Upland Hunting 2012

      BIRDS! 2012

    It's been a while since my last blog. This is because I have been busy outdoors. With fall brings the hunting season for so many things. With Piper's first season I tried to get her out as much as possible, and to watch her progress within a few months has been a real joy. Someone once told me that a good bird dog is self trained, and although I overall disagree with that statement, a lot of that rings true.
     Hunting with Piper this year was what I would call, "controlled chaos." She was so excited to run around and find birds that she would, a lot of times, out run her own nose. Over the summer I had purchased a bird launcher and some live quail. This worked at first but I had done something wrong because Piper was blinking birds! Blinking birds means she knew where the bird was planted, but refused to find and point it. I was at a loss, and thinking I had ruined my dog for good, I reverted to the words of an experienced bird dog trainer and hunter who had a simple montra, "WILD BIRDS, WILD BIRDS, WILD BIRDS." These words rang truer than any other advice I had received pertaining to dog training.
    Since there are little to no wild birds in south eastern, Mass, I brought Piper home with me to the Berkshires while visiting my parents. There I was able to find a few spots abundant with both grouse and woodcock. From her first outing in the Berkshire hills, Piper was busting birds. She quickly learned the scent of grouse and woodcock and even before opening day she was pointing woodcock. In my opinion I was very close to ruining a good bird dog, putting her on wild birds was the best thing I could have ever done.
    By the end of the season I had shot (at) numerous birds including pheasant, quail, grouse, and woodcock. For a first season I could not be happier. She is also retrieving well. I took her out a few times duck hunting and had her retrieve a few ducks along with my aging 12 year old lab. As far as bird hunting goes, I would say the season was a complete success.

    The following photos were taken from the first day of woodcock hunting. Within a half hour of hunting in Savoy State forest I not only shot my limit, but missed quite a few as well. These three birds were shot in a row. Piper pointed, I took a step while "whoa-ing" her and one bird after another went up. Apparently this is a rare occurrence, but it happened to me on my first day out, within my first half hour. Not too bad.

Here's a video of Piper pointing, relocating, and then flushing a rooster pheasant. I made a lucky shot and dropped it.

Good girl

This photo was taken on a trip up to Maine. It was unsuccessful with only two grouse flushes, but it was a good experience anyway.

These photos were taken while duck hunting. These were Piper's first duck retrieves as well as what will probably be Smokey's (my black lab's) last. Even during the colder mornings piper did well in the cold water. The problem with her is that it's difficult to cover up a bright white dog while sitting in a blind, but we manage.

Attempting to hide

Piper's first retrieve, a wood duck!

Green winged teal

Smokey

Some last minute retriever training 

     Here's some pictures from the pheasant hunting season:

Piper's first Pheasants

Piper on a pheasant retrieve

Proud

Here's a video of Louie and I hunting from an old row boat on the Palmer River, Rehoboth, MA.  Piper was waiting for me to use the right command, "Back,"but in all the excitement I was the one who messed up and caused her a little anxiety.

Piper Training

Piper retriever training II

Piper continues her retriever training. She is currently 5 months old and learning fast. In this video I introduce the whistle command for "back" and start the retrieve from a "crate" or "kennel" command. Enjoy.

Ticks

Ticks... Nature's asshole.

        With only two weeks left to fill my last spring turkey tag, I was spending a lot of time in the woods. On top of that I was spending a lot of time taking the dogs out and doing a little training. Living in this part of the country I have become so accustomed to finding ticks on myself and my dogs that I would simply give them a flick if they were not attached or just pinch them off it I found them attached. I had heard about Lyme disease but never really took any serious consideration about getting it. I am constantly checking myself and my dogs. I was told once that a tick needs to be attached for 24 hours in order to transmit Lyme disease. Since I never really found any ticks attached to me I didn't think much about it. Both my dogs have the vaccine for Lyme, I however, do not...

Check your Pets! Gross.

       Don't get me wrong, if they offered a human version of the Lyme vaccine I would get it in a heart beat. Living in south eastern New England I am among the most dense area of tick populations in the world. With 50% of deer ticks, (black legged ticks or Ixodes scapulars) carrying Lyme's or one of the other forms of diseases it has, calling this area high risk is an understatement.  Lyme disease is an epidemic. The CDC reports that the number of CONFIRMED cases of Lyme has practically doubled from 2000 to 2010, going from 17,000 to 30,000 in a matter of 10 years. The tick population is on the increase and the disease is spreading. In Massachusetts alone there was over 4,000 confirmed cases in 2010. The scary part is that there are probably 10 times the number of people with Lyme disease that go undiagnosed. This year, spring of 2012 I have become a statistic. I was diagnosed with having Lyme disease, and let me tell you first hand, my experience has not been a pleasant one.
      To think that such a small bug could cause such problems. I want to share my experience to give people an insight into what to look for and help prevent the same thing from happening to them. In fact there are some people out there who are are suffering with debilitating symptoms that are going misdiagnosed. The reason is that Lyme affects everyone differently and has a wide range of symptoms. If someone goes untreated their immune system becomes weaker and this invites other diseases to come in. Luckily, (in a general sense of the word) I was diagnosed in the first stage of Lyme.
     I was sitting in on a training for work when I started to get the chills. This progressed to an uncontrollable shiver with an extreme headache. I was tired and extremely foggy. I went home, put on the warmest clothing I could find and hid under the covers. I began to warm up, really fast. Before I knew it I was on fire. I was sweating uncontrollably and realized I probably had a fever. I quick check with a thermometer, (the one that goes under the tongue of course) and I figured I had the flu... it read 103.6. I took some ibuprofen and it went down. I did what they always say, rest, drink lots of fluids, etc, however three days later and I was in the same routine. Chills, headache, fever, body ache continued over and over. I decided to go to the E.R. After 16 hours, two bags of fluids taken intravenously, blood work, urine test, flu test, and an unsuccessful attempt at a spinal tap, (I should add, fuck spinal taps. That shit hurts. I would rather be tazed) I left the E.R. feeling worse than I had the day before. They tested for Lyme, but told me it would take a few days. They told me that I probably had a viral version of spinal meningitis. I went home and let the onset of really feeling like shit take place.
     My fever subsided, which was good news, but I could not stand up without shooting pain in my head and eyes. I would get dizzy and want to throw up. Also I called the E.R. to see if my Lyme test came back yet and it had...NEGATIVE. As soon as I heard that I erased it from my thoughts. I must have something else then.  I pretty much laid flat for three more days before I decided to go back to the E.R. One of the reasons I was persuaded by my girlfriend to go back was because she noticed a rash on my back that seemed to be getting worse. My ears were also bothering me and my jaw hurt... I figured that my situation would probably end up as the next episode on House.

My "Bulls eyes"

     I went to a different hospital this time. Within an hour I was examined and told that I had Lyme disease. The E.R. doctor told me that my rash was consistent with erythema migrans, also known as disseminated Lyme disease. The disease was going into my body and that is what was producing all the rashes. This was typical in stage 1 Lyme. He told me that my headaches were caused by the spinal tap and they would go away within a week, (once again, fuck spinal taps.) I left feeling better, probably due to the fact that I knew what was wrong with me. I was prescribed amoxicillin for 3 weeks and started my dosage that day.

     I was told by the E.R. doctor to see my primary care physician, so the next day I made an appointment. I went and was seen by a nurse practitioner. She told me I did not have Lyme disease because my blood test from the first E.R. visit was negative and that the rash I had, (now all over my body) did not look like Lyme, (according to her book.) She told me to stop taking the antibiotic because that was causing the rash. She made me make another appointment to see the doctor the next day. Well after doing some research on the internet I pretty much self diagnosed myself with Lyme. I did not take the advice of the nurse. I kept taking the antibiotic and saw the doctor the next day. He told me he was not convinced it was Lyme. I continued taking amoxicillin anyway. Three days later the E.R. doctor who had diagnosed me with Lyme called and told me the blood results were in. I tested POSITIVE for Lyme Disease.
    I am not telling this story to make my primary care doctor, or the other E.R. doctors look incompetent, although they might be? My reason behind this is to show how difficult it is to be diagnosed with Lyme, even with all the tell tale signs. I can only imagine what would have happened to me if I did not break out with the "bulls eye" rash. I would have gone on undiagnosed which leads to serious medical issues down the road. People in stage two and beyond are affected with serious nervous system issues, cognitive problems, arthritis, and vision problems. This all comes from going undiagnosed and untreated.
    Being an outdoorsman here in New England has its risks.  I know now that I will take more precautions when entering the woods, or doing anything outdoors for that matter. Using Permethrin on my clothing, tucking pants into my socks, using the dryer on clothing when I come home (the heat kills ticks) checking and double checking. Using all the pesticides on myself and the dogs probably has side effects too... but I guess thats when you have to weigh the risks.
     If you live in an area with a dense population of deer ticks, first of all make yourself informed. There are quite a few articles and documentaries on the issue. "Hidden in the leaves" is a good video, and you can find it on youtube. hidden in the leaves. Then take proper precautions to keep from getting bit. But since ticks are tiny, and they numb the area where they bite it makes it almost impossible to see or feel them. Having said that, you should know the warning signs of Lyme disease. The earlier it is diagnosed and treated, the better chance you have of beating it.
     The fact that this tiny bug exists sucks enough, excuse the pun. They are creepy bugs that want to crawl on you and suck your blood. That in itself is gross and makes me hate ticks for simply existing. However then you add to it that they can give you a debilitating illness that could in fact ruin your quality of life. Can it get much worse? I want to know why there isn't more being done about it. You see Bird Flu and Swine Flu making all this crazy hype in the media and the government responds by mass producing a vaccine for it. This is for only a few hundred cases being reported. Lyme disease is reporting almost 40,000 in a year and growing, and its widespread through the entire continental U.S. not just here in the North East. If a vaccination for dogs it available where is the one for humans?
     Until a solution is found, stay informed, be safe and check twice.

Opening week MA Spring Turkey Hunt

Turkey Footage

       Here is a little video I filmed with the camera on my bow. I took it out opening day and sat in a ground blind since the weather was terrible... as you will see. I had the opportunity to take a small jake but decided not to since it was the first day I was out and there is a long season ahead of me.  I would have filmed the bird I shot except for the fact that I don't have a mount for a camera on my shotgun. This is something I have been trying to figure out. Enjoy.

Piper Training

      Here is a little training video of some retriever training with Piper. Most people might think that playing fetch with your dog is not really training. It should be fun, the point of all of this is for the puppy to learn that going out and bringing back an item is fun and exciting, like play time. Once she associates playing fetch as fun time you can start to put some controls on retrieving.  German Shorthair Pointers do have a natural instinct to retrieve, but not all GSP owners bring it out. In my opinion the dog training should not stop after the shot. Meaning, after you shoot a bird the dog's work is not over. Finding the birds is the main reason for hunting with a dog, but finding the bird after its shot is just as important, if not more important through an ethical/conservationist standpoint. It does not look very good if hunters go around shooting animals, wounding or killing them and not recovering them. Retriever training is also the start of training to track.

      In this video you will see that all I use is a long lead and something to throw. I have been using a toy pheasant that Piper likes. I also bought a quail training dummy and some orange bumpers. For some reason she could not care less about the orange bumpers. She will run out, smell it and wander off. If I hold the bumper in front of her she will look at me like, "what are you doing? I don't want this." 

     I started off training by using a small room, like the hallway in my house.  I closed all the doors so that when I threw the toy out she would run out and grab it and have no choice but to bring it back. I would reward her and praise her. She got this concept pretty easy so I moved outside. I put her on a lead so that when she runs out and grabs the toy I can coax her back into me, but to be honest she rarely needs reminding to do that. I am going to continue with this kind go training for a few more weeks until I put more controls on her. Right now its just fun time. Once she gets more basic commands like sit and stay I can start to advance. Then I can start using real birds, like frozen ducks... so stay tuned, more to come.

Piper retrieving<------------youtube video

MA quick Reference

Mass Wildlife : A quick reference for all MA hunters<------If you hunt in Mass and you are always finding yourself checking the dates for season, bag limits and so on.... this is a great source taken off the MA wildlife website.  Just waiting for April 30th...

Food for thought...literally<---------Click here.