This week on the program, co-host Becca Aceto and Michigan hunter Sarah Topp talk about training their first bird dogs. Sarah’s dog, Timber Doodle, is named after her favorite quarry, the woodcock. Training a high-energy dog has its ups and downs, but Becca and Sarah are each finding that it adds a richer dimension to their time in the field. (Disclaimer: Listening to this episode may cause you to Google bird dog breeds incessantly.)

  • 1:30 “Northwoods Unleaded” video
  • 2:00 Artemis Great Lakes Instagram and Facebook
  • 4:00 You can cook/eat woodcock whole… entrails included!
  • 7:00 No bone saw? No problem! A Sawzall works for breaking down those big roasts
  • 8: 20 Michigan United Conservation Clubs – NWF’s Michigan Affiliate!
  • 9:30 “Rabbitat” – rabbit habitat improvement lingo
  • 11:00 Michigan elk populations. Yeah! Elk… in Michigan! They’ve been there for a hundred years now.
  • 15:00 Harvesting an animal as a kid versus as an adult
  • 18:00 Woodcock in Michigan, aka “timberdoodles”
  • 19:00 Let’s talk bird dogs: Upland game hunting versus waterfowl hunting with a dog… and flushing dogs versus pointing dogs
  • 20:00 #coronapuppies… did EVERYONE get a bird dog this spring?!
  • 22:00 Training a bird dog starts with basic obedience… next is to spend a lot of time outdoors picking up scent. Then you can graduate to working your dog on specific bird scents, using wings from previously harvested birds.
  • 24:00 Bird dog groups and clubs = priceless
  • 25:00 “Water Dog” by Richard Wolters
  • 29:00 E-collar training at six months, Garmin and Sport Dog collars
  • 34:00 Dog training blunders (and wins!)
  • 38:00 The pointing instinct… how ‘there’ is it? Plus, puppy’s first point!
  • 41:00 Finding the right dog breed for your flavor of hunting (or, perhaps, for the degree of hair-shedding you’re willing to manage)
  • 44:00 “GSP” in birddog-speak is German Shorthaired Pointer
  • 45:00 That moment you realize your 4- to 6-mile daily runs aren’t enough to wipe out your dog’s energy, so you invest in a pair of rollerblades and let the dog pull you six miles in 25 minutes. 
  • 48:00 Woodcock = “they fly like drunk birds”
  • 50:00 Favorite shotguns for birding
  • 55:00 Hanging with your bird dog: Leisure vs. work. For one dog, it’s a catch-phrase, “Find the birds.”
  • 56:00 Gun sensitivity training (No idea where the fuzz in here is coming from! It’s gone quickly)
  • 1:00:00 Cabin fever fix? Campgrounds with cellphone service, baby!
  • 1:08:00 Follow Sarah on Instagram @trisarahtopp3