Gun Dog Forum

fishvik

kninebirddog wrote:1 it is useless against the Mojave rattler

Knine, Have you ever seen a dog hit by a Mojave and if you have, did the dog recover?

fishvik

nitrex wrote:I always thought you could scoop them up with a butterfly net.

A couple of years ago on a fish population survey we were doing, one of my techs did just that with a fishing net.

fishvik

I use my dogs for blue grouse all the time here in Idaho. They come in real handy for long retrieves when the bird goes down on steep slope. Blues are not real weary birds and they will hold well for a pointing dog and only flush at the last minute and then usually up into a tree. I'm not sure what ...

fishvik

Ofcourse if you really don't mind a drive. You have 3 forest grouse and sharptails available to you in Idaho or Montana in Oct.

fishvik

If your 15 yo weighs in at 130 or more, my vote is with the 30.06. Wide range of loads and good availablity of inexpensive ammo. You can also take anything from pronghorn to elk with it. It's my one rifle and I haven't had it fail to bring something down in close to 40 years of big game hunting in I...

fishvik

I am not sure but, I always wanted to do what I would call a Grand Slam Grouse bag. Ruffs, Blues, Sage, (Spruce, They are kind of dumb around here and protected), Sharpies, Tarmagin, over seas in Ireland, or Scottland THe Red Grouse. Won't ever get to but that was my dream year. Ruff, You could pul...

fishvik

Here is one that I use for grilling sharptails. Cut sharptails up so you have 2 breast fillets, two tenderloins(muscle just below breast meat) two legs(thigh and drumstick), two wings. Soak in salt water to remove blood. Cut breasts length wise to the approximate size of tenderloins and marinate all...

fishvik

When I was in college I had a springer X GSP cross. He was a greater little hunter. Quartered like a springer, he could get into the tightest brush, pointed, flushed on command and retrieved like a champ on land and in the water.

fishvik

I have used chunks of garden hose attached to a harness around the legs of pigeons made of parachute cord. The cord is soft enough that it doesn't cut the pigeons legs. The hose is cut to between 8-16" depending on the size of the bird and how well it flies. The tether is about 20" long and allows y...

fishvik

The best boots I ever owned were White Smokejumpers. I worked for over 30 years with my primary duties in resource management and wildland fire involving hiking over various terrain from wet coniferous forest to dry sagebrush steppe on some of the steepest slope in the US. Those boots held up to eve...

fishvik

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fishvik

My Hanna is two and weighs 50 pounds.

fishvik

Quite a ways to the north, but there is some pretty fair chukar hunting up near Susanville.

fishvik

We have 5 cats, 3 dogs, 4 goldfish, two ducks, 4 pigeons, a rabbit and when my son brought home two tree frogs last night my wife said all we need is a reptile and we have the entire animal kingdom represented. To which my son replied, " I almost caught a snake too!"

fishvik

I found that cutting as much hair off their feet, in between their toes and on the their lower legs helped.

fishvik

My choice would be a single shot 20 or and pump 20. The reason is it will teach the young hunter to make the first shot count. I've started both my kids out with a 20 ga. pump. And they both learned that there wouldn't be a fast second shot like theymight have with an auto or a double barreled gun, ...

fishvik

zzweims, Sorry to hear about your pups, I hope they recover quickly. Looking at the distance between the fang marks on the dog that was hit below the left eye and the fact he got venom into both dogs, that must have been a big snake. I would guess at least a 5 footer. Was it an Eastern Diamondback?

fishvik

Ok, here's a follow up to releasing a dog on point. How many of you will release a dog from point to flush a bird that is in brush so thick you can't get into it to flush the birds. This seems to happen alot with California Quail in thick cover. The dog locks up in or outside of the brush and the bi...

fishvik

I have a 6' privacy fence that is not even a challenge to my 2 yo GSP. I'm working on hot wire along the top.

fishvik

My GSP had something that looked like this last spring/summer. The vet said it was a staph infection and treated it with antibiotics and it cleared up in about two weeks. I'd say go see the vet.

fishvik

I don't trial but hunt hard in the fall (4-6 hrs) and I run my dogs next to a bike 8 miles 3-4 times a week and seem to be able to keep hunting all day.

fishvik

Ok is there anywhere in Northern Nevada where I can get live birds for that. I used to live in Winnemucca and I caught my pigeons at night under I-80 overpasses and with traps around grain bins. I would also check the NDOW big game regs about using dogs for tracking wounded game. It was illegal whe...

fishvik

Welcome Hondo, I guess before giving any suggestions I would say you have a good background of training material to rely on. My only advice is if this a pup under 6 mos of age, let it be a dog. Prey drive is far harder to instill in a dog than discipline and formal training. It is amazing how much a...

fishvik

I've always taken new pups to the vet. I was considering deworming and doing the vaccinations myself. But I just don't know about the worming situation. Looking for some advice. Nanney, There is a good discussion on worming in the Hall of Fame Post in this forum under the post "Ivomec". As for vacc...

fishvik

Dave, It's good to see you and your dogs are getting out.Here in Idaho the cottontail season closed at the end of February and snowshoe season closed at the end of March. We don't have snowshoes down here in the flats and I don't get much of a chance to hunt them in the winter due to coaching my son...

fishvik

Using the species that you want to hunt would be best, but I usually keep most of the wings off the birds I shoot for training the following year. It seems it doesn't make much difference other than big wings( pheasants and sage grouse) seem to carry and hold scent longer than smaller wings (ruffs, ...

fishvik

My Grandpa ate a lot, I mean a lot, of bacon grease every day. He called it hog honey. He ate bacon, eggs, and pancakes everyday for breakfast. He poured all the grease from that days friend bacon on his pancakes. He ate potatoes and vegetables, and some kind of meat every day at supper. He ate all...

fishvik

I want a "Dan and Ann" from the movie "where the red fern grows" only in a bird dog version. Wilson Rawls the author of Where the Red Fern Grows lived here in Idaho Falls when he wrote the book and in front of our public library is a bronze statue of Billy, Dan and Anne. Anybody who has ever hunted...

fishvik

Tommyboy and Ezzy, Boy did this post take some wild turns! I just wanted to find out what anybody else had heard about bacon grease and its effect on dog health. I have fed it to all of my birddogs and they have all lived well past ten years of age so I guess it didn't do them much harm. As for bein...

fishvik

I like a loud plastic whistle with a pea in it. They seem to carry the farthest. I also want to emphysize that you want a plastic one if you live and hunt where it is cold for your own comfort.

fishvik

I've mostly hunted behind mixed breeds and have had for the most part great hunting dogs. Just decide what you want the dog to do and then train for it. Work on keeping it in the range you want. If you want it to point, work on it holding point at least until you get up to it. If you want it to retr...

fishvik

That is one reason I snake break my dogs using bull snakes if I can get them. I don't want my dogs messing with any snakes. Bull snakes(gopher snake) are big, aggressive, vibrate their tails, strike and have a general color and marking pattern that resembles a rattler. So far it has worked. No bites...

fishvik

My 2 yo GSP likes any cloth that she can grab near her kennel. Shirts, blankets, jackets, but no socks yet.I can't put any kind of a dog piillow or rug in with her because she sheds it. I think she does it mostly out of boredom. Haven't had any prolems yet, but that might be due that she can't get a...

fishvik

Were these rattlesnakes or some other type?

fishvik

How potent are the Timber Rattlesnake & Copperhead bites? The toxicity of most pit vipers(rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and copperheads) is usually based on the amount of venom injected. Usually this is based on the size of the snake. Most pit vipers primarily have a hemotoxic venom that attack muscle...

fishvik

Thanks guys for the info.

fishvik

A buddy of mine was told by his vet to never feed his dog any bacon grease. Has anybody else heard of this and why? Is it something used in bacon preparation that isn't good for a dog?

fishvik

I wouldn't bet my dog on it and I snake break my dogs but I had a coworker on the Salmon River in Idaho that had a large lab that was bitten by small western rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) several times over two or three years. It seemed that after awhile he didn't even swell up or show any necrosi...

fishvik

I think DG is on to something. Of the dogs I have owned, those with the darker pads and nails have seemed to have the toughest feet.

fishvik

I own a GSP and a lab/gwp cross(just a 12wk pup) now and have owned a lab/pointer cross, a Weim/ches cross and a gwp/ches cross. I live and have hunted waterfowl and upland birds where it goes from the 90's during Sept. to single digit temps in late duck season. From that experience I would say all ...

fishvik

A couple of other good reasons. -Dogs don't let magazine articles guide their lives. -When your dog gets old, you can have it put to sleep. -Dogs are not allowed in Bloomingdale's, Macy's or Neiman-Marcus. -On a car trip, your dog never insists on running the heater. -A dog won't hold out on you to ...

fishvik

2 pheasants boned flour 3 tablespoons of olive oil 1 large yellow onion 6-8 cloves of garlic 1/2 lb of mushrooms 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup 1 cup of low fat yougart Lawrey's salt and red pepper to taste Cut pheasant meat into small pieces and dust with flour. Cut up onions and mince garlic. In a l...

fishvik

Casper, I agree that might be one of the problems. Even if the dogs are working less than 3 hours a day that's alot of wear and tear on their feet without the healing time needed. By the way Casper how was the chukar season down your way this season? I used to live in Winnemucca and I sure miss chas...

fishvik

I live out here in "spudland" and alot of our hunting is done on volcanic soils and exposed basalt, granite and lava. I've owned a number of breeds including GSP's and have hunted with Brits out here and none had paw problems if they were conditioned. Conditioning usually consisted of running dogs o...

fishvik

I think the key here is birds. Live ones and dead ones. Get some dead pigeons and have him fetch them instead of tennis balls. Shoot a blank and throw the pigeon. After that plant some dead birds and have him find them. Then plant some live ones and then let him find them and shoot them for him and ...

fishvik

Both of my dogs are mousers. I agree that most of it is hunting "something" when birds aren't around. This time of year here in Idaho is tough. The mice have constructed runways through the grass that was under the snow and now the snow is gone. Some fields look like the rodent version of I-15 going...

fishvik

Azhusker, I just throw them out, usually two at a time and then drive down wind of them and work the dog into the wind. I have never had a problem with them not flushing unless they have gotten hung up in sagebrush, then I just have the helper, hold the dog while I unhook it and let it fly. I'm luck...

fishvik

Depending on where you live, besides checking for fleas make sure your dog is not getting any mice. Field mice and voles are a carrier for tapeworms too, although I think they are a different type than the ones carried by fleas. The medication is the same to get rid of both types though. Here in Ida...

fishvik

If possible instead of dividing your area into just one or two large blocks that provide either cover, food or nesting habitat, try breaking it up into smaller sections of each. This is known as habitat juxtaposition and it provides a maximum of edge effect which is the key to good habitat managemen...

fishvik

SCkennel, You must be raising super pigeons. I use the hose method and I use only about 12-20" of 3/4"garden hose and about a 12" tether. I train where I have some room, so the birds fly from 150 to 200 yds the first time they are flushed and then they start to get tired after the 3rd or 4th flush a...

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