WHERE DUCKS ALWAYS FLY AND YOU CAN TAKE BIG
BUCKS
Why Deer Creek Lodge Raises and
Trains Dogs
Editor's
Note: Any day you can shoot as few as six ducks or as
many as 25 because Deer Creek Lodge is a hunting preserve.
But, unlike most duck-hunting operations, the hunt at
Deer Creek Lodge doesn't have to end after a morning
of waterfowling. At this lodge, you can double-down
and hunt ducks in the morning and upland birds or deer
in the afternoon. After taking ducks, you may flush
as many as 100 or 200 upland birds or choose to hunt
for trophy whitetails with your bow.
"We
use both retrievers and pointers throughout the preserve
season," Tim Stull, manager of Deer Creek Lodge,
explains. "In a month of hunting, a dog may see
more birds, make more retrieves and point more birds
than he may in an entire hunting season anywhere else.
Because we have to keep so many dogs for our hunting
operation and because we have a retriever trainer and
a bird dog trainer, we also offer dog training to hunters
who own retrievers."
Deer
Creek Lodge raises and trains its own breed of bird
dogs, the Yelahw, named for Mr. Whaley, who has spent
his lifetime developing this strain of dogs (Whaley
spelled backwards). Deer Creek Lodge has chosen this
strain of bird dog because of the ease with which they're
trained. According to Stull, these dogs actually will
train themselves. The pups start at $500 and go up in
price, depending on the amount of training they have
had.
"We
charge $500 for training either our pups or your pups,
and satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed," Stull
explains. One of the primary keys to training bird dogs
is having birds for the dogs to find, point and learn
to retrieve. Deer Creek Lodge keeps numbers of birds
on hand and in the field at all times. Dogs are worked
daily on hundreds of birds. However, Deer Creek Lodge
isn't a puppy factory and only may offer as few as 20
dogs for sale each year. Often there's a waiting list
for the trained Yelahw. If you're looking for a started
dog or a partially-trained dog, there may be 10 available
a year. If you want a finished dog, then you may have
10 more from which you can select one bird dog. Because
Deer Creek Lodge is a licensed shooting preserve, the
lodge can start hunting and shooting mallards, quail,
pheasant, chukars, and Hungarian partridge on September
1 each year and continue to hunt through April 15.
For more information on Deer Creek Lodge, you can write
P.O. Box 39, Sebree, Kentucky 42455; call 1-888-875-3000;
email deercreek@vci.net; or, visit www.deercreeklodge.net.
TOMORROW: DEER CREEK'S RETRIEVER TRAINING PROGRAM
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