State raising handicapped birds

[HUNTER1957]

Went quail hunting today at peaslee. Most of the birds that we put up or tryed to put would fly. I hope it was just a bad batch of birds. It worked out a little bit for us as we two pups working them made for good training day

[HUNTER1957]

Ment to say birds would not fly

[RUSS0079]

Hunter,
probably not handicapped. Probably the place that had the birds didn't have a fly way for the birds or didn't bother harassing them to make them fly.. But at least the pups got some good training.
Russ

[ACEarcher]

Yeah thats whats been happening with my GSP Ruger. He can't get on a solid point. The birds keep running and he keeps on trying to get a lock on them. I feel like I'm using my springer (flushing dog), poor Ruger can't get a fix on them cause they run.

[RUSS0079]

Adam,
If you're seeing and Ruger is seeing the birds run, after a while, he'll get the knack of swinging in front to cut them off, or you can beat feet in front of them to cut them off. Put Ruger at a whoa, then cut in front. You'll pin the bird, he'll either flush or hold tight. That's another reason I like to run a brace of dogs. It confuses the birds and they hold tight instead running. If you don't like running birds, don't hunt the midwest. I had more time with running birds in Kansas than I care to think of. That's where we got acustomed to cutting the birds off. I need to stop giving my advice out for free next time I'm charging.:razz:
Russ

[Setterman]

I've always found that birds tend to run more on rainy days. Every pheasant my dog found yesterday had their track shoes on and looked like they'd qualify for the Millrose Games. I was doing as much running as the birds too.

[HUNTER1957]

Handicapped line was just a joke i realize these birds are pen raised but they would fly a couple of feet off ground and go back down. Like russ0079 said they must not be in fly pen or nobody is making them fly til they get released but like i said it helped me out with the pups thanks for the replys

[RUSS0079]

I've always found that birds tend to run more on rainy days. Every pheasant my dog found yesterday had their track shoes on and looked like they'd qualify for the Millrose Games. I was doing as much running as the birds too.

I hunted in Pierre South Dakota one year and watched a wild bird run for about 60 yards, then swim a cross a creek about 15 yards wide with a dog hot on its trail. The bird made it to the bank and kept running until we lost site of it. It must have heard that bad rumor that I was a good shot:shoot:
Russ

[Z-Man]

Hunted quail in this area for a few years now. I think the State raises them to a minimum size and then releases them way to small. Sometimes during the hunting season you seem to find a few bigger birds. However, there are a lot of little "Peeps"!

[Darrin Greene]

you should notify the state, not complain but notify them

may of the local SJ game farms won't do quail due to danger to the dogs and other people and the main reason is birds that won't fly

finding GOOD quail is challenging according to game farm owners I've spoken to

that sounds DANGEROUS with bird on public land that fly two feet off the ground

i wouldn't put my pups in that situation

[onthehunt]

I quail hunted peaslee once. Same thing, bird would fly a couple feet and land. I even had a bird land in a tree beside me and start to chirp. I knocked it off and let it fly away. After that my dad looked at me and said"We're outta here!". Heard of some close calls with shooting due to the crowd and low flying birds.:(

[smed]

I thought I would chime in on this thread with a very relevant observation.
I was out yesterday at a large, popular WMA in central NJ for pheasant and I came across, not one or two, but nearly a dozen or so quail in a hedgerow I usually scour for pheasants. They were sitting on the South side of the hedgerow soaking up the sun, just inside the brush, where you couldn't go in after them (without a dog that is) and they were just sitting there! They would kinda pace back and forth when they saw me, but they were obviously aware that I wasn't going in that bramble after them and I dont hunt quail, or else I could've taken the whole lot out with 2 rounds. They just sat there cooing and making other strange quail noises. And yes...they were definitely quail. I wish I had a camera with me, it was pretty hysterical.
Anyway - I don't find the sport in hunting them....far too easy and it would take 2 hours of cleaning to have enough meat to make a stew so I dont hunt them. This isn't the first time either that I've observed that behaviour, last year I came across numerous small groups of quail that wouldn't flush unless you ran at them screaming and shouting.
I dont have a dog, but would wager a bet that you're not going to teach a dog much with birds that wont even run away.

[cageese]

I was at peaslees today about half the birds wouldnt fly. Had four birds at one time that wouldnt fly. Acted like chickens they would run maybe fly 2 feet but that was it.

[bowhunter]

:Dbirds hate t fly in the rain rather run unless you get right up on them. Then they usually fly short distances.