How to Train a Good Fishing Dog

There are few fishing buddies who will tolerate the 100th time I say “one last cast!” or endure early spring canoeing in semi-thawed ponds. One I can always count on is my dog, Nelson. He’s there tail wagging as I reel in what could be a personal best or a sardine—excited either way. He’s opened doors to solo fishing which, as a small woman, wouldn’t be comfortable without him there. That said, this 80-pound lug of snuggle and I put in a lot work...

How to Hunt Turkeys with a Dog

Call it heresy or a useful game management tool, but if you haven’t yet taken a wild turkey on the wing in fall you’re missing out on a thrilling, challenging way to put white meat on the Thanksgiving table. While fall turkey hunting has taking a backseat to the popular pursuit of spring gobblers in the last 50 years, this tradition has its own rich history, along with a playbook of successful strategies (as famed turkey author Col. Tom Kelly can...

How to Hunt Grouse Without a Dog

We’ve all seen the magazine covers: A thin creek trickling beneath a grove of aspen, the grouse flushing toward their crowns, a tweeded hunter with a double gun, and the setter pointing the ground where the bird just burst from. Like most magazine covers, that’s not how it usually happens. It’s a fantasy. For those of us without the income, allergy resistance, or space for a dog, that picturesque scene seems about as reachable as stalking...