . AS toddlers and very young boys they would always come over to see what I was doing At about four years old I would lift them up to see the baby bluebirds in my bird house A little later I caught a huge male coon and was telling them about it I mentioned that I was soon going to skin it And hey quickly said we want to watch .I told them if it was OK with their parents that was fine with me I got it cleaned up and got my tools out and started skinning it .It was one of those that was just covered with layers of the real yellow fat .I was hanging of the carcass and while I was really trying to leave as much fat as possible on the carcass it was also hanging on the hide too .One of them ask if I know what it looks like I said no I do not know what hey are thinking He said IT LOOKS LIKE MACARONIA and cheese Only a six year old would think that Anyway as they neared to deer hunting age they talked about me taking them deer hunting Their dad was on board with them hunting but was a 40 something non hunter that did not know where to start I told him I would supply a gun for each of them for one year to see if they liked hunting and help him get them into a Hunter ed class .He attended the class with them and was certified He did not carry a gun when we where hunting .The one boy killed a doe on one of those youth day antlerless hunts on the first day he ever hunted about two hours into his first hunt . A few weeks later the other twin was in a tree stand about4 feet off the ground And I was standing behind him looking over his left shoulder watching a crossing that had standing corn in afield on one side of a swampy area and a hay field on the side we where set up on About 8:30 I looked across the swampy area and saw a buck standing there looking around I quickly got his attention, my neighbor boy and told him to stand up and get ready .It was about a sixty yard shot I said he he has a open shot he should shoot The gun went off and the deer dropped It was thrashing around and as I was trying to say he should wait he shot a second time and the deer lay still . It turned out to be a large 5 point with a high rack and about 10 inched wide So both of them got their first deer with hardly more than about 3 hours of combined hunting time The same one shot a spike buck the second year while hunting with the group of relatives and friends that are part of those that hunt the property After another year I told them they must got out on their own as there where two other young kids that where on the list of new hunters So they where not thrilled about going it alone they found a property to hunt and the one that had not yet killed a buck got a nice 10 point the second day of the season .I have also taken them bird hunting a few times I was a volunteer for a Pheasants Forever chapter for 25 plus years and we held a mentored youth pheasant hunt at a regulated shooting grounds for a number of years . It is a great sense a achievement to take some time and show any non hunter how much is involved in being a good ethical hunter And give the non hunter a chance to see if they might want to be a hunter also Helping a new hunter gets started makes me feel young again and gives me a sese of doing for someone what someone did for me a long time ago The only way hunting/trapping will remain alive is if we teach others about what we believe and do

This is a great post. My dog Max just went on his first hunt (doves). He is a bit older than your pup but we don't get the opportunities in the field that we used to.
Great pics and great stories here.

Great post!

Yup....the need for younger friends is paramount for an old guy. My 20 year old nephew does it for me. We shoot skeet ..ice fish..trolling..archery..target shooting...and of course trapping.

Great memories West Side. Thanks for helping to get youth involved. Recruitment of new hunters is probably one of the most important things we can all do to keep the sports we love alive.

While I have no qualms about letting him dive into the thick stuff while I walk along the edge of the brush, he does keep me moving!