jeffgillaspie

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Where the deer and the ANTELOPE play!

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Ruger’s Beckham Bevelin “Beck” started our journey, along with his sister Bell back in the day. He spent his first year helping on hunts being a member of our “B” team, and quickly moved up the list to the “A” team, searching for the elusive prairie chicken and sharp tail grouse as we follow from the back of a Tennessee Walker.

Beck is a BIG running dog, with a strong talent for catching the scent at full speed and narrowing down the field in a classic scent cone until he comes to a sudden stop in front of the birds. Back in the day, Beck would occasionally bust a covey of birds out of inexperience. Not so much now when he is on the clock. Unless, of course, he is on a “fun day” hunt with his sister Fiona racing through the prairie ahead of me and Grandpa John. If that’s the case, he’ll flush a dozen birds with a smile on his face, then look back and ask us why we didn’t shoot them.

When he is working, Beck has covered as many as 40 miles in a brace, but I try to keep him to about half of that as much as possible. He is so passionate about being in the field that he will stick his nose through the kennel door in the horse trailer and bark until his snout is bloodied.

Beck has only encountered a skunk on one occasion, and I doubt he will ever want to experience that again, although his point will indicate if he is on something other than a bird and I can call him off before things get too out of hand. He is a true pro in the field and responds to my subtle requests from horseback as if we were walking right next to each other.

He has a true love for working pheasants in the big fields, probably stemming from the exposure to them in his early career. He has on more than one occasion successfully worked a pheasant until it simply gave up, pinned directly under his nose. At that time, his point is as proud as can be, with his tail and nose both held high and his chest puffed out with pride.

In his down time, Beck will spend half of his house time doing aerobics and the other half laying at my feet grumbling about not being able to go hunting.

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[jeffgillaspie]

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#tinkerkennels #southdakota #sdmissouririver (at Tinker Kennels, LLC) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Tm2XblNnC/?igshid=hri26jdegb08

#tinkerkennels #southdakota #sdmissouririver

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Summertime is for recreational horse backing! Let’s fill the calendar!
#tinkerkennels #tennesseewalker #tennesseewalkinghorse #sdmissouririver #sdtourism #hifromsouthdakota (at Tinker Kennels, LLC)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6S8J65lU01/?igshid=3khoopevv9o8

#tinkerkennels #tennesseewalker #tennesseewalkinghorse #mrtourism #sdtourism #hifromsouthdakota