browndog

Todd said it much more elegantly than me. You have to understand that when you breed for color rather than performance you are using far less of the gene pool. Breeders that breed for color are picking the two reddest dogs they can find to make red pups. Thus, caring only for the color and not the health or performance of the parents. If you do this for a few generations you get a beautiful red color and not much else. I have seen some amazingly talented red labs and some that couldn't find a ham sandwich on a gym floor. The only way I would by a Silver lab is if both parents are FC or MH. It will never happen. I have yet to see one pass a JH test. They were bred for color and not performance. Chocolates are a dump shoot. My Master Hunter Chocolate took far more effort to get him to that level compared to my other dogs. The bad chocolates I have seen far out weigh the good ones. I wouldn't buy a pup from a Chocolate to Chocolate litter(the narrow gene pool thing). Spend some time running AKC hunt tests and you will know were I am coming from.

Color of the dog should be way down on the list of priorities. Health clearances and good breeding should far outweigh the color. Fox reds and silvers are both bad choices followed closely by chocolates.

Dogs eat meat Sheep eat grain Dogs are carnivores

daSwede Who is the parents of your dog. That is a nice looking dog.

What kind of pup is it. If it is a retriever you can look into the local retriever clubs, Lake Country or Southern Minnesota Retriever Clubs. Once you get to know some of the members you will have lots of opportunities to train on all sorts of land/cover/water with dead birds/live birds etc. Many of the dog people I know seek out and find places to train with out of lot of effort or expense. Just use your imagination. I drive by Belle Blaine everyday on my way to work and I see a long pond to the east of 169 and south of town that would work, as I drive through Belle Plaine on the way to the golf course I spot two goods spot to train. Just take a drive and you will find what you are looking for.

Your post lets me know that you were not around when duck hunting was good in Minnesota. I feel sorry for you that you think what you have is good. Large numbers of ducks used to migrate through Minnesota.

No and No. At least not as long as the DNR manages for duckhunters and not ducks.

I think Chub is right. I know you have to be optimistic to be a duckhunter. But it is Oct. 9th and not Nov. 9th. You might see a trickle of the light weight ducks and the calendar migrators but you will have to wait until later to see the real ducks. Good luck to all that go out. I am still nursing a sore shoulder from my trip to ND and will have to eat some birds before I can go back out.

You are like the guy that told me I couldn't use my Mojo because the lake I was on had a WMA attached to it. And I had to reply that if I can't use my Mojo you can't use your outboard because those are not allowed on WMA's either. Or are you the guy that reported me to the CO because I was not picking up my birds and when the CO met me at the access I said these ducks(four drake mallards, 1 gadwall and 1 spooner). Just because I was not running out after my ducks each and every time I shot one down like you and instead I was sending my dog to get them. Just because someone does something different than you does not make it wrong or illegal.

Yes, I do shoot swans. In ND. and water them there.

water swat them

The safest course of action would be to call the local CO and clear it with them. I can just imagine the calls to the tip line when you pull the trigger on a mute swan. Good luck.

You are kinda of like the guy that catches and releases 100 walleye with a mortality rate of 10%(I am guessing the mortality rate is actually higher) and complaining about the fact that someone catches and keeps a limit of 6 once a year to eat. In the end you have killed 4 more fish but you feel more noble about yourself because you threw them all back. I didn't realize that this thread was about muskie fishing. So now I really don't care.

Be the first one to step up to the plate and stop fihsing these lakes. It is kind of like complaining about people speeding when you are doing 70 mph in a 55 mph zone. It seems if you are out on these lakes and pitching for the same fish then you are part of the problem.

As many as the good Lord puts in front of me(while staying inside my possesion limit of course)