Wax polish

A fine gunstock is like a good piece of furniture, except that you take this furniture out in the field and subject it to the elements.  Natural wax is the preferred protectant for the stock  and forarm because it lets the wood breath while it also protects against moisture.  From the look of the tin below, a good wax will be redolent of  tobacco, autumn leaves, and burnt gunpowder.

Toshiba FlashAir

Now this is cool.

Your 35mm camera takes much nicer pictures than your iPhone.  But the photos on the 35mm camera have to be uploaded to your website through your PC, unless you have a newer camera with WiFi connectivity.  Using the PC as an intermediary is ok for industrial-strength uploading, but can be problematical if you just want to post a quick photo from the field (or nearby McDonalds hotspot).

The Toshiba FlashAir is an SD card (chip for the 35mm camera) with built-in WiFi.  There are quite a few other alternatives out there as well.

• Eye-Fi Mobile X2.  This SD card creates its own WiFi so that you can transfer photos from the chip to the iPad (which does not have an SD slot).  If your iPad has 3G, you can then upload your photo right from the muddy field.
• Eye-Fi also has a 4GB SD WiFi card that supports the Raw format that a lot of professional photographers use.  

No need for the PC as an intermediary between camera and web.  Now you can take nicer photos and still share them while they are hot.

Cecil and Sunny

Cecil is Sunny's sire.  Both Cecil and Sunny dogs hunt with beautiful and fun-loving intensity.  They cover the ground thoroughly and efficiently and are attentive to their handlers (Susan R and Shoni) while exhibiting  their own intelligence in the field.  What a great pleasure to watch these dogs in the field.

Cecil says thanks.

(photo courtesy of Cathy V. and Statesman WSS)

Sunny and Shoni are ready to go.


(photo courtesy of Cathy V. and Statesman WSS)

Zelda's outing

We continued training the handler (me) by the willing accomplice (Zelda).

Zelda responded well to my pipping, but I'm sure she wondered what all of the noise is about.  There's a difference between genuine control and overbearing hacking, and I still need to learn it.  Maybe a video camera would help.  A video camera sure helped me identify and reduce the amount of begging I'd do.

Zelda trots in with her bird.

(photo courtesy of Statesman WSS)

Some more structure is needed

Today's practice was at Circle W with Shoni, Susan R., and Cathy.  Al provided some additional firepower.  There was a nice chill and the field was dry.

Our biggest collective mistake was to run the dogs with the wind at their backs.  This encouraged large bites, and this was exacerbated by the fact that the mowed portions of the field ran in the same direction as  the wind.  Some dogs (Larsen) took this as license to move way out into the field.  In retrospect, and just this minute I thought of it, I didn't make him tack back hard enough.  It could have been much, much more productive if I had done that instead of trying to force the dog to quarter in the usual way.

Larsen was not steady at all on his first bird.  On his second, I pipped him to a sit when he had a bird nearly trapped.  The bird got away and ran about 4 feet in front of the dog.  Larsen went into a down position and watched the bird walk away.  This is really pretty spectacular.  I then told him to get the bird, but in so doing, he (of course) broke.

Finally, I wised up and put the check cord on him.

Larsen flushed the bird and sat to the pip.  He broke to the gun, but this time I had the check cord on him and he went nowhere.  I pipped his return, and he came and sat.  Then I sent him.  After some looking, I finally had to toss one for him.  A good end, and some new thoughts on next week's outing.

The plan will be to give him flushes with more structure than just being loose in the field.  Less structure than the drill, but still a firm hand on the check cord.

Larsen's retrieves remained messy, and I added to that by letting him carry a bird after a sloppy retrieve.  His retrieves on hunt-deads are much better.  How can that be?

Larsen waits for the command to fetch the bird.


(photo courtesy of Statesman WSS)

Bright day at Tim's

Rain poured most of the week, but finally, on Sunday, it was frosty and bright.

It was a bright day for Larsen as well.  He was steady to wing and shot, albeit with a check cord on, and only doing "the drill."  Still, you build on successes and celebrate each step with the little dog.

Twice, and by chance, I pipped Larsen to a sit as he got birdy with some downed and dead chukars right beside him.  Tim thought that Larsen was demonstrating exemplary control to sit on command with bird scent all about him.  I then let the dog pick up the bird and bring it in.

Tim and I worked to clean up Larsen's retrieve, which is quite sloppy.  I've inadvertently trained him to put the bird down or rolls it when he gets about 4 feet away from me.  Tim believes, and I do as well, that my own anxieties are broadcasting outward and causing him to hesitate and drop the bird.  We worked on my own self-control and relaxation in an effort to get Larsen to better finish his retrieve.

On the find & flush, Larsen sat and Tim shot the bird.  I pipped and turned Larsen hunted in the opposite direction.  I certainly didn't forget about the downed bird, and most assuredly, neither did Larsen.  After a bit of quartering, Larsen and I turned again and I sat him.  Then I sent him for that downed bird (which was doing nothing but fluttering away in Larsen's mind).  He tore off to the bird and brought it back to his own great acclaim, and to my attempts to offer a calm welcoming.

Larsen's hunt deads were successful, though we used Marilyn's method of letting the dog know where we'd put the bird.  We wanted him to be successful, and build on those small successes.

At practice's end, we ran into Frank and Deb bringing Elwood, and Ryder for an outing.  We learned that Bibi had finally healed from her terrible bacterial infection and was ready for the field.  A great day, indeed.

Larsen poses on the bias as he watches Tim collect chukars from the holding pen.

The world tilts toward the chukar.

Biolite stove

Don't let the new-age ad put you off, this might be handy for backpacking campers or for when the power goes off.

Pretty long two weeks

Larsen seems a little pensive in this morning photo.  I haven't seen the dog in two weeks.  Travel and work have dominated my schedule, and I suppose that's all to the better, but it puts me in a like mood. 

Sunday practice

Out of happenstance, I did our practice exercises out of the usual order to very good effect.

Our first step was "the drill."  In that step, I sat Larsen and walked out about 30 yards, bringing Shoni along with me.  I planted a chukar and stood about 20 feet away.  I called Larsen.  He came a bit tentatively, and put the bird in the air.  I hit the whistle and he sat.  Shoni shot the bird.  I let Larsen sit a minute and sent him.

The second plant likewise was successful.  Larsen came in with vigor this time and flushed the bird.  I sat him, and then pipped him to a heel.  Then I sent him.

On both retrieves, Larsen set the bird down about 6 feet away and started playing, so I have to get him back on the table for some GFF (gentle force fetch using the Joe DeMarkis method).

Larsen's second turn was devoted to quartering.  No birds in the field.  Larsen quartered and periodically Shoni fired a shot and Larsen sat to the whistle.  Once or twice I tossed a dead bird, Shoni shot, and Larsen sat.  Larsen's quartering was crisp and vigorous.  Only at the end did he start to wise up as to the source of the bird tosses and start to hang around me.

The happenstance of all of this is that when I practice with Tim, we normally quarter Larsen first and then do the drill.  Larsen can be a little lackadasical on his quartering, because he's grown used to the fact that the birds come out of our pockets and not from a ground flush.  Doing the drill first and quartering second must have gotten it into his head that there were birds on the ground.

I was very pleased with his progress.  Very pleased indeed.  The next step, when it's time, is getting him to sit at the flush in a less-controlled situation.

I want to see if I can get a sit from him in a real hunt test.  That would signal that we are making genuine progress.

Running Zelda

I had a great time running Zelda in the field on Sunday.

The idea is to run an accomplished and polished Master Hunter so that I could then see my own handler weaknesses and work on those.  If Zelda looks like a dope or nincompoop in the field, we will know that I'm sending her mixed signals, and not that she's forgotten how to hunt.

The run went well because that dog is not just a Master, but a maestro.   She sat on the flush before I thought to peep my whistle.

On the other hand, she was genuinely puzzled when I called her in, instead responding well to Shoni's voice.  Clearly, Zelda understands Cathy and Shoni but not me.  As Shoni said, I might consider getting in touch with my feminine side.

Afterwords, I played a little with Zelda, just to let her get to know me.  That will help as the ESS test rolls around and I handle Zelda at the event.

Zelda was a good partner on Sunday.  

Christmas is over

The 12th day, Epiphany, is January 6, 2013, but for the most part, Christmastime is over.  The tree is down and the needles are swept, except for a few that we will find some time in July.  We will also then find a wayward angel or St. Nick in the corner of a bookshelf that didn't find its way onto the shelves in the basement, where the creche, tree ornaments, nutcrackers, stockings, church-mice, placemats, and cups & saucers are now.

  

Mountains to the sea

The new year starts with a cold and misty rain in the foothills of the Appalachians, north of Atlanta, and a world away from the South Carolina low country.

On guard

Surveying his domain.

Oh Christmas tree

Our tree stands dark in our house.  This beautiful wreath, a gift from mom and dad, is our Christmas tree here, on vacation, at the beach.

Ben Silver

We took a walk in downtown Charleston and past a favorite men's clothier, Ben Silver.  Not only are the duds quite nice, but it is one of two (the other being Beau Ties of Vermont) clothiers that has a wide selection of fine bow ties.

Rep bow ties glow from the rack at Ben Silver.

Merry Christmas from Kiawah Island

Burge tower shoot

The first thing that you need to know about a tower shoot is that there is a hill, but no tower.  A truck filled with pheasants sits on the hill.  A handler tosses the birds into the sky, and they rocket away.  Around the tower in a large circle are gunners trying to shoot the birds as they zig and zag in the wind.

So what were Larsen and I doing at Burge Plantation during a tower shoot?  Someone has to get the pheasant when they fall from the sky, and who better than a black-nosed red & white spaniel?   Larsen fetched up a bunch of birds and had the time of his life.  He was a little confused at first as the sound of the guns came from different points on the compass, but once he saw the birds fall from the sky, he got with it.  Larsen and I hunted the easy ones and the hard ones.  We moved into the briars and got the winged ones and hunt-deaded the dead.

Things got a little wild at the end, with Larsen going rogue in order to flush the live birds in the field, but everyone (except me) had their eyes trained on the skies and it worked out well. The outing more or less "untrained" Larsen from being steady, but it was a wonderful time and the little dog was thankful from the bottom of his heart.

Clint set a Christmas-like tone with his rendition of Jingle Bells played on his bagpipe.

Puzzled but nonplussed by the bagpipes.

Larsen's first bird of the day was a nice hunt dead and retrieve.

The shooting got hot, but the little dog didn't flag. 

This hero shot is interrupted by the cackle of a cock 

Christmas bakery

Maison Robert has moved around over the years, from Roswell Road to some other place, and now across from the MARTA train at the Chamblee Station.  Christmastime or not, Maison Robert is worth the visit.

Aki inspects the tarts, cookies, and cakes at Maison Robert.

Hidden among the sweets: Christmas Stollen.

Chocolates, teas, knick knacks.

Christmas in Chicago

There's no snow this year.  But the lights and displays on Michigan Avenue let you know that Christmastime is here.

Intercontinental Holtel from Wrigley Plaza on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Looking southwest along the Chicago River from the Wrigley Plaza.

Operation North Pole on the Metra North line.

Angels soar above the Christmas tree at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.

You Don't Know Me

Aki's out of town, so it's time to warm up the stereo.  Here's a Christmas idea for you, and that's Willie Nelson's "You Don't Know Me: Songs of Cindy Walker."  Those songs include the timeless "You Don't Know Me," and Nelson can go toe-to-toe with Ray Charles any time.

Was she as lovely as ever?  I'm just wondering.  It's not that I care.  ("Not that I Care").

I'm seeing the past that I've wasted, while watching the bubbles in my beer.   ("Bubbles in My Beer")

I don't care if I'm not the first you've kissed, I'll never ask.  ("I Don't Care")

It's all all your fault when I'm a grandpa if our grandkids don't call you grandma. ("It's All Your Fault")

Is that country music or what?