This thread sure is slow these days

I guess everyone with birddogs have gone fishing.

I don't have anything I can hunt at this point.
Its just running the dogs to keep them in shape, and considering what to work on in the off season with them.
Last Sunday I did take them to exercise in a field I thought was birdless.
Cash locked up on point and Lucy backed him. I wish I had been at a different angle, so I could have gotten a picture of the back with the point included.
Not his most stylish point, but I took the picture anyway.

Looking back I should have taken the picture of Lucy. She has so much style even when backing.

Yep, it's that time of year. No upland seasons are open. Dash picked up a couple ribbons at the Trinity Valley Vizsla and Lone Star GSP club hunting tests on Sunday, but looking at the calendar, it looks like that was the last of the spring pointer hunting tests in Texas. Other than a couple retriever test weekends coming up for Dash, it's time to fish and turkey hunt.

When do bob's start laying eggs in Texas?

Stopped hunting for this season, but not planning for next fall. So my dogs are exercising me every chance they get.

I ask all my pointing dogs questions on this forum. Some people ask or brag on the gun dog forum.

Rain in west and central Texas and in the panhandle with green vegetation will get people talking about a good hatch of quail and pheasants.

The Accuweather guys are talking about the return of El Nino this spring and summer (as early as April 2014). An El Nino will bring up tropical south pacific moisture to the southwest (New Mexico, Colorado, W. Kansas and all of Texas) good news for game birds, more green vegetation and ton of insects.

Look at at the SOI index values, when the red SOI line goes negative that means rain in the southwest will increase. Look at the data below:

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/soi2.shtml

Notice the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Click on the right side of the data in the little green box that says EARLIER. Go all the way back to 1983, 1987, 2005 and 2010 all good SOI negatives and good EL Nino years with good summer rains and great quail and pheasant hatches.

Still a few NSTRA trials to put the dogs on birds if one wanted to take a break from fishing.


March 21-23 2014 - NBHA Western CH Regional Championship, Texas NBHA, LBJ Grasslands, Decatur TX
March 22-23 2014 - NSTRA Pointing Dog Field Trial, OK Region, Ponca City OK
March 22-23 2014 - NSTRA Pointing Dog Field Trial, Open Dbl/Dbl, Gulf Coast Regional Championship, Giddings TX
March 29-30 2014 - NSTRA Pointing Dog Field Trial, Lone Star Region, Regional Elim, Corsicana TX
April 5-6 2014 - NSTRA Pointing Dog Field Trial, OK Region, TBA
April 5-6 2014 - NSTRA Pointing Dog Field Trial, West Texas Region, TBA
April 5-6 2014 - AKC Spaniel Hunting Test, ­Heart of Texas Spaniel Club, Manor TX
April 12-13 2014 - NSTRA Pointing Dog Field Trial, West Texas Region, South Plains Pointer Club, Shallowater TX
April 12-13 2014 - NSTRA Pointing Dog Field Trial, Open Dbl/Dbl, Lone Star Region, Lost Prairie Ranch, Wills Point TX
May 3-4 2014 - NSTRA Pointing Dog Field Trial, West Texas Region Elim, South Plains Pointer Club, Shallowater TX
May 5-6 2014 - ABHA/NBHA Walking Field Trial, Brazos Bottom FTC Club, Boyd Ranch, Wortham TX
May 26 2014 - HRC Upland Hunting Test, Three Rivers Hunting Retriever Tulsa, Catoosa OK

Are the NSTRA exempt from having to put leg bands on the birds? I have been twice and saw no leg bands and being a newbie kept quite.