My Dog Hunts - Upland Birds

My Dog Hunts - Upland Birds

Where-to, how-to and when-to bird hunting advice on pheasant, partridge, ruffed grouse, sharptails, prairie chickens and quail, Host Randy Shepard has bird hunted from Oregon to Wisconsin to New Mexico and Arizona. He's taken 15 different combination limits and four different double limits of upland birds across the mid-west. He's never hired a guide, leased land, hunted as a guest or engaged in a swap hunt, while in pursuit of dual limits. All self-made, self-planned hunts, on public (and a little bit of private) land. My Dog Hunts, isn’t your typical upland bird hunting podcast. You won’t find 20, or even one minute of advertising in my episodes. I’m not trying to convince you that if you buy this gun and that ammunition you’ll become a better shot. That if your dog comes from this line and travels in that crate, he’ll be a better hunter. And if you “Friend” me, you’ll be hunting all these wonderful covers and shooting birds in numbers you’ve only dreamed of. Nope, that ain’t My Dog Hunts. My goal in presenting the My Dog Hunts podcast, is to encourage each of you to hunt - more birds - in more states – more often. And to buy more hunting licenses! I believe that the most important investment that each of us can make for the future of bird hunting, is in the purchase of multiple, bird hunting licenses. Lots and lots of licenses. Hopefully, my stories will convince you to do just that. After listening to my successes, you’ll realize that taking a daily bag limit of birds, even as a non-resident, can be a realistic goal for you. I’m as close to a trophy hunter as an upland bird hunter can be. I’ve been pursuing combination and double limits of upland birds for more than 40 years. My hunts have never been about amassing large numbers of birds in a season. I believe that season numbers are more a reflection of time, access and money. Enablers that I’ve never had in abundance. In the beginning, my interest in taking dual limits was a private matter. Dual limits have never been a recognized activity, and there’s no one out there keeping score. In fact, I don’t even have pictures of many of the dual limits I’ve taken. Those hunts were always between myself and my dogs. Then my intent changed. I continued in protest of the commercialization of upland bird hunting. All of the attempts to convince recreational hunters, that they have to spend thousands of dollars on gear, guns, dogs and access, to be successful. My stories will convince you that you don’t need to buy expensive crap to be successful. Dollars don’t make you a better hunter. Planning and practice are what it takes to be successful. You’ll find that I adhere to very strict rules in pursuing dual limits. All of my bird hunts are self-made, self-planned hunts on public and a little bit of private land. Every trip and hunt that I share is available to any of you willing to travel and walk the miles I have. Give My Dog Hunts a listen, and start planning for your best bird season ever.

Episodes

February 8, 2025 57 mins

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Chaos & Mayhem in South Dakota. Lots of grouse, huns, pheasants and hunters too! Several day hunts from five weeks spent in South Dakota last season. 

"One morning I left the truck at 11:00 with Mayhem and was back before noon with the three bird limit. A clean triple of sharptails. A couple hunters stopped to chat as I was stowing birds. They said their pointers had moved about 80 birds that morning and they ...

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Spent 8 days chasing chukar, huns and valley quail in Oregon and Nevada. Lots of birds but not so great dog work. Still had a good time and can't wait to return next year. The quail saved the trip. Lots and lots of quail. No dual limits in this episode, but still a lot of fun. 

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December 9, 2024 30 mins

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This was in the "good ol' days" of ruffed grouse hunting in southeast Minnesota. Back when the daily bag limit for woodcock was 5 birds. Hunting with a buddy Russ and his lab Char, we shot 19 ruffs and 14 woodcock in two days of hunting. 
     I had tried for several years for this combination limit. It was tough because it was a lucky day for me to even see five woodcock in a long day of hunting. I...

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February 27, 2024 51 mins

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Several 2023 pheasant hunts in Iowa. Chaos and Maybe both got limits. Lots of birds! We even shot a few sharptails in Montana. 

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January 30, 2024 47 mins

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Seven days hunting pheasants and sharptails in South Dakota with Maybe and Chaos. The dogs were too clownish to compliment, but with my expectations, they did just fine. We even took a couple of combo limits of grouse and pheasants. 

I threw in a short story about a ruffed grouse hunting mishap that I hope won't cause you to question my sanity. 

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November 8, 2023 45 mins

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Chaos & Maybe Exploring Idaho for next trip from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  Took a couple of newbies on sharp tail hunts (lots of birds!) and looked for better partridge hills than I've hunted in the past.

Both dogs earned Story Bands for 1st Idaho Sharptail and 1st Daily Bag Limit of Idaho Sharptails. 

Spent most of this fall in South Dakota for pheasants and sharptails (Maybe earned 4 new...

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I can't say too much good about "Critter". She hunted the tail end of the southern Minnesota/Iowa ruffed grouse years, the best Kansas and Nebraska pheasant years, and a half dozen Dakota years. 

This hunt was a seat of my pants exploration into northern South Dakota. I was looking for a new area for pheasants and sharptails, and we found it. The strange thing is, in the following days, I found...

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Miss Bodet, took 3-roosters in Iowa & 2 in Minnesota in the same day on public land. Then on another trip I knocked on doors in South Dakota and shot limits of pheasants for 6 days, without paying a fee. 

Bo was only a couple years old on these hunts.  

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Yeah, I was a whole lot younger back then, and those two pups were pretty special dogs. 

Critter & Woogs as pups, hunting ruffed grouse in southeast Minnesota and pheasants in southcentral Minnesota. This was the first time that I tried to take this combination limit, instead of just hoping it would happen.  There were several days over those years, that I took the 5-bird limit of ruffs, but only got one ...

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I was fortunate to have hunted Kansas and Nebraska when both states had a lot of pheasants. At that time, and for decades to come, I believed this hunt was the epitome of pheasant hunting. I only surpassed this day one time, on a hunt most of you have listened to in an earlier episode. 

Back in 1981, with two young dogs, Critter, a female, liver & white springer, and Woogie a female yellow lab, we took th...

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March 25, 2023 44 mins

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Follow along on a dogless prairie chicken hunt in Nebraska. This was early in a 5 day prairie chicken hunt in Nebraska and South Dakota. It was my first attempt at a combo of 3 chickens and a fall turkey.  The previous "Double Limit of Prairie Chickens" episode, was two days after this hunt. If these two episodes don't convince you to get after prairie chickens, I feel bad for your dogs.

    

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Had a solid few days hunting quail in Idaho with Chaos and Maybe.

I tell you about my 2021 season and maybe you'll understand why I didn't have much to talk about.  

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February 27, 2023 38 mins

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Mostly chukar hunting with Chaos and my new pup Mayhem.

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August 20, 2021 57 mins

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This episode has the best coyote calling advice anyone could give. The two most important factors for setting up your best opportunity for a successful shot. Stopping a coyote exactly where you want him and how to select the best stand location. These two practices will greatly increase your odds of killing the coyotes that respond to your calls. 

And of course lots of personal anecdotes that illustrate how I...

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July 23, 2021 55 mins

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More calling how-to and gear suggestions.  There's some important information here mixed in with hunt stories. I could have saved a lot of money and shot a lot more coyotes if I knew this stuff 30 years ago! 

I have two more coyote calling episodes in the works. I'll discuss stand locations, how to read coyote behavior,  when to stop calling, how to know where the coyote wants to stop before he know...

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July 15, 2021 48 mins

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I've been calling coyotes for more than 30 years from Arizona to Montana and love coyote calling only second to upland bird hunting. If you've ever thought about calling coyotes or are looking for new information, you'll want to give this a listen!   This is the first of a series of coyote calling talks  to fill in the dead space before upland bird seasons open.  

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December 23, 2020 55 mins

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Unexpected late season pheasant and sharptail "fun" hunt in South Dakota. Me and Chaos hoping to average 2 birds a day on a 4 day mid-December public land hunt. We just hunted a few hours each day and still averaged 3 birds.  10 roosters and 2 grouse.   

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December 11, 2020 53 mins

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Hunting pheasants and sharptails in the tall grass of western South Dakota. Chaos and I take the combo limit of Sharps & Phez on two of five days and still have a day for North Dakota. 

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November 10, 2020 32 mins

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A buddy and I hunt opening day in Iowa, I finish the day hunting Nebraska. Then we head to South Dakota for 5 days of pheasants and sharptails. Lots of birds!

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October 23, 2020 36 mins

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Chaos and I just returned from a four day pheasant and grouse hunt in South Dakota and we took the 6 bird combo the first two days of our hunt! Give this episode a listen to get your dander up for a hunt of your own.

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