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When I say stand hunting, I’m not referring to sitting in a deer stand and waiting for rabbits to show up. (Unless you always see rabbits from your deer stand, in which case, do that!) Instead, I’m talking about setting up within gun range of excellent rabbit cover that is impossible to flush rabbits from and waiting for them to emerge. Ambush hunting is another way to put it. Dilapidated farmhous...

Late season snowshoe hare hunting is a bit different than early season snowshoe hunting . Here are a few pointers for adding a hare or two to your game bag during the tail end of winter.   Read more at projectupland.com .

The official history of the Weimaraner begins on June 22, 1897 when a club for the “ pure breeding of the silver-grey Weimaraner pointing dog ” was formed in Erfurt, Germany. The breed’s development since that time is relatively well documented. The historical record from before that time is much less clear. And since the further back it goes, the fuzzier it gets, all we have are theories based al...

Gina Deem was a nursing student in Bozeman, Montana when she adopted her first hunting dog in 2014. At the time, she wasn’t a hunter, but her then-boyfriend was. “He said, ‘If we’re going to get a dog, we’re going to get a bird dog. And that bird dog’s going to be a German Shorthair ,’” she recalls. Aware of how many dogs were in shelters, Deem wanted to adopt a bird dog. Deem and her partner didn...

So how English is the English setter? In some ways, the answer is ‘not very much.’ In terms of numbers, looks and working style the breed is now more American, more Italian, more international than it is English. However, the English setter is, and always will be, quintessentially English. Refined over time by brilliant, industrious people, the English setter, like the English language, is a pract...

For bird enthusiasts, hearing about the negative impacts of habitat loss on bobwhite quail isn’t anything new. In fact, this issue have been largely blamed for North America’s shrinking bobwhite population. However, parasites may have a larger effect on wild quail than previously thought, especially in Texas and Oklahoma. “Something happened,” said Dr. Ron Kendall, the founder of Texas Tech's...

For many of us in the northern snow-covered hills of the United States, hunting season is shortly coming to an end—if not already. Green rolling pastures have now been replaced by a tundra; the  woodcock  have all traveled down to warmer, worm-filled bayous; and the  grouse  are retreating to the treetops. Now entering your home, you will likely be met by familiar eyes: your hunting dog staring ba...

I heard the jokes about water swatting American coots long before I became a licensed hunter. But when I finally took up waterfowl hunting , I discovered that the humor surrounding coots was actually a well-placed sentry guarding a well-kept secret: American coot is delicious.  Read more at projectupland.com .

You’ve done your research,  picked the ideal dog breed ,  selected a reputable breeder , and now have a much-anticipated date circled on your calendar. Your new puppy will soon arrive in your home, full of unbridled potential and the uncanny ability to create chaos wherever it goes. The weeks before the new pup arrives are the best time to gather supplies, puppy-proof your home, make an  early pup...

My first experience with Arizona quail occurred as a covey of about 30 Gambel’s quail raced across the public two-track road before us, sprinting to a pond to get water. Not believing our luck, I pulled the truck over. My father, James, and buddy, Kyle Hedges , helped me boot up three dogs.  While the process took about 20 minutes, we were confident that the birds would still be somewhere close. B...

If you were to ask a bird or rabbit hunter in nineteenth century England which dog he would prefer to accompany him, the answer was often a Curly-Coated Retriever. That may surprise you, given the rarity of the Curly today. Hunters in the 1800s knew the Curly-Coat as a persevering, talented, hardy hunting dog who could handle both fur and feather in upland and waterfowl work. The Curly was also us...

Kansas’ reputation as a classic upland hunting state has long been known. Bobwhite quail hunting here is legendary during boom years and remains solid during average years. While pheasant hunting in Kansas has decreased over the last few years due to habitat loss, the state is still consistently among the top three to four states for roosters. Additionally, Kansas is the country's top greater...

One hundred and fifty years ago, the people of Germany struggled to create a united nation out of a patchwork of tiny kingdoms, city-states, and fiefdoms. Around the same time, german hunters also struggled to create a national breed of short-haired  pointing dog . Eventually, both goals were realized.  Today, Germany is a rich and united republic and the German Shorthaired Pointer sits in triumph...

The Kansas Flint Hills prairie rose 100 feet above the low-lying soybean field I was hunting. Each day, two groups of greater prairie-chickens screamed down from the grasslands and into the field to feed at unbelievable speeds. I had these birds dialed in; I knew exactly which electric pole they flew past every morning. I was set up well before dawn, ready to pass-shoot them.   The first group cam...

While people will always disagree about which breed is the “handsomest   and perhaps the most generous,”   everyone agrees that trying to follow all the twists and turns of the setter’s creation story is more or less impossible. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something more about them by taking a look at some of the more interesting, and even surprising, stops along the way.   In 1872, Edwar...

When I started hunting waterfowl, diver ducks seemed like the most expensive birds to target. YouTube videos worsened this impression. Everyone seemed to be hunting from extravagant blinds while utilizing an infinite number of bluebill and redhead decoys. It was baffling! How was a hunter on a limited budget supposed to compete with that?  The truth is, small decoy spreads are very effective if yo...

On a sunny day on the fall of 1990, I was aboard a train traveling through the beautiful countryside of northern Italy. As I watched the rich, green valley of the Po River pass by my window, I was reminded of an area where I  hunt ruffed grouse  near my home in Manitoba. I couldn’t help wondering what kind of game could be hiding in the root crops and corn. During one of the many unscheduled train...

In the southeast, by mid-December, most hunters turn their attention away from whitetail deer and solely focus on waterfowl hunting. Wood ducks and Canadian geese can be found anywhere there’s water. Many folks decoy puddle ducks and divers on the coastal plains, and lakes offer great opportunities for mallards and teal . But there is one migratory bird that most waterfowlers rarely glimpse: the A...

Until the mid-1800s, no one set out to create a rough-haired breed from scratch by systematically crossing dogs with different coat types. But the idea of deliberate crosses had been around since at least 1825 when Freiherr (Baron) v. d. Borch wrote in  Yearbook for Forest Men, Hunters and Friends of Hunting , “It is noteworthy that crossing the pudel and the  pointing dog  would unite and maintai...

Nothing gets my blood flowing more than hunting upland birds in November and accidentally flushing a snowshoe hare. Each fall, early season  snowshoe hare  hunting catches me off guard. Seldom am I ready for those first wild flushes that mark the beginning of hare season. Snowshoes are commonly found in the same places as  ruffed grouse  and  spruce grouse . To top it off, they will test your shoo...

Project Upland’s annual  North American Upland Bird Hunting Survey  ended earlier this year. What better way to share our data than by starting a brawl over the most popular bird  dog breeds ?  The hunting dog world is full of personal biases, and our survey results reflected our community’s diverse preferences. When asked, “What type of hunting dogs do you own?,” 53.69% of respondents said pointi...

Late-season ringneck hunting isn’t as glorious as opening weekend. Gone are the  early season’s  young, short-tailed roosters that make up most hunters’ game bags. Long marches across tall grasses or freshly cut crop fields no longer result in dozens of flushes and easy shots for  walkers and blockers  alike. Rarely do birds hold for solid points, allowing that classic upland experience to unfold...

  The Irish Setter, like many dog breeds, has a history filled with complex twists and turns that have shaped the dog we love today. Irish Setters  descend from the  same rootstock that gave rise to all the setter breeds , but there is good reason to believe they may be the oldest of them all. The spaniels that became setting dogs were in Ireland since at least the 16th century. During this time,...

When hunting in black duck country, a thermos full of coffee is mandatory—not for the caffeine or warmth but to keep your spirits up. On the marshes where black ducks live, they make up the bulk of every bird you see. The problem is, they want nothing to do with you. Of the over two dozen duck species that migrate along the Atlantic Flyway, the black duck is the only one rumored to be able to coun...

Our modern hunting dog breeds have been around for roughly 150 years and, in that time, people have created countless divisions based on politics, preferences, and differing opinions on the best way to create the perfect hunting dog . These divisions yielded a broad spectrum of options when it comes to choosing a hunting dog that works best for you. In some cases, the differences were based on sty...