Gun Dog Forum

Rik

To find FFLs in your state, try this: http://fflgundealers.net/transfer/massachusetts/ The online gun auction sites all have FFL lists and ratings from buyers and sellers. Fees vary from $20 to $75, and shotguns, rifles, pistols, revolvers and in Mass, large capacity magazines often have different r...

Rik

Never seen him in trials, but obviously from his record he was an excellent walking and horseback trailer. I have a puppy by Patriot out of Tekoa Mountain Sunrays. I looked at Patriot when he was 10, and Sunrays before the mating to see if I could get an idea of what the puppies might be like. Patri...

Rik

Just got back from Miles City, MT. Found same numbers of Sharp Tails and Grays (Huns) as last year. Smaller groups more widely scattered but more of them. Haven't been in Plentywood area for a couple of years, but my impression is that CRP reduction has not changed the amount of Block Management lan...

Rik

Snakes become less active when temps are below 60F. To be safe I wait til October because night temps will be consistently below 50F. September has many days and nights above 60 and many below 50. Hunt on the low days in the morning and you won't see any snakes. I don't hunt Pheasant so I'm not a go...

Rik

I have two DTS Launchers, and two Higgins Releasers. Loved the launchers. I had DTS electronics on them for several years. I found then to be very finicky. The transmitters failed every two years of pretty hard use. The remotes failed to launch every 7 or 8 times, the locator beepers failed after ab...

Rik

Oh Yeah, I agree completely.......... I was just joking about converting my steady to wing and shot pointy dog into a flusher. Apparently I'm one of the people who didn't know you could ever use dogs on Turkey....... We went down into the Valley today and let Jack do his thing on Valley Quail, he wa...

Rik

Went hunting for grouse in the Idaho panhandle yesterday. Cooler and more moisture than last week but still saw no birds. If Jack, English Setter, can't find 'em they ain't there, so we headed back to the truck to try another location at much lower elevation. At the new spot we ran into a guy with a...

Rik

My experience with Tri Cities Rattlers: I hunted all around and on the Hanford reservation for six or seven years with my Setter. Saw a few snakes in September, but none in October. My dog had little interest in the snakes we saw, so I'd just call him off and we'd walk away. I didn't let him hunt ro...

Rik

Headed to Powder River, NE Oregon, then Treasure Valley, Idaho for flat ground and Quail. First year we won't hunt the Snake River for Chukar. I can't climb the canyon walls anymore and my pup is 13, and starting slow down some and I don't want to have to carry him back the truck if he decides to mo...

Rik

Same story on the West slope: Spent opening day in the Southern Selkirks in WA looking for Forest Grouse. Dusty, dry,warm, lots of berries, but no bugs and no birds. Lots of cat sign and a couple of recent deer kills. This morning we hunted at lower elevations along the creeks. Water as low as I've ...

Rik

Hard to hurt a good bird dog. Did a pretty good job of training my Setter pup in his first year. He had very good first hunting season. Then I became ill, lost a leg to infection and took two years to be able to walk again. Pup never got out of the yard for the two years. I took him out to the field...

Rik

Tooling, A little follow up info in case you decide to try the Grouse around Republic/Kettle River: My buddy with the guard dog knows the people who run Bearpaw Outfitters in Colville. They track the Elk herd migrations in areas they guide. The Wolf packs follow the Elk herds most of the year, inclu...

Rik

Worked for a rescue shelter/vet in Amarillo for a while. Saw lots of snakebit dogs. The small dogs got bit a lot on the chest and belly, the medium to large dogs almost always were bit on nose, jowels or lower legs. Bird dogs seemed get bit on the legs and sometimes on the nose. Never saw a bird dog...

Rik

The Washington State Fish and Wildlife tracks Wolf packs with breeding pair radio collars. Here's their URL http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/packs/annual_survey.html. Unofficially they estimate 120 Wolves in packs in WA and an unknown number (probably 15 to 20) loners. The pack I encountere...

Rik

Thanks for the replies. Friends of mine hunt the same area for grouse with flushing dogs that range no more than 25 to 40 yards and are never out of sight. They have never seen a Wolf. My Setter (Jack) is (was) a horseback field trial all open age until he was 8. Even at 12 years old he still hunts ...

Rik

In warm or hot weather hunting, when your dog begins to pant heavily his ability to scent is seriously compromised and he could if he continues to run, die. He needs to cool down and drink. You must stop him and if cool/cold running water is available, let him cool in it, do not let him use stagnant...

Rik

Really late reply to your post.........But if you are still looking for a shotgun, here's what I did: Since you can get a pump with an 18.5" barrel and a pump with a 26 inch barrel that both weigh 7 pounds why not buy the longer barrel so you can use it to hunt with as well as train? Most of the wei...

Rik

Last three years I hunted about 20 days each year in NE Washington for Forest Grouse with my Setter. In all three years I encountered Wolves who seemed to have an unhealthy interest in my dog. Luckily I was able to recall the dog, fire off a couple of warning shots and beat feet back to the truck wi...

Rik

All good advice above. I've trained 8 setters over the years and if yours are anything like mine as soon as they see birdy cover they'll start to hunt until they get anxious, then they will look for you for direction and reassurance, as soon as they have them they'll go hunting again and pay you no ...

Rik

Bucks play no role in a fawns life after inception. Extremely unlikely that a fawn was any where in the vicinity of the buck that injured this dog. And even if one was nearby the buck would not have cared. Way more likely that the buck's survival instinct in the presence of a wolf-like creature trig...

Rik

Make your coops cat proof and get a Maine Coon. You won't have any mice or rats and fewer snakes. Of course you'll have fewer wild birds as well. In fact you might have no critters at all for a half mile radius after a year or so............

Rik

Wow! A simple question raised a host of issues, opinions and recommendations. Here is another recommendation: Get George Hickox and/or John Hann's pointing dog training DVDs, watch them carefully and decide for yourself regarding the use of clickers, stimulation, vibration, tone, whoa, sit etc. I ha...

Rik

Went to a clinic two years ago. It was great. I had already purchased a PermaTack check cord, turned out to be same one Hann uses. 25', $25 Great cord, doesn't soak up water, doesn't pick up burr, doesn't kink and slips easily through any brush including sage brush. Still burns hands if you don't we...

Rik

"Birds not Bumpers " should be a GunDog Tee Shirt

Rik

I really like my Wing Works vest, but, I really didn't like the water bottle holders. The bottles slide in easily when dry but are very difficult to get out or back in when wet from condensation or spillage. I use a folding water bowl for my Setter to avoid losing most of the squirted water so I hav...

Rik

The advent of the GPS for dogs and vibration and tone on ecollars has changed everything for my Setters. Now I let them hunt the cover where their nose takes them pretty much at any distance. I use the GPS to find them on point and the hunt is on.I turn them with a tone primarily if they are headed ...

Rik

When I think of "Slow" vis- a- vis gundogs I don't think of a dog that moves slowly but rather a dog the hunts close, 60 yards or so, but fast and in complete control of the handler. Any of the pointing dog breeds can be trained to do this but, in my opinion this approach limits the type game bird a...

Rik

Never had this problem with any of my dogs, but I have helped friends who have. More birds is almost always the answer. Try clip wing instead of lock wing to get the pup chasing the bird. Toss the bird to get some motion to create a chase reaction. Try using Quail or Chukar instaed of Pigeons, some ...

Rik

ezzy, Great idea, make em fly for food and water.............I'm moving the water and feed up to shelf about 6 feet off the ground. I'll try some Bobs as soon as I can get some and try it out. I'm using pigeons but my hunting buds still want to use Bobs. So we'll mix them and see how it goes.

Rik

I built a 15' W x 25'L x 15'H pen with waterers and feeders, built rodent proof, with shelf perches. Ended up costing aroun $400. Tried Bob Whites and found that even in this pen their ability and willingness to fly diminished dramattically. I tried other types of Quail and found they all had the sa...

Rik

The red rash with pimples on your dog’s belly may be pyoderma. It is similar to a 'diaper rash' in a human baby. Usually caused by bacteria, and exacerbated if there are stresses in a puppy's life, such as vaccinations, poor hygiene, toxins (such as the Frontline) or dog parasites (internal or exter...

Rik

Only legal upland species my 12 year old Setter has not pointed is the Mountain Quail. We'll hunt the North Umpqua drainage in SW Oregon for his personal career grand slam.

Rik

The Tillman's and their neighbors restrict the hunting pressure on their land, so numbers were good to very good the three years I hunted there. Pheasant numbers have been low all over North East Montana for the last several years. 2010, 11, and 12 were very good for Sharptail, and excellent for Gra...

Rik

Wife bought a couch for me and the dogs. Only furniture any of us are allowed on. Chessy takes up less room than the setter and I get to squeeze into the last 18" of seat...........

Rik

Tilman's B&B, Malta, Mt. www.tillmansofmontana.com/, walk out the back door and start hunting..............

Rik

Your vet will scan the pup for a microchip.Worth a try............

Rik

I'm sorry I left out a step that's crucial. The first step is time consuming and can be expensive, but sets the stage for the fly away drill. Dog needs to chase enough birds to learn that he can't catch them and begins to point for longer and longer before breaking and chasing. This gives us the win...

Rik

The first of three drills Hickox uses to steady a dog on point and to wing and shot is the 'Fly away drill". A lockwing pigeon is brushed through a two yard area around the planting site and then buried in the cover as the scent bird. A additional pigeon (the flyer) is placed in a launcher 10 yards ...

Rik

Setter backing Chessie.jpg

Rik

Like mask, I've been hunting for about 60 years over pointing dogs, mine have mostly white long hair. I've had 14 setters during those 60 years and 8 of them hunted Chukar as well as any dogs I've ever seen. (The last 6 have hunted Quail because I got too feeble to hunt Chukar). Shave them down in S...

Rik

IBM "It's Better Manually" I use a tip up releaser (kind of a kick cage but heavier and very sturdy) I got from Lion Country Supply, with pigeons, a long check cord with a portable whoa post. I can do all the drills myself, there are no batteries or electronics to fail. I use pigeons until the dog i...

Rik

I have used the method I learned for George Hickox for eight dogs and all have been extremely successful: Introduction birds and guns: In a field, not where you have been doing yard training, Put up a retreiving corridor, tensar fence about 20 yards long and 5 yards wide in a 'V' shape. Using lock w...

Rik

New Year’s Eve 2014, last day to hunt Ruffed Grouse in Washington. The banks of the Columbia River near the Canadian border, mixed forest of Aspen, Birch and spruce. 7:00 AM 32 degrees, 10 knot Northerly, mixed snow and rain, in a word: Miserable. Jack an old setter ( 11 Year old setter, four time F...

Rik

Tail.JPG

Rik

I have trained two Chessies ( and yes, they a bit difficult, too smart and they all want to be the alpha) to retreive waterfowl and flush upland birds using George Hickox's "Training the Upland Retriever". I augmented the flusher training with the Frank Graham retrieving program. Neither are 'cookie...

Rik

Retired VP sales and customer service in telecommunications industry. Now: Fund raiser for National Wild Turkey Foundation, Quail Forever, Trout Unlimited. Managing Director/Owner Process Reengineering consulting firm. Owner aftermarket truck camper equipment manufacturer. Pack Leader for FC Seattle...

Rik

I spent three days in late September at Tillmans three years ago. It was a down year for upland birds on the highline, but the Tillmans and their neighbors limit hunting pressure on their land so bird numbers were very good. We ( my setter and I) limited on Huns and Sharpies every day in about 5 hou...

Rik

You are probably already in Montana, so this may not be any help. But I had spectacular success(after Hunting Lewistown for a week unsuccessfully) hunting eastern Montana around Miles City. I talked to the guys in the local sporting goods/hardware store and they pointed me to a dozen small ranches a...

Rik

Didn't mean to imply that expensive Bismuth rounds are the only answer to non toxic shot requirements. Steel shot works fine for upland birds, I use it in my modern weapons. I only use the Bismuth in my 50 -75 year old shotguns which are not rated for steel, or even for heavy modern powder loads.

Rik

Washington, Oregon Both states require non toxic shot for upland birds on all state land. Expect that all shotgun hunting in these states will require non toxic shot on private, state and Federal lands within the next two years. I hunt with an ancient Parker SXS and have converted to Bismuth shot at...

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