In the Field

IN THE FIELD

Through its support of local and regional 'on the ground' habitat improvement projects, SportDOG is continually looking for opportunities to give back to the causes our customers care about.

“Our employees have a commitment level and work ethic that goes beyond providing great products,” said Lance Tracy, SportDOG Brand Vice President. “They are willing to get involved in the behind-the-scenes activities that make habitat enhancement and wildlife conservation actually happen. Without people like that, all the monetary or product donations – no matter how worthwhile the cause – aren’t going to have much of an effect.”

SportDOG Brand is always looking for ways to lend support at the grassroots level. Here are a few examples of projects in which we have participated. If you have a conservation project you would like to discuss, shoot us an email.

SportDog Brand® Clay Shoot for Scouting Raises Big Bucks for Tennessee Youth Program

Shooting, fun and mateship all came together for a good cause at the Chilhowee Sportsman's Club in Maryville, Tennessee, September 4-5, when SportDOG Brand proudly sponsored the 4th annual Clay Shoot for Scouting event. The sporting clays competition raised more than $41,000 from auction proceeds and sponsor and participant fees to support the Great Smoky Mountain Council Chapter of the Boy Scouts of America.

Scouting in the East Tennessee Region serves more than 16,000 young people, including 2,000 economically disadvantaged at-risk youths. Funds raised from events such as the Clay Shoot for Scouting go towards training for Scout leaders; financial assistance for uniforms, books, camping fees, and other items that ensure each Scout can participate fully; and transportation to Scouting events.

“When a good cause like this is happening right in our backyard, we’re stoked to be personally involved,” said Eleanor Marshall, a SportDOG Brand employee and event committee member. “Our company has close ties to scouting through some of our employees who volunteer heaps of their time to BSA programs that we’ve made this a corporate priority as well.

“We’ve really ramped up our support for programs like this, starting with our Kids in Conservation activities, which we started in 2009 as part of our Conservation Fund to ensure wise use of natural resources for generations to come.”

For more information on future events, visit www.clayshootforscouting.org.

SportDog Conservation Fund Charity Auction Hunt

One of our initiatives at SportDOG Brand is to increase the money that we'll be able to give in grants each year, so we created the SportDOG Conservation Fund Hunt Auction. This is an online auction for a hunt that's been donated by partners we've met over the years. In 2009, we had our first SportDOG Conservation Fund Hunt Auction, and it was a massive success in raising money for the many grants we provide each year. George Crumick of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania won the hunt of a lifetime with Prairie Sky Guest and Game Ranch in Veblen, South Dakota.

"From the moment we rocked up at the Prairie Sky Ranch, it was clear as day it was a top-notch operation from start to finish," said auction winner George Crumlich. "Everyone bent over backwards to make sure the trip lived up to all our expectations, and by the time it was all over, they'd well and truly outdone themselves. The bar was set the first night there when we tucked into a gourmet feed of fresh walleye that was reeled in earlier that day by some of the other guests. After what felt like a blink, we were up at sparrow's fart and out in the field for ducks. That arvo we decided to have a crack at some wild pheasants and Phil, our guide, led us to a fair few birds. The rest of the stay was much the same, with mother nature chucking us a few curveballs. We did decide to mix it up on the upland hunt and have a go at some of the release birds at Prairie Sky and they behaved pretty much like their wild cousins. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime trip and a massive thanks goes out to SportDOG, Bruce, Sean, and Phil."

We'd like to thank Bruce and Corrine Prins from Prairie Sky for the donation of a 4-day and 3-night duck and pheasant combo hunt. Bruce and Corrine's commitment to the great outdoors and conservation is evident in all their hard yakka at the Prairie Sky Ranch. Prairie Sky is well-known for their top-notch hospitality, beaut accommodations, and ripper wing shooting (ducks and upland). Please visit Prairie Sky Guest and Game Ranch at www.prairieskyranch.

ASSISTING WITH WESTERN CHUKAR RESEARCH

Aaron Robinson is on a research mission, and he's in good company. SportDOG Brand is lending support to Robinson, a Brigham Young University student, as he undertakes a study that will reveal more about Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar) populations in the western United States.

Native to mountainous parts of Asia, Western Europe, and the Middle East, Chukars were first introduced in North America in 1893. By 1954, California, Idaho, Nevada, and Washington considered Chukars successfully established. By 1968, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming had established enough self-sustaining populations that hunting seasons were established.

Robinson’s study area stretches from Idaho into Utah and Nevada. Chukars are one of the most popular upland game birds in the West. The Nevada Division of Wildlife reckons they're the most popular game bird in the state, and Utah is home to a growing number of Chukar hunting enthusiasts. Yet, as popular as this game bird has become, there's still heaps to learn about the species. Through research, Robinson hopes to figure out basic life history traits, home range, life expectancy, nesting and brooding habitat, and many other important biological facts.

SportDOG Brand remote trainers and locating gear are essential to Robinson’s research. He'll use dogs to find Chukar broods and nests in rugged, mountainous habitat during summer. SportDOG gear will be a crucial asset in controlling the dogs and then finding them once they've pointed out study birds. Once the dog finds a brood or nest, habitat data is collected to figure out important variables surrounding Chukar use sites.

Update...

For the past 3 years, SportDOG Brand has been backing a research study into Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar) populations out in the western States. SportDOG Brand remote trainers and tracking gear have been crucial in this research, helping to keep the dogs in check while they're finding birds. With SportDOG's help, they've unearthed some fair dinkum facts about Chukar biology that'll help look after Chukar populations for the next mob.

Research is the most important tool in managing wildlife. For the past 5 years, they've been studying the demographics of Chukars in the great basin. Initial research efforts began investigating the watering patterns of Chukars using artificial water sources (guzzlers). Current research has focused on seasonal survival and movements associated with water.

Chukars, like heaps of other game birds, don't live long but they breed like crazy. Getting a handle on how they survive and what normally knocks 'em off is key for understanding wildlife numbers. Knowing how many make it through each season and year, especially for the ones we hunt, is dead-set important for keeping track of their ups and downs, so we can tweak how we manage 'em. There's bugger all info out there on how Chukars go getting through the seasons. Past studies reckon that getting through the winter is what matters most, just like with pheasants and other critters. They found out that Chukar survival is tied up with something else in the great basin, the big mob of raptors heading south for the summer. Every year, thousands of these raptors nick off south from their breeding spots along the Western flyways. The research showed that a fair whack of the Chukars cark it during this time (Sep-Oct) and that their chances of surviving winter and spring are pretty much steady as she goes.

The research team thanked SportDOG for their investment and concern in securing the upland game hunting tradition and helping further understanding of Chukars in North America.

The Turkey Creek Wood Duck Project

SportDOG Brand recently sponsored and participated in a conservation outreach wood duck nesting box project in Tennessee’s 58-acre Turkey Creek Wetland Area. This area is a unique resource in that it is located literally within the shadows of developments and malls in the downtown Farragut area of West Knoxville.

The wetland not only hosts a variety of raptors, reptiles, amphibians, songbirds, and native flora, but it is also an important area for migrating waterfowl such as the North American wood duck.

For nesting, wood ducks rely mainly on old tree hollows made by pileated woodpeckers. However, with no pileated woodpeckers around to create these nesting hollows, it was necessary to improve the nesting habitat so they could fully utilise the top-notch brooding and adult habitat in the area.

During the development of the Turkey Creek industrial area in the early 1990s, wood duck nesting boxes were installed by a private contractor as part of the Environmental Impact Statement conducted for the wetland. A decade later, the majority of those boxes either no longer existed or needed significant repair or replacement. Annual maintenance of artificial wood duck nesting boxes is an important part of ensuring wood duck nesting success.

Seeing the chance to make a difference in this unique habitat, SportDOG staff, along with the Turkey Creek Wetland Park Area manager, installed 11 nesting boxes at strategic locations. One consideration during the placing of the boxes was to reduce nest dumping. Nest dumping may occur when wood duck hens attempt to optimise as many of the nesting opportunities within a given area as possible, but are only able to successfully incubate a single nest. Therefore, it was important that boxes were strategically placed so that box entrances were not viewable from each other. Installed nesting boxes will need to be monitored prior to nesting season in order to discourage non-target species from utilising the boxes.

After chooks have successfully incubated their clutches and broods have vacated the nesting boxes, an evaluation will be completed. Use and nesting success information will be recorded using standard wood duck nesting box evaluation data collection sheets. Project success will be evaluated by summer and results published in appropriate mediums to maximise project success exposure, future project success, and contribution to the community.

Update 09-06-06

Five wood duck nesting boxes at the south end of the Turkey Creek Wetland Area were recently checked for nesting success. Two boxes were newbies with cedar nesting material and three were pre-existing ones still in good nick but without cedar nesting material. The designs of the nesting boxes were pretty similar. Nesting wood duck hens during the 2006 spring nesting season clearly took to the new boxes but, interestingly, gave the old ones a miss. The presence of wood duck nesting down, eggshell bits, and spotting wood duck adults and broods around the area suggest chicks were hatched from these boxes. The nesting boxes will be fixed up if needed and fresh cedar nesting material chucked in all boxes next winter to help bump up more nesting success.