Cove Mountain Kennels

Recently we sent a young lab home to a family, and it was one of the more rewarding dogs I have worked with. The dog came to me wilder than a march hare, the family was at their wits end. They had purchased the dog to replace a dog that passed away, one that was mature, gentle and a great family member. They got a wild young pup and were pulling their hair out with frustration. They loved the pup, and didn’t want to get rid of the dog, but didn’t know what to do. I think many people find themselves in this position. This is just when dogs end up tied in the back yard, dumped off at the shelter, or back in the want ads. We were able to catch this dog just at the right time and get her on track to becoming a great companion dog for the family and a best buddy to their young son. We trained the dog to be a great bird dog, but more importantly, she is a great companion.

When we got home our lab was very interested but careful around the baby. She wanted to sniff everything thoroughly…

Monday was one of those glorious days out training. The dogs were doing really well, progressing and showing improvement. I was working a setter, Brittany, pointer and a lab. We were able to get into both a wild rooster pheasant and a covey of huns. When the setting sun dropped below the cloud layer we were bathed in this beautiful warm light that took my breath away. Luck was with me and I happened to have my Nikon with me and got some great shots of the dogs on point. Not to get too touchy-feely, but it was one of those awesome days.

I recently purchased two Tri-Tronics Tracer lights to test and the following are my thoughts after 3 months of use:

First, they were fairly easy to install into the e-collar receivers (GP2 or GP3). I removed the collar from the receivers and took out the two screws. The unit then separates from the battery and you insert the tracer light between the battery and the stimulation unit and screw it together with the longer screws provided.  It was pretty straight forward.

The light works by setting the power level dial to “A” (Accessory) to control the light. Click any of the control buttons to turn the light to flash mode (unit flashes a quick double flash every 3 seconds), push again to turn on the light solid.  Another click turns the unit off.  The only catch is that the light must be turned off before the collar is manually shut off on the underside or the light continues flashing and will run down the battery. This really isn’t much of a problem since you clearly see that the light is on, even in broad daylight and can turn it off.

The first thing that struck me about the Tracer was how bright the light is. These new LED lights are really bright. As long as the dog is facing you and the collar is not hidden by the dog’s head, you can see the light a long way off. I didn’t test it to see how far it can be seen at night, but it has to be several miles. I liked the fact that they make it in white, blue and red, so you can run multiple dogs and tell the difference. I was also impressed at the ruggedness of the light. It is built to the same high standards I have come to expect from Tri-Tronics.

Battery life is another thing I haven’t specifically tested, but running the light on flashing mode for 5 to 15 minutes almost every day, I didn’t notice that I had to charge the receiver any sooner than I normally do. Tri-Tronics reports that running the Tracer in the constant on mode will drain the battery 40% faster than the flashing mode.

The Tracer light is nifty, but do I really need it? That is the real question to ask yourself. I guess that answer really depends on how much you have your dog out after dark. If I were running coon hounds night hunting it would be an absolute necessity. Otherwise, I guess it depends. I often take the dogs out to the back pasture for a quick run and bathroom break before putting them up for the night. I really enjoy the Tracer for this. I can easily keep track of several dogs in the total dark by watching the lights. The second way I have used this is with my big running pointer at the end of the hunt. Late in the chukar season this year I was headed back to the truck at the close of shooting hours when he disappeared. I got to the truck and he wasn’t there as I expected. I was able to remotely turn on the Tracer and in a few minutes I saw the light in the growing darkness way off. I was able to drive a little closer and call the dog over. That saved me a lot of nervous time and frustration. I could also see how it might save a dog’s life if an oncoming car could see the light and slow down to avoid the dog.

The Tracer does add 1/4” thickness to the e-collar, but I have run it on cocker spaniels up to large labs and not felt like the thickness or weight was an issue. The lights retail for $49, and can be purchased from many online sellers, including Tri-Tronics.com for $44. If you already have the G2 or G3 EXP collars, you will have to think through you need for such a product, but if you are thinking of getting one, they’re rugged and work great.

“I didn’t come this far to miss,” is the slogan for the Hevi-Shot  loads. I don’t think that just by spending $2 per trigger pull you will automatically shoot more accurately. Consistently hitting a flying target with a shotgun takes practice.

However, this slogan did make me think of one of the days on our New Year’s Arizona trip this year. I drove over  2,000 miles roundtrip to southern Arizona to hunt Mearn’s and scaled quail and had a bad shooting day. The First day the we struggled even finding birds, then the second day we got into some, but they were few and far between, so every shot counted.  Maybe it was simply the pressure of coming so far, the chance to bag a new species and not wanting to miss, but it definitely affected my shooting. Luckily, my hunting buddy was on top of his game, he went six straight.

Here are four key principles of shooting that may help to work on: First, know your dominant eye and learn to shoot a shotgun from that side. (If you are left eye dominant, learn to shoot left handed.) If you have trouble every so often that your non-dominant eye takes over dominance due to eye fatigue, or some other issue, you can try placing a small (1/4” x  1/4”) piece of clear 3M Scotch type tape on your eyeglasses or shooting glasses in the exact spot where you see the shotgun bead  when the gun in mounted. You will still be afforded good overall vision from both eyes, but this slight distortion or haze should help direct focus to the correct eye.  If you are in the field and don’t have any tape, you can try gathering a little oil from your nose, forehead or hair/scalp on the tip of your finger and touch it a small spot on your glasses where you would put the tape previously described. Every once in a while I find this happening, that after a missed shot I realized that my left eye was the one that was focused on the target rather than the right.

Second and perhaps much more commonly the head is being lifted off the stock in anticipation of seeing the bird fall. It is critical to the aim of the shotgun that the cheek is firmly rested on the stock and the dominant eye is looking right down the barrel. Keep your head down and cheek against the stock.

The next factor critical to shooting success is to maintain stable balance. This is difficult to do hunting chukars. The steep, rocky, uneven terrain is what makes these bandits so challenging to hunt and even harder to hit. The shooter is usually working to get the shot off while still stumbling around on the steep hillside. You are far better off to take the extra fraction of a second to get a stable base then make the shot. The stable base is critical for a smooth swing.

Finally, there’s proper lead; you have to be out in front of a moving bird and not stop your swing at the trigger pull if you hope to connect.  There are two different methods: sustained lead and swing through leads. Both will work, however, I have found that the swing through method is more natural and helps my subconcious judge the speed of the bird and distance to the bird and calculate the necessary lead better. The critical thing here is practice and let the subconscious build libraries of previous shots and it will do the necessary calculations and guide the shots to success.  Just don’t stop your swing and let it happen.