Wingmasters

08/15/2025

Your Friday Tidbit: Idealism vs Realism

I think people in the dog world need to understand the definition of preconceived notion. A preconceived notion is an opinion or belief that someone forms before having enough knowledge, evidence, or experience about something or someone. In the dog world people believe that if they own any breed of bird dog that automatically it should know what it’s doing because it’s a Bird Dog . There is still some
mythism in the air that a dog should just be a bird dog because that’s what he is.

It’s the same as saying a child should just be a baseball player because that’s just what he is. He was born a baseball player. Therefore he should just know how to play baseball with no learning or training at all. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Well that is still in in the air of owning a bird dog. If I could change one way people looked at bird dogs, i’d change the Idealism vs Realism mentality of all people that own a bird dog. Let’s take a dive into what I mean in some of the categories.

Ideally: a dog would just love birds. Just because they chase birds in the back yard has nothing to do with how they handle a game bird.

Realistically: When a dog is taken out of their environment (home area) and asked to engage with a bird they are very tentative to start to engage a bird. It’s because they at not in their “comfortable” environment.

Ideally: A dog would love guns

Realistically: A dog can be fine with loud nosies but still be gun shy because the gun was introduced with birds wrong. Or the dog can be deathly afraid of thunderstorms and still be a crazy bird dog. It’s the association, not the environment.

Ideally: A dog would retrieve to hand perfectly.

Realistically: 90 percent of all bird dogs don’t retrieve naturally. Some do but they are rare. Others sorta do but they drop it at your feet. Every dog needs to go through the Fetch Process to retrieve to hand.
I’ve hand many people tell me their dog retrieves perfectly and then when I ask them to show me the dog won’t engage in a bumper or bird at all. Then the thousands of excuses start. No excuses please just be realistic that this dog wasn’t taught to retrieve in all environments.

Ideally: A dog would just sit still and watch ducks come into your decoy spread.

Realistically: At some point and time the dog is gonna test you and break. Or worse a person just thinks “since he’s a bird dog” that he should just know be to be steady, then he develops the habit of crazy whining when sitting in the duck blind because he wasn’t Steadied properly. Or even worse they steady him but don’t gun condition him
properly and the first time everyone shoots he’s back at the truck.

I could go on and on but here is probably the best one.

Ideally: All breeds of bird dogs would be the same.

Realistically: Bird dogs aren’t even the same in the same breed. Labs are not all the same. English Pointers are not all the same. Springer Spaniels are not all the same. Golden Retrievers are not all the same. So we’re going to say that all bird dogs should perform the same…..

The question becomes what is ideally the same amongst all bird dogs? Nothing! They are all different. Now ask me realistically what is the same amongst all breeds of bird dogs?

LEARNING and TRAINING the dog to perform in all environments he’s faced with.

Having a realistic understanding of how long the training of each process takes to complete without skipping steps.

Having realistic expectations of your dogs capabilities

Now here’s the hard one…… Stop comparing your dog to other dogs and just train it properly!!! Every dog needs three things before you what their capabilities will be On The Hunt or in Competition.
� #1: All dogs need to be Bird and Gun Conditioned properly

#2: All dogs need to be E Collar Conditioned to field and home obedience properly while maintaining a good attitude.

#3: All dogs need to learn how to Retrieve To Hand properly.

All three of these processes are MUSTS, they are non negotiable to find out your dog’s talent when you take them to the field.

Ideally you want to think you have a great bird dog. But realistically when it comes down to the hunt or any type of competition the training will shine through. Suddenly the idealistic people are making excuses for their dog’s performance, while the realistic people are making adjustments to make them better when they perform.

The dog tells us what their capabilities are. You just have to understand their language so you can train the dog you have properly. Only then will you truly know what level of bird dog you own. Then be proud of what your dog is for his own capabilities not what you think his capabilities should be.

As Always; We Be Rockin at Godspeed!










Michael D Vaughn
The Blast Wingshooting Kennels

08/08/2025

Your Friday Tidbit: Three Ways to Get a Well Trained Dog

One of my online mentors helping me build Wingmasters is Clinton Anderson. He is famously known for his online Horse Training Academy called Down Under Horsemanship. He describes things so thoroughly and so truthful. He said there is only 3 ways to get a well trained horse and the same goes for dogs.

#1 You buy it trained
#2 You pay someone else to train it
#3 You train it yourself
That’s it….

Dogs don’t get educated having the run of the house and kids don’t get educated sitting in front of a TV. You
must spend time with your dog and your
must spend time with your kids if you
want them to get educated. That’s why well
trained dogs are expensive, because your paying for the 100’s of hours that some one put into the dog to train it to be that way. Most dogs that are not well trained have limited value, it’s the human who spends countless hours with that dog that makes that dog’s value go up along with the pedigree and titles.

Even if you buy a dog from somebody you still have to learn to be a competent handler…..

You still have to learn to gain the dog’s respect….

You still have to learn how to be able to turn the dog on and off…..

You can buy a well trained dog but everyday if you don’t act like a leader, the dog will get less and less attentive and start to push boundaries. Everyday they will test to see if they can start to run the household… They will get more pushy and dominate to see if they can take over the leadership role.

Soon every little behavior and your neglect of not working with the dog starts to accumulate. Most people don’t realize they have a problem till the dog becomes one. Truth be known they had a problem months ago but had poor handling skills and leadership to recognize it.

A dog is an athlete that must be respected the same as a child or adult athlete. Dogs don’t train themselves. Dogs don’t get better by themselves. I’ve said this many times before. Until your AI friends come out with a robot that helps you hunt birds a well trained dog is your only resource to filling your game bag. Besides no bot could ever compare to the naturalism of a dog.

The heart of Wingmasters is the unity between you and your dog. It’s you understanding what it takes to be a good handler by being a good leader for the dog in order for them to understand what it takes to be a good student. Once you both come to a mutual agreement you build a bond that is unbreakable.

Soon people that see you and your dogs bond in the field and at home become envious of wanting the same thing. That’s when you can be happy that you put in your time to better serve your dog.

There is no better feeling than when you harvest a bird and the dog did everything perfectly! The pride you feel for that dog is indescribable. The pride you feel for putting in the time with your dog is indescribable. One day on the hunt you have this unexplainable feeling. You realize that your dog’s soul is the mirror to your own!

Can’t wait to see everyone at the seminar this weekend! Let’s get ready to rock at Godspeed!







The Blast Wingshooting Kennels
Michael D Vaughn
National Bird Dog Circuit

To get signed up for the seminar text 608 445 6149

08/01/2025

Your Friday Tidbit: From Clay-Shooting to a Wingmaster- It’s All a State of Mind!

I’ve longed to enjoy a good round of clays of either Trap, S***t or Sporting Clays. They each have their own unique and fun twist in the world of clay-shooting. I highly respect all three as it pertains to their own individual sport. The mental focus it takes to be able to continually conquer pressured hard shots with consistency is a beautiful thing. Much like golf with a gun in your hand.

I have seen many clay shooters have a hard time when it comes to transitioning to bird hunting for one simple reason. They are used to operating too much out of their Conscious Mind. I asked my good friends at ChatGPT to explain the Conscious mind in its simplest form for you to understand. Here is what they told me…..

The conscious mind is the part of your mind that you are aware of. It includes your thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that you can think about and control right now.

Couldn’t say it better myself 😆!
Clay shooters are use to seeing the shot and analyzing it before it happens. While Upland Bird Hunters or Upland Tournament Hunters are use to acting in the moment. There is some people who think hunting is instinctive. There are books written about Instinctive Shooting for Upland. Which is actually untrue as you aren’t acting out of instinct at all. If that was the case then our military or swat teams wouldn’t have to practice shooting. The difference is they build a plan using their Conscious mind but train it so much that it becomes a “act without thought.” In other words they operate out of their Subconscious Mind. So I asked my good friends at ChatGPT once again to explain the Subconscious mind in its simplest form. Here is what they came up with…..

The subconscious mind is the part of your mind that works in the background. It stores memories, habits, and emotions and influences your thoughts and actions without you being fully aware of it.

Now understanding these two consciousness of the mind helps you understand why clay shooters initially have a hard time transitioning to real life bird hunting. They simply haven’t operated out of their Subconscious Mind as much as a professional Upland Hunter or Tournament Hunter.

This is my 6th annual Upland Seminar. I started this 6 years ago before it was even called Wingmasters. I wanted people to understand wingshooting in 4 dimensions.

- How a well trained dog should perform in the field
- How to operate your shotgun in your subconscious mind to be more successful in the field
- How to understand field management when On The Hunt or in a Upland Tournament Hunting field
- How to develop a Mental Management system so you don’t self sabotage while learning the art of becoming a Wingmaster.

At each of my seminars I see people getting frustrated as they over think each shot I present. Some are great shots because they get to see the shot before it’s their turn to shoot. However when I change the way from Clay Shooting to On The Hunt shooting, the way you shoot when you are hunt behind a bird dog, people start having a hard time. Why does this happen? Because I completely messed with their state of mind. Frustration immediately kicks in. What does frustration lead to in the world of wingshooting? Over analyzing! What does over analyzing lead to? Self Sabotage which leads to looking down on yourself.

Now what if I could tell you how to fix this cycle for anything in life, but in this case we’ll use it in a Wingshooting context. Would you be able to open your mind? There is 3 principles that I mentioned in my seminar itinerary for next weekend that will transform your mind. I haven’t ever presented it this way at any of my seminars. It’s worth the price of admission alone. I’ve taken every shooter at my seminars and INSTANTANEOUSLY made them better shots for On The Hunt or in Competition. Not because I so much changed the way they shoot, although I do teach a great process for that. More so, because I changed the way they can operate between their conscious mind and their subconscious mind. Once I do this when you “miss” a shot you no longer over analyze it or self sabotage which leads to getting down on yourself. Rather you rise up on every missed shot because you understand the 3 principles i’m about to teach you that will turn you into thinking like a Wingmaster. A Wingmaster relishes in a state of flow which my good friends at ChatGPT explain very well once again…

The state of flow is when you’re fully focused and deeply involved in an activity, so much that you lose track of time and everything else around you. It often happens when you’re doing something you enjoy and are good at, like playing music, painting, or solving a challenging problem. $$$$$!
I’d add, hunting or tournament hunting birds. Some call this getting into “The Zone.”

Our minds are a beautiful thing, they either work for us or against us. I can tell you this universal principle (no it’s not one of the 3 😁) of it all! “Acting rather than talking” tells your mind the truth. Let me say that for the people in the back LOUD and CLEAR “Acting rather than talking” tells your mind the truth. Rather than always talking about it you must just do it and do it the right way.

Be careful of the people whose mouths fail to lead to any action. The only way they know how to make their insecure selves feel better is to criticize the ones who would rather call themselves to action, than talk about it!

I can’t wait for next weekend to improve and/or bring the inner Wingmaster out of you! After all why are you doing this in the first place? Because it’s “All About The Dogs!”

We Be Rockin at Godspeed!












The Blast Wingshooting Kennels
Michael D Vaughn
National Bird Dog Circuit

Seminar Itinerary!

We are excited to see and meet everyone at our annual Upland event hosted by THE BLAST Wingshooting Kennels and Wingmasters.

Wingmasters Annual Upland Seminar!
“Gain The Edge” as you improve your all-around skills to become a true Wingmaster in the Upland world!

Saturday August 9th and Sunday August 10th 2025

Join Upland industry leader; Mike Vaughn - Professional Gun Dog Trainer and Multi-Time World and National- Tournament Hunting Champion- Shotgun Instructor, Guide, Breeder, Wild Bird Hunter along with his entertaining Writing and Podcasting as he takes you through his ever popular train-along program of Wingmasters; created for Upland Hunters and Competition Tournament Hunters alike.

Gain the edge as you learn how to coach your dog through the training process with a specific goal in mind. Your success is greatly impacted by which you understand how to teach and handle your dog properly. While some are looking to have the best Upland Dog they’ve ever owned, others look to earn titles in the world of Tournament Hunting. Both require the proper Gamesmanship in Shotgunning, Dog Training/Handling and Field Management. By improving yourself, you build a foundation to create that special bond between you and your dog. That bond becomes impeccable while making lasting memories earning limits during the hunting season and titles in the off season.

Weekend Itinerary!

Saturday August 9th 2025
7:30am Check in

Seminar Location: Wingmasters North 40
240671 Star Rd
Wausau, WI 54403
DO NOT enter at this address! simply continue a half mile North of this address to the North 40. There will be a sign and ribbons at the North 40 entrance.

8am to Noon: The Success of a Solid Foundation!

The morning will cover all the hot topics of how to train your dog in the different processes of development. This session will be adjusted based on the goals of the attendees of the seminar to ensure each and everyone sees their dog improve throughout the weekend.
Heavy emphasis will be the proper development to set your dog up for success in the foundation of control for the field during the hunt or in competition.

Noon to 12:30pm Lunch (Please bring a lunch, dinner will be provided)

12:30pm to 1:30pm: Be Ahead of The Bird

Learning how to shoot over a dog properly is one of the most misunderstood elements in being a good Upland Hunter and Competitor. Learn the Wingmaster processes of how to properly be ready for birds when your dog is making game.

1:30pm to 4:30pm: *** NEW***
Shooting Mental Management

This session will get you in the field practicing how to improve your shooting by helping you understand the timing of different shots that take place On The Hunt and/or in the Tournament Hunting field. Learn the methodology of Wingmasters that breaks down your positioning in order to level up your success when shooting birds.

Learn the 3 key mental factors that will adjust your mind as you eliminate your mistakes in shotgunning. These 3 Mental Factors will be worth the price of admission alone!

4:30pm: Q & A Ask any question you’d like to better improve your Upland Experience.

5pm: Seminar Dinner

Sunday: August 10th 2025

8am to 9am: Playing The Guitar
Learn the Wingmaster ways of how you put all the elements together. This process is the key to your success as you learn how to put all four areas of Wingshooting; (Gunmanship, Dogmanship, Field Management and Mental Management) together in the field for you to see your success come to life!

9am: Mock Hunt/ Mock Tournament Hunt
Each participant will be provided with 3 chukars to experience shooting birds. Whether this is your first time shooting birds or a warmup to this Hunting and Tournament Hunting season, now is the time to enjoy what you’re learned by putting it all together. If you want the experience shooting birds but don’t have your own shotgun or dog, we will provide either or both for you to get the most out of this experience.

What to bring:
- Dog
- E Collar
- Check cord
- whistle
- Gun
- Shells (for clays and for the field)
- Ear protection
- Vest
- Notebook/ Pen
- Chair
- Lunch

Places to stay:
Camping:
Camping is available at the Seminar site

Dells of Eau Claire campground (4 miles away)

Airports:
Central WI Airport 30 mins
Green Bay, WI Airport 1 1/2 hrs
Madison, WI AirPort 2 hours
Milwaukee and Minneapolis Airport 3 hours.

Hotels:
Holiday Inn and Super 8- Antigo, WI

Weston Inn and Suites- Schofield, WI

Chet and Emil’s Hotel- Birnamwood, WI

Seminar cost:
$250 without birds
$300 with birds

We want you to get the most out it this experience! If you have any questions feel free to call or text Mike to sign up! 608 445 6149

We are excited to see everyone soon!

07/25/2025

Your Friday Tidbit: Genetics Build You

In 2012 I officially named my Kennel THE BLAST Wingshooting Kennels. I wanted a name that stood for everything we did at the Kennel for dogs and people as it pertained to bird hunting. Some wanted an Upland Dog only. Some wanted a Waterfowl dog only and some wanted a dog that could do both. Easy enough we can train dogs to do one or the other to the highest level or both.

There couldn’t be a kennel without dogs that created it. First came Toddy and Bella. Both great dogs in their own right. They taught me everything I liked and disliked in a dog. Since I studied pedigrees when I was young in the Beagle world I understood what pedigrees meant in order to get the dog you were looking for. I became fascinated by people who developed their own line of dogs through outcrosses, line breeding and inbreeding. How those breeders were on a 30 year quest, as it takes 30 years to truly form your own line of dogs. I admired Branko Krpan of Branko’s Beagles in the beagle world and Robert Wehle with his Elhew English Pointers. Wanting a that could do both Upland and Waterfowl I admired how Karen Cashman and Terry Holzinger dedicated their lives to breeding dogs equally on both sides.

I wanted a dog that had it all for both Upland, Waterfowl and in the home. My goal was to use the American field trial lines as a base but find the ones who had strong noses. Kim Pfister at the time was becoming a breeder in Wisconsin doing just that. That’s where I would get my foundation dog that would be everything I believe in. Winnie was that dog, a true brood matron as they say in the breeding world. She became the dog that I will write a book about one day. She was my saving grace and became the dog that built it all for me. Talented from a puppy on and made everything look so damn easy. I knew I had my foundation female. A dog that was truly amazing on both sides the fence (Upland and Waterfowl) A 2x National and 2x World Upland Champion in the BDC, a Master Hunter at two years old, passed both Master Nationals she attended and placed in all three Qualifying Field Trials I ran her in.

For Winnie’s first litter I bred her to FC AFC Hardscrabbles Powder My Buns. That breeding created King. King puppies became another foundation of the kennel. King then had a son named Chopper. Since my buddy Nick Nelson wanted black male I invested in Chopper with him.

While Winnie was building my name, I became obsessed with getting a Fox Red Male that had the same talent as Winnie that I could use for a stud. From 2010 to 2014 I went through three males. None of them made the cut for what I was looking for. Then in 2014 came another saving grace, Journey. Journey built my passion for yellows particularly the Fox Reds. As Journey breedings were coming in frequently I quickly realized that people would be asking me who to breed their Journey females to. So along came Cowboy. Now I had two Foundation Fox Red studs. Currently i’m working on the next step, a male that can breed to Journey x Cowboy combinations. Hopefully I’ll be writing about Jester or Ism soon. My next goal is a Black Stud that is Fox Red factored to bring that into the mix as well. I’m only 15 years in of my own 30 year quest.

This created matches that included many combinations of Winnie, King, Chopper, Journey and Cowboy. All had Upland Super Major Wins, National Championships or Reserve National Championships along with Master titles and some of them had Field Trial placements. I really enjoy my little side breeding of English Pointers with Magic Mike and Candace as well.

This lead me to meeting so many great people through the selling of puppies, stud service, training and competing all over the country and Canada. Some of my best friends are people who bought a dog from me.

A good dog puts you 50 percent above the curve of all other dogs combined. A dog that is bred with focus, drive, trainability and talent is 50 percent about the rest of the dogs right when it’s born. Why? Because it’s already bred to perform. The track record is not only proven On The Hunt but in sporting dog events. How can you truly measure a dog unless it’s titled? You can’t.. You can say your dog is as great as others, but without proof that’s just you talking. We all know people like this. That subject is for another tidbit 😁👏

Now of course there’s great pedigrees that produce below average dogs but percentage wise that just isn’t too often. You want to play the percentages. You gamble on proven stock. Which isn’t much of a gamble because it’s proven. Horseman and cattleman people understand that good stock is everything to their success.

There wouldn’t be a BLAST Wingshooting Kennels or building of Wingmasters without the core dogs I mentioned earlier. These were the amazing dogs I trained and taught me to be successful in my career. They gave me the lessons that built the other half of any breeding program, proper training of the genetics created. They showed me what a dog could be. Which helped me to train dogs that weren’t as talented and bring the best out of them. Proper training shows the dog’s true abilities by bringing out the best in them.

Now before you get offended and tell me about how great your dog is with no pedigree or titles I want to say this. No one is asking anybody to disregard their current dog. Just be realistic of your expectations. Those dogs teach you what you want and what you don’t want in the future and you continue to love them for what they are. That was Toddy and Bella for me. However I knew my next dog would have to be more of a complete package and guess what? I got what I paid for! I wasn’t going to make the mistake of owning another dog like them. I needed something bred better for what I wanted. A dog that would meet my standards first and foremost on the hunt, could prove itself in the competition world and could pass their traits on to the next generation.

There is this stigma still in the world of dogs that somehow breeders are bad. That we shouldn’t be able to breed dogs. I understand that there is bad breeders like there is bad trainers that give our industry a bad name. Set that aside as I’m giving any of my attention or energy to those people as I’ve dealt with plenty. I’m talking about breeders that dedicate their lives to the pursuit of whatever line of dogs they believe in. If it betters the breed for their goals i’m all in. Show Labs wouldn’t have a place in my breeding program. That doesn’t mean I hate on them, I respect them for what they are. I’ve trained many of them and made some damn good ones.

“You should neither Be For or Against” -Bruce Lee

As this quote lies in the middle, I personally am “for” what I believe in, but not “against” what I don’t.

If you asked me how to start becoming a Wingmaster, the first thing I’d tell you is GENETICS! Dogs with great genetics carry the weight of your mistakes as you grow into a Wingmaster alongside of them. There’s nothing worse than letting your dog down. A true Wingmaster team is a well bred dog that is trained well, with an owner that is trained well as a handler and gunman. Then you see the true “magical bond” between the two of you for a decade or more.









Michael D Vaughn
The Blast Wingshooting Kennels

Learn how to become a Upland Wingmaster at our Annual Upland Seminar August 9th and 10th 2025. Text 608 445 6149 to get pre signed up! See post coming soon!

Speaking of great genetics!

Labrador Retrievers: Journey x Oakley! Pups due August 15th- Fox Reds and Yellows

English Pointers: An iconic breeding with “Magic Mike” and Candace! Pups due August 5th- Liver and White.

Text 608 445 6149 for availability!

07/24/2025

07/18/2025

Your Friday Tidbit: Looking Back to Go Forward

How many times have you heard “don’t live in the past?” It’s as if everything in the past is bad. As if going back in the past is going to haunt your present and future. Now I understand we all have past skeletons in the closet that we have to deal with. Some worse than others. But what about the great lessons or stories of the past that ignite your future? The stories that every time you tell it, gets you excited to relive it.

In my teen years I didn’t hangout with many kids my age. I always found more value listening to the stories of people older than me so I could learn something. Some of my favorite times in life is just swinging my feet on a tailgate as I get engaged in a great conversation. These are the times
people unveil their true selves. That’s when you get the real value from someone. When the conversation just flows naturally.

Wingmasters has made me relive so many great things and bad things. The reason being is that I needed to remember what it was like when I first started learning each process of dog training. That way when I write a manual and film each process I can remember what it was like when I was first learning it. Those feelings of frustration I had in the past is what i’m trying to not let happen to the people who buy any Wingmasters program. Clarity is my ultimate goal. Let me tell you finishing editing a 68 page Fetch Process manual, clarity is what you are going to get.

Rumorville can’t help itself! At recent Hunt Test there was a rumor floating around about me being hard on dogs with a E Collar. The person told a story about me 10 years ago. So when I was asked about it from someone who heard it, I simply said, “yes, I WAS”. I WAS is the key word there!! I was honest with them and myself that in the past I was harder on dogs with the E Collar. But the key phrase there is IN THE PAST. I learned along the way. When you learn your suppose to evolve. The only way the rumor would bother me is if the past was still the present. It simply isn’t. If someone holds something on you from your past it’s because they are too ignorant to evolve themselves and they want to hold you there with them…. Sound familiar???? They only hold you there if you let them. They can stay back there, i’m not there anymore.

I’ve always been 100 percent honest with myself of my past. To me the past is like a reflection of oneself. I look back there to remind myself what I don’t want to repeat and what I do want to repeat to continue being successful. The past is where you acquired your knowledge. That knowledge is what makes you who you are and how successful you will become, provided you use your past to propel you forward.

Past dogs taught me what I need to do to train the present dogs. The reason anyone is good at what they do is because of past experiences. I get all the calls of people wanting to give up on their dog. They call me as some last ditch effort. I usually have the answer. Why? Because in the past I had to deal with that problem, figured it out, worked through it and logged how I accomplished it.

There is a famous line of a kid that is sad looking out the back window of a car as the family is moving away. The father driving the car says, “son, don’t look back there, we’re not going that way.” Great advice for the kid at the time. But I would hope later on in life the father would say, “look back there, so you know where you came from, and where you are going.”






The Blast Wingshooting Kennels
Michael D Vaughn

Annual Upland Seminar August 9th and 10th! Post will be this weekend! All the itinerary is complete! Reserve your spot early by texting 608 445 6149