Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Stories! As hunters and outdoors people that seems to be a common thing we all have lots of. Join your amateur guide and host on this channel Ken as he gets tales from guys and gals. Chasing that trophy buck for years to an entertaining morning on the duck pond, comedian ones, to interesting that's what you are going to hear. Also along with some general hunting discussions from time to time but making sure to leave political talks out of it. Don't take this too serious as we sure don't! If you enjoy this at all or find it fun to listen to, we really appreciate if you would subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for. checking us out! We are also on fb as Hunts on outfitting, and instagram. We are on YouTube as Hunts on outfitting podcast.
Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Pheasants, Racoons, and the Bond with Canine Companions
Scott McKillop, a seasoned hunter with deep roots in New Brunswick, joins us to share his experiences and insights from the inaugural public land pheasant hunt in the region. With a passion ignited by family traditions, Scott reveals the nuances of navigating the challenging marshy terrains and the dynamics of working with his English Pointer, Howard. We journey through Scott's tales of pheasants and grouse, learning about the training advantages pheasants provide due to their unique behavior, and the joy of unexpectedly successful hunts in mixed land areas.
The excitement builds as we recount a day that transitions into an adrenaline-charged night of coon hunting. Listeners will be gripped by the riveting stories of bird hunting with dogs, culminating in an unforgettable raccoon encounter that showcases the remarkable skills of Greta, a loyal hunting companion. Scott and our regular guest Dalton Patterson share captivating anecdotes that highlight the evolving perception of hunting dogs as not just field partners, but beloved indoor pets as well, enriching the hunting experience with their unmatched dedication and bond.
Safety and camaraderie are at the heart of our discussions, where humor and serious reflections intertwine. From gun safety to hunting etiquette, we emphasize the importance of careful practices and share both cautionary and amusing tales that underscore the need for vigilance in the field. Through personal stories and practical advice, we explore the social aspects of hunting, celebrating the teamwork and joy that come with sharing outdoor adventures. Join us as we offer a glimpse into the intricacies of hunting life and the cherished moments that define it.
Check us out on Facebook and instagram Hunts On Outfitting, and also our YouTube page Hunts On Outfitting Podcast. Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!
this is hunt on the outfitting podcast. I'm your host and rookie guide, ken meyer. I love everything hunting the outdoors and all things associated with it, from stories to howos. You'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast, all right, welcome to the Huntsman Outfitting Podcast. We're really happy to have you here. If you're listening to this and you're wondering, as you listen to us talk, what the heck do these guys look like? We are actually filming this one. It will be on YouTube. We have not filmed in probably seven or eight months really, the podcast is only nine months old, so we've got a different setup that we're playing with right now Camera angle, lighting, seating, everything. So we'll see how that goes If you're listening to it. Thanks, we appreciate it. This week on the podcast, we have returning I'd say, regular Dalton Patterson. He's been on here six times. If you've listened to other episodes before, uh, you'll recognize his voice and possibly his face, cause he's been filmed before here, and on.
Speaker 3:Uh sorry.
Speaker 1:America's most wanted, or something oh, um. And then our new guest. Yeah, new guest this week is uh, scott McKillop. Scott, appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 3:No problem. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Anytime. So, scott, I have you on here we're going to talk about. Well, first we want to get to know you a little bit, and then we're going to talk about our first ever New Brunswick public land pheasant hunt. And whether you're from New Brunswick or somewhere else in Canada or the United States or wherever you might be able to relate to our first experience hunting pheasant. This was first season we had here and, yeah, we learned a bit, didn't we, scott? We learned a bit. It's not an easy hunt.
Speaker 3:No, there's some trucking involved, yes, but and hard trucking.
Speaker 1:There is, yeah, and Dalton's going to ask the questions that you guys are going to be thinking about at home. So, and Dalton's going to ask the questions that you guys are going to be thinking about at home. So, thanks for that, dalton. Before we get started, scott, who are you, where do you live and how'd you get into hunting?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm Scott McKellip. I've been hunting my whole life. I've lived in Petty Kodiak, new.
Speaker 1:Brunswick. Well, yeah, New.
Speaker 3:Brunswick Can't say Petty.
Speaker 1:You can say that, but people don't. There's a lot of people listening to this from all over the world.
Speaker 3:They don't care where Petticoat is. He's in Canada, yeah, from New Brunswick, and I've been hunting my whole life with my father, and then my uncle's always had dogs, my brother's always had dogs, and I got into hunting with dogs with them and went and got myself one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so your uncle got you guys started in dogs and he's got Springer Spaniels right, he's got Brittany Spaniels. Brittany Spaniels. Brittany Spaniels. Yes, yes.
Speaker 3:And then my brother got an English pointer when he was just out of high school and he had that until he was 14. And now he's got two German Shorthair pointers and I really liked hunting with his English pointer. So when I seen one come up, it was actually a friend of his that he went to firefighting school with. Yeah, he was breeding them. And he asked put it on MB Hunters? And I posted, said I want one. How much? Told me the price and I bought it.
Speaker 1:That's it Basically on the spot, that's how you got into it. Yes, Basically on the spot, that's how you got into it. Yes, young Howard. Yeah, old Howie. So I mean, when we went pheasant hunting you found that he. That was really great for him. Because, you've had him. He's younger, you're training him. You've had him out grouse or partridge hunting, yeah he likes the wild training big time. And what did you find that the pheasants helped so much better for the training?
Speaker 3:Oh, because they freeze up kind of and they kind of hunker down, try to wait for you to pass. Well, that gives him a time or a chance to point it With the grouse. They kind of go on a little run and he takes off.
Speaker 1:And he tired out a bit quicker because he was just going full tilt. There's so much land there to go in and it was rough going yeah.
Speaker 3:And he took a beating he had some cuts and scrapes on him and but did well flush way more birds than I expected and I was happy with them so you guys were hunting like a, like a marsh, yeah, yeah, so we had our first ever, uh, new brunswick pheasant hunt this year.
Speaker 1:It's only a two-week season, you can only shoot the roosters, and uh, so we went out to an area it's part, uh, public land, part ducks, unlimited land, and um it's marsh private land mixed into it yeah, there's a lot of. They scattered privately and I think that the fields though that the farmers had a lot of that. That was public or cram, cram government land.
Speaker 3:Right, they use it as a, yeah, community pasture.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but we uh, we hunted that area and it was all marsh and uh it was hard going, it was really hard going on falling in ditches all the time and you're basically beating through brush the whole time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So if you're on beating, through brush the whole time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so if you're on that ground and it's, are those man-made ditches from when they farmed it?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah I'm thinking yeah, yeah, there's so much water too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, those, are super. Yeah, well, it's gone that you can't even see, because they're only that wide in the grass they don't mow it right, yeah, so well, yeah, no, where we were hunting.
Speaker 2:We weren't hunting in any mowed stuff, nothing like that, no, just where they had farmed in history.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, your dog was just flying through the air and I was like he's going to rip his balls open on one of these thorn bushes because he's just sailing and going.
Speaker 3:He's a tank in the woods.
Speaker 1:It was rough. But you're telling me you just started feeding Nook Shook the 30-20 blend, yeah, and that that's 30, 20 blend, yeah, and that's really helped him quite a bit with being able to keep up and go all day the way he does because he's so high energy, and have a hard time putting weight on him. I think anybody listened to this. That does have a pointer, whether it be English or German. Short hair uh, they can, they can. If they're working dog, they can be quite hard to be able to keep the weight on them and uh, but that nook shook's really helped you.
Speaker 3:Oh and he's. He's a very high, shrunk dog.
Speaker 1:He's off the walls all the time yeah, you have like the middle grade blend that you use for those dogs that are. They're high endurance and all. That's not quite the uh, the mushing dog level, but it's just below that by how much he gets running and going and that's helped be able to keep him in shape. And yeah, I remember, yeah, feeding that and I'd feed the blend just below that and my dogs have always done well off that. So I just haven't changed it, but all the natural flavors in it.
Speaker 3:Your dogs can go though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, they do, they do, they're athletes, but yeah. So I mean, when we were out there, Scott, the first thing we learned is there's no rhyme or reason to how the pheasant can flush. They could flush. One of them flew up about, tickled your nose with its tail feathers.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I jumped on them, yeah and then other ones. They're just I find them very comparable to a woodcock. Woodcocks will freeze until you see them.
Speaker 1:Some of them flew off quite a ways down, I guess right away. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I've had birch trees where I damn near stepped on them too.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Pheasants are a little more consistent, though I think yeah, they freeze good, but we found so learning.
Speaker 1:So the area that we're hunting in it's marsh, except for there's a few scattered birch trees mainly birch trees and all that throughout. They're younger, smaller ones, and we found that the pheasants seem to like to hang around those a little bit.
Speaker 3:I found water too.
Speaker 1:And water. Well, yeah, some of those ditches, some of the deeper ditches, anything that kind of transitioned a bit. That seemed to be where they like to hang out and conjugate. So we learned that. What else did we learn? We learned an area that we want to go to next time. You learned to bring boots next time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, wear boots in the marsh, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:So we show up to go hunting in the marsh and Scott has sneakers on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're hiking shoes. They're good to go, man, they're an old lady.
Speaker 1:They did not stay dry. It's a hard hunt, we found. I'll probably invest in chaps for next year. Honestly.
Speaker 3:I'm probably going to take my bike next time, because that was. You get out there a mile and then you know you got to walk back.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Not that fun.
Speaker 1:Well, we were talking about bringing bikes next time and you know, putting uh dog kennels in the back, taking them out, unloading them and then getting kind of selective honey well, yeah yeah, and then you know, I always watch those videos in north dakota, south dakota, where they have the huge, uh, pheasant populations and just having it, we, you know we're spread out and we're kind of uh, walking through I don't know what you call it there, but just You're like grid walking.
Speaker 2:Grid walking yes.
Speaker 3:I kind of found that help with the dog too, because Howie, when I'm alone he'll weave back and forth in front of me, but he'll get kind of impatient and he'll move further away. Yeah, with the four people spread out, he worked his way back and forth, him forth in front of all of us. And he didn't get as far away from me as usual.
Speaker 1:I remember you were saying the whole time you were quite surprised how you're normally swearing away at him and everything in a polite manner, working with him on birds and stuff. But here you were quite impressed with the way he was doing.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, he spoiled a lot of hunts for me, so I was kind of weary on taking him in there and, uh, spoiling the day.
Speaker 3:But no, he, he did. Well, I was very I guess I I've said it a hundred times so I keep saying it I was very impressed with him and uh, well, I've always said hunting with a dog is it'll change a hunter 100. I've hunted birds my whole life and when I started hunting with dogs it's changed my experience 100. Now I go out and I'm almost guaranteed to see birds every time back in the day. We go out. We walk all day. We've seen two or three birds. We were happy.
Speaker 3:Two years ago we had a really good year. I was going out, I was seeing I was howie's first year with me and people were telling me oh, you're not going to see no birds, he's going to chase them all off, blah, blah, blah. He was flushing 20 to 30 bird a day. Yeah, and the past couple of years I'm lucky to see three or four. But it changes every year. You have your good years, you have your bad years. I think it has a lot to do with the growth, because I usually look for a food source and I'll go hunt that, like I'll hunt an apple, orchard or berry alders or something like that with spruce. You're looking for spruce. You know what I mean?
Speaker 1:Yeah, but hunting with the dog definitely increases your chances. Oh, big time Then that night, scott, so you'd never been coon hunting with me before. Oh, so we went out that night. Hook me on another thing. Yeah, I was pretty tired and then I was telling my wife I'm like, honestly, scott's pretty high energy and stuff. I'm like hopefully he'll like get my energy out when we go to coon hunting, cause we, we started like what? Six in the morning to go pheasant, lot, a lot you were sneakers, scott, or your boots.
Speaker 3:He wore same shoes. Yeah, same shoes, same day. So then I was gonna take her for the long stretch, yeah, you must have just about wore them out. Did you marathon shoes? But okay, they were what scott?
Speaker 1:I was like aren't your feet cold? You're like no, my feet will start sweating in the warm right up oh they do.
Speaker 3:They sweat all like boiling water now but you know, then the coon hunt.
Speaker 1:So you know it got. We were out all day. It got dark and then I was like, well, I gotta take the hounds out. So we'll go for a coon hunt and that was your first time going and, uh, it's quite an experience. We got a huge coon. Didn't weigh it, but I'm guessing.
Speaker 3:Oh, it was well over 40 pounds, probably at least 45, 46 and another thing I didn't expect is walking through the field and those dogs started howling and going after it. It gets your adrenaline going pretty good. I did get excited, yeah, and then we got down in there. It's just an experience.
Speaker 1:But then I mean, as big as the coon was, we really couldn't see it from the ground.
Speaker 3:You had to climb the tree.
Speaker 1:So I had to climb the tree and all I can hear is them climbing. So I just you know the the dogs, they do the hard part in training it. You gotta at least give them the credit and go up and and get it for them, right yeah, yeah, you want to give them that reward so my female greta, she once the season gets going and all that, she's pretty good. She's nearly 100. So I was like, if you say there's a coon up there, I'll go after it.
Speaker 2:Well, Well, on that topic we were out. I believe it was just before year season and we literally hit the field. And at the backside of this field, greta struck on an apple tree and Ken's going ah, there's no coon in it.
Speaker 1:No, you guys were saying it was a small tree.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, anyway, it was an apple tree it was a small tree, okay, but well, anyway, it was an apple tree. We didn't see it and we didn't see a coon in it. So we kept moving, got two more out of another tree and she goes right back to this tree and we're like, okay, there's got to be a coon in this tree. Greta was right.
Speaker 1:Sure as shit, believe it or not, the animal that has way more, uh, scenting capability was right, yeah, but I mean it was. It was a small, really small tree, and we're like now, if there's one in there, we'd see it's just a little apple tree, no, leaves on it, nothing.
Speaker 2:And yeah, nope, there was one and it took us 10, 15 minutes to find that oh yeah, it was laying like right flat it was laid right out flat and where I was standing I looked up and I could see its stomach. It was just laid flat above me anyway, but yeah it, it was really impressive. Yeah, she was, she was on it and we weren't on that.
Speaker 1:So with that, in mind with this tree. I was like, well, I'm going climbing. So I uh, I told scott. I said you just shine. I had the headlamp on. I said you just shine spotlight up there and try to keep it on me, and then also kind of glance up once in a while. See, you can see the coon that I'm going towards and uh, so I just take the gun, strap it on the way I go. And the whole time I'm going up I hear Scott. He's like, oh my God, he's like I've never seen anybody climb a tree that high before.
Speaker 3:He's like you're so high 60 feet in the goddamn air changing a rack yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, you tried to take a picture and your phone. You couldn't, yeah. And I'm like Scott, do you see I'm yelling down? I said do you see the coon at all? I said I'm pretty near the top and Scott's like no, I don't see him yet. I was like I'm just about there.
Speaker 3:Meanwhile I'm running around the tree because I couldn't see. I couldn't even see Ken half the time I'm running around the tree. I'm like no, I can't what it was. I got lost looking for the tree.
Speaker 2:You got lost going around a tree.
Speaker 3:I was running so many circles.
Speaker 1:So I mean I'm going up and, like I said, there's like what a few feet. And I'm at the top and I was like Scott, so you don't see him. Scott's like no, I don't see him. And I was like looking and all of a sudden I was like I see his stomach and then I hear Scott, scott's like punch him in the ball. I was like no, so it is. I got the gun up carefully and, you know, got it loaded up and then I thought it's a good shot, turns out it uh, it wasn't. And he, um, he came down, hit all the branches going down, and then I'm trying to get down the tree and again I'm quite high and then I hear Scott's like holy shit, it's crazy down here.
Speaker 1:Oh it was crazy, I could hear the coon fighting the dogs and going and it was nuts when I hit the ground and then that's when we realized this thing's massive massive coon.
Speaker 3:I'd say it was every bit of 50 pounds really just enormous, judging off that size and the one that we got when we took ben and his daughter out.
Speaker 1:uh, when I picked that one up and that was a heavy one and yeah it was quite a bit smaller, so I would say at least 40 pounds yeah, yeah, no, it was, and then, um, even doing a lot of dog hunting, but then we went out with the beagles that was another.
Speaker 3:I never guessed that would have been as fun as it was I don't know why. It is a lot of fun I know I just I've always hunted birds my whole life, never really even attempted. I've seen rabbits, never attempted to shoot them. And uh, you said you want to come for a rabbit hunt? I said sure, went out and that was the time of my life.
Speaker 2:No, yeah it is fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've been out, dalton. It's a lot of fun just hearing them, the dogs, you know. Get on the scent strike, get going, and then you're waiting. You've got all this anticipation and everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And your adrenaline's pumping for like a three or four-pound rabbit.
Speaker 2:Not as flash in the pan, as exciting as coon hunting. I can honestly say, I've never had to finish a rabbit with a gunstock.
Speaker 1:Yes, I know the coon hunt I had my knife.
Speaker 3:I told him I was going to stab the coon.
Speaker 2:I took the butt of the gun to one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I heard about that yeah because I was trying to reload the clip and the dogs were going at this fighting it and then Dalton's like. He's like come at me. And Dalton just hits him and the dogs are like on him. I'm like, holy shit. I'm like I'm reloading, I'm just trying to get the clip in.
Speaker 2:Well, I had like the end of the barrel right in my hand. I guess you can see it on video now. I had the end of the barrel and I come. Dogs are gonna bite a hole in my boot, let alone my foot right, I got bit by coon this year.
Speaker 1:I wasn't even worried about the coon, I was worried about the dogs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, yeah, I couldn't, I didn't. I was not one bit worried seeing how mean they were to that coon.
Speaker 1:They are mean no, but you were able to get your foot bit, I wouldn't be worried about them biting me, but look at it and see what they did to that coon.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I wouldn't want to get between them.
Speaker 2:See, like the rabbit's, not quite as like wow, as a coon hunting is for that? No, it's a lot of fun. I say you know, the bad dogs come out to play at night.
Speaker 1:You know, the rabbit hunting's a lot of fun and everything. And then you got the crazy mean ones.
Speaker 3:You got the little beagles trotting along with the bells. I mean on a lot of the pointers, yeah, kind of a baby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're a little more of a princess than the hounds. The hounds are very just nasty, which is awesome.
Speaker 3:On coon. It's the bad boy dog right there yeah.
Speaker 1:But I mean, dalton, we're here talking about dogs and I've got mine you've been out with and Scott's got his.
Speaker 2:But you kind of grew up your uncle had a lab, yeah, but you kind of grew up your uncle had a lab, yeah, and a well-trained one too. Yeah, my uncle had a really, really, really awesome lab like he was. He was they say that you know, you kind of get one real good hunting dog and he had it right out of the gates and with with labs anyway retriever flusher he was uh, he was a black lab what would you use?
Speaker 3:use them for Retrieving, retrieving.
Speaker 1:He could have said that instead of the color Dalton. So, we used to hunt a lot of water.
Speaker 2:And we'd go to the Cocan River and he'd swim in the Cocan River and that's quite a bit of current. We'd go everywhere with him and he would flush. He was never trained for it. He would flush and he would point. We went pheasant hunting with this dog on a little like a private preserve years ago and this dog had pointing ability.
Speaker 1:He did point yeah, oh, yeah. Yeah, I've never seen a lot. I've heard of it. Yeah, no, I've seen some weird breeds point too.
Speaker 3:My brother's got an Australian Shepherd and it'll point yeah bridge point.
Speaker 2:Yeah too, like my brother's got a australian shepherd and it'll point. Yeah so this dog. A funny story about this dog so he was. He was kind of a kind of a baby, I guess to to my uncle and I hope he listens to this, but I gotta tell this story so sure, me and my uncle, ben and adam all were on the road driving through monkton adam, adam all were heading to Cocaine to hunt ducks. We were sitting in the back seat me and Drake right and Drake starts whining.
Speaker 1:Drake's the dog. Drake's the dog. My name's not Drake.
Speaker 2:So this dog starts whining. Well, my uncle pulled the truck over on the side of the highway and made me and the dog switch sides, so the dog could have his side, so the dog would shut up.
Speaker 1:Hey, that's fair enough.
Speaker 2:So that tells you where I was in the food chain. But, anyway, I hope he listens to this and laughs a bit.
Speaker 1:If it was up to me, you would have been in the box and the dog wouldn't have been there. It's like well, he wants to lay down Dalton, he needs more room and I don't want to. You're going to have to go in the box.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's where I stay. Here's a blanket, it's cold.
Speaker 3:Priority-wise but anyway, that's the pointers. They're a pretty attached breed. Yeah, they've got to be right on top of their owner. Like if I'm sitting on the couch, my dog's curled up on my lap. Yeah, a lot of people think my mom looks at me and says God, you baby, that dog Like I don't. If I didn't let him do it, he'd just be sitting here clawing at me wanting to do it. So I just let him do it.
Speaker 1:I find that helps. So you know it's such an older way of thinking but a lot of people like well, it's an old way of thinking, you can't have a dog inside and a pet and a good hunter. But I think that's changed perspective. Now people see, but I mean my dogs are all in, you guys have been been out. They're good hunters because I find when they're in with you and they're in the house and all that and randy, all the time they're hunting for you, whereas if they're just in a kennel they're hunting because they hunt right, but here they hunt because they hunt.
Speaker 1:They absolutely love it. But they want to please you, they want to do the best they can to keep you happy because they spend so much time with you and they have that bond with you and everything.
Speaker 3:That's what I find I don't know if you have the hunts that I have sometimes, but where I'm doing birds, a lot of my shots are on the flight. I've gone out and I've made quite a bit of shots in the day and missed all those shots. And those are the days that my dog is literally looking at me like I'm an idiot. So he'll just sit down in the middle of a field and look at me and I'm not doing anything until you start hitting your shot. So does it? Does it help?
Speaker 3:no no, no, I'll tell you what helps.
Speaker 1:I'll go out skeet shooting, yeah yes, I've got to do more of that, yeah go out skeet shooting and I did it last year that right.
Speaker 3:We first started out we had hundreds and thousands of bullets and thousands of skeets, I would say, and there was probably 20 or 30 of us in a line. We just kept shooting them off all day and when I first started I wasn't hitting nothing. By the end of it I was hitting all three that they would put in the thing and shoot them all for me. So it does help a lot. And I go to that rabbit we were rabbit hunting, me and you.
Speaker 1:You actually did pretty good, scott, your first time I was impressed, the first rabbit that we had.
Speaker 3:I think you missed it once and I missed it once.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I missed it, but I did miss it. You missed it once and I missed it once.
Speaker 3:And then you're like God damn, shoot it. So I loaded up and shot it. But that second one, the one that was running under the tree, and I made that unreal shot I still that's good. I don't know how the hell I made that shot. It was through a hole that big around and I just aimed and shot and then the rabbit started kicking. But the third rabbit that was even weird, like we both took a shot at it and we thought we missed it because it ran off right. But then it kind of runs back out into the opening and just falls over and starts kicking.
Speaker 2:So yeah, me and you had one one time that the dogs caught up to it. We wounded it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that happened today. I had some clients out and the dogs ended up catching it. But I tell people I'm with them. I said, as long as you know that the dogs are clear. And I'll say, but it's the dog. The dogs are clear and I'll say, but it's the dog. I was like just shoot. I said, if you're waiting for that perfect opportunity for the rabbit to stop, broadside, look back at you wait for you to squeeze off the trigger.
Speaker 1:It's not going to happen. The odd time they'll stop and look back. But that's like rare, like they're normally fine. I said if you just see it, just shoot. I said you know you get a couple bb's in it. The dogs will catch it. Not that we're going to suffer anything to suffer. They'll catch it quickly like it slows. There's not much to a rabbit like the slightest bit will yeah, they're not like a deer duck or something no, no, they just want to live right like they don't, they kind of just die they don't.
Speaker 1:They're not well, they'll like a partridge, almost like they just die their skin's really thin, it's one they don't tear running through the bushes. Really, I mean, there isn't much to them at all.
Speaker 3:Well, I couldn't get over it. I watched a video when I got home because I had to skin rabbits Never done it before, because I never rabbit hunted.
Speaker 1:It's really easy.
Speaker 3:I watched a video on YouTube and Buddy literally just bit a hole in the back of the pelt. What, yeah, he bit a hole in the back, grab both pouches and just pull, like that.
Speaker 1:Did you do that?
Speaker 3:I didn't bite it I grabbed a knife.
Speaker 1:Those things are full of ticks.
Speaker 3:No, yeah, I wouldn't bite them no.
Speaker 1:I I'm going to put it in your mouth until it's cooked.
Speaker 3:I used a knife and cut it, but Buddy no, I watched Buddy. He just bit it off and ripped it in half.
Speaker 1:basically, they are full of ticks.
Speaker 3:I couldn't get over how easy it was to skin them.
Speaker 1:But yeah, that's all I do at the night. Just poke a hole in it and then rip it. Yeah, no, the video I watched years ago on how to do it.
Speaker 3:But he just kind of skinned the private area and the hind legs and then he just grabbed the legs and pulled on the pelt and it skinned the whole pelt right off the old one piece.
Speaker 1:It's easy to do yeah, I'd like to try someday. If anybody in the States is listening to this and feels like hosting, I'd like to try the cottontail hunting because we have the snowshoe hare here. They do not burrow, they will run and run and run. They'll go for sometimes, to put it in the US terms, like a mile or so straight. You think the dogs run a deer for a minute and then you're like no, no, they're in a lot smaller circles and they can burrow and they will, but it's a lot smaller circles and everything. I mean you can hunt them just in a fence line, like how we hunt coon sometimes during coon season in the cornfields. They'll be in that, whereas a snowshoe hare oh, I've heard some guys say they'll hunt them in like five acres, like a snowshoe hare. I'd never let the dogs go in five acres.
Speaker 2:No Ever.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:No, they'd do a circle that size.
Speaker 3:We had them run. How many total? 20-some kilometers total that day. Yeah, and then the final run they took us on, we had it over a kilometer walk back to the track.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they'll do that in a lot of snow too, oh easy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, easy, and we weren't even out that long really.
Speaker 3:He'll walk out the driveway, take a turn, go right back in the house. Yeah, the beagles will go, we went last year in like February, wasn't it?
Speaker 1:No, it was the year before. It was cold. It was cold in his deep snow.
Speaker 2:It was like cold, cold, like it was you know like minus 15, minus 20. And quite a bit of snow like up to the top of your boots and they were just gliding along. I was like oh, yeah, they break through.
Speaker 1:Now, today, where we had that ice, we had the clients this morning. Uh, yeah, they tore their pads up pretty good and stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's just that's what I was thinking about getting them a little set of booties there for when it looks gay, yeah it does it's handy.
Speaker 2:I mean, I would make fun of you pretty bad.
Speaker 3:Well, every time I take, my dog in.
Speaker 2:He comes back with a torn pad.
Speaker 3:Every time, but he gets into some thick brush, not necessarily like when we hunt down by your place. It's a lot of field area. So he'll go in the field area and the alders. But when we were up pheasant hunting it was a lot of ground brush like sagebrush and stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's a rough terrain up there. Actually it's tough on his feet man it is.
Speaker 3:It does look gay, I would say, but at the same time it's a necessity to keep my dog going.
Speaker 1:Well, it sucks having torn pads because now they're going to be out of commission for a little bit because they have three. But yeah, it does take a while.
Speaker 2:So you should get a couple more than just one tail man.
Speaker 1:Six dogs is enough for now. I know Some guys are listening to this and thinking those are amateur numbers, double digits.
Speaker 3:I'd say, yeah, I got one, I'm going to stick with that.
Speaker 1:I have none for the record Zero. That's why you are the way you are, Exactly.
Speaker 3:You could be a happier person if you had Working dog. It's the time to put into it.
Speaker 2:Yep, and I don't pretend to have that, and I don't want to just be frustrated with something that I can't put the time into. I love hunting with them. I really do. They're great.
Speaker 1:It's a ball. Yep, I know you see some people get too frustrated because they're too slack and or stupid to train them.
Speaker 2:I guess that's how it's not stupid. No, you're right, though it's not, yeah, and then they're getting mad at the dog because of their, their mistake.
Speaker 3:Yeah. You know, I didn't have the brains, I would say to there's nothing wrong with you. I had to go YouTube everything that I learned on how to train my dog and I. I did it like Like there's a. I'll even give them a shout out. I guess Sand and Stone Kennels got some videos online and they get really good videos.
Speaker 1:What is it Standing?
Speaker 3:Standing Stone Kennels.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:And if they have any, where?
Speaker 1:are they out of?
Speaker 3:They're in the States somewhere, so I'm not 100% sure.
Speaker 1:But I even have One of the 48 out there. You know that area, yeah, Lower 48.
Speaker 3:I. I had an issue with training him on whoa training and I messaged them a few questions and they messaged me back within two days which was unreal.
Speaker 1:You're not paying for that.
Speaker 3:I never paid for nothing, they just messaged me and said you could try this and this and this, and one of those three worked was positive bird training. So I went and bought pigeons and I would hold that pigeon in my hand and my would go nuts wouldn't even have the dog right, still I'd hold that pigeon in my hand, my dog would go nuts wanting to get it be jumping and stuff.
Speaker 3:But you don't let that pigeon go. For him to chase it until he calms down, right. So once he calms down and sits down or points it, that's when you let the pigeon go and kind of, how do you get, get it back, or do you? So you use homing pigeons. They come back on their own. They really do. Huh, mm-hmm, huh yeah, you can train homing pigeons up to 26 miles.
Speaker 1:What yeah?
Speaker 3:man how they circle and circle and circle until they see their home and then they land. That's crazy.
Speaker 2:I've got to be honest. They just keep flying bigger and bigger circles.
Speaker 1:What about pigeons? We're talking about dog stuff.
Speaker 3:They use carrier pigeons. They always go back to their home.
Speaker 1:That's crazy.
Speaker 3:That's what they're called homing pigeons. They used carrier pigeons for hundreds of years. They even have races. The guy that I bought my pigeons off of trained these pigeons for racing.
Speaker 2:Did you say races or races?
Speaker 3:Racing they race them, okay? No, they're not racist.
Speaker 1:They raise them, they're not racist birds. They raise pigeons, race them. Yeah, that's what I said Raise them.
Speaker 3:Oh no, they raised them too, I guess. Yeah, anyways, he would take them to Nova Scotia, and they actually had time trials there. They would let the pigeon go Nice, the fastest one to get back to where the, but wouldn't they?
Speaker 3:all have to be from the same place I'd have to find so you can train them, not on necessarily a coop, but they will train them on a box. Okay, so they'll take that box and set it in a spot where they have to race to Take the bird back. Let it go and it'll go to that box.
Speaker 1:Ghosts worth fat. This is a hunting podcast. Has anybody ever eaten?
Speaker 2:pigeon. Anybody ever eaten one? They're irrelevant. I think, they do, I would try it.
Speaker 3:I think they do eat them in some parts of the world, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'd like to go to dove hunting too.
Speaker 3:Rat of the sky. That's what I call it Gross.
Speaker 1:I think that's what they call them.
Speaker 2:sometimes I would meet one that was like living on a manure lagoon at a dairy farm.
Speaker 3:Well, that's where most of the liver in the city.
Speaker 2:I know exactly, I eat them. They're fine you do Gross.
Speaker 1:We're going to go kill some in the morning. You don't eat that many, many ducks.
Speaker 3:I do, yeah, but they eat mostly seeds. You know what I mean. They'd be the same kind of as a grain-fed bird, any kind of quail or pheasant or anything like that.
Speaker 2:Right, Well, they're basically just an oversized dove, aren't they?
Speaker 3:I think they're actually in the dove family actually.
Speaker 1:They're in the bird family, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, watch out for the bird family, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, watch out for the bird flu?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's what sketches me out about hunting birds with a dog is that bird flu was common in the area there at a certain point in time I don't know, if dogs could get it.
Speaker 2:I was worried about any hands-on. We're really talking above our educational level, exactly.
Speaker 1:We need a vet on here. Yeah, no vets, we will have one this year.
Speaker 3:You got a vet coming, we will Like an army vet.
Speaker 1:No, we have army vets on here, actually Vietnam yeah.
Speaker 2:Vietnam, yeah.
Speaker 3:Okay, You're going to learn how to hunt the old. What are they called?
Speaker 2:Don't even finish that. No, don't go in there.
Speaker 1:Scott, you got any memorable hunting stories, Some accidents near misses.
Speaker 3:Oh, let's not go to the near misses, just the hits. Oh my, some funny stories. I've got many funny stories, but some of them should not be mentioned.
Speaker 1:Well, I remember when we were at pheasant hunting this podcast kind of going all over, but you know what? I hope you guys enjoy listening to it.
Speaker 2:Just like a garage talk. Yeah, we're talking about carrier pigeons on a hunting podcast.
Speaker 3:You've got to get letters out.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, first wave. Hey, we are under a strike. That's the new post Text messaging Give me a call.
Speaker 2:I know some carrier pigeons Scotty's new business idea. Here we go, carrier pigeons Coming soon to you.
Speaker 1:But Scott, you were saying how? So we went out to eat after when we were hunting the pheasants. Where'd you eat? Just a big stop there and a good restaurant. And then Scott was. Every time the waitress came over, scott was telling a story that was half inappropriate and not purposely. Just had to be coming at that moment. And I remember scott you were talking about, you almost shot your friend.
Speaker 3:That's the one I was trying to stay away from, but you brought it up, so I'll say it all right. We went out coyote hunting and we both had our clips in our gun and anyways, we're sitting out in the snow. It was, it was deep, we had to snowshoe in and it was probably, I would say, three kilometers from Paul's house to Paul's camp.
Speaker 1:So in the US, that would be what? How many miles? Almost a mile, no God, isn't it?
Speaker 3:not 3.3 kilometers in a mile. No, are you serious?
Speaker 2:It would be a mile and a half. I think that's closer to two miles or two, yeah, yeah. So it's going two miles in whatever 1.6. 1.6 kilometers to one mile.
Speaker 1:We don't want to interrupt your story, yeah sorry for fact-checking.
Speaker 3:Let's go back to kilometers, all right, just saying we have a lot of American listeners.
Speaker 1:We want to know.
Speaker 3:All right, so Did some coyote calling. I had a couple come out and missed a shot. Sure, obviously, that's my main thing I do. So we decided to go eat lunch and we were going to go for another hunt. We gave up on it, we walked out. So we're walking out, me and Irvus have taken our clip out of our gun at this point, being dumb, and I had mine on my sling over my shoulder. Well, he tells me, he goes oh, your bolt's falling out of your gun. So I just reach back my hand behind my back, push my bolt back in. Well, in the midst of walking, my trigger got bound up in the clothes I was wearing and safety was off. And then, as soon as I pushed my bolt in, my gun just went bang and it was leaning.
Speaker 1:I didn't remember it going off.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was slinging over my right shoulder and he was standing there. Well, he instantly just grabbed his head and dropped and I just sat there and went oh my God, I just shot my best friend. And he got up, I checked his head, he was fine. Later on yeah, I checked his head to make sure I didn't shoot him in the head.
Speaker 1:You're still ugly, but you haven't been shot, yeah yeah.
Speaker 3:So we walked out and he looked at me on the way home and he goes what would you have done if you did shoot me in the head? I said I probably would have finished you off and then shot myself, worst feeling in the world because I'm in the middle of a field.
Speaker 1:Four feet of snow.
Speaker 3:No way I'm getting him out of there. You know what I mean. Thank God I didn't shoot him, but I learned a lesson that day Gun safety. I don't put a clip in lesson that day gun safety yeah, gun safety.
Speaker 2:I don't put a clip in, not unless I'm sitting in the stand. Well, if any, if you've hunted long enough, you have these stories right, no matter how carefully you are like.
Speaker 3:I've had friends telling me about them shooting their buddies like buddy. What so? Blenis man? He was hunting bird and he had a 410 and he tripped over his stump, ended up shooting his buddy in the back. Jeez, yeah, my grandfather shot me in the foot Purposely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, purposely I was acting up Now we get out of the deer stand and he had a lever action 30-30. I have it now and he cycled the two out of it right, slapped the trigger to let the firing pin go. Anyway, he let two out of her and we were standing side by side right and it was kind of like this and he let two out of her and he slapped the trigger and off she went. He goes. Guess I put three in her. Don't tell your grandmother, I still haven't told her. So anyway, it can happen, right, it can happen so easy. There's other examples too like it. Just you gotta be careful.
Speaker 1:My story is safer is with pelicans. We were younger I was hunting with my friend cody and jordan and uh, my friend jordan I know he listens to this, some watches it he had a pelican jordan's. He doesn't hunt, he'll come along, he'll happily come along, but he's not a big hunter, uh, which is fine because he's always good game to go. And we had pellet guns, though when we were younger, you know hunting uh, everything and chickadee squirrels, whatever, yeah, so we're going along, jordan's swinging the gun around, not big on gun safety, just careless but not purposely, just you know. So I remember my friend cody's like jordan. He said it's a safety on that, and jordan's like no, no, it doesn't need to be. He's like why? It's like it's not loaded. He's like Jordan. He said is the safety on that? And Jordan's like no, no, it doesn't need to be. He's like why he's like it's not loaded. He's like okay, so we're going along. And then Jordan trips and falls and his hand was on the trigger, shot, hit Cody's boot with the pellet.
Speaker 3:I was like jeez Jordan, I thought that wasn't loaded. And he's like oh it, shoot each other with the pellet gun. Neither of us wanted to get shot with it but that's how it would start, one person would shoot the other one, and it just turned into a little war in the woods.
Speaker 1:We used to wear life jackets and we used to have pellet gun wars to say that you could only shoot at the life jacket, but of course no one listened to that and then the wind would catch it.
Speaker 3:so you'd go in right for someone's jacket and then just right off and clip the ear or something dave had a real powerful pellet gun and then I had this one that you could pump her about 40 times and shoot it and it would drop about 30 feet in front of you. So he won every time. But yeah yeah, it was. There was some. There were some battles in the mckellip house.
Speaker 1:More of us, and don't do well, I'd be pumping on mine when we'd have this pellet gun morris, and I'd just, I mean the gun would be whistling.
Speaker 2:I mean it'd be pretty near a buoyant it's amazing nobody ever blew one up in their own hands I know exactly what you're talking about? Yeah, I mean the thing would.
Speaker 1:The thing would be just like just levitating because I had so much damn air in it, because I'm just like 47 it's just a one shot. Yeah, yeah, yeah for maximum efficiency, pump six times.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we had a buddy who used to shoot underneath his bathroom door. If you'd be in there sitting on the toilet, he'd pump. All you'd hear is outside the door, clap, clap, clap, clap. And then you'd see the gun stick underneath the door and he'd shoot you in the feet. Holy shit, that was your buddy, yeah that was your buddy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I didn't see what your enemy would do. Oh, buddy, Crazy little buggers, I guess.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean gun safety is really important. But unfortunately we all have these stories but we have ones where no one was really hurt. I'll remember this one time. I'll never forget it. We were younger, we were duck hunting and I had my friend Matt with us and we I think we were in high school we got up over this bank and there was some ducks down in this pond. So we get up over, click the safety off right, because you know I thought I was going to shoot. I guess the ducks are a lot for we can get a shot off. I never put the safety back on. Should have obviously Just took the gun. I was like I'm not like holy crap, yeah, I killed you.
Speaker 2:That's nuts. Yeah, I'm big on it if. If my uncle does listen to this, I'm gonna. I made fun of him, but I will give him a compliment too, like hunting with the dog from the time I was 12, right, very much helped with gun safety. Yeah, because he was always, always, always, always on you.
Speaker 3:Just because I wasn't safe when I was younger with a gun doesn't mean I wasn't taught gun safety. It just means I didn't listen when I was younger.
Speaker 1:Well, you guys have been out coon hunting with me and I'm big on that. Where it's dark and there's so much excitement, I'll let whoever hold the gun. There's nothing in it. But I keep the clip in my pocket loaded and I do not put anything in the gun until we're looking directly at a coon ready to shoot.
Speaker 2:But you see I'm really big on safety.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a perfect recipe for somebody to get shot, or a dog, yeah if someone shoots, accidents and then it's a hole, explain to their families what happened. That's what I said to you before when I went with the rabbit hunt.
Speaker 3:I told you. I said I don't know if I could trust. I don't know if I could trust somebody shooting on the ground with my dog.
Speaker 1:But you saw, it was fairly safe though. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3:But I've had BBs hit my dog. I've had BBs hit my brother's dog Many situations where you get a ricochet or something right. So it's always kind of worried me with shooting a gun on the ground with my dog.
Speaker 1:That's what I always tell people too, like I, it's lead shot only because some guys will come out rabbit hunting. I've had it once or twice like, oh, I just brought some you know my duck loads, whatever that steel shot, the steel will ricochet, whereas the lead normally it doesn't. Yeah, it's it pretty safe. But I mean, yeah, you got to watch it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's like with the waterfowl. The big dog concern is that your dog's leaving you, going to a bird that could be crippled and guys will jump right up and shoot it right. Well, your dog's between you and the bird.
Speaker 1:The guy you work with.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Holy crap.
Speaker 2:Well, you know what, though? It's his dog, so I wouldn't do it.
Speaker 1:So we'll tell that story quick. So we were out there's what seven of us hunting with the dog and it was safe. And we jump shot this pond. It was just like D-Day we were going in, Guns were going off. I almost fell in the water. It was crazy. And then there's this one duck kind of wounded and anyways no one shot because his buddy's dog was going out. I'm not shooting, Anyways, he just lets her have it. I was like holy shit. And then none of us said anything.
Speaker 2:Well, it's his dog, right? What are you going to say? And then, later on, my brother-in-law.
Speaker 1:He's kind of drunk and we're out there and he's like geez, like geez man, what the fuck? You almost shot your dog.
Speaker 2:Just said what we were all thinking right yeah, I know, but what do you say?
Speaker 1:right yeah he's like oh no, he said, uh, the gun's faster than the dog is good.
Speaker 2:He's like oh yeah, it's close you know they're swimming, they're a little slower, but anyway, that's like I said, that's I wouldn't have taken that shot yeah, with the dog, so I wouldn't unbelievably safe anywhere close to anybody's dog no matter what right yeah? My I was. It was drilled into me from a young age like put your gun up, like point it upward, is your safety on? Is your safety on right like?
Speaker 1:but I'm thinking that hunting, like I don't load my gun, whether I'm hunting, I mean, I guess, deer if I'm a little but.
Speaker 1:But when it comes to like hunting the rabbits with the dogs, the coons, obviously I don't load my gun until they're they're on one. For, like the coons, I don't load it until, like I said, we're looking at it up in the tree. And the rabbits, I don't load it unless you know you hear them, they're singing away, they're hot on the trail. Then I'm like all right, I'll load it up, get ready.
Speaker 2:Well the brick barrels are really nice for that too that's a great setup for that right yeah yeah, um, but I was gonna say earlier with the coons, like the main concern is like it's, it's a perfect recipe, because you always get different people I do take a lot of people and people
Speaker 3:get excited.
Speaker 2:It's dark, they don't. You don't see where stuff is and you're pointing guns up in the air at trees and there's people all around you're and you're walking through the bushes. So if you had your safety on, yeah, it very well could come off just beating through the bushes and yeah, I never had the gun loaded.
Speaker 1:Even when I bring someone new, and if they want to bring a gun, I'll I'll have to carry their clip. Yeah, that's how you carry the gun. I'm going to carry the clip, though.
Speaker 2:I just you know I had to go through and hunting with you 10 times for you to. Let me even have a clip in my pocket yeah, I'm pretty strict on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, these dogs be a lot.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, no for sure, that's the number one thing. I tell anybody comes with my dog when I'm hunting, I say keep your gun in the air and don't shoot my fucking dog.
Speaker 1:If you shoot my dog, I'll have to shoot you, yeah. And then you gotta explain to their family why they got shot. It's awkward for everybody, you know.
Speaker 3:He shot my buddy, so I shot him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they expect you to feel bad and you don't, because they shot your dog. You know it's just, it's better off to not go there.
Speaker 3:That's the best hunting buddy I've ever had. Anytime I ask him if he wants to come hunt and he jumps yeah, he always wants to go.
Speaker 1:There's no issues there.
Speaker 3:That's what I feel about you, scott. Yeah, well, man you, anytime you want to go.
Speaker 1:You bring someone else with your dogs and stuff, as long as they're safe. I love the social. I've always said this. You guys heard me say this on the podcast a lot. I love the social part of the small game hunting.
Speaker 3:That's what I like about pheasant hunting too is that you were able to talk with people more. When you're out partridge hunting, you're kind of trying to keep it quiet because most of my hunting is coming off of hearing the bird, right so. So yeah, like it's a big difference. It's a social aspect in the pheasant hunt world kind of deal too, right, so yeah, and it's nice to make fun of people for missing shots, right, like kevin missed a shot, so we made fun of him a little bit.
Speaker 2:But same with the waterfowl too. That's that's why I love it.
Speaker 1:Like we're going in the morning, you get a thick skin if you're gonna hunt with a group of people and miss yeah, oh and the perfect time to miss is a single bird every single time, because not a lot of guys hit single birds especially when everyone's like but everybody's watching. They're like okay, this is Dalton's bird. You're like no, let's, let's make it everybody's bird in case Dalton misses.
Speaker 3:I've shot good many birds. I like it.
Speaker 2:When the boys go, we'll give you one shot, we'll give you one shot, the next one's theirs, and then you miss it. And then everybody just opens up.
Speaker 3:Julian don't like hunting birds with me. He goes you shoot them before I even see them.
Speaker 1:I'm like I'm not letting them fly away but boys, I can't thank you enough for coming on this podcast again. If you're listening to this and want to see the faces that we have made for radio which we all came to the conclusion for before we started this. It is filmed, it is going to be on YouTube. We appreciate you listening in and sharing us out. Come back again, guys. Thanks, I'll see you again, we'll be on this winter again.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me.