Cove Mountain Kennels

 

I just heard what some of the 2008 Utah Governor’s hunting permits went for this last week at the Sportsman Show in Salt Lake. All I have to say is WOW!

       Mule Deer $187,500
       Rocky Mt. Elk $150,000
       Bighorn Sheep $85,000
       Desert Bighorn Sheep $55,000
       Shiras Moose $24,000 

This is hard to wrap my head around.

 

This past weekend was the local Boy Scout winter Klondike campout (our theme was Blue Hawaii). There were probably a hundred scouts, plus leaders. As always, I took several dogs along. There’s nothing better than a bunch of boy scouts for socializing a dog. I think the boys and the dogs are on about the same maturity level, they both will play with each other for hours on end, plus there are lots of boys always swarming around to acclimate the dogs to crowds of people.

We had a great time. After the official Klondike sled race, where the boys pull their sled over a course (our patrol took first!), I hooked up my two best sled dogs and we re-ran the course and smoked our previous time. The boys and the dogs loved it.

It was a great experience for the dogs and the boys. The only misadventure we had was with Blade, the young black lab in the above photo. Blade peed on some kid’s sleeping bag. Luckily, he was from another troop. It made me think of the window decal that was popular awhile back with Calvin peeing on some brand of car. I guess Blade was just telling him what he thought of our sled competition. Luckily it was in the morning, after the kid slept in the bag. Sorry, Kid.

 

I got a note from Kent of Snow Canyon Outfitters today that Gubby passed away a couple of days ago. Back in December I blogged about going out with Kent and Gubby for one last hunt. It was one of those moments that as you were having it, you knew that it would always be special. I didn’t know Gubby other than this one day, but she became special to me, probably because of my Drahthaar Aika.

Kent, I was sorry to hear about Gubby’s passing. It is tough to lose a long time friend like Gubby.

 

Our roading rig wasn’t up to snuff when it came to the dogs we currently have; a couple of BIG labs that love to pull. The chain link fence top rail pipe wasn’t strong enough. Last night we loaded up to go, I started slowly and they shot off like we were in a race. The pipe just folded. Today I’ll be looking for a heavier duty pipe. Otherwise the outfit is working great. The kids love to hook up their sled behind and go for a 4 mile sled run in the dark with all the snow we have.

 

Here is a photo of what my kids call the Annabella Town Ghost. He is on Cove Mountain just south of town. They say the ghost only comes out during the winter. You have to use a kid’s imagination. He has two eyes and an open mouth and two upreaching arms, and is spooooky.

 

This is our family’s all time favorite pheasant recipe. (I think you could use it for any game bird, but it is particularly delicious with pheasant.)

Grilled Teriyaki Pheasant

1 cup oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 TBSP Garlic Salt
1 TBSP Horse Raddish
1 can sprite (or Mt. Dew)
2 pheasants, quartered

Mix the marinade ingredients and soda, add the pheasant pieces and marinate in refrigerator for 12 to 36 hours, stirring every so often. Grill on BBQ or in oven just until the inside barely starts to loose the pink color. Note that the different pieces (breasts vs leg/thighs) will cook at different rates. The key is not to over cook. Serve hot over mixed wild rice. The grilled pieces are also excellent cold the next day. 

We obtained this recipe from a friend and long-time hunting buddy, Damon Swenson, some 20 years ago and have been enjoying it ever since.

 

Daily exercise is one of the key fundamentals in our training program. So, we are always looking for ways for our clients to get their dogs the exercise they need. Often a good walk for us barely gets the dog warmed up, roading the dog like we do here with a 4-wheeler isn’t possible for many folks that live in more urban areas, so we often recommend  a bike. It must be done with caution however.

Years ago when we lived in Nebraska, we lived right off a great Rails to Trails bike path that, at the time, went more than 20 miles out through the country side (I think now it crosses the whole state). We would regularly take our dogs out on the trail for good long morning run. Not having any other way to do it, we would just hold the leash in one hand while riding. I no longer recommend this, in fact don’t try this unless you have a helmet and body armor. My 2 year old lab took off after a squirrel, crossed me up and sent me over the handlebars where I landed on my forearms and the side of my head. (No helmet of course). I dragged my bike, dog and myself to a nearby house and scared the owner to death, standing there bleeding. She took me and my dog home where I luckily didn’t die from intracranial bleeding.

The “springer,” a setup to run a dog with you bike is a much safer option. The price seems fairly reasonable and has gotten several good reviews. If you are looking for another way to exercise your dog, this may be something to look into.

Image: Web capture. Dog in Copenhagen.

I just found out that the mahogany tree I blogged about finding back in October during a blue-grouse hunt has been nominated as the biggest individual tree of its species in the State of Utah and in the Nation. Pretty cool if you ask me. If you know anything about curl-leaf mahogany trees, you’d know that this one was huge. It was worth the hike into see it. I guess it takes about a year for the registration process, so I’ll be watching for it. It is wild think that this tree was probably a respectable size mahogany when Columbus was playing with toy boats as a kid. (I guess it’s kind of like Boone and Crockett record for trees, eh?).