Recent content by Powderhorn Jim

Just lost my 12 yr old lab to an abdominal tumor. I had been watching her decline slowly since June. First sign was reticence to jump. She had always been light on her feet, jumping into the truck, onto beds, whatever. Slowly she started refusing to jump. Not good. Then started showing...

She's trying to tell you something is not right. Get her checked out. We just lost our 12 year old lab to a abdominal tumor. Not that early detection was possible, but reluctance to jump was one of the signs she gave us.

Even though I have Several Silver Pigeons, all with 28in barrels, I would go with the 30in. Little heavier but I believe the longer barrel pulls your eye to the target. The best shooting year I ever had was with a Ruger Red Label 20ga sporting with 30in barrels. 24 birds with 25 shots over a season.

Same here. Two cups per day. It keeps the weight off but gives them plenty to run on. My oldest lab is 12. Starting to slow down but she is still hunting hard.

Every lab (I'm on my 6th generation) I've had would/will "chomp" a pheasant if they feel it move. They don't like getting pecked/spurred. I don't blame them. Unless you are an exceptional shooter you will wound birds and if you have a good dog, they will retrieve them. Goes with pheasant...

Snake avoidance training helps but it isn't a cure-all. There are situations where a dog "runs over" a snake before it can sense it. Our vet had that happen to one of his dogs last year. That said, the $75 or whatever the current rate is in your area is well worth the cost. At least your dog...

The snake avoidance "trainer" we use allows "re-tests" if you put your dog through his program, at no cost. As long as the dog negatively avoids the snake no shock or stimulus. If anything it adds a little assurance that the original training worked and is still working. Both our labs smelled...

Unfortunately, with rain comes (fairly often) hail. A large cell moved through a couple of nights ago generating hail in NW SD all the way to Kadoka and south. It also generated a major tornado. Some areas reported golf ball sized hail, which is lethal to chicks. The birds are tough, but that...

There are a few ruffed grouse in the aspen stands but that time of year there likely will be snow as well. You have to get out on the plains for sharptail and by November they are wilder than March hares. The sit on ridges and watch for you! A few pheasants north to the North Dakota border but...

We lost several dogs on the ranch. It was 50 miles to the nearest vet. The dog would get hit on the face and the swelling would suffocate him/her.

We are on our 6th generation of yellow labs. Four of the six (including the current pup) were diggers. The only thing I've found that comes close to working is a shock collar set on "stun" and catch them in the act. Don't say a word. Don't let them see you. Light them up. They think the hole bit...

I hunt New Mexico all winter with my two labs. I never boot them because the majority of the cactus are large enough for them to see and they quickly learn to avoid it. The issue I encounter in SD (I live here) is with small prickly pear and another even more malevolent cactus that I don't know...

Try a "slow feed" dog bowl. There are a bunch of different designs, but the bottom line is that they keep a dog from gulping their food. I've used them for my labs for years. Once they get the hang of it they can still eat a serving pretty fast, but it does slow them down and seems to help with...

I live in SD and have hunted here since 1989. The bottom line for me is that 2024 was a very good year for pheasants in SD. We can only hope that 2025 is anywhere nearly as good.