Flushers and running birds
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2022 8:55 am
I’ve got a 2 year old Boykin, addie, that started hunting quail and pheasant with pretty frequently this season. Before this year, she’s hunted quail some, but it’s started to turn into an every weekend affair due to working out a sweet deal with a local quail plantation.
For the quail plantation, we pickup pheasant at tower shoots a couple times a month in exchange for quail and pheasant hunting. So far, Addie has been a machine at the tower shoots. Knock on wood, we haven’t lost a bird yet and we’re on track to break 1000 retrieves this year.
Obviously some of the pheasant hit the ground crippled, and run. Up to this point, I’ve released her once the bird hits the ground and she’s free to chase the bird until she pins it and brings it back. This is where the issue is arising on the solo hunts.
We hunt pen raised birds, and they like to run. Quail so more after the initial covey flush but pheasants so it frequently. Addie will get birdy within range, and track the birds, sometimes out of range. For now, I’ve been sitting her with a whistle and catching up to her before letting her get back after it. Would this be the right way to go about this? Or do I need to just try to stick with her when she starts to get track down a runner? Sometimes it may take 3-4 times of her getting to that 35 yd range and me sitting her before a rooster will stop running and flush. It seems somewhat counterproductive to let him get his lead back while I sit and catch the dog.
Another question I’ve got from watching the dog regards hunting with the wind to your back. I try to keep the wind in her face but that’s not always possible. As of now, she will loop out to the 35 yard range and loop back to me. Essentially pinning a bird between me and her. It’s working, but just wanted to see if anyone else that hunts with flushers does it differently.
Thanks for reading. First time training an upland bird and always learning. On a side note, when we first started quail hunting, I would try to push her into a brush pile or briar patsy that I was “sure” had birds. Now, I let her hit the cover she wants to and I can tell in about 2 seconds if there’s a bird in a piece of cover. Pretty amazing thing when the training starts to pay off and you can trust the dog to do it’s job.
For the quail plantation, we pickup pheasant at tower shoots a couple times a month in exchange for quail and pheasant hunting. So far, Addie has been a machine at the tower shoots. Knock on wood, we haven’t lost a bird yet and we’re on track to break 1000 retrieves this year.
Obviously some of the pheasant hit the ground crippled, and run. Up to this point, I’ve released her once the bird hits the ground and she’s free to chase the bird until she pins it and brings it back. This is where the issue is arising on the solo hunts.
We hunt pen raised birds, and they like to run. Quail so more after the initial covey flush but pheasants so it frequently. Addie will get birdy within range, and track the birds, sometimes out of range. For now, I’ve been sitting her with a whistle and catching up to her before letting her get back after it. Would this be the right way to go about this? Or do I need to just try to stick with her when she starts to get track down a runner? Sometimes it may take 3-4 times of her getting to that 35 yd range and me sitting her before a rooster will stop running and flush. It seems somewhat counterproductive to let him get his lead back while I sit and catch the dog.
Another question I’ve got from watching the dog regards hunting with the wind to your back. I try to keep the wind in her face but that’s not always possible. As of now, she will loop out to the 35 yard range and loop back to me. Essentially pinning a bird between me and her. It’s working, but just wanted to see if anyone else that hunts with flushers does it differently.
Thanks for reading. First time training an upland bird and always learning. On a side note, when we first started quail hunting, I would try to push her into a brush pile or briar patsy that I was “sure” had birds. Now, I let her hit the cover she wants to and I can tell in about 2 seconds if there’s a bird in a piece of cover. Pretty amazing thing when the training starts to pay off and you can trust the dog to do it’s job.