Letters

Quail Conservation

Thank you for the kind words about the quail plantations and Tall Timbers in your "From the Editor" column (July/August). I greatly appreciate your thoughts and good wishes. More important, though, thanks again for supporting quail conservation efforts through Vic Venters' articles ("Quail Hunting's New Good Old Days, Parts I & II; May/June & July/August).

There is much to be done to recover bobwhite populations in the Southeast, and the sporting fraternity is particularly fortunate to have dedicated people working hard to find solutions. These include the folks mentioned in Vic's article and other leaders of the Southeast Quail Study Group (SEQSG) and Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI). I cannot stress enough how important the SEQSG has been. When the SEQSG began, bobwhites largely had been written off as a wildlife conservation disaster. Today, this is one of the leading conservation efforts in the Southeast. The SEQSG has made a difference with successes like getting the NBCI started and developing new conservation programs in the farm bill. However, it realizes there is much to be done to cure the habitat that ails bobwhites in the South.

Aside from our private lands, landscape changes to habitat are needed on our public lands in the South. Within each state, there are individuals fighting for ways to improve bobwhite habitat on private and public lands. The support of Shooting Sportsman is very important for helping to spread the word and encourage people to get involved.

William E. Palmer, PhD
Game Bird Program Leader
Tall Timbers Research Station


Bar Basics & Beyond

Bar Basics & Beyond
It was with great interest that I read the Letters section of the May/June issue. As usual, your editorial staff provided a balanced view of the discussion on the Purina Pro Plan Performance Bar. However, as the scientist who developed the bar, I would like to clarify a few misconceptions in a letter by one of your veterinary readers ("Same Ol' Disappointments"). Like your reader, I have a veterinary degree. I also have a PhD in nutrition, am board certified in clinical nutrition and have been doing research on the relationship between nutrition and performance in dogs for 18 years. In addition I have competed in dog sports and won or placed in the top three for the World Cup in my sport three times. It is with these credentials that I have developed and field-tested the Purina Pro Plan Performance Bar.

I would respectfully disagree with the veterinarian's comments that this bar should be labeled as "just a marketing exercise to convince people to spend money needlessly on unproven gimmicks." During the past 15 years it has become evident in the human and canine performance worlds that carbohydrate administration immediately after exercise improves stamina. John Ivy and colleagues first showed this effect in human athletes in 1988. We published similar findings in 1997 and 2002. In short, by giving 1.5 g/kg body weight of maltodextrin, we were able to replace half of the carbohydrate (sugar) stores used by the muscles during exercise within the first four hours of recovery and completely replace them in 24 hours. If we waited just two hours and fed a regular meal, we found that the dogs only replaced 60 percent of their stores in 24 hours. This means that if you hunt three days in a row and just feed your normal meals, your dog will begin day three with less of this fuel in his tank than he ended day one with, and his stamina will suffer. This is why all competitive runners, cyclists and sled dog teams use this strategy.

In addition, we recently exercised our dogs for 16 miles and measured blood glucose (sugar) levels before and after exercise. Dogs given Purina Pro Plan Performance Bars before exercise maintained normal blood glucose levels, whereas those exercised without the bars had significantly lower levels. Decline in blood glucose is associated with decreased mental function and fatigue in human athletes and is likely to have the same effect on canine athletes.

To achieve these benefits, one must be careful of the form of carbohydrate administered. Simple sugars, like candy, are not good sources, as they require a lot of water to process and this can lead to vomiting and/or diarrhea. They also cause a rapid rise in blood insulin that lowers blood sugar levels, often below normal, and can cause declines in performance or even collapse. We choose maltodextrin for the performance bar, because it requires less water per sugar unit to process and is therefore easy on the gut and is absorbed more steadily and does not result in large insulin secretions or rebound hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

I concur with your veterinary reader that we cannot be sure that the dog mentioned in Mr. Huggler's article (Field Gear, March/April) responded to administration of the bar and that it is good practice to carry a thermometer into the field. However, I can tell you that we have treated several documented cases of hypoglycemia with the bar with outstanding results and I am positive that these dogs would not have recovered as well if treated with candy (due to the rebound hypoglycemia) or a spent shotgun shell.

In summary, I can assure you that the Purina Pro Plan Performance Bar is not a gimmick and is not candy, but it does have years of research in the laboratory and the field behind it. This is not my opinion; it is supported by studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and by championships won in several arenas within the world of dog sports.

Arleigh J. Reynolds, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Diplomate American College of Veterinary Nutrition
Senior Scientist Nestlé Purina Pet Care Co.

MacKinlay Mention

I was happy to see Graham MacKinlay included with David McKay Brown and the venerable Dickson & MacNaughton in Clair Kofoed's "Guns of Scotland" (May/June). I acquired a vintage John Dickson & Son from Graham this past year. He overhauled the action and mechanism, polished and blacked the furniture, re-jointed the barrels to the action face (new crosspin), and reshaped and re-checkered the new stock and forend and gave them an oil finish. The gun looks fabulous and opens and closes like new. Graham does first-rate work and is a pleasure to deal with.

Dr. Tim Engel
Hammond, Wisconsin


Stock Answers

I would like to compliment Clair Kofoed on his outstanding article that appeared in March/April. "Walnut of the World" was right on target with all of the information. In addition, the photographs were superb. I'm sure there were many questions answered on walnut because of this article.

Cecil Fredi
Cecil Fredi Gunstock Blanks
Via e-mail


A Rib Riddle

Question for Michael McIntosh re shotgun sights (Shooting, March/April): If a bead sight "serves no purpose except as an obstacle to good shooting" and, indeed, "any part of the gun that calls attention to itself is anathema to good shooting," then why the frequent fuss over ribs-raised ribs, matte ribs, game ribs and so on? I know a side-by-side needs the rib to hold the barrels together, but over/unders customarily have top ribs, which some people must think are useful for aiming, as they have no mechanical purpose. I have a ribless O/U that excites much comment for its riblessness, and I have been informed that it is a grievous defect. I assumed that although our full attention should be directed to the target, our eye in its infinite wisdom continues to process peripheral information and is assisted by the bead and the rib even if our mind's conscious focus is entirely out at the target.

Sheldon Whitehouse
Providence, Rhode Island

Glad you asked-and the answer is in this issue's Shooting column (p. 26).


Cost Concerns

Enjoyed the May/June issue cover to cover as usual. It brought to mind that saying in yachting circles that I'm sure you boys in Camden must have heard that goes: If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it.

Unfortunately, I fall into that class of folk living in genteel poverty, struggling to buy dog food for my growing kennel of Labradors. So next time you tease us with those marvelous photo essays of perdiz in Peru or pigeons in Paraguay or just taking the kayak to Nyack to get away from it all, could you possibly let us poor folk know how much it might cost?

Steve Kurlansky
Lyme, Connecticut

Come on, Steve, those Labs would tighten their belts if it meant helping you afford a nice trip . . . . We'll always try to include contact information where prices can be found.

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