River Rein Kennels

01/20/2025

Well…
We couldn’t stay away. But we also couldn’t repeat. Same hill, 6 days later. Snow went up, but so did the birds.

Calling it a wrap, again!

01/13/2025

Haha! This feels like a punch line to yesterday’s note.

“What to leave…”. I left my camera(phone) in the truck.

I’m hanging it up for the season after yesterday. Instead of pictures of the dozen+ points, we’ll close out with stats for the day:

3.75hrs
9miles
Penny covered 23.3mi
Maia covered 27.5mi
30+ shells fired
After shot 1, I probably went 25 without dropping a bird; after a double on Huns, flock shooting dropped 3 birds with 1 shell.

Solid dog work.
The girls both struck a pile of points, and found every downed bird and runner.

Coyote at 50yds.
50 elk at 75yds
Deer and bighorn.

Late season snow hunts can really concentrate the experience.

Hope everyone closes out well, and we’ll see you out there next season!

01/11/2025

There are so many things to remember when packing for a hunt.
Worst things to forget are typically:
-Gun
-Boots
-Ammo
-Dog collars

This late in the season, I usually have my act together enough that I quit making check lists for day trips.

Anybody else ever forget THEIR DOGS??? I did…..

While I kicked myself all day for the moronic lapse, it was an interesting change of pace to watch Jon and Bob work Duke and Puka. The lack of birds can’t be blamed on these dogs. They did pretty work!

I’m headed back out today. I have the dogs in pickup!

Has anyone seen my keys?…

12/26/2024

Merry Christmas, hunters!

I missed day 3 of retrieves yesterday, still shopping.

This was the second bird of our double. You might catch Maia in the previous video going right by Penny’s retrieve. She was tracking this bird to the base of the hill. She struck point hard in some sage, and I had to yell release at her several times. Foot chase commence for several minutes, but she nailed him.

Good luck finding her early in the video. Way down hill, and a bit right of center screen.

Solid dog work kept us batting 1.000 to hand for the day.

Cheers all, and see you in the field!

12/23/2024

On the 2nd Day of Christmas my two dogs brought to me…
Another running chukar with a bottom of the hill retrieve.

Our last covey rise, I dropped 2 birds on the same shot. Neither were there when we walked up.
Penny was tracking all the way to the foot of the hill, pointed and found this bird. He took to running and gave her a good chase. I stopped film before she brought to hand, but you can see she dispatched him en route.

12/22/2024

We’ll do three days in a row of long retrieves.

These are all going to look similar because…. My shooting really fell off on this hill. 3 birds in a row to the river or the bottom of the hill!

This was the first, and was a blind retrieve from my perspective. I’m not sure if Maia watched him land or run, but a heck of a retrieve from the water line.

12/22/2024

My first solo hunt of the season today, means I plan kamikaze sprints and overly ambitious multi-location hunts.

The camaraderie of hunting partners is one of the best parts of the adventure, and I miss it. But the rare days anymore that I get out with just the dogs are foundational to why we do this, and bring me back to center.

This was also the first time I paired my young girls together in earnest. They are really locked in and didn’t miss a bird.

Hope this finds many of you in the field and enjoying the search!

12/16/2024

Still a few places clear of snow, and the birds playing ok.

12/12/2024

Well….
I can’t remember the last time my crew blanked.
The snow pack can be challenging to hunt some days.

Last weekend was beautiful on the hill, but birds were all below the snow line, and on private ground for us.

Stay safe out there, and keep up the pursuit!

11/27/2024

10/19/2024

Glad to hear some good reports from our pups and hunters so early in the season!

Here is our group pheasant opener last weekend (OR).

Things took a sporty turn for us quickly:

Day 1: Dog 1 gets flayed open by barbed wire. Tailgate flush and staple up. She’s done for the week.

Day 2: Dog 3 chooses a full open mouth chomp on porcupine. Barehands removal ensues, with 35 # heathen in the back. She also tears off a toenail.

Day 3: Dog 4 nailed by skunk. Also minor barbed wire flay. Dog 3 gets too close to a bedded mule deer, gets rolled and gored in the shoulder.

Everyone is fine, and we limped home to literally lick our wounds.

The obvious is that we haven’t spent enough time training trash aversion of late. Glad for good med kits and trained hands…

Stay safe, and enjoy the season!

10/13/2024

Sometimes the training days are the most fun.

And…. Benson turns a golf bag into a bird cart.

10/10/2024

Well folks, I’ve been largely absent online and Social Media.
What a nice break!

A lot has happened while we’ve been away, and some exciting developments in the near future.

As usual, posts will pick up a bit during bird season.

Out for our first opener last weekend; WA chukar.

Bird numbers are very decent, and we saw a lot of young birds as well.

Good luck, and stay safe this season.

Cheers!