Hup

I have spoken to David Jones on several occasions. I will probably see him in January for a trial. It will take him from now til then to travel the distance across Texas.

I think I may need to set the record straight. Crackered has it for the most part. Texas is not anywhere close to England, Ireland or Wales when it comes to weather. It is not uncommon for us to go from freezing rain and snow in the morning to 75~80 deg. in the afternoon. The joke that holds pretty true for Texas is ---If you don't like the weather ..Just wait! And from what I can tell our trials are only mere shadows of what are run on your side of the pond. It is common practice for your imported dogs coming here to have to be all but re-trained. We use planted birds and run in braces. Our dogs pattern is MUCH larger than what yours are expected to run. The cover we run in is what you might refer to as jungle. The last trial I ran my girl in, the cover was so heavy It was nearly 10 feet high and too thick for me to walk thru. I actually had to send her through and then walk around to the other side. She had to cover her beat while I was blind as to what she was doing. Over here your dogs would be referred to as boot polishers. You would consider our dogs nearly out of control. Some big differences. Now as to the running out of gas I suppose when you have a dog down for a lengthy period and for what ever reason no birds are produced or there are missed birds. the dog is not usually given a break and recalled later. As I referred to it is just my bad luck that my bitch SOMETIMES runs out of gas. There have been times when all happens rather quickly and birds are quickly flushed, shot and retrieved and we move on.

I have only been playing the field trial game for a few years. I have no illusions of making up a champion any time real soon. Just learning the game of handling a dog properly could take many more years. I do, however need to add to my kennel. A single bitch leaves few options. Even fewer when she is due to whelp. Possibly I need to come visit with Ian and see his dogs.

Straightbarrel yes -- same bitch. Not as you might be suggesting. She runs out of gas from being down 3 times longer than any other dog on the same course. more bad luck than anything... could be my Irish Luck. Jack... I have seen a few of Ian's dogs here in the States all smashing good. I might see if it could be possible to import just the necessary ingredients, without buying the whole dog

Just wondering how many of you chaps keep Spaniels for hunting. Do any of you run them in trials? I have a 4 year old bitch that has just been bred for the first time, to a rather handsome fellow from Canada. I am looking to possibly keep a dog from the litter. I have run a few trials here, without much success. My bitch seems to always be down too long and get into rather strange situations. She usually winds up running out of gas on me. She also has a bad habit of being a bit un-timely in her seasons. I see adverts for quite a few good looking dogs at stud from your side of the pond. Wondering who has the go to dogs there? I really like the looks of Will Clulee's dogs but I just don't know the game over there. Who would you suggest?

Sorry haven't been on in a bit. To answer Springers are not as popular as they once were. They used to be popular in the Northern States as a pheasant specialist. Even though they aren't as prolific they are gaining ground as a great all round dog. They have become a bit of a hit in the South. We love using them on duck shoots. It's funny to show up withh a Springer when everyone has Labs. Even funnier when all of them want to know what kinda dog that is?

He is a big bruiser around 60 Lb. -- Perfect for working ducks!

Nice Bug pictures

This is a friends dog being sent for a duck Love the picture

We have the collared dove here in Texas. They are considered an invasive species and as such we are allowed to take them at any time by any method for no reason at all. I think I have also heard them called Turtle Dove? The ones here are just about the same size as the pigeons.

I suppose pigeons are found just about everywhere people are. I was curious what you see as the most common type or coloration of pigeons? The good majority of common birds I see are a combination of light on dark gray or all dark gray. On occasion you will see white with rust colors. Our birds here are mostly a nusiance. We really don't see them out flying as wild birds. I did read a magazine article not long ago on pigeon shooting in Argentina. Yes pigeons ---not dove. What was interesting was the colors were a shiny greenish body with a brown fringe and brown head. Very pretty combination. reminded me of pheasant or peacock colors. The writer of the article stated that the pigeon shooting was much more sporting than the dove. Said it was the most fun he has had ever bird shooting and quite challenging.

thats the best way I like ditch chickens too

Not nearly enough

Newly arrived All the way from the Republic of Texas. I have a hobby kennel of Field Springers and use quite a few Pigeons in training. I did not consider pigeons much of a sport for shooting, with the dogs that has changed. I actually keep a supply on hand in the huinting season to keep the dogs tuned up for pheasant. Hopefully you gents have some information to trade? Any tips on trapping or catching wild birds? If you like pictures I have a few I'll get on a bit later