Switching Gears

“I have always tempered my killing with respect for the game pursued. I see the animal not only as a target but as a living creature with more freedom than I will ever have. I take that life if I can, with regret as well as joy, and with sure knowledge that nature’s way of fang and claw or exposure and starvation are a far cruel fate than I bestow.” - Fred Bear

I have said it before and I will say it again; as much as I like to fish, I really rely on it as a crutch to get me through the months of the year that I cannot go bird hunting. With just about a month until bird season opens I have basically hung up my fishing gear for the year and am in full preparation mode for hunting season. September 1^st is a beautiful day. In Nevada that date marks the opener for Doves, and Grouse, which can certainly keep you busy until the Partridge and Quail season opens a little over a month later. Throw a muzzleloader Mule Deer tag in there during the later part of September and that is a receipt for a great start to the season. Lots of great times in some of the most beautiful places that I can imagine, and plenty of opportunity for (true) free range organic meat.

As busy that I have been this summer with the twins and with moving, I have managed to keep the dogs in as good of shape as they have ever been in going into a hunting season. They are fit, healthy, and ready to go. Porter doesn’t run as well in the heat as he used to, but other than that I could not be happier with their health. I am going to run them on pigeons a couple days in August to work out any rust, which I doubt there is, and really just so that they can have some fun while getting back in the grove of hunting. I always like to hit opening day running on all cylinders.

Jay Kincaid

A Busy Week

I got out last week on a little desert trophy fishing expedition with my buddy Darin Elmore. It has been freakishly windy here in Northern Nevada for what seems like months now, and the wind certainly was not our friend that day. As a result we were only able to net one Carp, which Darin caught, but that one fish made it all worthwhile. This is trophy fishing after allJ Darin is one of the very best fly fisherman that I know, so I am always eager to try to learn what I can when I have the opportunity.

This carp knew that he had been caught and is giving us the sad face. No need to frown though, as he was returned back to the water to maybe be caught another day.

 I have been putting the babies in the double stroller (BOB) and have been doing some serious recon missions along the river. We found a couple of runs that looked really good and Friday evening I gave them a try. I was able to land this nice fat rainbow on a stone fly. The good news is that in early spring, which is my favorite time of year to fish the river, there is some really good looking water available within walking distance of the new home. Better winter water than summer water, I believe, and kind of out of the way considering that it is in town.

Let me tell you right now, two babies in a double stroller on dirt trails will wear you out. Saturday morning I was on Dad duty and we did a little 8 mile out and back (my go to evening run this time of year) with the babies in the BOB stroller and it wore me out. It is really hard to get in a rhythm because on cement the stroller will glide so you can use one hand at a time, but on dirt both arms are occupied by pushing. Whoever said being a Dad was easyJ

Finally, I got a chance to get out and see the puppies from Cash and Brand’s litter. They are awesome, and next time around one of them is coming home with me. These puppies are all going to good homes, and I hope for long happy lives for all of them.

Jay Kincaid

ICAST and Sporting Dog Adventures

This last week I was in Orlando for the ICAST fishing show. Those of you who live in the desert with less than 10% humidity, like I do, are certainly out of your element in Florida during the summer months. There is not much that I like about feeling wet all the time, but the show was great, and  I am certainly happy to now be home.

Last Winter I filmed with Jeff Fuller of Sporting Dog Adventures. www.sportingdogadventures.com We ended up shooting two episodes; one on a Chukar hunt, and the other on a Quail hunt. The Chukar episode aired last week on the Sportsman’s Channel, so check it out if you get the chance. We had some challenging conditions, but I think that they did a really nice job of putting the show together. There are not many wild Chukar hunts on television for a reason, and that is because filming it is pretty difficult. I am not sure when the Quail episode is going to air, but I am looking forward to it. Lots of action. I am proud to have had the opportunity to work with Jeff Fuller and hopefully someday we can do something together again.

After being gone for 5 days and the dogs getting no exercise during that time, this is the look that Cash gave me when I got home. He was not happy with me. He got in two long runs this weekend though, so all is forgiven.

Jay Kincaid

Moving and a Shutout

For two days prior to the move Cash shook with nervousness. I got him out of the house to run, but as soon as we arrived back home he was back to the nervous shaking again. Then he decided to stop eating. It’s been two full days at the new house now and he has settled in and is comfortable again. It is crazy what can be stressful to a dog and how they react to that stress.

Sunday morning we went for a short run. Porter spotted a lady carrying a big stick for her dog, ran her down and stole the stick out of her hand. Luckily she was a very nice lady and thought that it was funny. She played with Porter for a while and off we went, Porter with his new stick. He ran with it for about two miles until he started falling behind, then reluctantly dropped it and was off and running again. Some people might frown on this so I will explain… I usually don’t let the dogs retrieve sticks for safety reasons, but if the stick or branch looks safe I let them do with it what they want. When we are just out running I try to let the dogs just be dogs, and Porter loves to run with sticks, tree limbs, etc… (my Dad saw a dog one time impale itself under the tongue with a stick and it came very close to bleeding to death/drowning in its own blood) I have always remember this and will rarely ever throw a stick for the dogs, and always pay attention to what Porter is running/playing with. Some people will tell you that safety reasons aside, you shouldn’t let your hunting dog play with/retrieve sticks because they may decide to retrieve that instead of a bird when hunting. All I can say about that is that Porter, who loves to carry sticks, has retrieved well over 1000 birds in his life and has never retrieved  a stick when he should be retrieving a bird. If your dogs has more desire to retrieve a stick then it does a bird, then despite having a hunting breed, you don’t have a hunting dog. Or there has been fundamental failure by the trainer somewhere along the line. Either way, not good. The same type of people have asked me if because I feed my dogs raw food, do my dogs try to eat the birds that they retrieve. The answer is NO! Ok, I kind of got off track there, but thought it was worth an explanation.

Last night I snuck out before dark to go fish a section of river a couple blocks away from the new house. I regret to inform you that I got shut out, blanked, skunked, whatever you want to call it. I caught nothing but a tree limb and a bad attitude. I didn’t even see a fish surface in the 1 ½ that I was fishing, and I don’t think that I was the only one having a hard time. The Fly Syndicate (Great Blog, by the way) http://theflysyndicate.blogspot.com/ was fishing just upstream from me and it didn’t look real hot for him either. Hopefully he did better than me though. So, that was a little disappointing. Good news though, only two months until bird season is open out west. If you are willing to travel and get creative, September can be a great month for upland bird hunting.

Jay Kincaid