Keith Crowley

Nov 29, 2024 | themeateater.com | Tony Peterson |Keith Crowley |Sean Weaver

If you want to see a pheasant hunter lose his shit (yes, it’ll be a dude), watch how someone deals with a dog that suddenly decides to go into bootlicker mode. This is one of the most embarrassing and frustrating things a pheasant dog can do. With some dogs, that’s their natural mode of travel. Low-drive dogs aren’t going to suddenly find a work ethic that genetics and training didn’t already install in them. It doesn’t happen that way.

Sep 5, 2024 | themeateater.com | Seth Bynum |Keith Crowley |Sean Weaver |Tony Peterson

I suppose I should consider myself lucky. I’ve had bird dogs running around for almost 50 years, and up until a few years ago, only once did one of the dogs get sprayed by a skunk. That was a black Labrador retriever named Elsie, and once was enough for her. She felt the full force of the blast and never repeated the mistake despite many ensuing skunk encounters. Then came Ruby, my current English setter.

Aug 29, 2024 | themeateater.com | Keith Crowley |Patrick Durkin |Maggie Hudlow |Brody Henderson

Three times, they tried to push the herd out onto the ice, and three times, they failed. Scent alone wasn’t working. The wind dipped and swirled, and the daytime thaw and nightly freeze made the crusted snow impossibly noisy for stalking. The day was quickly turning to night and still they waited, watched, and hoped. It was the youngest hunter who had the idea. Two hundred yards down the shoreline, a cluster of alders leaned out over the frozen lake.

Jun 6, 2024 | gundogmag.com | Keith Crowley

There’s no denying it: We primates instinctively fear snakes. Numerous studies with a variety of apes, both greater and lesser, have proven this fact. For many people, this revulsion to snakes is as ingrained as breathing. I rate myself somewhere in the middle of that greater-lesser ape spectrum, and I can assure you that while I don’t hate snakes, I certainly won’t approach a hissing, buzzing rattlesnake willingly. Canines, however, don’t carry that same instinct.

Apr 24, 2024 | ducks.org | Keith Crowley

By Keith CrowleyThe author's Lab, Rosie, as a puppy. This is the deal, and I know we both agree: You promise not to cry too much at the beginning. I promise to make leaving your first family as painless as I can. I won’t lie to you; it’s going to hurt for a little while. You promise to make everyone you meet smile from ear to ear. And promise that if they get down on the ground with you, you will kiss them frantically. I promise they’ll like that.