It’s Follow-up Friday. The blog hop that:
Let’s you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.
Thank you to Jodi from Heart Like A Dog for hosting the hop! It gives me an opportunity to answer reader questions from this past week.
Follow-up Friday 10-18-13
Hawk aka BrownDog asked: Do y’all ever go deer huntin’? Here in our state they run them with dogs. In Canada they will kill a dog they catch runnin’ deer. In most states the Humans have lived they do not allow spotlighting or running deer with dogs.
Hubby goes deer hunting, but it is from a blind. They don’t allow spotlighting or deer running with dogs here either. They allow coyote and bear hunting with dogs. Around our cabin there are some people who hunt coyotes with hounds. There used to be an over abundance of coyotes, but the hunters have gone a long way to thin them which has helped the deer and turkey populations.
Waterfowl Hunting and Wordless Wednesday–Hunting Dog
weliveinaflat asked: Is the dog stand set up there permanently or is it something portable that you carry round? I’m assuming you need it so Thunder doesn’t need to stand in the water for a long time?
The dog stand is portable. They have stands that are manufactured, but hubby made this one. He was worried that a store-bought stand would not be sturdy enough for Thunder who weighs 95 pounds. He used and old skid and painted it and some bars for legs. It is broken down for travel and assembled in the field.
Thunder On His Stand Hunting From A DNR Made Blind
At Fish Point everything a hunter uses has to be carried in. (The video I posted explains this.) They load up a sled and pull it behind them so it is important for the stand to be portable. This home-made stand has worked well over the years.
Decoys, Dog Stand On Sled
You are correct that the purpose of the stand is so the dog does not have to sit or stand in the water. Waterfowl season goes to the end of November. The water can get quite cold.
Cindy And Smokey Retrieving A Duck That Was Hunted In The Bay Rather Than The Managed Hunting Area
Paws and Pedals asked: What’s around his neck/body? Some sort of harness? Matches the corn……
He is wearing a neoprene hunting vest. It is camo to match his surroundings. The dogs generally access the hunting area through the water and then sit on stand to wait. Between the cold water and air temperature and the wind, it can be very cold. The purpose of the vest is to help the dog maintain their body temperature while they are sitting still.
Thunder Checking Out The Hunting Area
If the dog was working the entire time, a vest would probably not be necessary, but there is a lot of sitting since they are hunting from a blind or the corn. We have vests in two sizes because Thunder is a lot bigger than Storm and Freighter.
Freighter 2012 (Stand Is Set Up In Grown Corn Rather Than A Blind)
Oz the Terrier asked: But a question…what do you hunt/flush out from a corn field?!? Some kind of bird?
Tenacious Little Terrier asked: What is he hunting?
Ann Staub asked: Is that corn Thunder?
They are hunting waterfowl, mostly ducks. The state DNR (Department of Natural Resources) plants corn every year and then floods it for the hunters. However this year in some areas, the corn did not grow due to our overly wet Spring. The DNR put out wire and made blinds for the hunters.
Strips Of Corn
Here is an informational video all about managed hunting at Fish Point. If you want to know about hunting at Fish Point this video gives a great overview. The video talks about the history of the managed area, has great video of the hunting areas, information about how hunters select and access the hunting areas, and what types ducks can be hunted there.
If the video doesn’t pay, try here.
Jodi asked: How did the Hubs like the camera?
He likes it and says it is easy to use. He has taken some great pictures with it so far.
Looking Out Into The Hunting Area. You Can See The Spinning Decoys.
haopee asked: Someone asked me if a hunting dog can live with a pet bird… I am actually hoping you could answer this.
That is a tough question. Hunting dogs usually have a high prey drive so living with small animals and birds might be a problem. However, some dogs do OK. I guess it depends on the dog and the situation.
This ‘N That Thursday
Freighter was socialized to the vacuum when he was a puppy. His breeder routinely vacuumed near the pups when they were hanging out in a pen. At some point Freighter decided the vacuum was an intruder. Grandpa Thunder never paid any attention to the vacuum and I can actually vacuum him. Storm was a lot like Freighter when she was young. She got over the vacuum at around the same age that Freighter is now.
For next week’s This ‘N That Thursday, all are welcome to join the hop whether you have a Halloween themed post or not. Feel free to use the Halloween badge or the regular TNT badge. Since it is TNT anything goes and all are welcome to the hop so please join us!
There are prizes.
One Hopper Will Get Spidey and The Pop Ware Collapsible Bowl
Thanks for all the great questions!
Hopefully there will be some hunting this weekend. We have had a cold snap so the Wood Ducks may have moved out. Hopefully the rain will hold off so the dogs can get some grouse hunting in.
Have a nice weekend!
Thanks again to Jodi from Heart Like A Dog for hosting the hop!
Hosted By Heart Like A Dog
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Filed under: Follow-up Friday, Hunting Tagged: Bird, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Fish Point, Friday, Halloween, Hunting, TNT, Waterfowl hunting