Sometimes a dog comes into your life under the most unlikely circumstances.  That's how a little firecracker Brittany named Buddy came to hunt at The Webb Farm. 

Nearly two years ago, we learned of the death of a good hunting friend of ours, Frank Machado.  Frank hunted the Farm on many

Buddy and Frank

occasions and always brought Buddy to hunt with him.  His daughter, Vicki, called and said that one of her dad's final requests was that Buddy should come and live and hunt the rest of her life on The Webb Farm.  We never had a Brittany here, but I quickly agreed and soon Buddy arrived on our doorsteps.

When she arrived, yes Buddy is a female, Steve Stutts, one of our guides and his daughter were here.  Brittany and Buddy immediately fell in love and now she lives with the Stutts family, and hunts here with Steve.  "I have owned, trained, and hunted with Brittanies for  years," Steve tells us.  "Buddy is without a doubt the hardest hunting dog I've ever worked with.  She is top notch!  I can't imagine hunting The Webb Farm without her.  Besides, my daughter would never speak to me again if Buddy didn't come home to her everyday!"

"My dad would be very pleased to know that Buddy is so loved and being cared for in such a great place,' says Vicki.

If you have hunted with Steve, then you know Buddy.  If you haven't, then you have something to look forward to.  Buddy is special and we are proud to have her working for us!

Wade and Finn

If you have hunted with us recently, you have experienced our trio of flushing and retrieving labs -- Finn, Tiber, and Strummer.  These Irish Labs from Sundog Kennels add a new dimension to the Farm this year.

Wade Meacham, Head Guide for the Farm and owner of Sundog Kennels brought this new aspect to us.  According to Wade, and seconded by all our guides, working with a flushing dog can really open up the shooting lanes, giving our hunters a broader area in which to shoot birds.

"As a guide, we are always very aware of flushing birds between two shooters. No matter how safe the hunters are, there is still that wary feeling of flushing birds in the midst of shooters.  With our labs, we can stand back from the guns and give our hunters a much broader area in which they can track and shoot rising birds. 

As natural retrievers, our labs make finding downed birds in heavy cover a much easier job.  Other quail hunting operations are taking advantage of this new trend and are adding flushing dogs to the mix.  Here at The Webb Farm we love our Irish Labs from Sundog Kennels.

For more information on Sundog Kennels or to find out how you can own a well trained Irish Lab, visit them at www.sundogkennels.net. 

This story was told to us by Jim Lindsey of Lexington during a hunting visit last week.

Mugsy was a lab that I trained over the years to do amazing things.  Oh heck, training a dog ain't nothing but repetition.  If you have patience and love, you can teach a dog to do most anything you want him to do.  I trained Mugsy to retrieve my shotgun on many occasions.

I used to take customers on a traditional dove hunt in September each year.  As we walked to the dove fields, I would stop and look around, seemingly exasperated.  Then turning to Mugsy, I would say, 'Damnit Mugsy, I forgot my shotgun!  Go fetch it for me out of the truck.'  Mugsy would high tail it back to the truck, open the already cracked back door, grab my case, and carry the shotgun back to our group.  When he returned, much to the amused pleasures of my party, I would again look exasperated and say, 'Now Mugsy, you know I cant hunt with out my shells!  Go get my shell case.'  And off for another retrieve he would go!

Maybe next time I'll tell you about him playing short stop for my Little League team!

Mugsy was a smart dog!

The bobwhite quail needs an early successional habitat, meaning the birds reside in pastures, abandoned fields, crop fields, grasslands, brushy areas along forest edges and shrubby meadows.  Remember this little fact when hunting The Webb Farm.