Ray Wylie Fix

Near and Dear

Yesterday afternoon, little time, short drive, quick hunt, happy dog, sanity restored.

Little Cate Cur, Big-Time Magazine Diva

Okay, she's not on the cover. That's Chance, Donny Lynch's rat terrier. Wyman shot that photo a few years back.

But Earl Nottingham, TPW's chief photographer, got some great shots of Cate working a few trees. The online version has only one, but it's a good one. The print version, which is on newsstands right now, has more. And some more good shots of Donny's dogs.

Unbelievable...

I'm speechless.

One of My Favorite McMurtry Tunes

James McMurtry and his band before a rather ... uh ... mellow Dutch crowd. If you like this at all, you'll love it on Live in Aught-Three. Enjoy!

Herd Guardian Documentary

For the past few months, I've received a lot of positive feedback on an article I wrote on herd guardian dogs, with the help of the estimable Cat Urbigkit. Fortunately for my interested readers, a crack(ed )film crew recently descended on the Pinedale, Wyoming area to get the real story. So set back and thrill to the ruthlessness of predator and the courage and resourcefulness of the guardian:

Beagling!

Here's a great beagling video. My thanks to Gregg Barrow for sending it along:


One of the things I like about it is that it debunks the common myth that hounds can't or shouldn't be obedient. Although beagles have no peers when it comes to hunting cottontails, most will also do yeoman work on quail and woodcock. I was eleven or twelve years old, watching Feller, my beagle, silently working scent along a grown-up fence row, when my father said, "He's working birds. Let's get up there." Sure enough, about the time we got within shotgun range, Feller flushed the covey. From then on, whenever, he'd get really gamey, but didn't open up, I'd hustle to within shotgun range. Old Feller got me a lot of shots at gamebirds, and I've seen a number of beagles do the same since. Given a little encouragement, most beagles will retrieve as well. They're versatile little hunters and great with kids.

Looking for a first hunting dog? Find a well-bred beagle pup, make friends with her, and just go hunting. You'll figure it out together.

Sweet Relief

It's drizzly, breezy, and cool this morning in North Texas, after a dry, blistering August. Rain fell most of yesterday. Just after sunrise I heard the distant popping of hunters shooting at, and probably missing, the few resident mourning doves that didn't head south when the cool front arrived. No worry. Migrants from Oklahoma and Kansas will arrive in a few weeks.

Cate and Maggs are soaking wet and feeling fine, treeing backyard squirrels, barking through the wrought iron fence at cottontails in the neighbors' yards. For the first time since May, I can imagine following a dog through the woods or across prairie.

Looking out my office window at drizzle falling on erstwhile prairie reminds me of the effect of rain on Blackland clay. Which, in turn, reminds me of this little Corb Lund tune:

So you'll know that I haven't been slacking...

Wyman Meinzer and I just completed Under One Fence: The Waggoner Ranch Legacy. It'll be out this fall.

Check out this short video on the project, narrated by Wyman.

On the off-chance you're still checking this blog...

At my website, I've added links to a bunch of my newer Texas Wildlife working dog columns and feature articles, including a three-part series on "The Trained Retrieve," with help from Gregg Barrow, a sighthound piece with input from Matt and Steve, and a herd guardian article featuring Cat Urbigkit. You can check them out here.

My website has suffered as much neglect as this blog. I'm slowly working it back into shape, adding new stuff and deleting or moving old stuff.

This past year has been my busiest by far, and the next nine months will be crazy, but I hope to revive Home Range and get back to regular blog reading and commenting.

To my friends who've kept me on their blog rolls for the past year, many thanks.