Gun Dog Forum

You're not going to find any grouse in SE Wisconsin. You'll need to go to the areas in the northern 1/3 or the state. The ruffed grouse season opens Sept 14th in Zone A. Your can get your dog on free birds on public land in SE Wisconsin (minus cost of a license and pheasant stamp) on Oct 14th. These...

Oneida county has a bunch of county hunting land. Here is a nice map showing aspen age on this land: http://www.co.oneida.wi.gov/docview.asp?docid=5467&locid=135 Also a lot of WI DNR land in Oneida county http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/forestlandowners/opentopublicapp.html The ticks are thick up there. Kee...

I know some guys won't shoot birds that aren't properly pointed. What are your thoughts when hunting pheasants? Do you shoot birds that flush on your pointing dog? When you're in the thick stuff it's really hard to tell what is happening at bird contact. Whether the bird is running circles around th...

It's mostly about the dogs but a small percentage about me. [quote="buckshot1" I prefer wild birds for the same reason advanced skiers ski blacks and expert golfers play from the back tees. I enjoy the challenge. I'm more likely to see something spectacular hunting wild birds.[/quote] The skiing ana...

The problems is actually three fold right now because the woods are so full of leaves I can't really see exactly what he's doing when he contacts a bird. I just hear the "whir" of the grouse flying away. So it's hard for me to whoa or nick him when I can't see him. The leaves will be down soon so it...

Thanks for the input. I'll be trying some of these tips. He's collar conditioned. He knows whoa. I think the problem is two fold. He wants to chase birds he sees but he also doesn't know how to relocate smartly and carefully on a moving bird. Not only do I get unintended flushing I also get false po...

My two year old setter does well holding point for as long as I need with pigeon launchers and non running pen raised birds that are hidden. Now that we've been out hunting together, he turns into a flusher when he sees running pheasants and moving grouse. I'm looking for some advice to get him to r...

I emailed Costco on whether they use meat from China. This is the response I got: *********************************** Dear Brian, Thank you for your inquiry. The Adult Dog Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Formula contains fresh chicken from the US, chicken meal from the US and fish meal from the US. Becaus...

I feed the Kirkland Chicken and Rice. Both of my dogs like it and I like how they look and perform on it. I like the price too. $28 for a #40lb bag. It's made by Diamond. There are 10 page long threads on this forum pro and con Diamond.

In spite of what a few people on here think money is a major factor. No doubt if you want to bad enough you can find a away. Most people with kids in school and multiple sports are not going to have time and finances for training and trialing and don't want to hear how the old guys did things. That...

We have a similar situation with a 1/4 acre back yard. I've had an English setter for a year now. These are my experiences: A mile walk around the neighborhood on a leash is not enough exercise for my setter. I make a point to run him off leash at least 20-40 minutes before work. In the city/suburbs...

Yep. The WI DNR pheasants are especially tough on my setter pup. Very few are holding for me. The cold and snow helped somewhat. When they hold and he points its a beautiful thing but I've bagged 3xs as many birds with my golden. Next year I'm going to try and hunt them at the same time.

This is my pups first pheasant season. He held point well training this summer with the pigeon launcher. He did well on grouse and woodcock. The past two weeks we've been hunting released pheasants on public land. The cover is really heavy and he ranges about 100 yards so I'm not always seeing the i...

I think this forum really needs a "beginner training" board. A place where new gundog owners can ask questions and get feedback from experienced trainers who like to help out including obedience type stuff. Over time you could start pinning the repeat questions to the top. It would also remove posts...

I like to add the ivomec tick collar to make it four. I've run out of neck space.

2nd on the Preventic collar. My dogs spend a lot of time in the WI Northwoods and the ticks were really bad this summer. They wore the Preventic collar for the first time and we found very few. I also usually give them a quick spray with the Frontline or Biospot spray bottle right before a long walk...

First day in the WI northwoods went OK. His range was great. Didn't run off and checked in regularly. We spent several hours on logging roads on a beautiful day with temps in the 50's/60's. The problem I was having was that we didn't get into many grouse. ( 2 flushed wild without pointing). There ar...

I'd like to take my 1 year old setter to the WI northwoods next weekend for the grouse opener. All his training so far has been in open fields where it's been easy to watch him and work on his range. We've worked hard on staying within my comfortable range when in the open fields training near my ho...

I'd like to go out to SD for 4 days in early November to get my dogs on some wild pheasants. I'm on a tight budget and don't want to pay $1000's for anything guided. I'd like to hunt public land exclusively. There appears to be a lot of public land along the Missouri river south of Pierre down to th...

I've been lucky enough to strike a nice balance living a suburban existence and being able to train a bird dog. I live in a typical 1/3 acre lot neighborhood within 20 minutes of my job near Milwaukee. But I have some large open spaces to run my dogs off leash before work in the morning. I rely on u...

I think part of the problem most people have is that they love to hunt but it is really hard to train on birds based on their locale. If you live in a city or suburban area, you can't throw up a pigeon coop in your yard, store pigeons or quail on your property, nor do they have access to the land re...

I dont mind the range when we're in the big open fields. I just dont like him 300 + yards out when we're in the grouse woods.
I'm hoping with contunued training and maturity he'll learn to adjust his range to the cover.

Guys who have had big ranging dogs - Do you find the range shortens up and they pay more attention to your whereabouts as the dogs get older? I think some of the huge running is due to pure excitement of being out of the house and exploring and puppy energy.

I'd like to get started with my puppy in field trials. I think it would be a fun thing to do with my kids in the hunting off season. My 8 month old setter covers a lot of ground, hunts in front of me within 100 yards, holds his point well, and comes when called. He doesn't retrieve yet. I also don't...

I've owned several dogs and have never had this problem so excuse my ignorance in how to deal with it. My 7 month old english setter is great in the house, great with kids and our other older female golden retriever. He comes from great lines and a top breeder. He is very submissive to all of us, my...

I really enjoyed A Hunters Road by Jim Fergus. He travels the US one fall hunting all different areas for all different kinds of birds with his lab Sweets. It's a good read and some parts are pretty funny.

http://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Road-Jour ... 0805030085

I grew up in Mequon. Graduated from UW Madison in 1994 and now I live in Oconomowoc.

Spray bottle with water is the most effective " punishment " for counter cruising, jumping and other in house shenanigans.

I've noticed the exact same thing. I've had two goldens, who loved to hunt, but always stayed near us and the house since the day way picked him up. The setter wants to run and explore. Here's the main problem for us and that's with kids. I have little kids and they have little friends. If the golde...

In the very beginning I stim the whole way to me to set the standard that when the command is given it must be completed to the end. This is done only on the cc so it's only a few seconds and you drag the pup into you to help get the concept through its head. Once I move on to stim after the command...

My 5 month old setter pup responds to his come command in the house and yard and when he's on his check cord in the field. The second I release the check cord in the field, he doesn't come when called. He's off running until he's out of sight. We train in a fenced field trial area so I'm not worried...

My 5 month old setter comes when called in the house and when we're in the field with his 25 foot checkcord. The second I remove the checkcord he's gone. Runs out of sight and I have to find him. Ive tried the hiding game but that doesnt work.Im doing this in a large fenced field trial area so Im no...

I found the stiffer check cords work the best for my puppy and don't get tangled. I have this one and it works great $9.99.

http://www.lcsupply.com/LCS-Custom-Chec ... tinfo/CC7/

Ok, this is probably a dumb question. I have a 5 month old english setter and everytime we go outside on his leash to play or go potty he's pointing birds surrounding our yard; sparrows, cardinals etc.. It's bitter cold most days and normally we want to get him out and in. Is this bad to be pulling ...