Me & Tram after putting a checkmark next to ruffed grouse on her life list.

Over the holiday weekend, I caught up on some reading.  An article in the most recent issue of The Pointing Dog Journal particularly caught my attention.  The piece titled “My Bucket List” was written by Tom Davis, also a contributor to the Pheasants Forever Journal.  As the name implies, Tom writes about the hunting adventures he’d like to have before he passes on.  It was an interesting read and likely follows thoughts many of us have this time of year as we review our calendars, health, and dog power for the coming autumn.  I wrote a similar blog post a year ago titled “My Bird Hunting Bucket List.” 

However, what really grabbed my attention was Tom’s tally of the wild upland game bird species shot over his bird dog.  Turns out, this sort of “Bird Dog Life List” is fairly common.  A couple of guys; Joseph A. Augustine (English Setters) and the renowned Ben O. Williams (Brittany) have even penned bird dog hunting books on the topic.  The consensus is twenty different North American upland game birds constitute a “Grand Slam.”    

So as I look toward my own German shorthaired pointer’s fourth season, I have taken inventory on Trammell’s own bird hunting life list.  Here is Tram’s current tally: a) species I successfully shot over her point, b) the year it occurred and c) the state in which it took place.

1. Ruffed Grouse, 2007, Michigan
2. Pheasant, 2007, Minnesota
3. Timberdoodle, 2007, Michigan
4. Hungarian Partridge, 2008, Montana
5. Sharp-tailed Grouse, 2008, Montana

In some respects, I look at that list and feel guilty.  There’s the greater prairie chicken I missed in South Dakota’s Fort Pierre Grasslands last year.  And there’s the doggy plane ticket to Georgia I couldn’t afford preventing bobwhite quail from hitting her list. 

On the other hand, three seasons with Tram have been the best three seasons of my hunting career.  And if you consider the dozens of states and subspecies necessary to reach double digits, a guy could go broke chasing this list.  Plus, I’ll be in the Fort Pierre Grasslands in three weeks and I smell redemption.  Come to think of it, I’ll be in Nebraska (bobwhite quail) and Kansas (lesser prairie chickens) in November too.  Hunting season is here and things are looking up!

In the comment section below, post the following: a) your dog’s breed, b) your dog’s name, c) your dog’s age, and d) how many birds on his/her life list so far?

John Wallace's Sweet Savory Spicy Sugar Glazed Dove Poppers

Today’s blog post comes courtesy of John Wallace.  Wallace is a Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist in Greenville, Ohio.  He’s a big Cincinnati Reds fan, a proud two-time papa, and also a fan of wild game cooking.  Here’s his new “Sweet Savory Spicy Sugar-Glazed Dove Poppers” recipe.

Marinade (Ideal for 20-30 pieces):

1 tbsp. Soy Sauce

2 tbsp. Teriyaki Sauce

4 tbsp. Honey

1 tbsp. Lime Juice

 ½ tbsp. Ginger Powder

1 tbsp. Garlic (Minced)

1 tbsp. Green onion (Finely Chopped)

1 tbsp. Light Brown Sugar

1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Jalapeño (Diced) (Seeded for Mild…not for HOT!)

Dash of Salt & Pepper

*Stir well to incorporate honey and sugar (10 seconds in Microwave may be helpful)

**Place dove and marinade into Ziploc bag and place into refrigerator for at least 1 hour

(2-4 hours is recommended).  

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°.  Open package of bacon and slice pieces in half.  Drain marinade in colander.  It is recommended to pick jalapeño seeds off of the dove breast before wrapping half piece of bacon around each breast.  Feel free to stuff a piece(s) of jalapeño into each wrap.  Thread a toothpick through the top of the bacon so that it goes down to the breast and then bring it back up through the top of the bacon to secure the bacon around each breast.  Place “poppers” on cookie sheet w/ aluminum foil with toothpick side down.  Place in oven for 10-12 minutes checking often for crispness of bacon, additional minutes may be necessary.  Once bacon is at desired crispness on top, pull cookie sheet out of the oven and drain off all juices.  Flip over “poppers” so that the toothpick side is now up.  Align all “poppers” in a straight line (rows) so that they are touching one another.  Sprinkle brown sugar over the top of the “poppers”.  Use as little or as much as you would like (“a pinch a popper” is recommended).  ***Place oven on Broil and put cookie sheet back into oven until brown sugar is melted thoroughly and bacon is crisp.  Pull out cookie sheet and place your “poppers” on a serving tray with a paper towel.  Allow a few minutes to cool down (if you can wait that long!).  Remove toothpick and enjoy!! Remember to share…

***This step should be watched carefully, as each oven may broil differently and chances of burning the “poppers” are high.

Pheasants Forever works to make sure this is NOT the landscape of the future for those who care about wildlife and hunting.

I worked the Pheasants Forever booth at the Minnesota State Fair this week.  I really enjoyed meeting and visiting with people and we signed up a fair number of new members.  It was especially rewarding to have someone come by and say “I’m a life member!”  It was also fun to have someone say, “I don’t know about your organization” and then give us a chance to tell him or her about our mission, our chapters and the work our volunteers do for habitat and youth.  Many signed up after hearing our spiel.

What bothered me are the few who walked by the booth, made a point of saying, “I love pheasant hunting!” but had no interest in learning more about Pheasants Forever and our habitat efforts benefiting their very passion.  I couldn’t help it, but when one guy was so uninterested, I called after him, “We have pheasants because of Pheasants Forever!” 

 Is it too much to think that people should be willing to pay $35 for a membership in an organization that makes sure they can enjoy what they love to do?  I know they pay a lot more for their ammunition, hunting gear, licenses and travel to hunt pheasants.  I know I’m prejudiced about the job we do to make sure the Farm Bill includes funding for conservation practices, the grants we seek for habitat projects and the work we do to bring along the next generation of conservationists.  I just don’t understand why so many pheasant hunters, 2 million of them in fact, are so short sighted.  I hope their vision is better when they are shooting the birds!

Are you reading this and aren’t a member yet?  Here’s a hint and a special offer: http://www.pfstore.org/?main_page=product_info&products_id=1224

If you’ve read my blog before, you’ve stumbled across thoughts pertaining to my new puppy, Beau. However, up until this point I haven’t truly revealed the fact that she’s a “pointing Lab.” Seeing as how I’m conditioned to put “pointing Lab” in quotes, it should be no surprise that it took me this long to let the proverbial rooster out of the bag.

Not to get too analytical, or “Freudish,” on the subject of owning a pointing lab (I’m much more of a Pavlov person anyway), I can’t figure out why I felt the need to keep this a secret in some circles. Undoubtedly, there are purists that will shun me and claim I’m taking a dog that has had certain genes ignored just to bring out other traits, just as there are people who claim all retrievers are flushers – end of story. Well, why is it that way? Every breed of canine we’re familiar with is the direct result of breeding for certain genetic traits – why does this suddenly need to end now that we’re in the 21^st century?

I hunt for ducks, geese and of course, pheasant, A LOT. I wanted a dog that could transition seamlessly from the duck marsh in the morning to the fields in the afternoon. Sure, there are plenty of versatile dogs out there, but growing up in a Lab family meant my heart was already loyal to one breed. Enter stage left: the pointing Lab. Able to point pheasants (or as some claim “stutter step”), retrieve ducks and not wimp out on cold mornings, this is the perfect dog for me and I don’t care what some Lab purists say about it.

Moral of the story? Who cares what’s out in the field with you.  If you’re lucky enough to have a four legged friend by your side, then you understand that it doesn’t matter the breed, age or color. What matters is that you’re blessed enough to be out in the field with your best friend every chance you get (although, it doesn’t hurt to have a pointing Lab make a few GSP owners’ mouths drop too – ok, I had to throw one jab in there).

Beau pointing a pheasant at 6.5 Months old

The Blizzard Buster Food Plot mix will provide varying levels of forage and cover for pheasants

I’m not saying planting a food plot will lead to “Shoeless” Joe Jackson walking out from the field to go hunting with you, but food plots can help wildlife through tough northern winters. As you begin to think about food plots and ordering your seed mixes for next spring’s planting, here are a few important factors to keep in mind.

1)      Nesting cover is the single biggest limiting habitat factor for pheasants across most of their range. If you don’t have quality nesting cover on your land, then spend your time focused here.

2)      Pheasant’s second biggest habitat need is brood cover. Most folks know about the need for large expanses of grass for nesting season, but brood cover is less understood by the general public. When pheasant chicks are young, they have some pretty specific needs:  a) forbs (flowers) that produce lots of insects for a chick’s diet and b) grass cover that provides concealment over the chick’s head from avian predators, but not so dense at the ground level that chicks can’t get through the understory.

3)      Food plots are beneficial to pheasants when they are planned properly. It is important to keep food plots close to winter cover to minimize predation and exposure to the birds. It’s even more beneficial to plant a food plot that doubles as thermal cover such as Pheasants Forever’s Signature Blizzard Buster mix. 

4)      Perennial food plots consist of native grasses and forbs providing different levels of vertical cover and different food sources available at different times of the year. In the spring, the forbs will attract insects that pheasant chicks depend on for a protein source. As we move through the year, seeds from the grasses and forbs will provide an additional food source. Grasses such as switchgrass, Indian grass, sideoats grama, and Canada wildrye are an excellent food source for pheasants. These are also considered bunchgrasses and provide thick, thermal cover for the birds throughout the year.

5)      Perennial food plots provide additional benefits when compared to their annual (corn, barley, rye, etc.) counterparts. They provide food and cover year-round and do not need to be replanted every year. Perennial food plots do require more weed control before, during, and after establishment but the dividends are worth it.

For questions concerning food plots and other pheasant habitat needs, contact your local Pheasants Forever Field Representative or Farm Bill Biologist.

The harvest from the author's summer garden has peaked, but the game harvest is just starting with a North Dakota dove hunt this Friday.

September marks the beginning of the end for the summer garden. It also marks the beginning of the game harvest, starting with dove season, which opened around the country September 1st.

This morning before work, I harvested some pumpkins and squash from the backyard garden. Yesterday morning, I was out there and popped a dozen or more cherry tomatoes into my mouth for breakfast. Sweetened by the soil and warmed by the sun, their flavor was incredible. For lunch, my wife and I ate a medley of garden produce that included eggplant, summer squash, hot peppers, onions and potatoes shredded and sautéed in butter then topped with a honey mustard dressing. Hungry yet?

I’ll sure miss these garden lunches come the first killing frost, which in mid-Minnesota can come anytime now that it’s September. But for now, there’s more garden produce to come, especially since the 2.3 inches rain that fell the last two nights got things growing again after a two week dry spell.

Yet, while the garden harvest wanes, the game harvest is just waxing, beginning with a dove hunt in North Dakota starting Friday. I’ll also set up a new duck camp there for when we return October 14th.  After doves, I have a metro Twin Cities bow deer hunt to get ready for and then rifle antelope in Wyoming.  In late September, I’ll join some U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service woodcock experts for a timberdoodle hunt and habitat tour near Minnesota’s famed Mille Lacs walleye lake north of the Pheasants Forever offices about 90 minutes. Woodcock is declining because of its aging forest habitat. Some of our pheasant habitat efforts happen to be helping this bird.  Pheasants Forever members will read about this hunt sometime next year in the Pheasants Forever Journal.

And of course, I’m also looking forward to my pheasant and quail hunts. Shoot me some news from your garden and what hunts you are looking forward to in the comments section below. Thanks.

A Yooper's Pheasant Jambalaya

A good friend of mine processes a few of his pheasants into andouille sausage each season.  I’ve always associated andouille sausage with jambalaya, so that’s how I’ve utilized his generous gifts of frozen packets. 

Last night, I put the final pack of pheasant andouille sausage to work.  I’m certainly no Cajun chef from Louisiana, so please forgive my Yooper take on this classic French and Spanish influenced dish. 

1)      Start by boiling six servings of rice.

2)      As the rice begins to soften (about half way through the cooking time), add two diced pheasant andouille sausages.

3)      Add a can of chili beans (medium chili sauce).

4)      Add a half pound of cooked shrimp (deveined and no tails).

5)      Add a quarter bottle of Frank’s hot sauce (to taste).

6)      Simmer on low for 10 minutes.

7)      Check the spiciness of the broth and add more Frank’s hot sauce if necessary.

8)      Add a cup of sweet corn kernels and half a diced green pepper.

9)      Simmer for a minute longer, cool, and serve.

Serves four easily and makes great leftovers as well.  I think you’ll find pheasant jambalaya to be a pretty tasty way to add a little spicy variety to your pheasant menu.

Chef Pierre

Sign up to receive Pheasants Forever's 2010 Pheasant Hunting Forecast and you may also win a new Beretta

• Congrats to the Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants on winning both the first and second half division races.  The Pheasants first playoff game is Tuesday versus the Lincoln Saltdogs.  Go Pheasants!

• Be sure to visit Pheasants Forever’s booth at the Minnesota State Fair in the Dairy Building.  Thanks to the 100+ new members who have joined the first four days of the fair.  I’ll be back out there on Tuesday afternoon with fellow PF blogger Anthony Hauck.  Please stop by and say hello!

• Be sure to sign up to receive Pheasants Forever’s 2010 Pheasant Hunting Forecast.  It’s coming next week!

• From the files of WHAT DID YOU DO WITH YOUR SUMMER VACATION?  Check out what PF Intern Chad Hildebrand has been doing: scanning every cover from the Pheasants Forever Journal 28 year history.

It's easy to see how wet it is in the grouse woods even through the lense of a poor quality camera phone.

Minnesota’s ruffed grouse hunting season is still three weeks away, but I couldn’t wait any longer.  So on Saturday morning, my pup and I headed to the grouse woods of northeastern Minnesota for a scouting look around.  What did we find?

1)      It’s REALLY Wet in the Woods.  Trammell, my shorthair, literally went on point when a creek chub startled her from a puddle in the middle of a logging trail.  Creeks, streams, swamps, and bogs are all overflowing their normal banks.  Every path I took led to wet feet.  Plan to wear your knee high rubber boots for the grouse opener unless we experience a significant lack of rain between now and mid September.

2)      The Mosquitoes are Hungry.  To most of you reading this, the obvious reaction is “Duh!”  Well, here’s what I was thinking: it was noon on a sunny summer day in the high 80s.  It was also incredibly windy.  How bad could the blood suckers really be?  I got my answer.  I’ll be hoping for a hard frost in the coming weeks.  

3)      Not a single bird.  That’s not really a surprise when you consider I never wandered off the main trails and the ATV traffic was INTENSE.

In any event, I for one am looking forward to Wednesday.  Wednesday is September 1^st and the door opens to autumn.  I understand the ruffed grouse drumming counts to be down in the Great Lakes states this year; however, I’ve heard excellent reports from friends and family in northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Three weeks till ruffed grouse season also means pheasant season is quickly approaching on the horizon.  On your mark, get set . . .