The upland game season is upon us and hunters are taking to the field for rabbits, pheasants, quail and partridges. Here are a few reminders to help keep you safe this season.

  * Most if not all states require hunters to wear a solid blaze orange hat or cap, vest, coat or jacket. Check the regulations in your state before going afield. Find a link to your states DNR at http://www.backwoodsbound.com/stgamedepts.html.

  * Hunters should stay in a straight line while pushing a field. They should also stay in communication with each other and know where each other is at while hunting. There have been incidents where hunters have been in a semicircle and shooting towards one-another when accidents have happened.

  * Before heading out, talk about the hunting plan. How the hunt will take place, each hunter’s role in the hunt and where each person will be at all times.

  * Know exactly where standers will be located, especially when hunting standing corn or tall switch grass. Too often the standers get shot by the pushers as they near the end of the field and the birds begin to flush. They too need to be wearing blaze orange.

  * Make sure your gun is unloaded when crossing a fence or other obstacle to avoid it accidentally discharging.

  * Properly identify the target and what is beyond it. This will be especially important when hunting in standing corn or tall grass.

  * If hunting with a dog, never lean a loaded gun against a fence, tree, vehicle, etc. Hunting dogs are usually excited to be in the field and could knock the gun over causing it to discharge.

  * Take someone new along to help keep our hunting traditions alive.

  * Remember to have fun but stay safe. Safety is no accident.

  These tips were compiled with the help of an article from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Visit their site at http://www.iowadnr.gov for information about hunting and fishing in beautiful Iowa.

   A few years back, I spent a good deal of time in the great outdoors with my best buddy Earl. We went squirrel hunting, chased bushy tails through briar patches, and flushed grouse, pheasants and quail from the fields and forests all over the South and even an occasional venture north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

  Earl was always ready at literally a moment's notice. You see he had no other commitments. No obligations, responsibilities nor dependents. Earl had qualities we look for in any hunting companion. He was loyal, quiet when necessary and would never hesitate to dive into any kind of cover to unselfishly flush game for me or any other hunting companion that would join us.

  No it wasn't just that he was a bachelor, Earl was a bandy-legged basset-beagle-undetermined type scruffy-coated dog. Sure he didn't have much of a pedigree. Or maybe he had too much of a pedigree; depending on how you look at it.

  One early winter day, my other hunting buddy, a human named Milo, and I set out with Earl to bag us some grouse. We were hunting my father-in-law's farm in southern Ohio just north of the Shawnee State Forest. There were no other people hunting those 250 acres of woods and pasture so the game population was very healthy and there were plenty of grouse.

  One of the techniques Earl and I had developed was for him to scout ahead and then report back to me as to the grouse's location. This was important because as anyone who has ever gone "grouse'n" knows those birds leap up into the air with a loud cry and wings a flappin' making a lot of noise. Most hunters are not prepared and usually send many little pellets out into the void to fall harmlessly to earth well behind the rapidly disappearing bird.

  When I apprized Milo of our plan, he was, shall we say, skeptical.

  "Now let me get this straight. That dog's gonna run ahead, find the birds then come tell you where they are? Yeah, sure he is!"

  "Okay, maybe not quite like that, but he will go ahead and find the birds and return to me without scaring them off. Then I'll know about where they are and won't be startled.” I explained and off we went.

  Earl was running about fifty, sixty yards ahead and soon disappeared over a small rise, to only reappear quickly running back to where we were. He ran up to me and pawed the ground two times.

  I turned to Milo and said, "There are two birds just over that rise. Let's go get em!"

  Milo just stood there. "Do I look plumb stupid?" he asked. "You're trying to tell me that dog can not only scout fer grouse, he can count em?"

  I tried to assure Milo that indeed Earl was rarely wrong. He finally walked with us over the rise where two grouse promptly leaped up out of the snow and flew away at ever increasing speed.

  "Well Milo, now you believe me?"

  "Ah, that was just a coincidence."

  A little further on and here comes Earl running back from the edge of the woods about thirty-five yards away. He runs up to me and paws the ground four times. I tell Milo to get his gun up and be ready this time. He just snorted, but did slip the safety off.

  When the four birds took to flight, we managed to get off a couple shots and one of us brought down a bird. Milo looked at me and said, "Yeah, well I still don't believe he can count!"

  An hour or so later, Earl comes running up to us and grabs a small tree limb and begins to thrash his head back and forth.

  Milo looks surprised, almost frightened. He backs off a bit and asks me, "what in the world is wrong with Earl?"

  "Well, he just looked over that ridge there and now he says there's more dang birds over there than you can shake a stick at!"

  Note: This is a true story. Honest, I swear! Earl and Milo are real hunters and so am I. Okay, maybe every little detail isn't what one might call exactly true.