Gun Dog Forum

cpinkert

In grouse woods, 3-6 hours with my 6 year old Brittany. Pheasants in tall grass, 2-4 hours. Depends on weather and how good of shape she's in.

cpinkert

I had an encounter a couple weeks ago by Hoyt Lakes, MN. First trail of the morning, 200 yards in and I started hearing them howl from straight down wind. They were close, at least 5 or 6 of them from what I could tell. Glad they howled instead of coming over for a visit! That's 3 out of 6 years in ...

cpinkert

It was 35% he shot at, not that he saw. I might be a bit off on that number too, might have been 25%. I was waiting to get a haircut and skimming. In my experience that's about right. Usually hit one in three or four I shoot at.

cpinkert

I read an article once about a well known grouse hunter in the UP who tracked his numbers for like 20 years and he figured he shot about 35%. I think that's about right. They're fast and fly through lots of cover which protects them. The other poster is right about snow and rain driving them into pi...

cpinkert

Anyone get out for opener? I'm headed to Fergus Falls to visit the in-laws this weekend, thinking I'm going to drop south an hour or two to hunt birds in the mornings. Anyone have any intel on that area for birds they'd be willing to share? I have grouse and pheasant intel (for other areas) to share...

cpinkert

I hunt pheasants with my Brit. She has learned to point them in the grass and flush them out of the cattails when I don't come in (tough to see her on point in there!) She's also learned to block a running bird for me. I'd be willing to put my Brit up against any lab for pheasants. I bet we'd come o...

cpinkert

Got out before work for a trail on Friday morning, saw 5 grouse none of which offered a good shot. Got out for a trail after work on Friday (had a work conference near some of my favorite trails so I brought the dog!), saw 6 grouse and 5 woodcock, shot the two grouse that gave me decent shots and mi...

cpinkert

I was out the past three mornings. Friday had action from around 15 different birds, no woodcock, had one decent shot and missed it. Saturday had action from close to twenty birds, shot at 6, had good shots at 2 and got one of those. Today had action from 17 or 18 different birds, plus 4 woodcock (f...

cpinkert

With all the rain we've had the vast majority of the birds are in or close to pines. Tag alders not close to pines held a few as well.

cpinkert

I got out on opening day for a few hours. Has action from 7 birds, shot at three, missed them all. Got out Thursday for 4 hours. Had action from 14 or 15 different birds, shot at 5, got two of the three I should have. There's plenty of birds if you know where to look.

cpinkert

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm not really serious about shooting with the kid on my back at 9 months, more just looking forward to when I can introduce him to hunting. I'm guessing I'll start by taking him on quick grouse hunts on old logging roads that are easy walking in a couple years. We go ...

cpinkert

How old were your kids the first time you took them hunting? I've got a 9 month old and a backpack he loves to ride in. Too soon? Ideas for earplugs for the kid?

I'm only about 35% serious about this...

cpinkert

Thoughts on the Oster Fast Feed model for dog hair? I had a guy recommend it, but it looks like they're made for human hair. My britt has a fairly soft/fine coat so I'm thinking they might work but I want to make sure I get something that will get the job done.

cpinkert

Good morning, I have a Brittany who I clip twice a year. Her coat is fairly soft. I'm looking for reasonably priced (preferably under $100) clippers that will last for a number of years with proper maintenance. Anyone have recommendations for specific makes/models they've used that would work for me...

cpinkert

I think the exercise and bird/gun training is what takes the most time, at least in my experience. My 10 month old Brittany drives me and my girlfriend nuts if she doesn't get exercise at least every other day. By exercise, I mean at least an hour (hopefully 1.5 hours or more) off leash running in t...

cpinkert

Thanks for the suggestion, Jim! Being new to the gun dog game, I'm open to any ideas/constructive criticism anyone wants to give. Range and getting into the woods is really not an issue with this pup. If anything, she has a bit too much range when in the woods...which is why I say I regret not beepe...

cpinkert

Yeah, the pup gets plenty of time in the woods and loves hunting, that's for sure. Only "problem" is now she wants to go every day!

cpinkert

Good deal, thanks for the reassurance. The whole passive training thing can make you feel like you're not doing something you should be doing. While hunting, I tend to not say any commands to the dog unless she fails to respond to a light whistle to stop/turn her. Otherwise, it's praise when she's c...

cpinkert

Alright...I have a 9 month old female Brittany named Jemma who is a month into her first season of grouse hunting. I've had her in the woods close to 10 times and we've had probably 50-60 bird contacts. Of those, the vast majority were right along the trail and I kicked them up. However, she has fou...

cpinkert

Anyone willing to provide their thoughts as to where/what ruffed grouse do when it's really windy? I was out yesterday in 20-30 mph winds from 7:00 til 3:00 in areas where I've seen a bunch of birds this year. We saw birds, but nothing like similar days that didn't have the wind. I suspect ruffies w...

cpinkert

no apology necessary, after i realized what your saying i got a good laugh at my own expense!

thanks for the advice!

cpinkert

Can't believe there hasn't been a mention of expecting the pup to chase deer, rabbits, etc. My 9 month old thoroughly enjoys a good rabbit chase at this point! As far as the number of birds you'll see, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. It's been pretty hit or miss this year. Mornings have been ...

cpinkert

lol, should have googled the whole phrase...

took the bandage off tonight and it's starting to heal.

on a serious note, does anyone do anything to harden up their dogs nails to avoid this kind of stuff? this sucks!

cpinkert

tincture of time Well, after looking up the definition of "tincture" I'm wondering if what exactly you mean by your response Dr.? Assuming I keep the foot clean, in a dog boot or something like that, and it doesn't appear to be bothering her, can I still hunt the pup while she's healing or is that ...

cpinkert

So, my 9 month old britt broke off one of the toenails (pretty close to the paw itself) on a rear paw. It bled a lot initially, but some pressure, a bandaid and a sock got that under control. At first it didn't seem like it bothered her at all, but yesterday my girlfriend took off the bandaid and so...

cpinkert

I'm not trying to make any sort of personal attack on the OP, but my 9 month old Britt would be intolerable if the only exercise she got was leash walks. It takes a solid couple hours of off leash running through the woods every few days to keep the relationship manageable! Neglect that exercise and...

cpinkert

No kidding, I feel like there's about 3,000 within 30 miles of Duluth!

cpinkert

I've been out a bunch north of Duluth and it's hit or miss right now. Tons of cover left and it seems one day the birds are there and the next they're gone. And not because I shot them, the pup is still figuring out grouse and I'm not shooting birds she busts out. Had an interesting experience last ...

cpinkert

Try playing hide and seek with him in the woods when he gets out of sight. Hide behind a tree and call his name then be quiet. This was suggested to me this spring when I got my pup and it works pretty well. The look on their face when they find you is hilarious and after doing that a bunch of times...

cpinkert

I'll play, thanks Doc!

Chris Pinkert

cpinkert

Call Scheels in St. Cloud, I'm seen them in other Scheels and they have them on their website. http://www.scheelssports.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=10001&categoryId=117218&langId=-1&clevel=Footwear&pageSize=20&sortField=price&sortOrder=desc There is a Cabel...

cpinkert

Well, I can't find anywhere that actually carries this model of boots...apparently they are too expensive to keep in stock and people balk at the price in my neck of the woods. Two questions. Anyone know of anywhere between Duluth, MN and Hutchinson, MN (including as far east as the northern cities ...

cpinkert

I found a slightly used Dogtra 200 NCP Gold on eBay for $11.50. Bidding ends in 3 days so we'll see but if it stays under $100 that could be a great start for me. The problem with E-bay is that you have no idea if the item works or not. There's no way to check it out first. I bought a scale for pup...

cpinkert

Ok, but the last time when you were about to send her away people started chiming in with potential solutions to your problem and wouldn't ya know it, they worked! What is the aggression issue? Perhaps folks on here could help you work through this problem as well? Seems like you've put a ton of tim...

cpinkert

No offense, because I don't know you or exactly what this dog is doing and have only really been following your posts for the last 5 months I've been on this board, but what is your deal? You've had two behavioral issues with Jersey from what I can remember. Barking and now whatever this aggression ...

cpinkert

Just had an oppotunity to look at this again...tried a brand new battery (the one i put in there initially came right out of the package, too, but who knows how long it was sitting in the cupboard at grandma's!) and that fixed all of the problems. Now there is plenty of power and the launcher works ...

cpinkert

I bought a DT Systems launcher last week and have used it 4 or 5 times now. Out of the box I couldn't get it to work when loaded until I figured out to loosen the nut/cap on the screw in the middle of the arm that moves to release the launcher. Now, I have to check it every time I use it to make sur...

cpinkert

I'm in the camp of people who think you're getting ahead of yourself here, Kiki. That said, stuff like this is EXACTLY why I won't buy anything online without using PayPal. It amazes me people will send complete strangers money in the mail. I've used PayPal's buyer protection program a couple times ...

cpinkert

thanks for all the advice! i'm going to hold off on tethering this weekend and hopefully will be successful in trapping my own starting next week so i don't have to tether at all. just trying to learn some new stuff and keep some options open in case i start burning through pigeons like crazy! after...

cpinkert

Ok, so you use something like that and then what? Take note of where the bird flies off to, put the dog away, and go get the bird? That looks like a great homemade idea that I'll use! I'm just trying to work through potential problems prior to starting this. I think this weekend I will probably just...

cpinkert

I'm picking up 20 pigeons tomorrow to use for training. I thought I saw a comment somewhere about tethering a pigeon to a launcher so you can reuse it. What does that all entail? Any downside to doing that? Wouldn't the dog catch it or at least see you catch it and think it did the right thing becau...

cpinkert

Got it. This all makes a lot of sense, now. All I really want from this all is to get her pointing as quickly as she can (keeping in mind she's still an infant) and I might eventually use the launcher to help encourage her to trust her nose and go a little further from the trail or from me if she sm...

cpinkert

That was a good read, Kiki. Thanks! What I took from the discussion you linked to is that she'll point when she's good and ready...and letting her develop that "naturally" rather than "breaking" her is preferable due to her age. I still think I'm gonna get the launcher and use a combination of pigeo...

cpinkert

I get what the wild bird folk are saying, and if the woods weren't so dang thick right now that's probably the way that I'd be leaning. However, I can't see a thing when she's back in the woods. She doesn't seem to have trouble finding the birds and doesn't chase them after they flush, but I don't k...

cpinkert

I'm gonna go pick up a trap today, anyone have any tips they'd like to share? Should I buy one of the Feed Store's $6 pigeons and put it in there to lure others in? I have feed for the quail I bought last week, will that work for bait?

Thanks!

-Chris

cpinkert

For the folks advocating just running her on wild birds, don't you think proper use of a launcher would speed up the process with her? I'm thinking doing a mix of the launcher and getting her in the woods on wild birds. The launcher would allow me to introduce the shotgun in a controlled manner and ...

cpinkert

Or both? I'm debating whether to spend $500 on a couple launchers and a couple hundred more on birds over the next month or so to help my 7.5 month old britt female develop her point. I live in Duluth, MN and can get her out in the woods 4-6 days a week and it seems like every time we're out she kic...

cpinkert

lol, I like where your head is at! Talk about making lemonade out of lemons! My girlfriend said last week (this is the same girlfriend who about a month and a half ago that she only liked our britt when she was sleeping...) that she wouldn't mind getting another britt next spring! :D I'm gonna hold ...

cpinkert

My 7.5 month old Britt went through this, too. Started at about 5.5 months, really whiney when we'd put her outside, would jump up against the door, would bark, etc. I ignored her til she was quiet, then went and got her and gave her praise. Took about a month, maybe 6 weeks, for her to get past thi...

cpinkert

I saw that link on HSO last year and have read 3 or 4 other similar stories from Northern MN over the past couple/three season. My 5th shell in my shotgun is a 3" slug. There are a ton of wolves up here and they need to be taken care of sooner rather than later. It was amazing last year the differen...

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