Deer, dove, and grouse oh my!
Hunting season for these three animals are in full swing, and as quail season approaches pointer dogs tails are wagging in anticipation.
Nicole Butler met up with a hunting dog trainer to talk about what goes into making sure these pups are ready for the hunt.
At Royal Run Kennel, Sara King is hard at work training six pointer dogs.
Strapping them in, she preps them for their morning run.
"If you want to hunt all day with your dog, it's like an athlete you know these dogs are athletes and they have to be in shape," King says.
Going on these runs for 30 minutes every day, King's goal is to get the dogs comfortable running three miles by the end of training.
Training them to hunt, King hides quails and pigeons in the brush, recreating a real life scenario for the pups.
Bella has only been in training for three days, and she's working her tail off sniffing around to find her prey.
"I mean their whole goal is to catch that bird and that's why they freeze because they want to stalk it like a lion or a cat," King says.
King says getting them to stay frozen when the bird flies up can be rough.
"The dogs tend to run in when the quail goes up. You've got a dog jumping in the air and perhaps you have hunters shooting," she says.
Making it dangerous for the dogs.
But co-trainer, Larry Langley says it's important to teach the dogs three basic commands: heel, come, and woah.
He says getting the dogs to obey these commands can be the difference between life and death in the field.
"I want to make sure the dog is protected. So I want to make sure that when you say "woah" to your dog that your dog is not going to move so there's no chance of your dog being accidentally shot," Langley says.
With these dogs pointing the way, they are head over heels to show the owners that their pups are ready for the hunt!
Quail season starts on November 18.
Larry and Sara are looking forward to expanding the kennel to train double the amount of hunting dogs for next year's season.