Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Sharpies,....finally

It's easier if one makes it a destination hunt. I made a goal to hunt birds with my dogs in every state. I have 44 down with 6 to go. I will probably not get to two of them.

Just the 44 is a hell of an accomplishment! If I may ask, which six are remaining and which two are bottom of the list?

81 Cool goal... I wanted to hunt 25 different states... I think I am at 20.. Good luck..

Agree! Do tell...

Thread sidetrack here. So you guys traveling to 20-44 states. Do you leave your dogs in the truck or trailer overnight or do you bring them in? I bring Bane in everywhere as the thought of someone stealing him in hunting season and hunting country makes me very nervous. I may be overprotective lol. Just curious as I'll probably keep bringing him in regardless. He stays inside in a ruff tuff kennel even in the rooms as he tends to roam around unfamiliar interiors too much for me to rest.

The states I have left to hunt are Utah, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon. The two I am not likely to hunt are Hawaii due to their onerous firearm restrictions and their pet health requirements (which I can understand though not agree with) and California due to their politics. I still might do California providing I can stay in an adjoining state where all I have to spend in California is the price of a hunting license and there is something unique to California to hunt.

When I travel with my dogs, where they spend the night can vary. Many times they stay in the back of the vehicle if at a motel and I could park outside the door or window as my wirehairs were protective enough to give strangers pause and all of the dogs were pretty vocal of someone attempting entry to the vehicle. Where I couldn't park outside the door I generally brought the dogs inside with me.

That is when I stayed in a motel or hotel, many times I stayed in a private home where the dogs might come inside or stay outside depending on the circumstances. Other times I slept outside in the truck with the dogs to save money.

I started this effort in 1985 so it has been a process. The hardest part was finding something and somewhere to hunt wild birds. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island were the most difficult. When I could I focused on something unique to that state but often had to take whatever was available. I had to settle for ducks in RI but was able to scratch out a grouse and/or woodcock in the other two. There is no way I would want to live in those states if a bird hunter.

Many southern/southeastern states aren't much better. I was lucky enough to start there before wild quail all but disappeared. I was lucky enough that I had local connections so was invited to hunt "private" covies as long as I shot only one bird from it, whether on the initial flush or following up singles. Some of the hunts had me wondering if I would even see a game bird I the time I had allowed for that state. Options were much greater for doves if one was so inclined.

Another tough aspect was timing. Many hunting seasons were concurrent with those here and I would have to trade good days here for comparatively poor days somewhere else. That was often a tough choice to make, especially if I had a young dog in the string.

I was able to do this due to my job. Initially, I could take three days vacation and end up with two weeks off. That gave me a fair bit of time to hit more than one state in a trip. When I went out East I would take up to a month off and plan to hunt up to 3 states. If I could get cheap airfare I would fly out and rent a vehicle if the economics worked out. That cut a few days off my needs giving me time to use elsewhere. It also helped I was single for a long time, that gave me greater discretion where I used my time. It probably helped me to remain single for a long time too.

Woodsmaster,

I believe your accomplishment is great even if you don't set foot in one more state! Your list of excluded states are as I figured and I'd likely avoid them myself. I hope you cross the next four off your list and have a blast doing it.

woodmaster- That's awesome!! I have a bucket list for Hank, but time is the biggest limiting factor; mostly the travel time to some of the places I want to take him. I wish I could feel more comfortable about flying with him, but a thread here has me a bit spooked to do so...