Recent content by chemist

I think you are overthinking things unless you are at the point you are so humid you are seeing condensation. That said for what you describe in your original post, I would buy surplus 50 cal ammo cans and add some desiccant packs.

Good ideas above. Adding another. I bought an adult female with the same issue as you have. She would retrieve a ball or bumper all day but not a pheasant. Then I took her quail hunting and she would grab them and bring them straight back. Shortly after she started retrieving pheasants. I think...

The TLDR and moral for the original poster: Never lose site that it is your dog and you should train it to the objectives you want out of your dog. When I got my first bird dog I had no shortage of folks telling me what training objectives I should have for the dog. i.e. let it range vs keep it...

It definitely makes a difference. You can brine just the breast and legs. You eat more brined meat than you realize. Read the fine print on the prepackaged boneless skinless chicken you buy from the store. They brine in part for flavor and in part because it adds weight to the meat and you are...

I agree that the GPS can be clunky and a bit of a pain. I eventually broke down and bought a watch that connects to the GPS handheld by bluetooth. The GPS handheld is fixed to my chest so that it is not nearly as bothersome to have the bulk. Seeing where my dogs are is no more effort than...

To the guys that say they are deaf already, one of the advantages of the electronic hearing protection is that they can be used to amplify sounds much the way hearing aids do. Folks that have the Anvils and like them. I am glad that you have a product you like and you are happy with. For folks...

Some of the oldschool folks say that they prefer to watch the dog hunt than to watch electronics and don't put them on their dogs. That is valid and for them no GPS is the best option. I also think it depends a lot on the style you hunt. I have been around some folks that prefer to hunt pretty...

Congrats on your dog. I agree with the above sentiment that training starts today. It is a very young dog so you want to keep things fun and not apply excessive pressure but there is a lot that you can start doing right away to set yourself up for success. It is very nice to have a dog that...

I bought a final rise at the start of the season as well. I really wanted a wing works and waited a couple years but couldn't get one. Overall it is a great vest and I used it all season. The weight bearing belt is great. It is easy to load birds into and has a decent amount of space and...

I bought a pair of stonecreek chaps 8ish years ago and they are starting to show wear but are still perfectly serviceable. I don't wear them every time I hunt but do most of the time. They probably saw 25 days in the field this season alone.

As a kid I never did because the adults never did and it never crossed my mind, but did at the range. Then I noticed all the old hunters were deaf in at least one ear. Then I noticed it was mostly in the opposite ear as their handedness. Lefties were deaf in their right ear and righties deaf in...

Second to last weekend of the year. Out with my buddy on public land primarily hunting quail. We got cut off by some other hunters who came in from a different parking area. They were nice enough folks and my buddy and I decided to call it for the day. Walking the gated gravel road back to the...

I have no idea on the brand of call I have. When I lived in Tucson about 15 years ago I bought a cheap one from sportsmans. I was making $18k a year at the time and am frugal by nature so I doubt I spent more than $10. I still use it for the valley quail up here in WA. I find the quail call...

Powderhorn's reply got me thinking about when you are going, which you stated in your original post but I didn't think enough about. My comment about orienting to water does not hold nearly as well in February as in October. I have found the Chi-ca-go call to be useful on both California and...

I have not hunted NM, but I did hunt Gambles in AZ a lot while I was in graduate school. My experience comes from hunting amongst prickly pear and saguaro. Some of it may translate to New Mexico. They are an adaptable bird so you will find them beyond what I describe below but this was my...