Bird Camp

Tim and I could talk longer but this is a good 2 hours. As a new Michigan DNR biologist we started right away with what he wants to see happen in his area. Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.comWing and Clay Magazine

Lola was the lucky youth who benefitted from my Axis Challenge at the 2025 SASSS Classic. A series of gentlemanly wagers raised some funds to take a young shooter out hunting.Myself and Andrew Frank guided for Lola and family friend Kyler for a few hours earlier this month. Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.comWing and Clay Magazine

I was able to break away from pedaling shirts and pants to chat with some of the exhibitors and get some content for all of you listeners to enjoy.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.comWing and Clay Magazine

WARNING!! This may be my longest podcast yet. Jes and I talk quite a bit about the woman's perspective of the outdoors and a bit about bro cultures influence on the lady hunter. We both would like some serious input and feedback from the listener on this topic. Enjoy the Podcast.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.comWing and Clay Magazine

Matt and I get rabbit trailed early but finally get to the topic of pigeon shooting. Its a fascinating topic for me and this conversation only is a small beginning to the topic.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.comWing and Clay Magazine

John and I could obviously talk much longer but we kept it reasonable. He spends a good amount of time in the Dakota grasslands with his setters.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.comWing and Clay Magazine

Mike had me bring the microphones along to his open house at Haymarsh Hunt Club and recorded with a live audience. There were new and old friends taking a few minutes at the recording table. Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.comWing and Clay Magazine

I publish every 5th Stories with Swanky here on the podcast. All the others are found on Patreon.com/BirdCampI hope you enjoy The Old Man and the Boy and The Cat and the Cat Burglar.

I didn't get the mics out during the October Birdcamp or at Grumpy camp this year but wanted to relay the experiences and observations.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.comWing and Clay Magazine

Bob is a long time grouse hunter, dog trainer, and mentor. We put together a good set of questions and I really like these kinds of podcasts. Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.com

John is here to help you shop for that fine English shotgun to fit your taste. It was a great conversation. Find him at britishdoubles.com Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.com

A quick update from the opening weekend of grouse season, some out takes from Pyke Upland Kickoff, and a story from Guy de la Veldene.

A small episode about being safe and courteous this hunting season.

John and I kept this conversation short and informative about projects and progress in Michigans grouse woods.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.com

There is a new hire this year at RGS and its Zach Evans filling a FCD position for the eastern Great Lakes. We keep it pretty well focused on RGS and the progress made on the large Federal forest systems here in Michigan. Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.com

Tom is one of the new owner operators at Prairie Ridge Farm. We talk about the experiences of hunting the farm and also the lessons learned from the first year of running a preserve.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.com

Jeff wanted to get the word out about the new V3 dog vest and catch up on this falls plans. Of course there was plenty of BirdCamp shop talk as well.The GoFundMe link mentioned is here. https://www.gofundme.com/f/7zmz6-support-rachels-battle-against-breast-cancer/cl/s?attribution_id=sl:71e0677b-3f2b-4b3f-884e-c3adb3d17873&lang=en_US&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp13_t1-amp14_t2-amp15_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&v=amp14_t2Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.comWild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.com

Nate and I eventually get into the topic I wanted to focus on with him, habitat crossover. The things he looks for when scouting for deer are many of the same things we upland hunters take note of. Brushy edges, concealment, and food sources, are in the same value to the grouse as it is to the whitetail. It's no wonder we cross paths with hunters of other disciplines while pursuing game. This is a good birdcamp conversation and I hope you enjoy it. Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.comWild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.comPrairie Ridge Farms prairieridgefarms.com

I finally had Andrew on the podcast. He's one of the regulars that travel around Michigan shooting the SxS events. We mostly stayed on task. Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.comWild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Matt and I almost kept to the notes but as many conversations around the fire go we wandered off into other topics a few times. a few highlights were Wing & Clay Life magazine and The Upland Habitat Conservancy.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.comCollar Clinic collarclinic.comWild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Number 15 Stories with Swanky. enjoy!

Ryan and I start out by ignoring the show notes and talking about hunting with our kids. We eventually get into shotgun patterns and Pattern Pros LLC. Pattern Pros offers variety boxes of shotgun shells for pattern testing your shotgun without the large price commitment. Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.comCollar Clinic collarclinic.comWild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Kevin talks a while with me about Collar Clinic and the services he offers in the hunting electronics market. We of course do talk a little hunting.

Dennis and I catch up on some of the events and offerings at Aspen Thicket. We also go over a number of events hosted by Uncle Grouse this coming off season for the newcomer and experienced hunter alike.

Chad and I focus on his career as a Biology teacher and what young people are attracted to in the outdoors. Or how to get them interested in the outdoors. With 25 years of teaching behind him Chad has a lot of experience keeping students engaged in learning about the wild.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.comCollar Clinic collarclinic.comWild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Darryl joins me again almost exactly a year since he was last on the podcast. We cover a few recipes to try on those forgotten packages hidden in the freezer and a little about cider pairings to compliment a dish. You can find Darryl at @Chefsknife_Corkscrew or [email protected] you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.comCollar Clinic collarclinic.comWild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Captains Lori and Brian talked for a quick minute about the past season and upcoming plans for Wild Card Outfitters and Guides.

Scott and I catch up earlier this spring about the bird season and what is happening around Pine Hill Gun Dogs.

Dale came to mind first when I heard there was a change in NAVHDA testing. As it turns out he was the right guest to have on the podcast.Thank you to our sponsorsAspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.comPine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.comCollar Clinic collarclinic.comWild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Cindy and I have known each other quite a while and regularly see each other at youth hunts where we volunteer. We talk about what methods and mentalities work for guiding and mentoring young hunters at a youth event. Dan has been bringing his boys to youth hunts and we've crossed paths a few times as his boys get older. I wanted to get a little perspective from the parent point of view and it was an easy choice to ask him to be on BirdCamp. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

This is one of the Stories readings that I put on the public podcast feed. The others are available at Patreon/BirdCamp. Thank you for listening.

Pardon the audio issues with the hosts mic on this episode and a big thank you to Jon and Allen for really carrying the conversation. This is a camp talk in almost every way and you're invited to sit nearby and hear most of it. This will be the most existential episode of the 2024 season and doesn't disappoint in that regard. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

We finally were able to schedule this recording and it was a very informative conversation. How the hunting community is viewed by nonhunters is a frequent thought topic of mine and Nick was able to bring some useful and encouraging statistics. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

After two seasons talking about the whats and hows of grouse hunting. We switched it up and tapped into the decades of experiences accumulated by these gentlemen. This is the kind of conversation that makes a camp more than just about hunting. I hope you enjoy. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

This is the 5th Stories recording. All are available on Patreon but every 5th reading I'll drop here as well. This episode involves Jon Osborn and Allen Crater with some newer outdoor writings. Enjoy!

This is the first time bringing the mics to my camp. It was a good time and the conversation was fun. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Steve is back to talk about the care of the vintage SxS hunting shotgun. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Uncle Grouse approved of me bringing microphones along to Bonasa Bonanza II and I was able to walk around the campfire colleting a few thoughts and answers to street interview questions. As you will tell it was a great event and a benefit to both the participants and volunteers.

Curt has worked on both private and public lands improving habitat for big and small game. he was one of the contractors used in some of the first southern Michigan woodcock opening projects initiated by the Robert J Lytle chapter of RGS. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

A quick couple of readings from The Hunters Fireside Book by Gene Hill. Not all of these will appear in the podcast episodes but they will all be on the Patreon feed for supporters at any amount.

Scott Brosier owns and operates Pine Hill Gun Dogs. I stopped by the kennel to chat about getting older dogs ready for the season and introducing an older dog to hunting. We also covered some repeat BirdCamp topics of safety and manners. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Scott was nominated by a mutual friend Dave to talk with me about grouse camp and all the usual topics. It went exactly as expected. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Ryan Doughty from A Break in the Action Podcast joins me along with some event day guests. Ryan organized a simulated driven clays day and I joined him as a fan participant. I know you'll enjoy Keith Coyle and some of the guns giving their thoughts while in the moment at the post shoot dinner. Find details about a Downton Day at https://www.huntgreenacres.com/ Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Scott and I have a NSTRA oriented conversation. A great rules brief and handler tips for bettering your score and bird dog. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Todd Agnew and Craney Hill Kennel are a big presence in the Spaniel world. I'm glad to have him on the podcast talking about the handlers and experiences beyond the usual training topics. This conversation would be a great fit in camp lounging around the dinner table. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Dean has 40 years of grouse and Gordon Setters behind him and we had a good ole' grouse camp style conversation. clearcutkennel.com Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

I had Ben on the podcast 2 years ago and it was time to catch up and talk birds, habitat, and what PF is working on next. There is some good news for pheasants, bird hunters, sharptails, and woodcock? Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

A bit of fun from the Society of the American Side by Side Shotgun Spring Classic. This is the second year that I've issued the Axis Challenge to raise money for habitat. It's a 5 dollar gentleman's bet based on a number of scores throughout the days shooting. I was easily beaten by every taker of my challenge. I picked up the microphones after that and made my way around the clubhouse and campfire securing a number of street interviews with some of the participants.

Darryl and I could talk for far longer than we did. This is a long episode and covers a lot of ground. Follow Darryl at chefknife_corkscrew on Instagram or look him up Chef's Knife & Cork Screw L.L.C. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com

Dennis Stachewicz joins me outlining his method for puppy introductions and grouse dog development. Thank you to our sponsors Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs aspenthicketgrousedogs.com Pine Hill Gun Dogs [email protected] Second Chance Bird dogs Field Armor fieldarmorusa.com Collar Clinic collarclinic.com Wild Card Outfitters and Guide Service wildcardoutdoors.com