South Dakota 2015 - A family affair

Hi folks,

Our 3rd trip to South Dakota (but first since i've had this blog) has now came and went.  It was a great trip filled with excitement and adventure, and I'm excited to share it with you all.  Before diving into it, I have to say that I'm so thankful that I have a wife and family that supports my passions, and hobbies (AKA Hunting trips) Without that, none of this would be possible.  There were so many things that I could write about on this trip, but I'm afraid I would struggle to keep your attention if I wrote them all, so I have thinned it down to a few choice stories. I hope you enjoy!

Over the course of this trip we traveled just over 3300 miles.  This year it was just my dad, and Luke making the trip out with me becasue Nolan's football team was still alive in the high schol playoffs.  An exciting time for our high school, but leaving us 1 amigo short. The dogs were tuned up, and ready for the week ahead.  Making the trip was Remi, Colt, Nelli, and making her first road trip Ruger, dad's 8 month old Brittany pup; out of Remi and Colt.  While Dad was taking a nap in the back seat on the road there, Luke and I mapped out a plan for the locations we would hunt each day, just a simple little plan so that indecisiveness would not dominate our time each morning. When Dad woke up he protested that no way was he going to have an "itinerary" while on vacation, but the last thing I wanted to do was to sit around for hours on end debating about where to hunt each morning. So, my truck/my itinerary...(Sorry Dad) We selected A combination of public and private lands, based on weekdays and weekends.  Saturday morning (our first day to hunt) we would hunt a privately owned farm in Winner, SD.

Winner, SD - Mr & Mrs Schwinler's farm

We met Mr Schwinler the first year in SD.  He's an older gentlemen that owns a section of ground, (640 Acres) and is always friendly and willing to let us hunt (for a fee).  His property is comprised of about 50% crop fields, and 50% CRP and pasture. After a quick walk around some scrap metal piles near their house, and bagging our first rooster (a wild flush that I knocked down) we grabbed Remi and Ruger and set off for our dog work of the trip.  

As we started getting into birds, I had deja vu watching Dad and his 8 month old pup tustle for who was in charge.  With every bird that would blow out in front of her, she would get that much more excited, and charge off determined that she could run them down as they fly off into the sky.  Dad, out of breath from blowing the whistle, and scared of the rath of my mother at the mear thought of losing her, chased after.........

We scored several birds on this first pass, but here are the stories of the  2 most notable.  Fianlly, Dad and Ruger found some common ground, and went off on their own hunting a fence row. Ruger was working into the wind, when she stuck a hard point over her left shoulder, Dad walked up to her and stepped on her check coard, as he did a rooster blew out and Dad downed the bird scoring the 8 month her first productive point on a wild bird! The bird flew quite a ways after being hit, and Remi would later locate the bird for Dad for the retrieve.  The other, Luke, I, and Remi were hunting down a shelter bealt working into a corner of a fenced field of CRP. Remi was working a running bird, pointing it, and relocating along the 100 yard long shelter bealt, over and over.  Finally at the end of the shelter bealt, she pinned it down.  I called "point" to Luke and headed to flush the bird.  I got about 3 or 4 steps towards them when the bird volunteered.  I quickly threw a shot at it but missed and Luke took the bird with a good long shot.  A hen blew out as well, and flew off.  Remi completed the retrieve, and got her first taiste of feathers for the trip.  The video of this bird is posted on my Youtube channel.

Later in the day we were hunting over Colt and Nelli.  We moved into the horse pasture, and were talking about how we would hunt the field. (where to start and finish)  As we were talking and paying no attention to the dogs, Colt and Nelli both locked up on point.  Colt on the bird, and Nelli backing his point. The dogs were holding steady and ignoring my call to start hunting once we were ready to move. We finally notice them, and Luke and I walked in on the point, and down the bird.  Colt made the retrieve, proving yet again, that the "nose" always "knows" best!

We shot our limit of birds that day, and as I said before.  There are a few videos on youtube of that day as well as some of the  others.

Here are some pics from that day.  

Remi and Ruger - Patiently waiting their turn having a little mother daughter time

Colt and Nelli 

Remi and Ruger's work that morning

Dad and I at the end of day 1 in front of Mr Schwinlers house

Luke and Dad 

Our 2nd day of hunting, we headed to another private farm in Ideal South Dakota owned by a friend named Bobby Daniels. It was a tough day of hunting, because the tempatures were up in the mid 60's uncharacteristically warm for this time of year in SD.

Day 3 we headed north to the national grassland in Pierre, SD. This my second trip to the grassland in pursuit of different upland species. It was another tough day of hunting, but my personal favorite of the trip in regards to accomplishment.  The National grassland is massive arera of grass cover, that supports sharptail grouse, the coveted Praire Chicken, and an occassional Pheasant.  On this day, we decided not to leave any dog in the truck.  So we put all 4 dogs on the ground and set off hunting.  The dogs were handling great covering tons of area, and all listening to my whistle.  After a long walk, and not getting into any birds. We headed over toward a pond surrounded by cat tails.  I sent the dogs down to the water to cool off since it was another warm day, while Luke and I stood up at a fence 60 yards away.  Not long after, I heard one of the collars go into point mode.  I couldn't see the dog, but knew it was Remi's collar, and she was in the cattails.  I climbed under the fence, and headed down to the pond. The collar continued to beep point, As I moved into the cattails, a big rooster busted out.  I could hear the beating of his wings before I could see him over the cattails.  He took flight over the water, and I downed him on my second shot. He splashed down into the water, after I connected.  Remi, busted through the cattails to the edge of the water where she stopped, stood there, and looked at me like "well who's going to get wet now" "Dead Bird, Remi" "Fetch Remi", she just looked at me, like she had never been in a pond before.  When all the sudden Colt came busting through the cattails, and hit into the water like a Lab.  Swam right out, and made the retrieve.  Of course Remi took the bird from him as soon as he reached land so she could complete the retrieve, but both dogs were rewarded for their efforts!  

We continued hunting, and made a different path of travel back towards the truck.  When we got almost there, I had lost track of Dad and Ruger.  So Remi, Colt, Nelli and I headed in his general direction to make sure that he had not loost track of Ru.  We hunted through a wet valley of cattails, and then up a hillside of short grass.  The dogs were up ahead of me hunting up the hillside as I walked up the steep incline.  As I neared a point where I could see over the crest, I saw Nelli standing still with intensity.  I made my way on up, and I could see Colt, was also standing still muscles tense, looking as if he had bird in the snoot.  A few more steps, and I could see Remi in a full body quiver with her head downward towards the ground and cocked slightly right, and paw lifted just barely off the ground motionless, other than the quivering. I headed toward them excited knowing that this was the right cover for sharpies or chickens.  All the sudden the covey of birds took flight. 10 or 15 of them quite a ways out in front of me, 15 yards out in front of Remi.  I fired the gun and took the nearest one, and missed with the other 2 rounds.  Remi completed the retrive, and brought me the prize.  Finally I got a prairie chicken, after three years of chasing them this bird is going on the wall! As I made my way to Luke, I was literally yelling with excitement "Luke, I got a chicken!" This is truly a trophy bird!

The national grassland where I got my prairie chicken.

The Chicken and the Rooster from the story. Colt(left), Nelli (middle), Remi (right)

Close up of the prairie chicken

A male prairre chicken in full strut - the same mount that my bird will be mounted. 

Sadly, Nolan's football team lost in the first round of the playoffs.  It was bitter-sweet because I was able to get him a flight SD.  We picked him up and Souix Falls, and he joined us for the rest of the week of hunting.  

Picking Nolan up at the Airport - We were excited he could make it!

The next day Nolan and Remi teamed up for his first rooster of the trip!  And this time she went into the water and cattails for the retriever!!!  Finally the temps dropped, and hunting got good again!

Luke caught this photo of Remi checking out the artillery. 

Nolan and Luke Showing off a days work

Doing a little road hunting one day (yes its legal in SD) I caught Luke taking a whack at that rooster!

We spent the last two days of hunting at a new 1200 acre farm in Carter, SD that we got hooked up with throught the local gun store in Winner.  We met a really nice land owner named Gary Elder who guided us around his huge farm.  There was lots of good bird work by the dogs, and some good shooting on occasion by the hunters :).  But these are my favorite stories from the last couple days of hunting.

Luke, Nolan, and I were hunting through a cut milo field. While In this field we all got birds, and Remi was her typical "rockstar" self,  but the coolest thing that happend is this.

Remi was working off to my right.  A wild flush bird came up to my left, and I shot it.  As it fell to the ground it fell across a road, on the other side of two barbed wire fences.  I called Remi over, lifted the fence and sent her in for a blind retrieve.  I stood at the fence, and watched in amazment.  I knew that the bird was wounded, but it had not died when it fell and it had apparently ran off.  Remi circled the area 1 time in a large circle, and then headed off in a mad scramble with her nose to the ground, tracking the woulded bird.  She crossed 3 fences while tracking this bird, and was nearing 300plus yards away when all the sudden I could see feathers in the air, and she headed back towards me with the bird in her mouth.  An increadable blind retrieve! Man I wish I had the film rolling when this happened!

The whole crew at the end of day 1 in Carter

End of day two in Carter (look at that Sunset)

A SD traffic jam!

SD Sunset, my favorite place in the world to watch a sun set.

There are stories after stories that I could go on about.  All 4 dogs were on top of their game, and performed at a high level. I'm excited to watch Ruger grow over the next few years, I think we may have another rockstar on our hands. Remi was truly was increadble, and is in her prime and a true joy to hunt over.  All in all on the week we shot 31 pheasants, and 1 prairie chicken.  We walked 211 miles while doing so, averaging 8.8 miles per day, per man.  The fact that Nolan was able to join us mid week, I finally got a chicken, and I got to spend this precious time with my dad, my best friend, and my oldest son. This was by far my favorite trip I have ever made to South Dakota.

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about it.

Sincerely,

Matt Larison

Grouse Hunting in the UP - Still no easy task

Hi Folks,

            Well our 2^nd annual grouse hunting trip was delayed a week, due to a busy fall work schedule, and a nasty fall cold.  But we finally departed on Wednesday the 28^th on our 550 mile journey to the remote upper peninsula of Michigan. It was a nasty wet trip from the a gulf hurricane that carried a large amount of rainfall all the way to Canada. (Nice timing) We arrive in beautiful and remote Seney Michigan, at the Fox River Motel at about 4:00 in the evening. By the time we unloaded the truck, and let the dogs stretch their legs there wasn’t much time left for anything other than dinner.  This trip my second year in a row coming to Mi., but further north this time in search of better numbers (of birds that is).  Colt (our male) and his Mama Tessi (who is on loan from Mr. Hamer) made the journey for the 3 days of  hunting.  Tessi, a grouse guide dog is my ringer on this trip, and Colt, a young accomplished pheasant dog, is trying to earn his stripes in the grouse woods.  At the hotel we met up with a couple of veteran UP grouse hunters.  One of them was a 92 year old named Ceo Bauer, who was full of information, and fascinating stories. He was actually the head civil engineer for building the paved roads in the UP during the 50’s and 60’s. The rest area just off of M28 just outside of Seney, is named after him. The most interesting of  his stories was related to a local trapper who just that very day, caught a grey wolf in his trap, in the very same area that we plan to grouse hunt.  That will give you goosebumps, or t least it did me!

Day 2 – I jump up at 6:00AM, smack dad on the feet on the way to the shower and I’m ready to go! After getting dressed I fling the hotel room door open ready to explode with excitement, only to find that the monsoon season is seemingly still upon us.  After getting the dogs some morning relief, and a drink of water, we decide that with the heavy rain and 34 degree temps maybe breakfast is a better option.  We travel 7 miles south to Germfask, to a little country diner, and low and behold who is there but my new 92 year old friend, Ceo.  We have breakfast with them, and they give us some more advice as to where we may have the best chance to bag some grouse.

We finish breakfast, and head to our first spot.  Tessi gets the call, and sets off hunting south, into that northern breeze (and rain) not 50’ into the cover she slam’s to a stop, quivering with excitement.  “Point” I yell to dad. I creep in front of her, and the bird takes flight. BANG, my Browning Maxis cry’s out, and the bird crashes to the ground dad yells “what was it?”, “Woodcock”  I reply. Tessi heads off to find the prize, when all the sudden she hits another point!  “Point,” I yell again. I abandoned the search for my first downed bird to see what she has found this time.  As I walk into the point, the leaves explode and a hard flying grouse, blasts out headed west towards dad. Bang, Bang, Bang he empties his gun! “I got him” dad hollers back excited for his first grouse.  I head over to where he thinks the bird went down,  and quickly locate his grouse by the beating of the wings on the ground.  What a great start to the day….  All in all, we hunted 8 miles this day, and I bagged my limit of woodcock, while dad bagged the 1 and only grouse.  We had productive points, over both dogs and had a moral victory bagging these 4 birds, in the nasty pouring down, cold rain.  I can’t remember a time, that I have gone back to the hotel more wet from a day of hunting. We bumped into our new friends again at the hotel, and they too were excited at the day’s harvest.  We planned another breakfast meeting in the morning, and called it a night.

Day 3 – The weather was much more cooperative today.  Dry (mostly) and even an occasional glimpse of sunshine.  We thought for sure this would be the day…  We hunted multiple covers, walked a total of 8 miles on day 2 alone.  But the only excitement was limited to one lone woodcock that Colt pointed, but bumped from moving in too tight on it, so I let fly away to reinforce good training.

Day 4 – The cold wet weather continued, and instead of braving another day soaked to the bone, and freezing.  We surrendered to the great northern woods, and pack up to head home.

Overall the trip was great, and even though I STILL, am yet to bag my first grouse. (Insert eye-roll here) I wouldn’t trade this trip or any of the trips with my dad for anything.  Dad has always told me since I was little kid tagging alone on his deer hunting trips.  “Son it’s not always about killing something, sometimes it’s just about getting to go.”  Well no doubt that statement is so true, but I would sure like to get a damn grouse!

In a few short weeks, we’ll be heading the plains of South Dakota.  There we’ll be chasing those big SD roosters, Prairie Chickens, and Sharp-tail grouse.  Remi is finished with her fall conditioning, and will be front and center in the pursuit of our limit of  roosters.  She, Colt, and Nelli will carry the bulk of the work load.  But I anticipate lots of action, and excitement as Dad gets Rugar (His 9 month old Brittany out of Remi and Colt) into her first wild bird experience.  I hope he’s been training for a marathon, because she is BIRD –CRAZY!

Hope you enjoy the pictures from the UP hunting trip, and keep an eye out for the stories from South Dakota in the coming weeks. 

Sincerely,

Matt Larison

Mackinaw Bridge (Raining)

The U.P. (raining)

"Tessi"

"Colt"

A little Northern "hillbilly ingenuity"

(We found this in the middle of Nowhere in the woods)

(Still raining)

Nice work Tessi

(Wait, did it stop raining?)

Dad Says thanks!
(Nope, still raining)

35 degrees and rain, but still success!

(Yes still raining)

Dad and I after the first morning hunting

(and yes even when I took this pic...It was still raining)

Owen's first Pheasant hunt

Hi folks,
not a lot of writing today.  Just some really good pictures and video of Owen and his first ever Pheasant hunt.  I have spoke previously about Owen, and his journey to getting up his courage to shoot his shotgun.  Well you add, Mr. Hamer, some other experienced hunters, a few early teenage girls, and Pheasants Forever to the mix and all the sudden he is shooting a youth Remington 1187 20 gauge! I guess a little properly applied peer pressure isn't all bad, after all.

The local chapter of Pheasants forever put on a youth hunt at Lake Hill hunt club this morning.  10-15 boys and girls (more girls than boys) came out for the festivities.  It was a great time, and a great outreach to get more youth involved in outdoor activities and specifically hunting. Coffee, donuts, and orange juice was served for breakfast.  Pizza delivered in for lunch, we had inexperienced hunters, hard working dogs, experienced guides and hard flying birds..... A recipe for a great day, and it did not disappoint.

A special thanks to Pheasants Forever, Jim Hamer, and the Lake Hill private hunt club for putting on this event, and making my kids weekend!

Jim Hamer, our trainer and member of Lake Hill was Owens guide.  He used our dog Remi, who he trains, to guide for Owen in this hunt.  Check out the pictures and video, and you will see some memories that will last Owen and I a lifetime.

Sorry for the video quality - The Go Pro is working great, but the editor hasn't figured out how to shorten the videos so they are small enough for the site.  I will work on that, for the moment, its posted the best I could do.

I hope you enjoy!  Owen and I sure did!

A great Organization - Always looking for members!

 Happy Guide, Happy Dog, Happy Boy!

Owen proudly showing off his 1st Rooster

Full Game Bag

Headed back to the clubhouse

Great Day for all of us

Fall Update ~ Owens First dove hunt

I knew when I started this blog the summer months would prove tough to be able to write.  As it turns out, it was more than tough seeing how I have not been able to post a single entry since April 26th. It was very busy summer with work, travel baseball, and Club Volleyball. But I am happy to finally have some time this Labor day afternoon to sit down, and write about a few of the events that have happened over the past few months, and then we'll take a quick look at what is in store for this fall. 

Quick updates:

First of all, back in the spring I introduced you to Ellie - AKA "old Girl" our 15 year old Golden Retriever - I'm saddened to report that after 15 and 1/2 wonderful years she left us for that dog park in the sky, where I'm sure she is enjoying ice cream, and McDonalds Cheeseburgers every day, and she is no longer riddled with arthritis.  Ellie, left us a couple months ago and will forever be missed.

Remi's litter - I'm excited to tell you that Remi's litter all made it safely to their forever homes, and we are lucky enough to get to see two of them on a regular basis.  Mr Hamer our gun dog trainer, took one of the liver roan females, and my Mom and dad took another one of them.  Ruger and GIGI are almost 6 months old and getting ready to start their first introduction to birds, guns, and the entire way of life they were breed to live.  I'll be helping with getting them started in a few short weeks. The other 6 pups, are all healthy and doing well at their new homes as well.

Owens first Dove Hunt ~ 

With the 1st of September upon us, it kicks off the first event of the fall for most avid bird hunters.  Its the opening day of Morning dove season, and is always a "main event".  Owen has been a little slower to get into shooting his shotgun than Nolan was as a little guy.  A bit intimidated by the percussion, and the kick he really had to scrape up the nerve to pull the trigger for the first time.  Over the past three years I bet we were out back with him at least 4 or 5 times waiting for him to get the nerve to squeeze off that round, each time we had returned to the house unsuccessfully.  Refusing to allow myself to be anything but patient with him, each time I would give him a hug and tell him I didn't care if he ever pulled that trigger that I loved him anyway, and nothing would ever change that.  Unfortunately, his older brother was not quite as soft spoken (as older brothers can be sometimes).  Owen, wanting nothing more in life than to impress Nolan tried over and over again, still unable to find the courage.  Well about 3 weeks ago, Nolan and I were talking about dove season coming up and how excited we were to get out, and get his fall kicked off (Even if it was in the 90's) Owen overheard the conversation, and quickly piped up, "Dad, if I shoot my shotgun can I go dove hunting?"  "Of course" I said! (We had had this conversation the previous three years as well)  "In fact" I told him "if you prove to me that you will shoot your shot gun, I will let you skip a morning of school to go with me on opening day." 

30 minutes later we were in the back yard with some cans set up on a log, watching Owen tremble a bit nervously, as he shouldered his gun. After a fairly long pause....... BANG!  "That didn't hurt!" as he looked over at me with a huge grin on his face.  Well this one shot quickly turned into another, and another, and a full box of shells.  The next day he, Nolan and I went to Blackwing and shot 2 full rounds of skeet.  Working on gun handling and safety.  He was doing great, even broke clay pigeon or two.  So I went and bought him his first apprentice hunting license.

Owen is a very compassionate, and caring little guy so I thought it would be a good idea to talk to him very openly about what hunting really means.  So the night before opening day, I sat him down and explained very clearly that when we shoot an animal we are stopping a beating heart.  And that sometimes I still feel sad, and a little guilty when I kill an animal. Some folks try to desensitize this by calling it "bagging an animal"  But I wanted to be honest about it.  And I wanted him to really think about it before doing it, because the last thing I wanted to happen was for him to be overwhelmed with guilt if he actually hit a dove.  I explained, that we had to be respectful of the animals that we hunt, and always make an asserted effort to recover them, and put them to good use, so its not a wasted loss of life. He really seem to process it, and assured me that he was okay, and ready to be a hunter.

Tuesday September 1st 4:30 AM - my alarm goes off, and I go to wake a normally hard to wake up Owen.  Not this morning, he bounds out of bed! Quickly getting dressed and ready to roll.  We head south to Deer Creek Wildlife area, and meet up with friend on the way. Owen told me that he could hardly sleep because he was so excited.  After snacking all the way to Deer Creek, we arrived at the sunflower field I had picked out the day before.  There seemed to be a lot of vehicles in the parking area, but nevertheless we headed back through the edge of the bean field, and towards the sunflower field.  After a 20 minute walk we arrived at the field, only to find that apparently every other dove hunter in the Columbus Ohio area had also decided this was the best field.  After walking throughout the sunflower field, Matt and I decided that it was just simply not a safe place to hunt.  So we headed back to the truck.  Devastated, Owen said "does this mean were not going hunting?" No Buddy, it just means we have to go find another field that will be safe to hunt, Whew! I thought I was going to have to go back to school early!" Owen whispered. I chuckled and we walked the 20 minutes back to the truck.

By this time daylight had broke over the eastern horizon, and we were able to easily identify a nice big corn field, with plenty of open space for the perfect spot for a rookie dove hunter. They outer rows of corn had been burned and tilled under, making the field much more enticing to the doves looking to feed. The three of us headed for the field and quickly made found good spots to sit.  I intentionally left my shotgun in the truck, to simply focus on Owen.  This was his first hunt, and I didn't want to be so consumed with my own hunting, that I might allow him to make a mistake, or miss something that I may only get one chance to see him do for the first time. Watching him get so excited every time a dove would come flying over is something that I will never forget, his face would light up, and his eyes would get so big with excitement. 1/2 way through his 2nd box of shells a hard flying dove came from the adjacent tree line, and flew on a course just west of us but fairly low overhead. A good and safe shot for a young hunter. Owen had seen it as soon as it came into view, and was ready. He cocked his single shot .410 and lead that bird perfectly as it came into his range. He touched off the round, and the bird came crashing down to the ground only 10 or 15 yards away.  I quickly jumped up, and retrieved the bird for him.  He was so proud of himself, As was I, and he was so excited at his accomplishment. I let him look at his dove, and then put it in the cooler. This was truly a very special moment for he and I, and we had a big father/son hug right in the middle of the hunting field.

Somehow after all the shooting that he had already done to this point, I was lucky enough to actually be taping him for this first successful shot.  You can tell my by my voice on the video that I was just as excited as he was.  All in all he bagged two birds on the day, before I had to take him back to school.  Its safe to say, that my little man has now been bitten with the same bug, that Pop, Nolan, and I have all been bitten with and that kid is now in love with the sport.  On the drive back to school he ask me if this meant he was now allowed to go to South Dakota hunting with us in November.  (It won't be long bud, I promise)

I returned Owen to school, and Dad and I hunted that afternoon down at Fallsville wildlife area, we bagged 28 birds 2 short of our daily limit. It was a fun afternoon, and action packed with lots of birds, and shooting.  But it didn't even start to compare to the morning.

After returning home late in the evening, and enjoying some dinner.  I headed to the barn to clean the days harvest.  About the time I got started, the barn door opened up and my little buddy came dragging in.  Tired as could be from the long day, and emotionally worn out from all the excitement.  I ask what he was doing, and why he wasn't in bed. He replied, "Dad, I shot two birds today, and its only right that I clean them" he insisted. (part of the conversation that we covered the night before) So I pulled a stool over for him to stand on, and watched as he cleaned his birds (all by himself).  After he finished, he ask if I needed help with mine, and I declined encouraging him onto the house for bed time.

We have a lot of fun days hunting, but this day with Owen is definitely one of my all time favorites.

Upcoming this fall:

We're traveling to the UP for a 4 day Grouse hunt where Colt & his mama Tessie will hunt Grouse and woodcock for 4 days in the Seney National Forest. (Hope to have a Go Pro up and going for this trip)

Then in November we'll be traveling to South Dakota for 10 or 11 days of some of the best Pheasant hunting in the country.  Over Remi, Colt, Nelli, Ruger, and Annie

Along with chasing some waterfowl, chuckers and quail along the way.

Stay Tuned! Its going to be a fun Fall!

Sincerely,

Matt

Owen, All smiles as the sun comes up

 Getting down to business

Having fun!

Success!!!!!!

Getting up the nerve.

My boys

 Owens first Dove, caught on video.

Colts Bio - (The Big Sweetie)

Sorry for the delay.  My busy season at work, the girls Club Volleyball, travel baseball, and Lacrosse season are all in full swing. All making it a little difficult to have time to write as much as I like. I hope you enjoy!

Introducing "Grousetangle's Nolan's Blazin Colt" - Call Name "Colt"

An interesting name no doubt. Colt is named after his linage from the Grousetangle hunting line out of Plain City, Ohio. His daddy is Grouetangle's Chip, a strapping liver and white Britt who is an expert pheasant dog. His mother is Grousetangle's KK Contessa, a sweet little liver and white grouse dog of epic proportion. Together, they're truly two of the finest bird dogs that I have ever had the privilege of getting to know, and hunt over.  They both spend a large amount of time working as guides, and are good depictions of what I want my dogs to be.  They are truly "brag dogs" in all essence of the term.  When we brought Colt home he had a beautiful white blaze between his eyes, hence "blazing" and he is Nolan's dog, so he picked the name Colt.  Staying with our tradition of naming our dogs after guns.

This is his story.

Colt was whelped on July 4, 2013, his breeder is Mr. Hamer, our gun dog trainer, and good friend from the bird dog community. Colt was one of two beautiful male pups that came from that litter.  Knowing that Chip and Tesssi had whelped a litter we stopped by one day just to let the kids see the new puppies. (And Stacy and I might have been excited to see them too:)) Nolan instantly fell in love with Colt, and ask if we could get him.  I was hesitant, since we had not had Nelli that long at the time.  I ask Nolan if he had the money to buy him (all the while knowing the answer), "No" he said, "but I would be willing to sell my dirt bike, if you would let me get him".  Stacy and I spoke about it and decided that if Nolan was serious, that he wanted a bird dog bad enough to sell his dirt bike, that maybe we should let him.  So with that, Nolan was 1 less dirt bike and we were 1 additional bird dog!  A damn good trade if you ask me....

As a puppy, Colt was a soft dog, wanting as much attention as he could get, and being ambitions to please.  We often referred to him (and still do) as "the big sweetie".  With our small house, and large number of dogs, it was decided that Colt would have to be an outside dog, though I have said many times that I think he could have been the best house dog with his calm personality, and sweet disposition.  At about 6 months, Colt began training with Mr. Hamer.  He was introduced to birds and guns, and the reaction was just as  you would expect to both (for a dog coming from his linage).  Couldn't get enough of the birds, and couldn't care less about the guns.  As anticipated he was a quick study, and learned to hunt and find birds with determination and intelligence. Showing great pointing instinct, and an excellent drive to hunt, Nolan decided to try to put an AKC Jr hunting title on him.

Colt had been coming along nicely working with Mr. Hamer and I. But now the question was, how would he respond to 14 year old boy? Nolan's voice was not as deep, and his authority was not as obvious as that of a grown man.  Would he show him the respect and submit to his authority in the field, or would he blow him off and hunt for himself?  Well it makes me proud to let you know that not only did Nolan put a Junior title on that dog, but he also earned himself an AKC Junior handler title. It wasn't a flawless run to this accomplishment, but the lessons learned for both of them along the way they'll never forget.  I recall one of the hunt tests that didn't go so well for them.  Colt had decided to blow off Nolan's commands in the field, and ran off hunting for himself, resulting in a failing score.  Nolan was so mad at Colt that he almost wouldn't even acknowledge him on the ride home. After he settled down he said he was so mad because he had spent/lost his own money $45 (that was part of the deal, he had to pay for his own entries) to enter him in that test, and then Colt acted like a fool, and wasted it.  What a great lesson for a teenager to learn. What it's like for a parent to invest in their child and then have them ignore their advice, and in turn waste their resources. Right Parents.

But they forged on, and eventually finished their titles with a solid run up in Cardington at Keaton Farms scoring all 9's and 10's.  Lots of folks noticed the nice dog work, and the young man handling him.  Nolan was even approached by an AKC rep for an interview about he and Colt. They both make us proud, and have already learned tons of life lessons working together. As you can probably imagine the bird dog community is not the youngest of associations in terms of members age. At 36 I am a young man in the group, so Nolan is viewed as really young. Its been remarkable to see how they have opened their arms to Nolan.  They include him in work days, even when I cannot be there.  He get words of encouragement and advice from all the older crowd on a regular basis.  But of all the advice he has received none has been more meaningful then that which was given from Mr. Hamer and his life long best friend Dr. Martin.  When they learned that Nolan had sold his dirt bike to buy his own hunting dog, they though that was really something neat.  So they went in together and bought him a really nice training book, and wrote this message. "To Nolan, we trust that you will get the same enjoyment out of your bird dog as we have out of ours over the last 50 years. Be Fair, firm, and have fun.  To Staunch points, and hard flying birds.  All the best." Jim Hamer & Dr. George Martin  If you ask me the statement "Be fair, firm, and have fun" is not just advice for handling a dog, but really advice you can live by.

Now, a year later, Colt is still "a big sweetie", and the spitting image of his daddy Groustangles's Chip.  He is a born natural on wild birds, and as I wrote about previously has sired a beautiful litter of 8 healthy pups with Remi.  Nolan has learned that nothing worth having comes easily, and I have seen his willingness to work time and time again.  Just last summer he cut grass all summer to earn enough money to purchase himself a new Beretta shotgun. His goal for this gun, to take down a wild South Dakota rooster over "HIS" boy Colt.  Well last Thanksgiving day that is exactly what they did.

Colt is the youngest of our crew, and while I may have a few less stories thus far about him, It's only because he's only been through one hunting season. I'm certain there are a lot to come with him & Nolan in the future.

The pictures below follow the story of Colt.

I hope you enjoyed, Please follow and comment.

Sincerely,

Matt Larison

 Colt meets Remi & Nelli

Colts first Christmas tree Hunt - a Larison family tradition

 Colts first point

 His first season training

 Colts first rooster

 Cots trying to be a big dog

 Advice to live by

Nolan and Colt get their titles

This kid makes me proud.

first passing score - they have come a long way.