“Gunther,” a three-year-old large munsterlander, is Lance Olson’s pheasant hunting machine. Olson, from Columbus, Minnesota says Gunther is a true versatile hunting companion that also hunts northwoods grouse to ducks and geese up and down the flyway.

Have your own bird dog photo you’d like to share? Email it to Anthony Hauck, Pheasants Forever’s Online Editor, at ahauck@pheasantsforever.org.

Scott Sebring harvested these opening day wild Ohio roosters with help from “Jake” the German wirehaired pointer and “Tucker” the field bred Golden retriever.

Have your own bird dog photo you’d like to share? Email it to Anthony Hauck, Pheasants Forever’s Online Editor, at ahauck@pheasantsforever.org.

Photo by Mike Rausch / Pheasants Forever

The easiest feathers to use in muskie lures are the tail feathers. They are the most durable, they have great lines that match the vertical patterns that many bait fish have, and they are long enough to cover the long shanks of the giant treble hooks. The only issue that arises with these feathers is they have strong quills and their rigidity does not flow very well behind a pair of #8 or #10 Colorado blades. I suggest only using the top 4-5 inches of the tail feather. In order to get the desired fluidity behind the blades, I tie marabou and some of the breast feathers into the skirt.

Making your own lures also saves your pocket book as well. Any hardware, such as beads, blades, and wire components of these baits can be found on line or at local outdoor sporting goods stores. Pheasant feathers are expensive when purchased at the store and buying multiple components at once is far cheaper than buying a completed lure.

Much of lure-making is experimental. Ideas such as colors, size, and presentation have to be tinkered with. That is part of the reason why making lures is so fascinating.  There are endless combinations of components that can be put together to make a great lure, and there is always some reason to make another.

Making lures out of pheasant feathers is a great way to pay tribute to its beauty. I use the time making lures to recollect the good memories of the previous hunting season and to dream in anxious anticipation of the upcoming fishing season. As I tie pheasant feathers onto a lure, I am also tying two of my passions together, bringing my two favorite hobbies full circle.

-Mike Rausch is Pheasants Forever’s Artwork and Firearms Coordinator

Heath Boeke from North Liberty, Iowa is extremely proud of his chocolate Labrador retriever pup named Roxy Luger Kinnick. “Roxy” worked up these two roosters on a public land hunt near Marengo, Iowa.

Have your own bird dog photo you’d like to share? Email it to Anthony Hauck, Pheasants Forever’s Online Editor, at ahauck@pheasantsforever.org.

The photo shows a pair of mallards in my dinner table-sized backyard pond. They’ve been using it in the afternoon for over a week. I suspect the pair is nesting somewhere close. They dabble in the pond and then wander the backyard before flying off.

Photo by Mark Herwig / Pheasants Forever

People push me to rake my lawn, drown it in weed chemicals and ‘tidy up.” But I leave it shaggy. Why? Nesting songbirds flock to my yard to pick up bits and pieces of dead plant material for nests. This spring, a robin used such material to build a nest in a grapevine thicket atop a lattice on the garage. I’ve also seen blue jays and mourning doves gathering material here. The robins and wasps also use the pond’s mud for nesting material. During dry spells, local birds, insects and squirrels drink from my humble pond – the only source of nearby water in our well-drained urban neighborhood. I let ragweed and sunflowers grow in odd corners. The cardinals love ragweed seed and gold finches feast on the sunflowers every year.

I leave dead branches, trees (when safe) and stumps for bees to nest and insects for woodpeckers to eat. I spotted a huge pileated woodpecker hammering on a three-foot high stump in a neighbor’s yard two weeks ago. Once, a chickadee hammered out a hole in a dead tree in my yard and raised a brood. I also leave larger dead branches on the ground in places where mushrooms off all types sprout and insects feed and nest. I stack cut tree and shrub branches in several spots where birds overnight in winter; and placed a pallet underneath where cottontails find refuge.Over the years, I’ve also established a large diversity of plants in the yard, mostly native trees, flowers, annuals, perennials and even cattails, algae, arrowhead and more in the pond. The pond’s insect life sustains a toad and even a frog. I leave the short-tailed shrews to burrow through the soil eating insects, and even my vegetable garden where they do no damage at all to the plants. Their activity aerates the soil, allows better rain penetration and brings nutrients to the surface layer.

I’ve identified numerous species of birds in the backyard, many more than you’ll see in a yard that has only two-inch high bluegrass and the odd tree. Some people like highly manicured, sterile lawns, but wildlife love them scruffy, diverse and left alone.

While backyards don’t support all the wildlife we love, there’s certainly more habitat and wildlife diversity in my backyard than in a bluegrass lawn or the endless miles of chemically-treated grain fields sprouting across the country, a biological desert if there ever was one.

The Nomad is written by Mark Herwig, Editor of the Pheasants Forever Journal and Quail Forever Journal. Email Mark at mherwig@pheasantsforever.org.

Mike Ditscheit is proud of his Labrador retriever, “Cisco,” for flushing and retrieving his son Nick’s first South Dakota rooster. Ditscheit is equally proud of Nick.

Have your own bird dog photo you’d like to share? Email it to Anthony Hauck, Pheasants Forever’s Online Editor, at ahauck@pheasantsforever.org.

Photo by Nancy Anisfield / Anisfield Hunting Dog Photography

According to DOGWatch, the newsletter from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, a study of close to 500,000 Veterinary Pet Insurance policies shows pet owners in general tend to prefer people names for their dogs. Currently the most popular dog names are Bella, Bailey, Max, Lucy, Molly, Buddy, Daisy, Maggie, Charlie and Sophie. This is not necessarily true, however, for hunting dog owners.

A few years ago I did some highly unscientific research on dog names. I went through one month’s records of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association’s test results for Natural Ability and Utility Tests, grouping dogs’ registered names into categories to look for trends. I disregarded the kennel part of each name, and I also skipped tongue-twisting German names, most of which had more than 37 letters per word. My goal was to see where hunting dog owners’ creativity led them.

Max was the most popular human name, but in the people category I discovered a curious, if not notorious, cast of characters such as Outlaw Josey Wales, Orphan Annie, Goliath, Cleopatra, Daisy Duke, Valentino, Buster Brown, DB Cooper, Jesse James, Son of Sam (!) and D’Artagnan. Owners of a more lyrical bent chose names to delight the senses, such as Rhythm of the Tide and Ray of Light.  Gun names were big – Citori, Benelli, Browning, Kimber, Ruger and Red Ryder. Important hunt-related designations showed up, too: Reload, Decoy, Scout, Gunner, Hunter, Silver Bullet, Buck Shot and I Can Pointabird.

Good will and positive thoughts sparkled from optimistic names such as Coasting Smoothly, New Beginnings, Revelation, Feeling Groovy, Practically Perfect, Bound ‘n Determined, Symphony of Dreams, Radiance of Paradise (try to live up to that name!), Razzle Dazzle ‘Em and Amazing Grace.

EZ Come EZ Whoa apparently came pre-trained.

Power names appeared in spicy (Hot Pepper, Black Pepper, Sage Pepper), climatological (Stormbuster, Speak Thunder, Rainmaker, Perfect Storm) and downright scary (Blazing Howl).  Adult beverages were a source of inspiration, as well. There were dogs named Budweiser, Zinfandel, Absolut, Rolling Rock, Bourbon Sippin Broad, and Jaegermeister.

Before drawing the totally superficial, statistically unconfirmed conclusion that hunters are inspired by notoriety, good vibes, hunting, booze and power, I checked  the most recent posting of NAVHDA test scores. Sure enough, Cleopatra and Artemis filled the famous name category; Ricochet, Camouflage and Hunter were on the hunting list; and Epiphany, Ace in the Hole and Luck Be a Lady joined the positive team. Power names included High Explosive, Solar Flair and Shock & Awe, with Grey Goose and Stolichnaya at the bar.

My research is not over. I’m not sure what category Moose in the Woods belongs to. And I’ve started to wonder…what if Bucky Badger met Nothing But Trouble who was actually Born to Boogie, then found Heart’s Afire but wanted No Strings Attached when he discovered the dog Ain’t No Pussycat?

Nancy Anisfield, an outdoor photographer/writer, sporting dog enthusiast and bird hunter, serves on Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s National Board of Directors. She resides in Hinesburg, Vermont.

Pheasants Forever members and staff recently talked conservation policy with elected officials in Washington, D.C. (Pictured l to r) PF staffer Tom Fuller; PF member Daryl Landsgard of Saint Olaf, Iowa; Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa; and PF member Bob Puetz of LeMars, Iowa (PHOTO BY REHAN NANA)

I am pleased to report the United States Senate passed their version of the 2013 Farm Bill by a vote of 66 to 27 on Monday.  This bill would establish U.S. agricultural policy for the next five years.  Included in the Senate’s bill were:

• Reauthorization of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
• Reauthorization of the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP)
• Reauthorization of the Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP)
• A conservation compliance provision re-linking crop insurance premium support to certain conservation practices.
• A national “Sodsaver” program helping to safeguard native prairies.

The Senate’s version of the Farm Bill is good policy for landowners, hunters and conservationists.  Unfortunately, there are a number of steps remaining before this policy can take effect for the benefit of farmers and wildlife.

The next step is for the U.S. House of Representatives to take up the Farm Bill on the full House floor.  This step, as you may recall, is exactly where last year’s attempt to push the Farm Bill to completion died on the vine.  Based on the discussion coming out of the House this session, I’m optimistic the Farm Bill will reach the House floor as early as next week.  The House and the Senate titles are relatively similar with the exception of two important policy provisions.  The House’s current bill lacks the conservation compliance connection to crop insurance and has a regional version of “Sodsaver” rather than the national version.  We’re going to continue to work toward influencing the House to include those two important provisions.

Consequently, we are asking all Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever members to be on alert as we monitor Farm Bill debate in the House in the coming weeks.  There will likely be a time in the coming days when we sound the alarm and ask all members and hunters to contact their U.S. Representative with a key message about our position on conservation.

Unfortunately, there are still three more steps for a new Farm Bill after passage of a bill in the House.  The first of those steps would be a conferencing of the Senate and House Farm Bills together to rectify differences between the two bodies.  Second, the conferenced bill would have to be approved by a full Congressional vote.  And finally, the final bill would have to be signed by the President.

Obviously, that’s a lot of steps and the 2008 Farm Bill expires on September 30^th.  Congress needs to push this 2013 Farm Bill across the finish line before that deadline is met.  And, another extension to the 2008 Farm Bill would irreversibly change the face of private lands conservation threatening the existence of conservation programs that landowners and hunters have relied on for decades.

Stay tuned.

The D.C. Minute is written by Dave Nomsen, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Government Affairs

Standing Stones Nothin But Trouble, known as “Nix” in the field, pointed his way to these Kansas roosters. “At not quite eight-months-old, he did great on these wild birds,” says Kat Pippitt, who along with her husband, Ethan, owns and trains “Nix.”

Have your own bird dog photo you’d like to share? Email it to Anthony Hauck, Pheasants Forever’s Online Editor, at ahauck@pheasantsforever.org.

Prairies and wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region are essential for upland and migratory bird production. Photo courtesy NRCS

Pheasants Forever has been awarded a $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant to conserve prairie and wetlands on 3,829 acres in southwest Minnesota. As part of the grant, Pheasants Forever and partners will permanently conserve, through land acquisition, 1,633 acres which will also be opened up for public access.

Prairie and wetlands are the two most highly altered habitats in Minnesota and elsewhere throughout the Prairie Pothole Region. The Southwest Wetland Initiative of Minnesota project, slated for Big Stone, Blue Earth, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Lincoln, Redwood, and Renville counties, is the first in a multi-year initiative to accelerate the permanent protection of prairie wetland complexes under threat from intensified agriculture, gravel mining and other activities. The project will protect 1,633 acres, restore 497 acres, and enhance 1,699 acres in sites important not only for pheasants but waterfowl production and migratory habitats for wetland-dependent species like mallard, blue-winged teal, gadwall, American widgeon, northern pintail, lesser scaup, marbled godwit, bobolink, and grasshopper sparrow.  Likewise, this initiative will provide associated water quality and soil benefits in addition to the habitat critical to this wide array of wildlife species.

A project of this expanse requires significant funding and partners. Pheasants Forever has utilized matching funding and partners to bring an additional $7.14 million to make this project a reality. The project’s partners include Minnesota’s Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; Cottonwood County Game and Fish League; Pietz Family Farms; Voosen Family; and the Bank Beer Company.

Additionally, Pheasants Forever chapters also played an important role in this conservation project through donations to the organization’s Legislative Action Fund (LAF). The Legislative Action Fund allows Pheasants Forever to go after available conservation funding through sources such as NAWCA, then turn those dollars into on-the-ground wildlife habitat projects. Pheasants Forever chapters, through our Legislative Action Fund, are helping the organization bring more conservation dollars to the table while helping us maintain our model of efficiency.

The D.C. Minute is written by Dave Nomsen, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s Vice President of Government Relations.