Friendship

One of the greatest joys of chasing bird dogs is the time spent with special friends. Sharon and I met the Nelson's in the mid 70s when we came together as part of a group of hunters to lease some country just west of Yoakum, Tx. Most of the members were employees of Shell Oil...Ken Cloninger, Dan Roe, and the Nelsons, Richard and Phyllis. At the time, Dick was the head of Natural Gas at Shell and later became President & CEO of United Gas Pipeline. We were drawn to the Nelsons, primarily because we both owned Brittanys and enjoyed the successes of the dogs more than the bird count at the end of the day. Not to suggest that the bird count was compromised. Dick and wife Phyllis are two of the finest wing shooters I have ever seen, even to this day. In fact, I once saw Phyllis down 4 birds on one covey rise!

The Nelsons have a great family and share lots of time together at their other homes in Kerrville and in Montana, alongside a world class trout stream.

After hunting on leases together for a few years, we purchased our own place is South Texas...a friendship that became a partnership and has been one of the best relationships of my life. From many of the litters of pups we raised since our original breeding of Buck and Rose, the Nelsons have taken one of the Lamont Brittanys. In fact, they have been the only dogs he has run since the late 80s. Dick has a special 'touch' with these dogs and they are real joys to hunt over. The pix above is "Buck"...taken in January 2007.

Here's to the Nelsons! We love you guys!!!