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Will the future of upland hunting look different? I always ponder that question and I know, no matter what, things will change. There is no doubt the decline of key species will play an unalterable role in this evolution of future generations' hunting habits. But what hints can we see right now of what's to come? Read more at projectupland.com .

Mountain Ash is a native deciduous tree that is found throughout the cold climates of the northern hemisphere and as far away as Tibet. It yields a rich bounty of small orange-red berries that ruffed grouse happen to love. Its berries tend to stay on the branch long into the winter, providing a food source for many birds, including grouse. The images in this article or a quick google of “Mountain...

Don’t be fooled by what you hear—getting a hunting license is actually a very easy thing to do. Amidst all the changes and difficulties that 2020 has brought, getting a hunting license is one of the few things that has become easier and more accessible. As someone who took my first hunter education class in 1993 by attending several evenings of classes, listening to old dudes teach safe firearm ha...

The sharp-tailed grouse is one seriously charismatic bird. If you’ve ever seen videos of sharp-tails doing their telltale dancing competitions, you were likely hooked immediately. They are fascinating birds to watch and to hunt. Furthermore, the open habitats they live in are equally beautiful and captivating in their own way. If you’ve never had the chance to explore these areas and hunt sharp-ta...

The young wirehaired dog lets out a happy yip as it wraps the jager lead around the handler’s legs who spins to unwind himself, tugs on the lead, and again commands “heel” exactly as the group leader demonstrated moments ago. Or so he thought. The dog, now seemingly irritated, dashes off and the handler nearly falls over as the dog reaches the end of the lead and flips to his back with a thud. A c...

Imagine the sappiest bleeding-heart animal lover you’ve ever met. Got her pictured? Now multiple that by ten and you’ve got  me . As a kid on a working Canadian farm, I begged my parents to let me keep the baby mice we found in the baled hay. They escaped their bucket overnight and probably spent the rest of their lives comfortably in the walls of our house, but that didn’t make their rescue any l...

I remember like it was yesterday when my grandfather took me to the local gun shop at the age of ten to look for a youth model 20-gauge shotgun. My godfather had given me a single shot .410 bore a few years prior with which I’d learned both safe firearm handling and the basics of wingshooting but it was time to take the next step. Read more at projectupland.com .

Most upland bird hunters know the Hungarian or Gray Partridge was successfully imported and thrived in several Western states, such as Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Washington, the Dakotas, and a few others. States such as Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Iowa are lesser known locations where "Huns" were also introduced and still provide an opportunity to hunt. Read more at projectupland.com .

It seems the only thing we American sportsmen and sportswomen love more than a good starter kit is a vest. The ubiquitous fly-fishing vest, tactical vest, camera gear vest, turkey vest, shooting vest, falconry vest, technician’s vest, and of course the upland bird hunting vest. This last one clutch piece of gear is as much a statement piece as it is functional. Read more at projectupland.com .

On a fine spring day I tackled a task that had been nagging at me for months — treating my leather hunting boots. It never fails that I put away a pair of boots in February and they get neglected until September, when I pull them out and realize I've done wrong. Not a glamorous job, but it's necessary. Read more at projectupland.com .

Lazy days spent in the uplands inevitably bring a closer connection with nature. Especially when your sport is seeking that game little bird, the woodcock. For the woodcock reassures us that the brooks are still dancing merrily through the woods and are on their way to sweet-scented meadows. So it is, the woodcock brings joy to the lovers of forest, cover, and stream. Read more at projectupland.co...

In this day-and-age the single-shot or single-barrel shotgun is quite possibly the rarest gun carried in the upland fields. To see one carried by any bird hunter would be astonishing. In fact, so infrequently seen the single-shot is almost mythical. In my experiences I have seen . . . one! The last time I encountered a single-shot shotgun was during a hunt with a good friend and his son. Our group...

Hunters have been waiting all summer for September 1 st to finally show up on the calendar. Opening day of dove season is one of the most anticipated days of the year for many bird hunters, for it’s the first hunting opportunity of the upcoming fall. Dove hunters have been scouting designated dove fields on public lands, shotgun shells of ALL gauges have been cleared from the shelves–12, 16, 20, 2...

Endless wilderness in every direction. I had taken the only road that went into this area and parked where it ended along the banks of a winding river. From here the only navigable path was the river itself, its gravel bars littered with the end of a salmon migration and signs of the bears that come with it. My Labrador and I were here in search of ruffed and spruce grouse, but in Alaska there’s a...

What I eventually landed on was a positive reinforcement training approach. At the time I did not understand the model, which I will describe below. I did understand that the techniques worked and worked fast. Once I switched to positive reinforcement, Kate’s retrieving went from complete avoidance to acceptable in a matter of days. It then went from acceptable to field reliable much faster than I...

Developed in 1902, Browning shopped the design around, Winchester refused his terms and an agreement with Remington came unglued when their president died of a heart attack as they worked out terms. Browning then turned to Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (now known as FN), where he had an established relationship as they manufactured many of his pistol designs.  Read more at projectupland.com .

Somewhere out there in all the trees, tall and short grass, rimrock, and hillsides, there are birds. Nearly every article a hunter reads concerning binoculars is about the technical side. The basis for using optics, whether it be a spotting scope or binoculars, in any hunting situation is that a hunter cannot hunt what they cannot see. Normally associated more with big game hunting, the use of bin...

Upland hunting gets a bad rap for being an expensive hobby. Certainly, the idea that upland hunting is expensive is perpetuated by the industry. Flip through most upland hunting magazines or follow one of the many upland hunting social media influences and you’re bound to get lost in a sea of premium name brands. Although most of us (if not all of us) aspire to tromp through the uplands in Russel-...

By most standards, I was a spoiled kid. I was blessed with upland and waterfowl opportunities from the onset. My first memory in the field was in the duck blind beside my dad – he let me (illegally) carry a BB gun into the marsh so I could feel like more of a man. In my defense, I didn’t fire a shot and the statute of limitations has passed. Read more at projectupland.com .

It's no secret that sage grouse populations have been declining for decades. Between climate change fueling hotter, longer wildfires and the expansion of the extractive industry into the bird's ranges, agricultural development and the invasion of conifer woodlands and annual grasses, habitat loss has accelerated. Read more at projectupland.com .

To back up a little, a query for the perfect barrel length for ring-necked pheasant shares the same answer as a similar question, “What is the best shotgun for (insert upland bird here)?” The answer to both is simple – whatever shotgun you shoot the most and shoot best, which in an ideal world would be one and the same. Nearly any shotgun will do the job, but none will do it as well as the gun you...

Dogs with black-and-tan and black-white-and-tan coats predate the various setter breeds. They occurred in the root stock of dogs imported from the continent that gave rise to the setters, so naturally they would appear from time to time as British breeders developed various strains of setters. At some point in the late 1700s and early 1800s some breeders began to select dogs specifically for a bla...

Often when purchasing a pup from a breeder within the contract is a list of commitments the owner is agreeing to. These can range anywhere from what kind of fencing used at your home to completing hunt tests. If your pup came from a North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) breeder, chances are good you’re asked to run your dog in a Natural Ability Test. Read more at projectupland....

Forgetting to replace the plug is a dilemma many hunters face after a long off-season of upland hunting where there are no restrictions to the use of a plug. Well, almost. Upland hunting has a weird way of throwing bird hunters a curve ball when it comes to hunting those species on the fringe. For waterfowling it’s a given. And we all know dove hunting requires a plug, but so does snipe, rail, sor...

The idea of scouting with modern game cameras started one fall during college when an unexpected event triggered a need for a change of tactics. Earlier that same year, a heavy hailstorm had ravaged our prime opening morning pheasant field. The thick golden CRP grasses we were accustomed to hunting had been mowed to golf-course height by the storm. As we walked the field opening morning later that...