Georgia Bird Hunting
- This topic has 11 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated Jun 23, 2013 at 2:27 pm by
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So, I have a bird dog now.
As you can see she’s used to being pampered, but she actually has shown a ton of potential. She retrieves until I get tired of throwing her quail dummy, and she also points every large live bird she sees. Two of her cousins are currently being hunted by some friends of mine, and they report that these guys basically require no special training. (Wirehaired pointing griffons).
So I am hoping to get Gretchen started. I’ve located a supplier of quail in Gainesville for $3.25 a bird, which is completely awesome. I’ve hunted planted birds quite a bit but I’ve never been the one to *do* the planting.
I am assuming I would need to buy the birds on the day of the hunt versus keeping them overnight? Does anyone know how best to transport and handle a quail? I think I’ve seen some cardboard boxes used in the past.
Secondly, anyone here in Georgia familiar with our regs on planting game birds on public land? Is it absolutely forbidden or are there areas where you can legally do it? I know there’s a “dog training” section of Allatoona WMA but I assume you’re not allowed to actually hunt there.
Hopefully I’ll have the experience of shooting a quail over my own dog this fall.
Zach
Great looking dog.
When training my dog (a flat-coated retriever) I used a quail call back cage a brother of mine built. We bought some quail, clipped the flight feathers and would plant them in the field. Leave a couple in the cage and they’ll return so you can reuse the birds. Depending on the size of your cage/vehicle, the cage will also work for you to transport them so you don’t have to buy birds on the day of the hunt/training session.
As far as hunting over planted birds, I thought I recall checking with Charlie Elliot WMA and they were ok with it for training purposes. I think it was off-season only and you may need to make prior arrangements.
Jason
Zach, A call back cage is definitely the way to go. They work very well, and are especially effective if you can leave them in the same spot/area for awhile.
What do you do with the birds while you have them at home or whatever? Feed them? Put them under a light?
Zach
<cite> @ZachMatthews said:</cite>
What do you do with the birds while you have them at home or whatever? Feed them? Put them under a light?Zach
… I can only imagine the transport logistics. Dog + quail in a box + a confined space…?
Don’t think you’ll need a light, but you will want to feed and water. Probably want a bigger cage if you keep them for long periods of time at home.
Like Michael suggested, leaving a call back cage out is ideal. This is what I was doing. Taking the birds out about everyday to train, but leaving the call back cage out in the field for days (giving the birds food and water). Unfortunately, I was not doing this on my own private land and after sometime someone eventually found and took the cage.
Jason –
I am going to just start very small. I’ve got a wooded area directly behind my house that’s about 1-2 acres. I was hoping to just get a couple or three live birds and let Gretchen find them and see what happens.
Any tips on placing the birds and then actually training the dog to hold? I think Gretchen will hold initially but I am not sure what she’d do if the bird started running. Most likely crunch it up. I am assuming I’d keep her on a lead to prevent this?
Then reward her with a treat and some find and retrieve afterwards?
Zach
Zach,
I’m definitely not an expert here. I’ve only done this with one dog and he’s not a pointer – though I did have him setting up on a bird. I know there has been debate here in the past, but I used the Wolters methods for training (Bird Dog and Water Dog). Not sure if the best, but my brother has used these methods to great success on some labs.My dog has a soft mouth, so we didn’t lose a lot of birds from him crunching them. If you are worried about this, perhaps starting him off in the yard without live birds is the way to go. Do some retrieves with a wing from a quail tied to dummy (or just a whole dead bird) and discipline him if he’s chewing on it. Keep the wing/dead bird in the fridge/freezer when not in use to get more “life” out of it.
To work on pointing, tie a wing to a line on the end of an old fishing rod. Here you can work on his approach and hold while he’s close and you can discipline. You can do this with or without a lead. These are the types of things that I was doing – but again, there may be better methods. I didn’t want to mess with shock collars or super long leads in the field.
J
Looks like a nice dog — I’m guessing you decided on the Griffon over another setter?
Training with live birds is the best way to go if you have the option. The danger with penned raised birds (pennies) and pointing dogs, is getting crappy birds that cannot fly. If your pointing dog, especially a young dog in training, begins catching birds on the ground this can create problems with creeping/bumping birds that you can avoid with strong flying birds.
Quail are highly succeptible to sickness/disease and are looking for an excuse to die. A call back pen is nice if you have an area to release the birds and can keep them healthy (not easy). The phantom quail kennel that Dan Hendrickson out of Abilene developed is the best recall pen I’ve seen (google it). If you get pennies, do your best to avoid all contact with the birds. They can quickly become tame to people and will not act wild, decreasing there value as a training tool.
IMO, homing pigeons are the best option for urban bird dog trainers. I keep about twenty homing pigeons and work my dogs on pigeons twice a week and run them another three days a week in the off season. Homers are indestructable, easy to care for, multiply quickly, and can be reused constantly. I have several places to train around town from golf courses to over-grown fields, so my dogs don’t get used to training in the same place day after day. The golf course property where I train most often is about 10 miles from my house. By the time I finish working my dogs, load up my dogs and gear, and return home, my birds are waiting for me in the loft.
Thankfully, I still live in a place with enough wild birds to train with and hunt during the fall and winter. I send my dogs north to the Dakotas to run on wild pheasants and sharpies in July/August.
I highly recommend the Smith Kennels training system and like the West method too.
This is a very good resource from people who know what they are talking about: http://steadywithstyle.com/
Good Luck — It’s addictive!
Zach — The steadywithstyle website has a free training manual in addition to some great articles.
Zach,
Another website you might choose to follow is this: http://birddogjourney.com/
The owner is training her German Shorthair Pointer puppy with positive reinforcement methods and provides ample video segments to allow you to follow along. She is in the same North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association Chapter (Mid-South) as I, and is an experienced trainer. Although my German Longhair Pointer is 2 years old, I am following her in the process using her videos to train him. Best of luck with Gretchen. Why do birddogs and fly fishing go together so well? Peanut butter and jelly?
Rich
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