Travis has been packing around a bb gun with me for nearly 2 years. He has been learning about gun safety and handling a gun responsibly. He is getting better each outing and finally today we broke out the 28 gauge shotgun and he got to shoot his first pheasant. I am excited for him to spend time with me outdoors and hope this is the first of many hunting trips together.

Buster and Annie Hunting Pheasants

My son Travis just recently turned nine years old and is starting to show an interest in hunting. He has become more and more involved in helping train our dogs and shooting has become a big part of that training process. Today my friend custom loaded a few 16 gauge shells with not much more than a primer so the boys could try shooting a shotgun. Since they changed the minimum age for youth hunters in the state of Utah I have been trying to decide what is the right age to sign my son up for Hunters Safety classes. Personally, I think 12 is a good age limit and will use that age as a goal for Travis to reach before he hunts. There will be plenty of opportunities between now and then for me to begin teaching him about gun safety and hunting ethics. I look forward to the day when we can hunt side-by-side but first and foremost will be teaching him a respect for wildlife and firearms.

September 1st was the opening day of the dove hunt in central Utah. My friend Chris Colt of cove mountain kennels invited me to come along as he would be working with my brittany dog Annie. The hunting was pretty tough and the dove were few and far between. We went to a spot where we usually train our hunting dogs and found several other groups already hunting dove there. When we finally did find a Dove it was well out of shooting range. We watched where it landed and sent Chris’ wife Julie in for the flush. She handled the shot nicely and was the only one of us to bag a dove that day. It was still a fun time and a good excuse to get out and work with the dogs.