Pineridge

[Bruce Day]

Hanging out for a few days with my buddy Jerry Havel by Remer Minnesota working my bird dogs. They will be ready for prairie grouse in September and ruffed grouse in October.

Coming back for the Woodcock Minnesota sporting clays shoot Aug 18. Should be a fun time and I’ll exhibit a rack of Parker smallbores of all grades. Come on over .

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Hope you have some good weather for working those dogs. I've got 2 one year olds that are coming on strong and will get alot of hunt time this year. Two weeks in the UP and at least a week in Kansas, plus local hunt time. They are at my friends "bird dog camp" and I hope to get some pictures to post this weekend. Wish I was up in the "north" country.
Post a few pictures and make us all real jealous.

[Brett Hoop]

Wish I could be there. I just got back from a week of birddog camp in northern Wisconsin. October will be here before we know it and those days when I feel most alive.

[Bruce Day]

More pictures.

My dogs Bert and Fielder

We just put up a nice yellow tailed second year grouse 100 yards from the camp and on the road in

72 degrees at the Parker cabin


Drat. I can’t get enough electrons flowing to load photos. I’ll get them later.

[Dean Romig]

I envy you - the air here today has been like a tropical swamp.





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[Mills Morrison]

We aren't just LIKE a tropical swamp down here. We ARE a tropical swamp. It is truly miserable

Would love to be up at Pine Ridge Grouse Camp. Hopefully, it will happen one day

[Bruce Day]

My dogs have been with Jerry the last two months while I was teaching shooting at Boy Scout camp. We run about 6000 youth and adult leaders through camp and are the largest session camp and second only to Philmont. So Jerry boarded, did a refresher on Bert and Fielder. I want my dogs to be steady to wing and shot. And not to bust birds at all. Bert the pointer is a better big runner for prairies but Fielder the setter is closer, methodical and cautious and may be the better ruffed grouse dog.

Jerry Havel at Pineridge Grouse Camp is a Parker guy and PGCA member. There are a bunch of u tube videos on the camp .

I often hunt with Jerry for a couple days and usually rent a cabin or house in the next county north and guide friends. Lots of places. Walleye dinners. The grouse count was down last year but this year the drumming count is high and it may the apex of the cycle for this year and next. I’m spending a month out to start on sharptails and Hungarian partridge in Montana and move east to Minnesota for sharptails, woodcock and ruffs.

[Dean Romig]

:envy:





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[Bill Mullins]

Bruce.. sounds like a "tough life but I guess someone has
to do it"!! :)

[Todd Poer]

Wow!. Thanks for report Bruce. Good times. My brother in law is from Remer. Never thought I would hear Remer, Minnesota mentioned so prominently. Will have to go see those Pineridge videos.

BTW Bruce did you move. Your old location was Flyover Country now it is Edge of the Plains, or is that the same place?

[Bruce Day]

I am sometimes at the southern edge of Kansas City and other times at Lake of the Ozarks where I have houses. Then other times in northern MN , Montana , Dodge City, OK panhandle, etc.

[Todd Poer]

I like it. Your like the Lone Ranger that hails from parts unknown. Now I got the William Tell Overture stuck in my head picturing you on all your adventures. Hi Yo Chevy Silverado!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7O91GDWGPU

I visited some of the Pineridge videos, that is awesome.

BTW Kudos on helping out the Scouts or whatever they are calling them these days. Regardless I think it is awesome that you are doing that. Good luck with upcoming hunts.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Bruce, your thread sure started the old juices flowing. I picked my two setters who just turned one this month. They were at "camp" getting daily training on birds for the past month. It was pretty hot/humid Sat. and some guys started opening up with their AR's on the rifle range, and that made the dogs a little more jumpy than normal. While Ernie was out planting the birds, I saw some loose training quail run across the path, so I worked the Black Willow aka" Willie" over that way and she hit a nice point. At the flush, she did break, but only moved a few feet. She did fine on the planted pigeons also. 'Doodle also performed well and we later had a nice point backed by Willie, but couldnt get both dogs in the picture. I do believe they will do fine during bird season.

[Bruce Day]

Good looking dogs.

When you hunt big country you need dog power. Hunt to the horizon.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Thats a long way out there.
I do have a little more dog power, Betty and Fancy.

[Rich Anderson]

The Minnesota Woodcock shoot is a fun time. I did it with Jerry's dad Randy one year.

It was a nice weekend in the U.P. Ike went for some field time and am working on whistle training him. It's very thick and wasn't long before I managed to slip on a log. My ankle went one way my knee another and as I fell backwards I heard a snap. I was sure I'd broken my meg but fortunately it was a stick breaking. My knee swelled to 3X it's normal size. Thank goodness i had ice for both my knee and the medicine:)

Ike and I will be in the U.P. from 9/20 to 11/1. We should be able to find a bird or two. He will be a year old 9/13 so both of our birthdays will be celebrated at bird camp....priceless.

[Todd Poer]

Ouch. Knee troubles are awful. Been lucky so far but have friends and family with it and know it is tough. Things just happen and or stuff just wears out. I hear about a lot of success with stem cell therapy for knees that is less painful and invasive as surgery with quicker recovery, but it is not paid for by insurance, go figure.

The few times I've been grouse and woodcock hunting in Mn it was not the walk the roads and trails type hunts and get a limit of birds you read about, but it was a whole lot better than the grouse hunts we had climbing App Mtn hillsides. We had to hit the brush and cover hard to find any birds and they were there and in bunches of 3 to 4 and I had thought grouse were mostly solitary birds. That is when I also learned the Mn term for GD Balsam. Having to work those deadfalls that the grouse were using for cover near some two year old clear cuts was tough going especially when you see your dog on point and got 6 or 7 trees you got to cross to get to him before the bird flushes. That will wear a knee out and a few other body parts.

Second day into a seven day hunt when we had just figured out what birds were doing and heading to a point, stepped over a GD balsam and foot came down on another GD balsam log with slimy bark. Slipped and caught my self from falling in a weird forward stumble but other leg was hung up on log a bit and felt that awful pop, like someone had just shot me in the groin and thigh booty area with a bb gun. Actually stood up and looked around for a smiling culprit needing a whupping, but nobody was there and buddy was 50 yards away slightly in front quartering in toward the dog. Took a few steps more then tried to side step another GD balsam and knew right off it was no bb gun.

Pushed through it and was able to walk okay rest of week without much trouble but when we had to hit the brush and cross those GD balsam logs I am certain my arthritic 95 year old grandmother could move faster with her walker and with less complaint. Still a great trip and would do it again, pulled thigh booty and all if that was the price to pay. Btw when I got home my wife saw my back side and I had not even noticed it until she said something but back of my leg was blue, purple and yellow.

[Rich Anderson]

One of my friends did the stem cell treatment for his knee. The short term results were pretty good but long term results left a bit to be desired.

As I get older I've noticed my knees don't work as well as I'd like and I've fallen a couple of time hunting. Once was with a nice CHE 20:eek: I guess that's what gunsmiths and orthopedic surgeons are for:rotf:

[Todd Poer]

That is interesting about the knee and stem cell. My buddy had it done and swear by it but I guess all cases are different.

Glad your keeping your sense of humor about your unfortunates. Bet there are a lot of interesting and maybe funny stories to commiserate with everyone about their mishaps. If you can't laugh at ourselves from time to time, who can you laugh at?

We've all had crash and burn experience's, some worse than others and no laughing matter on some with tragic results. But the old saying what doesn't kill ya makes you stronger probably applies. Bet there are some great stories of reasonable minded people that had accidents befall them where they tore themselves up and maybe broke their gun or saved their gun by giving the body. Like I said have had my mishaps but nothing to bad.

Was duck hunting in a beaver pond and stumbled and fell in waist deep water. Floated the cap but held my gun out of the water. Buddy said I was under for a good 5 count with me holding my pump shotgun out of the water like a redneck version of the lady of the lake holding Excalibur out of the water. That was about as graceful as it got once I came up sputtering and cussing.

The worst thing that I know that has happened to family member was when grouse hunting in an old holler up in the hills and they stepped into an old rusted out but hidden mash pit from an old abandoned moonshine camp. That pit was disguised and hidden so well you could not see it. Tore up his leg and fell on gun and cracked the stock. I think the gun event went off. Ever since then when walking in woods if I see trash or broken bottles in place real inconvenient to get to, I am looking for old pits and have found quite a few.

[Kenny Graft]

Harold...them pups are looking good! I know its a lot of work and two pups at one time, wow gotta be nerve wracking! No wonder you got some help...…….I look forward to the U.P> this fall....just over 10 weeks out, time is-a fly-in!...…….(-: SXS Ohio