Gun Dog Forum

Our dove hunts went ok. It was Bell's first time on the dove hunt, and she didn't take it to well. I feel like I've trained Bell to range out to find birds, hold the point until I get there, and remain steady to wing and shot. I've put a lot of time in with her on this process.

So it seemed like dove hunting goes against everything I've worked with Bell on.

On the first day, the field we where hunting over was pretty thick with about 80 hunters. The hunters had tons of downed birds that they couldn't find. After being asked, we spent much of our dove hunt finding birds for people. Bell was working the cover and would stop and point the dead bird. When Bell would find and point the bird, the other hunters would just walk up to her and pickup the bird. I could see Bell's confusion, because she knew I was supposed to shoot the bird and let her fetch.....

Next, Bell likes to haul butt across a field to work it. Sitting all day was not fun to her.

So, Lindsay and I really enjoyed the dove hunts, but we'll probably go without Bell next time. She's doing so good with her training, and she's still young, so I don't want to confuse her....

grant,

especially if you are going to try to do field trials, i would really avoid dove hunts with your shorthair. you are right in that they can get confusing for a dog and that much shooting with a young dog, even if she is gun broke can rattle their nerves a bit. looks like you already made the right decision. i dove hunt right outside my back door and i tend to leave all the dogs inside when i do that. dove hunts are more of a lab thing or for a shorthair trained a little more with that goal in mind. you can have a dog that does everything but that usually means that the dog will not be great in only one thing. nothing wrong with that, just depends on what your goals are. I have been a falconer and deal with other falconers quit a bit and one thing that a lot of them want is a dog that will point and hold stead on upland game but will jump into a duck pond and chase ducks in order to flush them. getting it into their heads that that is contridictory to their upland goals is sometimes hard to do.

good decision!