From the field  ...   

I had high hopes on our return to Flying Double F Ranch near Vale, Oregon, the next location for Wingshooting USA. And ultimately, we were rewarded. We redefined run-and-gun, covering miles of ranch property to hunt honey holes ranging from standing corn to streambeds, sagebrush slopes to CRP.   

On the injured reserve list but not happy!

We alternated host Jim Farmer's pointers with Manny and Buddy in tandem, until the pup yelped and I scrambled down a ditch bank to unhook him from the barbed wire fence. A quick glance, no damage and back to the pheasants. Or so I thought.

Manny and Buddy tracked ringnecks up and down the ditch, through the fields, and into a cattail swamp where the one close bird snuck out and under a gigantic irrigation pipe. We trekked up a steep, crumbly desert slope, huffing and puffing after a covey of chukars that flushed wild. Around the ridge and down a draw and there they were! Jim's son James put the hurt on one, brought to hand by Buddy. The leavings doubled back, and on our return trip James flushed them, dropped one of the gray rockets while I did an artful pirouette and brought down another.

Sometimes on hands and knees, we snuck through the hardwoods and dog-hair-thick willows along Bully Creek. Valley quail escaped well in front of us until James called a covey milling nervously, pittt-pitting under a tall cottonwood. They broke left and jinked right, squirting through the leaves and over the creekbanks on both sides. One finally dropped to my shot. Read more.  

Buddy's blog

(My six-year-old German Wirehair Buddy has posted his next blog. His nephew, Manny, is still learning to type but Buddy says he's

The author at work ... don't believe everything he says!

progressing nicely and will soon be filing his own reports from the field. Here is Buddy's latest account:)

We're a pretty good team, The Pup and I. He's a diamond in the "ruff," but that beard and those eyebrows sure hold promise! That day The Boss took us a long way in the box-on-wheels-he-yells-at.

When we finally jumped onto the cold white stuff we were happy. Cold good, we smell easier. Not smell better, The Boss says ... he thinks dead deer pieces we roll on bad; we LOVE. Better birrrd sniffing, though. [Read Buddy's entire blog post here.]

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TruckVault Cares ... about conservation, canines & kids

You'll be hearing more soon about our exciting on-air, online, multimedia effort to support "the good guys" in our world. For now, learn more about one of the groups that will benefit:

Founded in 1995, the AKC Canine Health Foundation is the largest nonprofit worldwide to fund health research exclusively for canines. We work to raise the awareness and funds necessary to support non-invasive, innovative health research that helps dogs and their owners live longer and healthier lives.

We will be supporting an initiative to determine the extent of the threat posed by barbed grass awns, or "mean seeds." Foxtails, cheatgrass and ryegrass seeds attach to a dogs coat and pierce the skin or are ingested or inhaled.  Once in a dog's body, these mean seeds tend to migrate, leaving a trail of infection behind.  These infections cause illness that is difficult to diagnose, and can even be fatal. Learn more here, then stay tuned for more information on "TruckVault Cares."