Recent content by Powderhorn Jim

I run labs. They live/swim in giardia infest waters. Unless diarrhea is an issue, it makes no sense to treat it. It will just re-establish in the dog. I have no idea why it suddenly becomes an issue, but we are on our 6th generation and have only treated a handful of times. The worst was an 8...

I run labs which seem prone to twisted gut, but thankfully we are now on our 6th generation and have never had a problem, not that it can't happen. I do only feed a small amount the morning I hunt and then add to the evening feeding "just in case". I don't try to overload my dogs with water just...

I tried these, twice. Adhered to their fitting instructions to a "T". I was shooting skeet. After a round my ears were ringing so badly I might as well have worn nothing. There is no magic in life (the percussive filter) in my opinion. I returned the product.

True. We skijored with ours in Alaska, but be careful. It is hard on their knees! Labs are stout, tough dogs, but many lab lines have notoriously weak knees. Both labs we had in Alaska required TPLO surgery. One had both back knees repaired. TPLO surgery is expensive and requires extensive rehab...

Remembered these photos my wife took a couple of years ago. This is the 4th and 5th generation. Hunting in boots in a sand burr, goat head infested field in Kansas and relaxing in the travel trailer later. I have no idea how the younger one doesn't hang that tongue up, but she's nine now and has...

All bird dogs are great! That said, we started with labs in Alaska in 1989. We used to fly two down to South Dakota every fall and hunt for a month. After moving back to the lower 48 we have a smorgasbord of hunting opportunities, everything from dusky (blue) grouse to desert quail. We even had...

We're done in New Mexico. Not a bad year. Seemed like fewer birds, but that may be because dog and I are getting older. I just enjoy getting out. Next year old dog and I will have a new recruit to keep us honest. It will be interesting, for sure. Everybody have a good off season.

Lots of "bad" and weird things happen hunting if you stay with it long enough. We had a nine year old, healthy lab hunting blue (dusky) grouse 3 years ago in the mountains of Colorado. Over 2 miles from the pickup she had what the vets later thought was a stroke. Went down like she had been...

My nemesis in my later years are those d___d badger holes. Last year I stepped into one and shattered my ankle/foot. I was stuck so tight that if my wife hadn't been there to pry it out I would have been a carcass in that field. Not a season goes by without at least one badger hole incident it...

We have a travel trailer as well. We prefer it to the B&B/motel route as we can pick up and move without a schedule and without specific destinations. This year we started on pheasants in North Dakota, then South Dakota, then Kansas. From there to New Mexico and desert quail. Only one dog this...

If they are actually on USFS land, then the ranger district should have them mapped. With USFS, sometimes you have to dig a bit to get the information, but I'll bet they have it. The district office is in Springfield, CO.

I'm finding more scaled quail up in the grass than Gambel's down in the arroyos and brushy cover right now. That makes for lots of walking, and those little suckers make roadrunners look slow. Great end of the season hunting, though. For those looking for quail calls, I found a number of them on...

I've hunted north of the areas you are considering for the last two years. Quite a few folks camp on public land without issue, but I wouldn't leave a gold brick (or your guns) out in the open. You never know. The Rio Grande corridor is notorious for illegals and drugs, but generally they don't...

I've worn (out) Danners, Russels, Cabela's and Irish Setters, all within a year. Whether it is in heavy pheasant cover or rock/brush cover in desert quail country, nothing holds up. Last year I stepped in a badger hole and virtually destroyed my ankle, so now the only boot that comes close to...

For some reason I always hunt with gloves. Warmth, stickers, whatever. I don't know how many pair I've gone through but my pickup looks like a used glove store. My current favorites are a pair of cheap hunting gloves I found at WalMart. I like them because they fit well, with now "alien fingers"...