Cove Mountain Kennels

Friday afternoon I was able to slip away with my 10 year old daughter Sarah for some ruffed grouse hunting. She was happy to be out with her Dad and I was tickled to have her to myself. (Truth be told, I think Mom was glad to have the kids seperated for a few hours. Tell me, why are they such a pleasure one on one, but just want to fight when they’re together?)

Sarah and I took Luke, a bold little male cocker spaniel that we have been working with out for his first experience on wild birds. We were hunting him with Allie, my seasoned female lab. I was excited to get this little brush-buster hunting wild birds. It wasn’t long before Allie got into birds. Luke was right there with her. What I loved about this little dog is his ability to thoroughly work tight cover (and look cute doing it). I’ve never been able to hunt over a cocker before and loved the experience. I think you have to look carefully for the right breeding to get a game hungry cocker like this one, but if you can find one, they are a pleasure to hunt with.

The two dogs put up a handful of grouse for Sarah and I and despite the thick cover, I was able to put one of them in the bag. Needless to say, we had a ball on our daddy-daughter date. We did have to spend a while after we got home combing the burrs out, but it was worth it.

 

11/22/09: I have had several calls about hunting cockers since I wrote this post. I have now had luke out after pheasants and grouse and thoroughly loved hunting with this dog. The following comment came from Gail Workman about Luke:

From: G L Workman
Sent: Nov 19, 2009 8:13 PM 

There are only a handful of breeders who are breeding the American Cocker for its true intent: as a sporting dog. Luke is owned by Sharon Pearson and bred by Gail Workman. Here is a little history of Luke’s background. 
In 1995, the first “Master Hunter” titled American Cocker was CH Petts Southwest Breeze, CD, WD, SH, MH (Ruby). Bred by Elsie Scolaro and Anne Noble, Ruby was owned, trained and handled by Trish Jackson of West Falmouth, Massachusetts.  In 2001, Trish Jackson bred, trained and handled the first cocker spaniel field champion in almost thirty years, a Ruby daughter, FC Madisons Pride and Passion MH, sired by Bazils Stylish Pride JH SH.

Gail Workman, who also breeds field Cocker Spaniels, trained and handled the first VCD3 American Cocker earning advanced titles in obedience, tracking, agility, and hunting. OTCH Knights LIttle Kelly Girl VCD3 TDX AX AXJ WD SH (Kelly). Kelly was bred to the first male cocker to earn a “Master Hunter” Pudg’gee Ann’s Heart and Soul MH (Spunky) who was bred, trained and shown by Bob Linehan of San Deigo. From that litter Gail kept a red male Kelly’s Cruisen Legacy (Cruiser) who was trained and shown by Gail Workman earning his UD, TDX, OA, OAJ titles and was shown to his Master Hunter by Bob Linehan.

Trish Jackson bred FC Madisons Pride and Passion MH to Gail Workmans Kelly’s Cruisen legacy VDC2 TDX OA OAJ WDX MH. From this breeding came Lukes Sire: Madisons Blackland Prairie Rufus SH WDX (Rufus) owned, trained and shown by Elain and Buck Grabowski.

Luke’s Dam is Six of Seven CDX, NA, NAJ, WD, SH (Six) . Six is an old fashion cocker with no background in hunting, Gail purchased Six to add a new line i.to the small gene pool of the field bred American Cockers. Six is now working towards her Master Hunter title.

As Chris said it is not easy to find a game hungry cocker like Luke. However, that being said, I could recommend all the breeders mentioned above to get a true field bred American Cocker.

Thank you, Sharon, for giving Luke an awesome home and for sending Luke to Chris’ to get his hunting training. Having worked with Chris myself, I know Luke is in good hands!  I could not be more proud of of Luke and all the hard work Sharon has put into raising him.

photo

I had a great opportunity this afternoon, I was introducing a young Brittany to birds using pigeons when I heard some huns just over the top of the hill, so I took the dog just around the knoll where he would crest the hill close to them and directly down wind. It worked well. We topped the hill and the dog got birdy, followed the scent and found the birds. What surprised me was how many huns there were. We got about 25 huns up in three waves. It really got him keyed up. To tell the truth, it got me keyed up. There is nothing like training on wild birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything new; it’s been busy.  In October we moved from south central Utah to southeastern Idaho.  Moving is a huge pain, but we are slowly getting settled in and getting the kennels set up like we want. It was really hard to leave good friends, but we are looking forward to making new ones. Hunting buddies are always welcome. Unfortunately it will be further for our Las Vegas clients, but will be closer to our Northern Utah/Southern Idaho clients.

One reason for the move was the ready access to wild bird populations. It is really enjoyable to look out and see pheasants feeding in the back pasture, and hear ruffed grouse on the hillside. Other birds I have seen while out in the area include: huns, dusky grouse, sharp-tail and sage-grouse, valley quail and chukars. I also look forward to hunting spruce grouse, as that will be a new species for me.

 We had a great time at the Dave Walker Seminar here in Annabella. I met and made a lot of new friends, and learned a ton watching Dave work 20+ dogs a day, plus listen to his thoughts on how dogs learn and what to do in different situations. Then Dave worked with us as we worked our dogs. The focus was training the trainer, rather than just the dogs. 

Thanks to everyone who came and made it a great weekend. Thanks especially to Dave Walker for coming and so willingly sharing his knowledge.

This weekend I got out to do some pre-season scouting for the upcoming blue grouse season in Central Utah. I was encouraged by what I saw. I found fair to good numbers of birds and a fair number of broods with 4 – 5 chicks. I would have liked to have seen larger brood sizes, but was still excited about what I saw. If you are planning on hunting grouse this fall, you may want to start looking around now. They are moving upslope now and are close to where you will find them in September. Look for hens and broods in more mesic sites with good cover, while the cock birds will likely be a little higher and on more xeric sites. Let me know what you are finding.

As for chukars, all the reports I am hearing are really good. All the spring and early summer moisture really seems to have boosted production. Folks I have spoken with in several places around Utah and in northern Arizona and Nevada are all reporting the same high numbers of chukar chicks. I am excited about this hunt.

We have gotten word back from almost all the new puppy owners that the pups are doing well. They seem to have real drive to retrieve and are excellent swimmers. They are also proving to be hard charging on birds, but great around the family. We love hearing back about our puppies.

The puppies are now six weeks old. It is amazing to watch how fast they have grown. Over the last week we can really see how they have developed both physically and socially. They spend a lot more time playing and wrestling with each other, they interact well with other dogs we have and love to romp after the kids in the back yard. They all show interest in birds, pouncing on them with their front feet and dragging them around the yard by a wing. We got their first round of shots and wormer and the vet game them a clean bill of health. One of the things I have been really pleased with is that none of the puppies seems to be either very dominant nor very reclusive or too independent. They all seem to have very stable temperaments and a good interest in birds. That makes picking puppies tough; they all look good.

The pups are five weeks old today. They still sleep a fair amount, but when they are awake, they want to romp and play with each other. The other dogs, like this brittany like to play with them as well. The pups are curious and will paw at the bigger dogs; all of the older dogs are gentle with the pups. The pups are on solid moistened food now. Allie allows them to nurse only for short periods now and then. I can see why when I look at their needle sharp teeth. We are working to give the pups lots of human and canine socialization, neurological stimulation, and novel experiences.