Mason’s Landing

Mason’s Landing We built this pit 20 years ago, and what it looked like than, to now, but we are trying to bring it I’ve got some ideas but all I can do is hope.

Permanently closed.

We had this pit years ago and it was one of the best in our bottoms, if you have pictures from those days post em , and write something about it, I’m trying to take it back to its glory days but it’s going to be a job, the way it’s run down, it’ll be my last go around.

02/26/2022

We’ll the season has come to a close and I projected 300 birds at the start of season. We had a backwater that made every pit around us look like the refuge, corn stubble with water, what we call the corner pit looked like total sheet water and their pit was an island in the middle, it was hard to compete for ducks with that look. But we had more opportunity to shoot geese than we did ducks, end the end we had 222 specks and snows during dark Goose season, I want to say 38 conservation season snows and blues and around 20 ducks. We would have killed a lot more during the times we thought the specks would finish. Our numbers would have been quite a bit higher if we’d have taken them on the lowest pass, but we learned and finished with some great days, and good numbers. I was really happy with our success and glad everyone got in on some great days. I wish the next group well and hope they have a banner year next season. I will continue to write my hunts in this page as well as my fishing trip and dog training. I’m breeding my female with a male that come from a couple that was some of the best trainers in our area and good friends of mine Clifford and Helen Romain. It’s a son of one of the best dogs they had. He’s a master hunter and still competing, when I have a litter I want to price them where any waterfowl hunter can buy a puppy and not blow up their wallet. I’m breeding to this male to keep a male for my personal hunting dog. I hope everyone had a good season and will put the puppies on here when I get her bred and dropped.

01/22/2022

It’s taken us a while to figure out the specks, anyone saying they decoy like Canada are not hunting the same specks we are. They are tough to decoy and you better take your shot on the closest swing, we keep it about 30 yards, but I’ve spent 40 years calling the shots on Canada’s, that work to the ground. It’s a totally different bird. And snows you have to shoot when they are in range. Everything in our bottoms has changed and hard for me to adjust. We’ve killed our share but it could be better, if specks would finish. They act like they are going to, than pull out for no reason. I wish everyone good luck. It’s a big change.

We’ll we finally got the pit camouflaged and I must say it’s the best looking pit I’ve ever hunted in. We fixed up the i...
11/26/2021

We’ll we finally got the pit camouflaged and I must say it’s the best looking pit I’ve ever hunted in. We fixed up the inside and after all’s said and done I couldn’t be happier, we’re ready for a great season if we just get the birds here. We started the season with 5 ducks, but there’s just not a lot of ducks on the refuge this early, we’ll have our fair share of birds this year.

09/10/2021

I was planning on deer hunting in Illinois this fall, and my guide and great nephew fell hanging a stand and everyone’s prayers are working, he went into another surgery, and when they came out they had great news, it’s gonna be a hard road for him to walk again. He fell out of a deer stand and luckily will be able to tell us what happened, but at the first he couldn’t move nothing. Please everyone use the safety ropes. Tree stands fail all the time. Most that’s come close to falling don’t say nothing. Once you get your safety rope tied it will protect you from any climbing falls, I don’t go up a tree without one. Everyone have a great deer season and let’s be save.

With summer in mid stream it turns to putting fish in the freezer, with the kids all living their own lives now. It’s go...
07/28/2021

With summer in mid stream it turns to putting fish in the freezer, with the kids all living their own lives now. It’s good to put up fish in two serving vacuum bags and have fish all, or should I say anytime during the winter. When it’s hard to get fresh fish. These pictures are from two different trips. The first trip we caught about 50 lbs, and over 100lbs the second trip. Than the heat hit. I love fishing like I do waterfowling. But like hunting birds I don’t like a real warm spell. And we’ve had a heat index over 100 degrees, which makes fishing uncomfortable. I know fishing has nothing to do with waterfowl. But this page was created for waterfowl, but we’ve went through dog training and tried to help people who never thought they could train their own dog. And during this time of year there’s nothing to write about on waterfowl, so I thought we’d broaden our horizons and cover other sources of hunting. At least until duck season comes in. Plus I like to keep my page updated and people having something to read. We didn’t catch all these on a rod and reel. We put out pool worms cut in three pieces each and about 20 foot of line on each one, and a person can put out twenty apiece. And just bait them up and float down the river in the boat, and when one pops up you know there’s a fish on it. It’s the best way to put fish in the freezer. The next cool front we’ll be fishing with rods and reels. I’ve found that bluegill is the best for catching big flatheads, although there are many baits a person can use such as cut bait, chicken liver, wrapped in a piece of panty hose. It’s hard to keep chicken liver on the hook without panty hose. If anyone has any questions on jugging with pool worms and how I rig them up, just post a comment and I’ll be happy to tell you how I do it. So there will be other interesting things I post and will help anyone that leaves a comment.

07/18/2021

We’ve been through all the basics and hopefully training has went well. If you have worked on your marks and have them steady, I hope you have been giving them plenty of sight blinds after your marks. It gets them ready for all the motions of stating blinds, they get used to your hand being over their head pointed to the dummies they saw you lay out, along with the words that goes with blinds, you release them on marks by their name, but doing memory blinds you set them up for what’s to come. You tell them blind, place your pointed hand over their heads and when the dog is looking the way to the bumpers you laid out. Tell them back and they should take off. These heeling birds you laid out farther as they catch on helps their memory, and prepares them for the future, so let’s get started on handling your dog. Look at what’s next as a baseball infield, you place your dog on the pitchers mound, and you tell him to stay and you back up to home plate. Throw a dummy to first hit your set whistle, he will look at you, don’t rush it but when he’s looking at you send him with your right arm and tell him over. He’ll pick up the bird and call him to you. Make sure he holds it till you say give, while it’s in his mouth rub on him and say things like “ what you got” “ good boy”than say give. Continue throwing to first till he gets the idea of what you are asking him to do. Than start throwing to third, set whistle and extend your left arm and tell him over. Same for second base, throw over him and which ever way you want him to turn throw that arm towards the sun and say back, and take the wind in consideration you always try to send him on the down wind side. Last but not least you throw a dummy between you and him or her. Set whistle and just blow your whistle in a repetitive beep, and make a motion towards you with you arm. But he’ll mostly use the whistle as come towards me. The next step is sending him to three or four dummies on each base and send him to each base. When you think he’s got it start mixing them up. Just to make sure he knows which way to go. There are more advanced stages like the Eason wheel. But I personally never used it. Having doing your sight blinds he knows what everything means. Try him o a fairly close bird he never saw you put out, if he takes off towards the bird he’ll probably find it. You want him to. You can set him tell him blind, point your hand and tell him back. Have someone hidden behind a tree and as he’s running to the bird he thinks is out there, have your partner throw it in front of him. In time he’ll get comfortable with your hand signals and you can send him farther, as his trust in you builds. These three columns I have written about are the basics and will work on every dog. If you have a problem just let me know.

06/28/2021

Now that you’ve got your puppy obedience trained, we got to work on some. Other basics and training has changed so much, there’s people that do things differently, the way I explain it has worked for me for years. And I’ve had some great dogs. Our next step in multiple marks and getting the dog ready for blinds. Start on single marks with a small leash. You can tell the dip mark and put your flat hand in front of him before you throw your first one, we’ll stop putting your stay hand in front of him or her, once she’s been through a few marks. When you start throwing your first single, tell him to stay say mark and throw the bird. Give him just a few seconds on your first one and unsnap your lead and release the dog by saying his name. That is his cue to go after it. And should run to it and pick it up. When the dogs returning with the bird tell him to hurry and start to walk away. They should come right to you, turn around and tell the dog to heal. If you taught them to spin around from my last entry, he should spin around and as he’s about to reach you tell him to hold the bird. If he drops it pick it up and tap him under the jaw and tell him to hold. This is called the British way, to get your dog to hold the bird. I’ve always force broke mine and if there’s anyone who wants to know about that leave a comment and I’ll explain how I do it. So now we got the dog staying on marks, we can start doing multiples, reinforcing the stay between the second mark. He’ll get steadier as time goes on. But getting him to mark is the overall plan. Once you’ve got up. To three birds and he’s healing on each bird if he spits it out put it in his mouth and tell him to hold. Rub his head when he delivers to hand put your flat hand over his head pointed in the direction of the second bird and say the dogs name. It’s going to take repetition to get him or her to head to the second bird, than third. A lot of dogs will learn to hold by this method. Remember not to get in a hurry. Latter on you can get a couple friends with dogs to throw farther for you. Stretching them out will help their memory. After you have worked their marks and your about done put your dog back on the leash and walk him at heal, you’ll be carrying three bumpers. After 50 yds or so set him so he sees you throw them on the ground and walk him back to where you were. He may keep looking back but that’s ok. Set him beside you, point your hand in front of his face over his head and tell him blind. On this release tell him back and he should head towards the birds. Sometimes if he acts like he doesn’t know what your talking about tell him back and take a step and it should click in his mind that he just saw you lay them down, don’t get discouraged if it takes him a little while to figure it out. Just move closer to the birds and send him again. Once he catches on you can stretch them out. These are called memory birds. Try and do memory birds every time you train him on his marks. They set you up for future blinds. And it builds up his confidence in you that ever time you point your hand over his head in the direction of the birds, there’s one out there. The next step we will go through and I write about will be head start for hand signals. Puppy’s catch on we’ll, and if he’s steady on his marks before you put him up tell him OK, and throw him or her some fun dummies but she still has to heel and hold the bird. All they are is fun dummies and all my dogs loved them after a training session. But you don’t want to throw fun dummies till he is steady on his marks. But time goes quickly when your training and they learn what the word OK means. My next entry we will go over the basics of handling. That’s where your memory birds will come into play. So do memory blinds every time you train. It’s a must and you’ll get where you can walk him farther out as time goes on and he’s used to the word blind. Marks are falling birds he watches, and he’ll always go after the last thrown bird first. Putting your hand pointed at the bird will help him remember there’s more to pick up that he seen fall. If you have any questions just comment and I’ll try to help you solve your problem. I’m doing this for the guys and girls that want to train their own dog, you can do it.

We’ll we’re ready to put a leash on your puppy, all of them fight it for a bit, but catch on pretty quick. At about 12 w...
06/19/2021

We’ll we’re ready to put a leash on your puppy, all of them fight it for a bit, but catch on pretty quick. At about 12 weeks start obedience. Heel first, sit when you stop, every time. Than you can be teaching him the sit command. You can use treats to keep him into it. It’s not uncommon for me to work them on obedience twice a day. You can transition over to the whistle on his sit. I have a trick I do to get them to stay by putting him on a picnic table. He gets the command stay with my hand flat in front of him so he recognizes a flat hand in front of him to stay on the future marks. This may not be every body’s way of training, but this is for guys who wonder if he can train him themselves. But once your able to walk away from him on the end of the table. You can transfer it to the ground. I wave my hand when I call him Or her. If you not getting a immediate reaction when you call him, use a choker not a pinch, and use a twenty foot check cord. He needs to come immediately. Just call him and jerk him. Once all this is accomplished, sit him in front of you put your hand up, tell him to stay and tell him heel and swing him to the heel position on your left side. That teaches him to spin around to your side when they bring back a retrieve and get set for the next mark. I always hold my hand to my side when he’s coming in with a bird and tell him heel to mark, which means he’s got another bird out there he seen fall. I’ve had them spin around and back up to my leg. Once you’ve got your dog obedience trained, it’s time for single marks. I tell him to stay and put my stay hand in his face. Throw the first bird and don’t make him wait long and say his name to real easy him. If he does it good give him another. You have to be confident as a trainer. He feeds off you. We’ll work on the next stages next entry. Like I was saying this is to help people who wonder if they can train their own dog. Not everyone trains the same.

06/10/2021

We’ll it’s a long time till season, or at least it feels that way. I had plans to video a new puppy ( Lab ), but so far haven’t found the right litter, I will and when I do I’ll do what I planned. I’ve trained quite a few and owned some great ones as a lot of you know. I just feel there’s so much information out there that the average hunter can be overwhelmed and when you talk to trainers theres so much more to do than there used to be, the average guy feels like there’s no way he can train one, I’m still going to train my next one just like I always have, the results are the same for those of you that have hunted with me and seen mine work. Yes it takes time and you try to do it everyday. If I’m doing something new and he picks it up quick, I’ll do it twice a day to reinforce what he just learned. But it’s patience, keeping a cool head, and releasing them for some fun dummy’s. After a good day of training. It keeps their drive up, and relaxes them. I had some advice given to me many years ago by I trainer that just stuck with me. It’s mostly for really young puppies but I kind of carry it all the way through. If you give a child two cookies, what does the child want, more cookies. If you hand a child a bag of cookies, he don’t want any more. I just apply that to my dog, and I’ve never had a problem with drive, or wanting and ready for a dummy. So after a training session I release the dog with the word OK, and just let him get them his way, yes he breaks, but I am not training him it’s all fun in his eyes. But that’s only after the word OK. I do this when I first get him as a puppy and I’m throwing a rolled up sock, I try to pick up a puppy at 7 weeks. And I’ll set on the right hand side of our steps so he has to bring it to me on the left side. Until around 12 weeks than I start teaching him about a leash and start obedience. You’ll be surprised how quick a well bred dog picks things up, but I’ll work on obedience sit, stay, come, down, all I think he’s going to need. After we are done training I give him an OK, and throw a small dodkin wood duck and he’s heard that word since I picked him up and threw the sock. He realizes it’s his bird how ever he wants to get it. The only time I don’t throw fun dummy’s is when we’re a little older and I’m steadying him. But once he stays on Marks, and I know he knows the difference, we go back to OKs. It’s just a release word all the way through his training, and it works. Your dog has to love what he’s doing and this put drive in every dog I’ve ever trained. I had a litter with one of my males named Angus that some of you remember, I kept a black male because Angus was getting to old to hunt. I named him sniper after a good friend of mine that did that in the military, and at six months he was doing blinds. I was really looking forward to getting some birds in his mouth. He was less than a month older when he was hit by a car and killed. But was he going to be a good one. Any one who would like to train thier own dog, can do it. And your always welcome to text me on Masons Landing if you have any questions, I’ll do my best to help you. This is a waterfowling page and started out showing what you can do with a pit that’s in rough shape. But after as many days as I’ve spent chasing ducks and geese, from Canada to Arkansas there’s so much more I can share with people, so that’s what I plan on doing. So I’m going to just go over some things that make waterfowling my topics. If you have suggestions just comment and I’ll be glad to talk about anything waterfowling. If you have a dog you would like to train, just go for it. There are many good books that can help you and as many podcasts. My favorite book is Water Dog, by Richard Wolters.

05/23/2021

I’m hoping soon to have a male lab puppy that I plan on filming different stages of training and posting them on masons landing. I’ve trained many lads and hope some of these videos help people that could be having problems. I hope to take you through a lot of the things they don’t talk about in books. So check out our page in the future and when we find the right dog, I’ll post videos of his advancement all the way through blinds from house breaking. I hope they help some folks that run into problems with their own dog.

05/08/2021

It’s going to be a long time till thanksgiving and season opener, we still had a lil more we wanted to get done this spring and I should have one more set of pictures coming. I couldn’t have done all this without Darren Emerson and the other 3 working members, josh Emerson, Dan Mackey, and last but not least Lord. We worked as a team better than any before, and I probably bugged them to death but we all set a goal to have it all done, leaving us minimum this fall. I appreciate everyone looking at the change, and this page is about what goes in taking a pit that appeared on its last leg , and turning it around, I put this pit in the ground over 25 years ago. And we harvested so many birds in my short 6 years I hunted it, before my back took it away from me. I never gave up waterfowling, my body gave up on my dreams. But that’s all in the past, and I’m pulling out all the tricks I know to make it successful, it’s kind of my last chance to do what I’ve loved and done all my life. I’ve got some great guys and if you feel like you could fit in just leave your name. People always come and go in a goose pit. So I guess this is a great time to start a list of guys or gals that are looking for a winter and with snow season, half a spring, of waterfowling. We’re hanging cabinets this coming week, so more pictures to come.

RedBone cut their teeth on speckle belly calls in 2006 and have done nothing but improve over the years. They have captu...
04/25/2021

RedBone cut their teeth on speckle belly calls in 2006 and have done nothing but improve over the years. They have captured 12 of the last 14 World Championships and that speaks volumes. The acrylic calls are double reed but can easily be converted to a single reed if that is your preferred calling style. Hands down RedBone is the easiest and most realistic sounding call I have ever used.
https://www.redbonecalls.com/

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