grouse training

[hrchunter]

i have a lab that i waterfowl hunt with and was wondering what i would have to do to get him to hunt grouse with me?

[Kiki's Mom]

Get him into some grouse......a wise man once said to me, "if you want to make a bird dog you just gotta get em into some birds!"

[Ruffshooter]

In a nut shell what Kiki says is it.

But if you live around paper company lands, you can drive the roads and stop when you see road birds bring your dog to the last place seen and let him loose, eventually he will track one and or flush one. You get it shot he knows what you want and he gets to retrieve. Your worst issue may be the range, Labs generally are flushing dogs so 25 yards is about the range you want him hunting at.

Some times in the off season I will take chuckars and set them in likely grouse cover in the woods and bring the dog in. This just gets the dog used to birds in the woods and the types of cover that hold them.

Just a couple Ideas. Birds, birds birds. Take em to the woods.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Rick

[hrchunter]

awesome, i was muzzleloading for deer the other day and ended up walking the woods most of the day because it was rainy and windy. I ended up jumping up 4 does and also i counted at the least 12 grouse flushes so I am very excited about getting my dog in there to work.

[bwjohn]

I think that you would be fine, just getting her into birds. When she flushes the first couple of birds I would praise her and get her excited about what she just did. That way she will no that is what you want. Other than that, I do not think you have to do a lot.

Good luck and have some fun,
brandon