Gun Dog Forum

ruffbritt4

Hunted 2 hours flushed 3 birds. No point on the first bird. On the second she tracked it for 200 yards, pinned it and held for a minute, then flushed it while I was still walking to her. On the third she tracked this rooster for a long time, but then ran right hough and flushed him. No shots fired. ...

ruffbritt4

I just continue to follow, as long as we are still on the land we are allowed to hunt. They will eventually pin the birds, it might take practice and they will mess up but they learn from it.

ruffbritt4

Thank you Sharon and hettmoe. I will be going out again tomorrow after school but this time with a shotgun. I haven't had the shotgun since opening day because it was my first few times driving to go hunting (just got my license a few weeks ago). Since I was a 30 minute drive away my dad wanted to k...

ruffbritt4

Went out to the game lands after school today. Flushed 7 birds in 2 hours. The highlight was when Jenny ran over the ridge and I hear her bell stop. I go over the top and see she is down in the bottom on point. I walk down towards her then got a picture real quick and when I start to move in for the...

ruffbritt4

So we went out today and when I got to the game lands nobody was there and I heard some roosters. We flushed 2 rooster and 5 hens, in only 2 hours. Had 2 points but she then bumped them. For a 8 month old pup I'm happy and I can see she is starting to trust her nose more. I'm going to try to get out...

ruffbritt4

Thanks everyone. I don't have school tomorrow so I'm gonna take her to a local gamelands. I'll let you know how we do. Grouse opens Saturday, can't wait.

ruffbritt4

It will take experience on wild birds for the dog to learn. Pen raised don't act the same. Don't shoot the birds he mishandles. Also, it could take him a little more time to learn if the birds that you shot last year were mishandled

ruffbritt4

Well the day finally came that I have been waiting a year for. I got my puppy in April when she was 8 weeks after putting down a deposit this time last year. Today, we went pheasant hunting. The game commission releases these birds a few days prior to the opening day. It started off slow, with my pu...

ruffbritt4

That's correct, it's open before the other seasons

ruffbritt4

Sharon, these pheasant are stocked a few days before the season, not planted. And I will be sure to let you know how it goes

ruffbritt4

Mountaineer, I thought the same thing set her up for success to point, hold,and get a bird in her mouth.
Sharon, she is 8 months old.

ruffbritt4

So, this weekend is the junior pheasant season. It is my last year as a junior, and my dad is going to take our dog with 2 of his friends sons and I will be going by myself with my puppy. My question is if I plan on hunting her on grouse, would it be okay to take her as it will be her first hunt? I ...

ruffbritt4

Your dog may shorten his range in the thick cover without you needing to do anything. Still, don't expect to see him a lot when grouse hunting as you can't see far in the thick woods

ruffbritt4

Northwoods long range is a good bell, I will use it on windy days with an Astro but I use a little bell with the Astro most times. Just enough to let me keep tabs on my dog without needing to be constantly checking a screen. Never really found that a bell makes birds more skiddish How far out does ...

ruffbritt4

I'm in the same boat, my brit will be 8 months come the start of grouse season. She is gun broke and been on birds so I plan to let her learn from the king. I will try to get her as many contacts as possible without pressure from me. Maybe if we are lucky she will even point one and I may be able to...

ruffbritt4

Northwoods long range is a good bell, I will use it on windy days with an Astro but I use a little bell with the Astro most times. Just enough to let me keep tabs on my dog without needing to be constantly checking a screen. Never really found that a bell makes birds more skiddish

ruffbritt4

Hi, I am a new owner of a 12 week old Brittany Spaniel, and new to the forum... Just an FYI. The term Spaniel was officially dropped from the Brittany name in 1982. It took 40 years for the AKC to recognize the wishes of the American Brittany Club, spaniel was dropped from its name in 1942 when the...

ruffbritt4

Cjhills, I vote checkcord, never said I don't use one. That's what I meant by saying chase them down. Don't understand how you'd scare them though. Shags, If he ignored you then ran away for 5 minutes, he knew he was ignoring you. A correction would be necessary, not a hard correction, but something...

ruffbritt4

I use a 1/2 inch Stiff rope 20 ft. checkcord it lays out in the rain and mud and gets stiffer as it ages. It never tangles. Wear gloves because it will burn clear to the bone even with a 30 pound pup on the end. The pups learn to deal with it. it does not inhibit them and I can casually pick it up ...

ruffbritt4

I use a 1/2 inch Stiff rope 20 ft. checkcord it lays out in the rain and mud and gets stiffer as it ages. It never tangles. Wear gloves because it will burn clear to the bone even with a 30 pound pup on the end. The pups learn to deal with it. it does not inhibit them and I can casually pick it up ...

ruffbritt4

In my experience with my 2 Britts when they are 12 weeks old they aren't that hard to run down... however I am very young so this may be different for others

ruffbritt4

Tonight we are going to start collar conditioning, she has been wearing the ecollar at all times when out of the kennel for awhile now, and knows her obedience commands but sometimes chooses not to listen. I'll let you know how it goes Hello Ruffbritt4, Sounds like a nice pup. What do you mean by c...

ruffbritt4

Been working with her with the ecollar 2 times a day and it's going great, seeing results and she seems to enjoy the training. We are making sure to have fun during the training and after it we play in the yard. Very happy with how she took to it

ruffbritt4

Tonight we are going to start collar conditioning, she has been wearing the ecollar at all times when out of the kennel for awhile now, and knows her obedience commands but sometimes chooses not to listen. I'll let you know how it goes

ruffbritt4

ezzy333 wrote:Too close is another term for flushing the bird IMO.

From the sounds of it the OP's dog was able to pin his birds until he flushed them. I don't think that is him flushing them however. To the OP, your dog learned how close he can get, if he is not flushing the birds what is the problem?

ruffbritt4

Took the 7mo pup out on some quail today to do the gun intro. She has been on them 3 other times and showed she's ready. So we started with her finding, pointing, and then when the bird flushed she chased and we fired a shot with the shotgun. Started at 100 and worked our way in until we were within...

ruffbritt4

When pointing breeds are being gun broke does anyone throw a dead bird and shoot while they're going for the retrieve and move in after each shot providing there's no reaction or is this more of a retriever breed gun breaking method?

ruffbritt4

You gave me chills when I read this , "I have started all of my dogs at a trap/skeet range. ". :) However , if pups start at 300 yards away from the shooting I can see where this might work - obviously has for you. Not something I'd want to do though. There was a thread on another forum where someo...

ruffbritt4

Pete is coming along great this summer since I have started posting on here about his workouts. One thing that I am really concerned with is that this summer it has been unusually dry and within the last three weeks unusually dry. It is going to continue to be dry for the next two weeks and well in...

ruffbritt4

I start with a .22 while the dog is in chase of a flying bird and progess from there. When she is ready I will throw a dead bird for her and while in chase I will have someone shoot a shotgun from 100 yards and move in after each shot. This makes the association between a dead bird and the gun shot

ruffbritt4

You gave me chills when I read this , "I have started all of my dogs at a trap/skeet range. ". :) However , if pups start at 300 yards away from the shooting I can see where this might work - obviously has for you. Not something I'd want to do though. There was a thread on another forum where someo...

ruffbritt4

Hi All, This is my first post however I have been looking at this site for a long time and have learned so much from you all. I figured I would dive right in with my issue im having. I have a Vizsla (my first point breed, always had labs) that is sensitive to noise. When he was 12 weeks old, my fia...

ruffbritt4

You can put your pup on a stakeout or (or chaingang if you have any other dogs) and get out of her way. Leave the area but be in a place where you can keep an eye on her. Let her fight it without association with you. Pretty soon she will learn that resistance is futile and she'll give to the press...

ruffbritt4

I really enjoyed William Tapplys book "Upland Autumn." The next book I will read will probably be "Grouse Feathers"

ruffbritt4

Meller wrote:I'm surprised no won mentioned Jenny Willow, by Robert Mathis.

I believe it is by Mike Gaddis. It is my personal favorite.

ruffbritt4

What is the best map to find public hunting land in Minnesota? Looking around the Chippewa National Forest. Thank you!

ruffbritt4

What is your favorite book on upland bird hunting and who is your favorite author?

ruffbritt4

NEhomer wrote:Cute pup!

Looks like he'll have a pretty dark face.

My setter pup is at 9 months and he'll point and stalk anything that flies. Still learning that bees are best left alone!

That's a lesson my brit pup is learning the hard way haha! Great looking pup Ssetter, keep posting pics.

ruffbritt4

Mountaineer wrote:It is good to be judicious with any ruffed grouse population but some will withstand both our hits and our misses( )...better.
Good luck this season.....Pennsylvania is blessed in many ways.

Thank you, got a new pup so I'm very excited to get her out.

ruffbritt4

Maybe. Grouse would likely prefer whatever is best....whenever and wherever. I would say that happenstance enters alongside choice in their little noggin. Grapes could be a bigger draw seasonally...or even old bittersweet in late season and as better foods are gone. Keep track and develop a mental ...

ruffbritt4

So they probably had no access to the apples that were under the snow and went to find a new food source, are apples a summer and early fall food for them?
Edit:you answered my question, thanks

ruffbritt4

Will grouse be in an area in the summer that is thick when it has foliage but move out in the fall when the foliage dies? One of my covers is an old apple orchard and I found grouse in it in the late summer but in November there were none. There was a fresh snow so possibly they moved onto conifers?...

ruffbritt4

I'd go with the Benelli Legacy. I have had mine for almost two years and I love it. It's very lightweight. Mines a 20g. Nice looking gun too.

ruffbritt4

mnaj_springer wrote:
33Scout wrote:Today we have some wet vegetation from the rain last night and the temperature is 70 so Pete should be able to smell some birds. I will let you guys know how it works out.
Why do you think so?

Probably because it's not hot out...

ruffbritt4

You probably have grouse and woodcock around you, IMO the best experience a dog can have is wild birds. Took my 2 y.o. brit to Maine last fall and at the beginning of the week he was bumping birds but by the last few days he was holding his points for us to flush the birds, and we even got to bag a ...

ruffbritt4

33scout, As has been said the dogs panting and the heavy foliage make it difficult. But also, I watched a show I think it was The Flush where they were grouse hunting in the early season. They were not having any luck so they decided to move to wet areas. It was there that they got into a lot of bir...

ruffbritt4

Are porcupines more of a problem in the summer? I read somewhere they were but I have only encountered them in late fall and early spring.

ruffbritt4

Good to hear everyone. I will be getting my 6 month old pup out soon in hopes of her finding a few grouse and getting some work before the season starts here.

ruffbritt4

Anyone been running dogs in the grouse woods? How's it looking for you?

ruffbritt4

I'm thinking it's a good thing your dog doesn't seem that interested in porky's...she didn't jump on the porky even after a relocate and didn't go back after it when you released her 15yds away. When you start using the e-collar for reinforcement I would just give her a little nick and use whatever...

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