is a dog needed?

[phillyfishing]

to hunt birds... i went out once while i was a kid with no dog with a buddy did ok.. but that was 10-12 yrs ago.. i don't have a hunting dog and want to try for non paid for birds :) i have hunted the game farms.. maybe someone near philly with a dog needs someone to go out with one weekend? let me know guys.. yes i have shot will even go clay shooting if you want me to before i hunt over your dog.

[RUSS0079]

I do guide for wild birds, upstate. You may find it difficult to find someone with a dog(s) to hunt as a come along. Feel free to shoot me an email in reference to hunting wild birds with a dog.
Russ

[phillyfishing]

email sent

[njbowhunter]

I hunt without a dog on state stock land. Last year I killed many birds. You dont need a dog but it does make it easier. Just hit all the thick pockets you will find birds. The stamp is only 40 dollars so if you kill one bird all season it cost the same as you pay at a game preserve per bird.

[massbaster]

Philly,

Shoot me an email if ya want to get out....I hunt with 2 of my 3 pointers. You absolutely can hunt upland without a dog, however the first time you go out with a dog you will never want to go out without one again lol...

Im 20 mins north of philly right up I95.

I hunt all season just about every weekend.....

[Sterling Tackle]

If you train them right, you will never hunt without one. If you don't train them, they are like a curse. I saw one guy almost kill his dog, to me it was his fault because he didn't train it.

[massbaster]

+1 for Sterling....thats why I hunt 2 of the 3 pointers I have.....one of them is just a house pet......

[The Wadd]

Needed No! But Hunting with them Is Awesome!:shoot::yahooo:

[RUSS0079]

Best thing I ever did in my life was getting in to working pointing dogs. They keep me sain.. They tell me every day, that Daddy, There's nothing more basic than man and dog making game... Hell I might have to run them tomorrow... Yo all that know me take a look at Briar on the GSP post.. I took her out for a photo shoot and she pointed a grouse by the woodpile.. Man, I love Berks County....

[Colt45]

State places these days can be hunted pretty successfully without a dog. However, most of the fun lies within the dog. I know on opening day the dogs are way more excited then I am. So no you dont need a dog, but it is way more fun with one.

[ACEarcher]

Took my GSHP Ruger out the other day. He did ok finding rabbits, but no pheasants. We went to a local SGL. I thought their might be a surviver from last year, but he didn't find any. He's a great boy and has a nose like a machine!!!, but he's becoming too nervous. I've been practicing like when he gets on point he'll hold when I say hold. Then when I get closer I'll throw out a firecracker. Most of the time he kinda shruggs it off and starts looking around again. BUT!! Sometimes he gets freaked out. He dosen't really run off on me, but he gets so nervous he won't leave my side. For the rest of our time spent walking around in the fields he'll literally stay right next to me like he's glued to my hip. When this happens I try and start lightly jogging with him to try and get his mind off of it and back into the game. I don't think he's going to be ready for this season, but I'm trying with him and I don't want to give up on him. If it turns out that he's not the hunting dog I want him to be then so be it. I'll still keep him and love him. He's a great boy and he's been let down before and he dosen't deserve it ever again. He'll just be a stay at home, family dog. Sucks though he has soooooo much potential it's just he's nervous, anixous, scared whatever you want to call it.

[The Wadd]

Sounds Like hes not associating the shot with fun! Dont use fire crackers!
Get a starter pistol, take a tennis balls out,put some sent on them,play with him, get him excited to be out there! then use the pistol! dont shoot it when hes on point! throw it then shoot! Remember lots of fun and praise! I hope that helps! Good Luck!:thup:

[massbaster]

I've been practicing like when he gets on point he'll hold when I say hold. Then when I get closer I'll throw out a firecracker.

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONON

stop stop now stop stop....you will effectively ruin your dog. If hes old enough to run on an SGL and you can control him...the ONLY time you fire is when there is a bird going up....dogs learn from repetition...he needs to learn bang = bird..... if you run him thats awesome, leave the bang bangs home. BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS and you can try BIRDS.... get him crazy...get that prey drive goin.... if your doing fetch training and you have a buddy throw a bumper and you pop a cap gun thats okay to a very limited point..... take him running....leave the bangs home.....:naughty:

You will most likely not find and pheasants/quail....fox and yotes decimate the populations...the best bet you have for wild birds are woodcock.....and their are flights moving in. I believe woodcock opens 10/16.

Take him to a game preserve and get some chuckars and pheasants....work him on birds you know are there so you can correct him....dont shoot until you put up 3 or 4 birds..than when hes good and crazy pop a bird and see how he reacts....if he shuts down take him home and rest him for a few months. Sometimes at 1-1.5 yrs age dogs go through a puberty (thats how I see it) and they totally go off on a tangent. My male did this to me.....he was fetching to hand...than one day a gun shot and he ran 100yds back to the truck. I gave him a few months off and eased him back into the birds. Hes now 4 and bird crazy....

:thup:

[ACEarcher]

Thanks Baster, I'm going to be working on all this more now. Thanks guys!!! I really appreciate all of the advice!!!

[Salt Walter]

Here's a good example why. I have a young GSP, second season hunting.
Saturday there was a youth Pheasant hunt here in PA. My nephew shot a bird, but did not kill it. It landed in grass that was about 4-5 feet tall. We would have never found that bird without a dog. And this was a cock bird. If you hunt preserves they will shoot hens too. And they are even harder to spot in cover.

We had the dog point right at my brother's feet, and he was looking right at teh bird and never saw it. After about two minutes of literally staring at the spot, the bird blinked or moved her head and that caught my brother's eye so he could kick it up.

I just hate to leave a cripple in the field, so for me, if there's no dog, there's no hunt.

[RUSS0079]

Adam,
Get some pigions, They are cheaper. My Briar did most of her work on pigions and she is aces when it comes to grouse.... Where in the hell did you learn that technique.. That is nutz... You need to buy the book on Pointing Dogs by "Long". Best thing I did when I got into training. Or give me your dog for a couple of months and about a "G" and I'll fix him... NICE!!!

[ACEarcher]

Well I thought it was a decent idea. I guess I'm way off. Well, not the first time I've been wrong and probably won't be the last. I'll look into some pigions for him soon. Since Nockamixen is now stock I'm going to take him over there for some action on real birds. Funny your not gonna believe this. So I get off of work and I decided to take a back dirt road that outlines Nockamixen. Their was a school bus infront of me so I stopped and waited till it was well down the dirt road. Otherwise me and my truck would of been engulfed in a dust screen. As I'm sitting there waiting for the school bus to be far down the road and the dust screen to be blown away I hear something in the corn to my left. Much to my suprise 2 chukkers hop out of the corn!!! They get about 3ft from my door and mill around infront of the truck for a minute. They finally crossed the road and made their way into the park. They must of been escapees from someones last local stock hunt. Well a "G" is a lil hard to come by these days, especially for me. Not that I don't think he's worth it or you won't fix him up nice. It's just my financial state. Maybe in the future if my efforts turn to be fruitless. I do greatly appreciate the offer though, thank you. Can that book be found at any book store?

[RUSS0079]

I got my copy of Long's POINTING DOGS, on Amazon.com. Its a wonderful tool. I suggest pigeons, not only are they easy to come by, but you can plant them and see when your dog comes into the scent cone. As soon as you see the dog hit the scent cone, you WHOA him. You can tell, you'll see the dog head right for where the bird is. The dog must WHOA though.. That is lesson number one. Creaping is going to happen, but as the dog gets older, it will be steady.
Russ

[ACEarcher]

Russ,

Yeah I know about the whoa and creeping. To be honest he reall dosen't creep. They only time he'll creep is if I get infront of him or around his side. If he does start to creep I'll say whoa and he usually stops right away. He is very good with commands. Like I said he learns very quickly. He's got so much potential. I just need to get him to not be so nervous so much. I want to let him know that their is nothing wrong and he's doing a good thing. He really needs a confidence booster. Every time he gets on scent and he starts to trail something I prasie him as much as possible. When we play ball and he runs down the tennis ball and brings it right back to me perfectly it's a aray of praise. I want him to have as much fun as I'm having. My goal is not to have this super, awsome, amazing bird dog. I just want a best friend to share the hunt with and help me find birds. Even if he dosen't retrieve I'll be happy. Like I said before if I can't get him out of this nerviousness then so be it. He's still my buddy and he'll be a family dog. He's just to good of a boy to be let down. Hey another question. What do you do in the line of tick prevention when taking your dog into the field??

[The Wadd]

Take Him to Fields wthout Ticks!:razz: Hey that was funny right there!
I use a Spray before I take My girl into the Field! Havent had a problem
yet!

[RUSS0079]

Adam,
If you are willing to make the trip down this way, I'll get some pigeons and set up with one of my buddies farms to put your pup on planted pigeons. Or if you have a farm up that way, I'll bring the pigeons, as long as I can bring my pointers for brush up. We'll work on the scent cone and whoa. As far as retrieving. My best pointer doesn't retrieve every bird. He'll stand by it and wait for me to pick it up, or hold it until I can ring its neck...

[The Wadd]

Russ, Thats what Liberty does alot! Picks the bird up Brings it Half way Drops It,And Stays with it till I get there! I thought it was from being
smacked in the face, buy the wings, the dead ones she retrieves to me! Hell i dont think Id want to carry something in my mouth if it was smacking me! Ive Been working her every night with a bumber And Pheasant wings
Rubbrband to it! She retrieves to hand every time! Cant waite till next weekend! She found her Orange vest while i was working out last night, sat right next to me,and started Whinning! shes ready 2:shoot::yahooo:

[RUSS0079]

Long writes better than I, but says He has never met a hunter who couldn't bend down to pick up a bird. As some pointers point dead. Lets be honest few of us on this Barn are Field Trialers. Retrieving unless you use your versitial hunting dog for ducks, isn't the end all to be all. My male will not point dead, he just stays with the bird until I get to him. God forbid, if the bird trys to run, its curtains. Ticket doesn't like that, so he ubruptly kills them right there. My female will retrieve, unless there is a mess of birds in one area and the bird scent is strong...

[The Wadd]

I Agree! Im just Happy She`s the Hunter that she Is! People were
shooting off fire crackers after the Gome last night And I swear she
was ready for me to get dressed and take her Hunting! :thup:

[ACEarcher]

Well Ruger jumped his first bird. Took him over to Nocky for a lil. He had several good points, but nothing flushed ( I think he was pointing on rabbits). In the back fied and I notice he's starting to get on scent. He's working towards it slowly. He didn't even get a chance to go on point. The hen flush with him about 13yds way. I think he was still trying to get a fix on her before she just flushed out. He reacted very well. When the bird got up he just zeroed on her right away. Damn bird scared the s**t outta me, but he liked it. After she flushed I called him back and gave him a treat. Over all he did good just for some reason he wasen't getting the distance infront of me. I dunno why he's never done that before. Usually he'll go out 30 maybe 40 some yards and work. Yesterday he didn't go past like 25yds. Saw 2 other guys their with dogs and they both said they didn't find anything. So yeah now I got a morale booster. Russ I'm liking the pigeon idea. Wanna do this on private property? Of corse their will be no pheasants on it, but nobody with bother ya.

[BIGTOM]

I would take my pup to a shooting range & seat with him in the truck .i would play with him give him his faverate treats while other people would shoot after he became comfortable i might take him out side of the truck play & give him treats after a while the guns going off did not bother him good luck.

[BIGTOM]

:razz:

[BIGTOM]

:thup: I WOULD TAKE MY PUP TO A SHOOTING RANGE & PLAY WITH HIM & GAVE HIM HIS FAVERATE TREATES IN THE TRUCK WHILE OTHER PEOPLE SHOT AFTER A WHILE I WOULD TAKE HIM OUT OF THE TRUCK & DO THE SAME THING . WOULD NOT TAKE TO LONG & HE FOR GOT ALL ABOUT THE NOISE HE WAS MORE INTERESTED IN HAVING FUN GOOD LUCK

[RUSS0079]

Adam,
Don't need pheasants. You'll see. We'll work your dog until it gets the hang. Than I'll work my female then male. When I take him out you'll see what a seasoned pointer does.. As far as the hen bird flushing out 13 yards, dollars to donuts, the bird was running from your pup, and the pup was ground scenting. Not a bad thing, just what happens if the wind isn' t putting them in the scent cone.
Russ

[RUSS0079]

If we do it on private land, we can kill the birds for the dogs, so they can retrieve and have a reward. Let me know. Plus we can work on Sunday, if I can get off.
Russ