“If it wasn’t for a dog, I just don’t think I’d even hunt” – Josh Fields, a.k.a. Biscuit Man, a.k.a. my
grandpa (Poppa).
My name is Bransen Shelton, I am 29 years old and I hail from the southern base of the Kiamichi
Mountain range in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma. I grew up in Wright City, a small town of 600-
700 people. Our school system shut down for the first nine days of the modern firearm deer season and
the four day youth season. Here, hunting is a way of life and the hunter is a cultural icon. I come from a
long line of outdoorsmen, hunters and dog men. My heart thrives in the outdoors, in pursuit of wild
game in wild places, but my true passion lies behind a dog that is working in perfect unison with me in
pursuit of the same quarry. I currently have three bearded pointing dogs that I have trained myself.
These dogs have taken me far and wide on some amazing hunting adventures. Outside of upland hunts,
these dogs are trained for blood trailing downed game, retrievers in duck blinds and finding whitetail
deer sheds during the offseason. If a dog can be used, you can bet I’ll find a way. I have always had a
writer’s mindset. Listening to fireside hunting stories at deer camp told by my dad and grandpa pushed
me into writing down the stories of my own outdoor adventures, of both triumph and failures to pass
down to my son. In my eye, there’s a story behind every point, tree, and blood trail a dog goes on and I
love to tell the tale to those with an inquiring ear.
