Now, I said I was driving a Suburban, so it’s a given that I needed to get fuel, so I drove a few blocks to the nearest convienience store and started to gas up, leaving Tucker roaming in the cab, all the while wearing his flourecenent orange/yellow protective vest.   I noticed a car pull up next to my truck and a few times I noticed the passenger of the vehicle pointing at my dog and talking to the driver, who had gotten out to put fuel in the car.

I went inside to pick up a few last-minute provisions and pay and strolled back out to the truck.  The car that had been fueling next to me started to pull away, but stopped once it got past my Suburban.  I was approached by the passenger, who said she was admiring my dog while I was in the store.

To fully set the scene, I was dressed in hunting brush pants with protective layers on the front, a hunting shirt with a pheasant on the pocket and several orange patches on the shoulders and forearms.  Tucker had a protective vest, electronic collar and a bell (so I can tell where he is in heavy cover).  There was an unloaded shotgun on the front seat, a box of shells on the dashboard, a P.L.O.T.S. map on the center arm of the seat, and binoculars in the passenger seat.

The lady approached me and in a very pleasant manner asked if she could see Tucker.  I called him to the front seat, and he greeted her like he does everyone, rear-end waving back and forth and eagerly waiting to be petted.  She said she noticed the vest and asked if he was a rescue dog.  I said that we were headed out hunting, and the vest was so I could see him better and also to protect his coat and underside from fences and tangles.

Her demeanor instantly changed from pleasant to hostile.  She stepped back from the dog and me, and squared up, looking ready to argue.

The next words are so ignorant that I couldn’t make them up.  She said, and I quote, “How can you FORCE that dog to hunt?”

Force?  FORCE?  The last thing I have to do with Tucker to get him out hunting is FORCE him to come with.  She obviously missed the comical display today, or every other day we go hunting.  Tucker gets excited almost to the point of causing damage to our home.  He runs wildly through the house and whines constantly until I get fully dressed and can get him into the truck.  My wife and daughter stand by and laugh as he acts like a kid who can’t wait to go to McDonalds.  There is no FORCING him to go hunting.

I explained all of this to the woman, and she stated that she didn’t care for hunting and feels sorry for these dogs who are pushed beyond their physical means and mistreated. 

I could have done one of two things here.  I could have stayed at the gas station and had a discussion on the merits of hunting, the charateristics of this dog breed, and how my particular dog is treated.  Or, I could just end the discussion and leave, getting on with my fun day spent alone in the prairies of North Dakota with Tucker.

I simply stated that I did not wish to continue this discussion, got in my truck, and drove off.  I didn’t look back to see her expression, or if she had any more to say, but I did stop the truck later down the road to make sure no PETA stickers or other propaganda had been placed on my truck, which hadn’t.

So why write this blog post?  Simply for this… it could happen to you.  I’ve heard of this happening and never though it would be here in North Dakota, where the hunting heritage is pretty much taken for granted.  I thought about how much worse it could have been.  She could have let Tucker loose while I was inside, or worse yet, take him.  She could have sabotaged my vehicle and drove off.  She could have plastered my vehicle with anti-hunting propaganda messages. 

This anti-hunting movement is real.  It is invading further and further each and every day, and if allowed to continue to gain momentum, will destroy a valuable source of taxpayer dollars that go towards conservation, a source of commerce for small-towns  and income for many landowners, and a recreational activity for friends and families across the nation.

I regret not taking more time to argue with this woman, if only to make sure she heard the argument FOR hunting, and for me to continue to hear the counter-arguments.  Educate yourselves, educate your friends, educate your kids, and take your dogs hunting. 

But don’t FORCE them, that would be mean.

The stronger one jumped the fence  and ran off, the other one was pretty well exhausted, he crawled  the fence and hid in the brush.

Both survived.

The ND Game and Fish Department is giving away 5 MUZZLELOADERS and 100 SAGEN SAWS for people who donate deer heads for the purpose of CWD and TB testing. The NDGF needs deer samples from the Western and NE corner of the state for the purpose of CWD and TB testing. If you hunt in units 2C, 2D, 3A1, 3A2, 3A3, 3B1, 3B2, 3D1, 3D2, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F and you submit your adult doe or buck heads for the purpose of CWD and TB testing you will automatically be entered in our Hunter Cooperator Drawing to win a muzzleloader or a Sagen saw.

For more information and drop-off locations visit our website:  http://gf.nd.gov/

Thank you for your assistance,

Daniel Grove, DVM
Wildlife Veterinarian
North Dakota Game and Fish Department
100 N Bismarck Expressway
Bismarck, ND 58501
Phone: 701-328-6300
Fax: 701-328-6352

Pheasants Forever looks to triple number of Farm Bill Biologists in state

Bismarck, ND – August 11, 2009 – North Dakota Pheasants Forever announces tickets for its 2009 “21 Gun Salute” raffle are on sale now. Only 2,100 tickets are available, and all proceeds from the raffle will be used to expand Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program in the state.

Guns included in the 21 Gun Salute include recognizable names such as Franchi, Beretta, Winchester, Browning, Benelli, Remington, Stoeger and more. Tickets for a chance at winning one of the 21 guns are $20, and winners will be drawn on January 8th, 2010, at the North Dakota Pheasants Forever State Habitat Convention in Mandan.

“We’re pleased to offer a fun raffle that gives hunters, conservationists and gun enthusiasts the opportunity to win some top-of-the-line firearms, all in the name of creating wildlife habitat” said Jesse Beckers, Pheasants Forever Regional Wildlife Biologist in North Dakota, “Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program is off to a strong start in North Dakota, and this raffle will help generate funding to continue the much-needed expansion of the program.”

Designed to educate farmers and landowners about the benefits of conservation programs (such as the Conservation Reserve Program) as well as assist those farmers and landowners after programs have been implemented, Pheasants Forever first began employing Farm Bill Biologists in 2003 and now has 36 Farm Bill Biologists working in six states – Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. In just over six years, Farm Bill Biologists have contacted and consulted 28,065 landowners, resulting in the improvement of nearly 1.3 million acres!

Since May of 2008, Pheasants Forever has had one Farm Bill Biologist in North Dakota, Steve Stensgard, based out of Jamestown, who has contacted and consulted with over 500 landowners, and planned approximately 32,000 acres through the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Technical Assistance.

“Steve is proof of how successful this program can be,” Beckers said, “In a state that is losing Conservation Reserve Program acres literally by the thousands, expanding this program will help us regain some of that critical habitat one acre at a time.” Pheasants Forever is currently looking to add additional Farm Bill Biologists in Dickinson and Forman.

TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKET for the North Dakota 21 Gun Salute, make check payable to Pheasants Forever, 624 6th Ave. NW, Valley City, North Dakota 58072, or contact Jesse Beckers at (701)202-8120 or via email jbeckers@pheasantsforever.org.

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have more than 125,000 members in 750 local chapters across the continent.

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For additional information about Pheasants Forever, please visit www.PheasantsForever.org

If you would like to be removed from the Pheasants Forever mailing list, please reply “REMOVE” to this email. Thank You.

Looks to me like it is a partial albino.

And not to mention a pretty nice buck too!

Click the picture for a larger look.

But Friday, he was the most defiant, beligerant, simply bad hunting dog I’ve seen in a long time.

It was the weirdest thing.  He didn’t respond to the collar, whistle, or my commands.  He didn’t really concentrate on the CRP.  He just seemed to be content to run around out there and chase rabbits.

I’m really hoping that this was an isolated incident.  He has done this in much lesser degrees in the past, about once a year, so I’m hoping this might be it this year.

The only thing I can think of is that I’ve deer hunted the last couple of weeks and couldn’t take him out, so this was his way to show how pissed off he was for leaving him home with the women while the guys went out into the great North Dakota outdoors.

Have any of you experienced this sort of defiant behavior in your bird dogs?

Sound too good to be true?  I thought so too, but it looks like the makers or Gore-Tex rain gear have found out how to use computer-generated images to camouflage a hunter so well that deer will just simply think there’s nothing there.  Not a tree, not some grass… nothing.

The psychologists who worked with Gore to develop it — Jay Neitz, an animal-vision expert at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Timothy O’Neill, who pioneered the United States Army’s digital camouflage as a researcher at West Point — say they’re confident the deer will be fooled.

“A camouflage that makes a person look like a tree can work if you’re in a place where other trees look like that,” Dr. Neitz says. “But what if you’re somewhere else, or if the deer sees you move? This new camouflage is a totally different approach. It fools the deer’s vision system at its roots, so that it doesn’t recognize the person as anything.”

Expect the new camo patters to start showing up for next fall’s deer season.

Read the entire NYT article here.