jackson area duck hunters/waterdog owners

[gator]

i recently posted about getting a training group together, but w/ school and tests i wasn't able to get back w/ most that contacted me...i've got a great opportunity for training and something else i would like to discuss w/ you...weekend trainers welcome as it is gonna be fun for all involved...please pm me if interested...gator

[webfoot]

Got to talk to gator this afternoon. Look forward to sharing ideas and information with the group he is putting together.

If you live in the area give it some thought to come and work your dogs and join the group. Thanks, Justin.

[gator]

no prob, harden...funny story, harden and i were talking on the phone and he asked were i lived...i told him and he says, dang, that's the next street over from me...bout 15 minutes later, we were in my back yard talking...small world ain't it...basically what it boils down to is a way to have a better duck dog...it's not an end all be all by any means but w/ a group of folks training together, it gives others a way to find out info first hand on what has worked and not worked...this would be done/aided/whatever by starting or revamping an existing HRC here in jackson (that part remains to be seen)...i know that there's plenty of duck hunters and dog folks around here and i would like to see something like this get started....i also know that there is a great AKC club here in town and i mean absolutely no disrespect to them by mentioning HRC on this board...it just gives another game for ya'll to play as well, b/c truth be known, i'm gonna play your game (and play it well mind you) this fall...now, that having been said, i am new to the HRC game myself, so i need some folks that have played the game before to help...i know i can always count of some of the tried and true HRC folks on this board (goosebruce, chance, dukdawgn come to mind) for some help and i've recently been in contact w/ mr. bobby williams who is the field rep for this area and he has given me some great ideas...i have chosen to wait until i got at least some interest before i posted it up on this board...when i get the number of folks that i know, i truly know, i can count on to pull this off i will get back w/ mr. bobby...but, until then, i'm gonna hold off as he's busy w/ some other stuff and i'm not gonna bother him til i have a viable number of folks...it's important to know that just b/c you join HRC and hopefully this chapter of it that you're not committing to running in hunt test, but rather committing to creating/making/however you want to phrase it, a better dog while in the blind...one that anyone would be happy to hunt over...but i have a feeling that if you'd try it on for size, you'd find out that you really would have alot of fun doing it...you don't have to be a pro to do it either; look, i am a die-hard duck hunter that happens to run HUNT TEST...not a hunt tester that happens to hunt...most on here are prolly the same type of folks...i hope this clears the air as i've had folks email me today wondering what i actually meant since my message wasn't real clear...i did that so'as to get folks to call as i express myself in words better than typing it out...travis, you or josh or chance i.e glenn i believe, please feel free to add whatever you can as ya'll have been doing this alot longer than myself...mr. bobby, if you get on here and see this, please add whatever you wish, but above all know that i am sending up a prayer or two daily...justin harrison a.k.a gator

[goosebruce]

I answered an add in the paper one day for a local retreiver club training day. Showed up with my fatdawg. My dog couldn't do what their dogs could do. She was just my old hunting dog. Nobody talked to me, so I left. A year later, I saw a post on this very board (when it had the white background and the the posts where threaded) about starting a brand new hrc club in north ms. Figgered if it was brand new, someone would be less educated than me about dogs, so I responded, and badgered the hell out of the guy who posted it... when, where, what... was 3 months before the first meeting, I walked in and didnt know anyone. Sat at the wrong table, so they made me vice president on the orignal charter... hey man, I didnt want this, I just want a better duck dog. They just kept on going. Dude, this aint me, I dont do hunt tests, I just want a duck dog. That was sept, and the next feb I saw a hunt test and FREAKED on how cool it was. That was almost 5 years ago now, thousands of miles ago, and I can't say I have regretted a minute of it. Ran dogs all over the south and even in canada since then, got the most kick ass hunt test dog imaginable I trained myself, and best of all, everyone that hunts with my dog now will remember him forever... he does stuff I didn't know dogs could even do when I walked into that fish house that night. And the orginal poster on here, that got me involved.. well, I rode 1800 miles with him this past weekend to run dogs in deep east texas... just like I ride with him to run or train every weekend, unless we're hunting. My entire circle of friends shifted from guys I used to fish with (against?), and hunt with, to the guys I run dogs with. Only bad part is, hunting with guys when everyone has a kick ass dog means you got to share blind time... used to be I didnt have much dog, but she got all the blind time! hehe. Havent picked up a fishing pole since I started all this mess, cause honestly, my duck season runs all year long now.
Dude, bobby has already hit me and glen on helping ya'll get something going. The remantes of mossy oak are there, and a lot of folks in that area... your area shouldnt be a problem, and isnt it west ms that has smoking remains there? We put on a hunt test the first time with bout 8 people, and NO money, and we had a ball. The most fun test we ever put on. Liked to kill all of us. bwhahaha. travis

[dukdawgn]

Count me in Gator! I'd feel priveledged to help out. Best part, that would be an easy drive for a hunt test for me! heheheheheh.... Get yourself about 8 to 10 folks who can get things done, and then about 5 to 10 more who can work when they have to.....and you can easily get off the ground.

[gator]

yep, goosebruce, west ms and mossy oak are near...west ms much closer and i think (or mr. bobby does) that it'll get going again...we have discusssed the possibility of getting west ms going again; therefore bypassing a preliminary hunt...this i believe might be the best as i just have a feeling that folks around there want to get it going again, giving us an even bigger base to start w/...i just got through emailing clauden christopher w/ HRC about how to run down a Dr. Weeks over in vicksburg to talk to him about this...i think he was a judge at this past grand...i mentioned your name to mr. bobby awhile back and told him you had been the one responsible for me getting me involved, told him to say hey to ya at THE GRAND, and he said he was gonna say more than that, hehehe...anyway, thanks for the post...i ain't as articulate on this contraption as i am in person...what you said pretty much sums up what i've been telling folks and how i feel bout this organization...again, thanks, and i'll see ya at ole hatchie this weekend...gator

[gator]

josh, you were postin whist i was writing...that's the number i'm looking for...bout 8-10 folks i can count on to help and about 5 or so others to help when they can and i'll take it to mr. bobby and claudene (w/ HRC)...i want it done right and i ain't gonna bother mr. bobby anymore til then...and, i'll see ya at ole hatchie this weekend...gotta get a hotel in corinth i guess, you could say i need to get off my booty, hehehe...gator

[Super-X]

Gator,
I'll be at Old Hatchie this weekend too, & will try to catch up with ya. Would like to hear more bout what you got in mind. We (Caol & I) will be running our 1st Seasoned test, so it'll probably mid-day or so before I come huntin for ya. Maybe the butterflies will have settled a bit by then.

[gator]

good luck super-X...i'll be poking around there and i'll hopefully run into ya...if not, i'd be glad to talk to ya about it anytime, day or night, just pm me and i'll get you my number...gator

[dukdawgn]

naw, supa-x....dem butterflies never go away....they jess quit floppin quite as much after you get dat ribbon....heheheh

[chance]

I have created a Frankenstein. Carried Travis and fatdawg to their first hunt test.
gator---it can be done. Southern Flight is living proof. Dedication and some hard work. All pay off in huge rewards in friendships and some truly awesome retrievers.

[gator]

that's pretty much what i'm looking for and what i think most hunters w/ dogs are looking for...the good part is, you see the what your time, money, and efforts produce...a better dog...sometimes folks put money into things (conservation is one that comes to mind) and don't really (i mean, really) see what their efforts go to...w/ this, you see it everytime your dog bypasses the obviously dead duck floating in front of the blind and goes after the crip...there are literally 100 situations you could put in that last sentence's place that normal "hunting" dogs just don't/won't/can't do...this is an avenue to seriously (or not so seriously) train your dog, then see where you stand..that is what i believe test are really for, to use as a yardstick for training and see where your at...dangit, now, i sound like a used car salesman and i'm preaching to the choir...i'll shut up now...i've got several names thus far, and awaiting more...gator

[MSDuckmen]

This all sounds like fun to me.
I have taken two dogs that completed the finished in HRC and Master In the AKC.
If you need someone to help that has local experience in Dog hunting test and is a qualified finished and master judge.
Just let me know.

[Drakeshead]

Hey Gator,

I sent you an e-mail about the West Mississippi HRC. Did you guys ever get together over there for some training?

[gator]

drakehead, you have mail...gator