bird tether?

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jbr03
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bird tether?

Post by jbr03 » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:00 pm

hello all,
well, im starting to lose a few johnny house birds to predators and such and im down to about 20. unfortunately if these 20 go too soon i wont be able to get anymore until september and the wild bird population where im training is a little weak (definately not suitable to train) so to save some birds i bought some of those little quail harnesses and to say the least the birds dont fly too well with them on if at all not to mention it a pain in the butt to put them on and take them off. i saw LCS has a bird tether that straps to the foot of the bird and the weight of the tether is supposed to let the bird fly a little then fall down to recapture. is the tether a better idea than the harness? has anyone else used something to this nature? i just dont want to lose the rest of my birds and not be able to finish starting my young pointer.
Brian

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Brushbustin Sporting Dogs
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Post by Brushbustin Sporting Dogs » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:47 pm

I've always just taken a short piece of string something that won't bother them as there flyin out of the grass with depends on the cover, but it makes them easy to recover cause u see the string and can also grab them with the string just a thought. Just tie it to there leg or wing.
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nj gsp
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Post by nj gsp » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:17 pm

I've used tethers with birds. With quail, I tie a short piece of garden hose or a stick to the tether. I've heard of people using cards, like a piece of 8-1/2"x11 oak tag (I would just tear a file folder in half) attached to the tether to slow the bird down so it doesn't fly too far also.

GsPJustin

Post by GsPJustin » Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:20 pm

What do you guys think for pigeons, so I can use them before they are homing back to my coop?

3forme

Post by 3forme » Sat Jun 16, 2007 6:04 am

GsPJustin wrote:What do you guys think for pigeons, so I can use them before they are homing back to my coop?
You can tether them but I would not try and fly them away from home until you have them trained otherwise you will end up with half or possibly no birds at all. I have spent the last month loft flying my birds and this coming week I will be dropping them on the other side of my yard. It stinks as I would much rather be training my pup with them rather then me training the birds but I have put in a lot of effort getting the right birds and I don't want to lose them. I made a mistake and put my birds in the carrier after 2 or 3 weeks and put the carrier on the ground and opened it directly in front of the loft and I lost 3 that day :cry:

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bondoron
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Post by bondoron » Sat Jun 16, 2007 7:55 am

Brian,

Is this what you are talking about? If so it will work but you will have to cut some of the hose off because it will be to heavy. I have one I use sometimes with pigeons and had to cut some off. Have you ever thought about getting homing pigeons instead?

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jbr03
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Post by jbr03 » Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:15 am

yes that is what im talking about. id get some pigeons but dont know where to get them. catch them maybe?
Brian

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thunderhead
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Post by thunderhead » Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:27 am

You can search on the net to find if there are any pigeon racing clubs in your area. Find someone who is looking to cull his flock.
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Don
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Post by Don » Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:18 pm

If you go to homers for training, you'll never go back to pen raised game birds. Don't tether them, learn to plant them for what you want. Don't hang stuff off them either. When the bird is flushed, it should go home! There is only one bird that will teach your dog more than a pigeon, that's a wild bird. For training NOTHING beats a pigeon out of a remote trap, including the wild bird!

Using pen raised birds, you have to control the dog, with wild bird you don't but you can't control the bird either. With pigeon's from a remote trap, you control the bird and give the dog the freedom to learn.
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Post by gonehuntin' » Sat Jun 16, 2007 2:20 pm

I'd love to have homers but I don't. My answer is to spring the bird from the trap with a 25' cord attached to one leg of the bird, the other end on the trap. They fly 25' and flutter to the earth. It's a great exercise for staunching the dog. The only thing in fact it doesn't do is teach them not to fly after a fly away bird. For the fly away, put a lead sinker on 6' of cord with an orange ribbon tied to the cord. The bird will fly 100 yards and land; the sinker will tangle and hold it to the ground. They catch an reuse the bird.
LIFE WITHOUT BIRD DOGS AND FLY RODS REALLY ISN'T LIFE AT ALL.

GsPJustin

Post by GsPJustin » Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:11 pm

There has to be a way to tether the pigeons, Like pigeon on a pole. I know its been done. They are having babies so I will have homers soon, I would just like to cut out the 2 hour drives.

I use pigeons and stuff and a friends/trainers, until mine are good to go. But I would like to be able to do some more sessions at a closer location until the babies hatch and are ready to go.

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Don
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Post by Don » Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:07 pm

There's all kinds of gadget's, trick's and what not that sound good in theory but in truth, I think the best result's come from simplicity and imitating a wild bird. Less training, less gadget's and less testing equal more, faster and better results!
Never set your dog up to fail - Delmar smith

The greatest room in the world is the room for improvement - William F. Brown

Some people think to much like people and not enough like dogs!

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Post by bobman » Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:56 am

Don wrote:There's all kinds of gadget's, trick's and what not that sound good in theory but in truth, I think the best result's come from simplicity and imitating a wild bird. Less training, less gadget's and less testing equal more, faster and better results!

truer words have never been written.


Get a red lens in a strong flashlight, a long handled landing net and catch feral roosting birds under bridges on the interstate, at night.

Plant them, shoot them, marinade them, and eat them.

marinade the breast for two days in the fridge to tenderize them.

Or dont shoot them and just go back and catch them again.

Of course in Florida with all the "bleep" rattelsnakes be careful in the dark


or get a trap

http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/ ... 1020218021

put water in it and check it daily or remove it
currently two shorthairs, four english pointers, one Brittany, one SPRINGER a chihuahua and a min pin lol

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Higgins
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Post by Higgins » Tue Jun 19, 2007 12:38 pm

Sometimes I'll use a piece of surveyers tape tied to a quail's leg. Works good and is very light. Shortens up their flight a bit and makes them easy to find after they put in. I'll do this for young pups that I'm introducing to birds. I'll launch the bird and let the pups chase.

AZHUNT09

Post by AZHUNT09 » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:44 pm

Here is my 2 cents.

Get a cardboard box form anywhere you can find them (which is vertually everywhere). Cut 4x4 or 5x5 squares out. Put a small hole in the middle and make one cut about an 1-1/2" long on one side to slip the yarn into. Then cut a 3 foot piece of yarn (bright colors to choose from at wal mart). Put the yarn thru the hole. Tie loose ends together. slide string thru cut on one side to move the knot. Then make a slip knot. Place around birds foot. They will fly like normal and with a 20" piece of yarn attacked easy to get when they fly into bushes and trees. Note! Use yarn it tightens down and wont come until you want it to. Make a bunch of these ahead of time and its quick and easy. Plus its cheap. Good luck!

Mainiac

Re: bird tether?

Post by Mainiac » Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:51 am

jbr03 wrote:hello all,
well, im starting to lose a few johnny house birds to predators and such and im down to about 20. unfortunately if these 20 go too soon i wont be able to get anymore until september and the wild bird population where im training is a little weak (definately not suitable to train) so to save some birds i bought some of those little quail harnesses and to say the least the birds dont fly too well with them on if at all not to mention it a pain in the butt to put them on and take them off. i saw LCS has a bird tether that straps to the foot of the bird and the weight of the tether is supposed to let the bird fly a little then fall down to recapture. is the tether a better idea than the harness? has anyone else used something to this nature? i just dont want to lose the rest of my birds and not be able to finish starting my young pointer.
I'm kinda in the same situation. I've been buying quail (about a dozen every or four months) at $5.00 a bird it's been costing me a small fortune. At my last training session with my pup I teathered a quail with a short piece ice fishing line, a small piece of cedar ( 1" square about 3/8" thick) and a small pice of orange flagging tape. It seemed to work out pretty good for me. What I did was I placed the teathered bird in my launcher, I brought the pup in and as soon as she caught scent I popped the launcher. The bird flew about 30 to 40 yards. I was able to get 3 good flushes out of the bird, the fourth time the bird just wouldn't get up so I tossed it up and shot it for the pup to retrieve. It was great for the pup to a a continuous sequence of events. After the 1st flush I check her back to where she caught scent and whoa'd her, the second time she flash pointed and busted in, the third and fouth she pointed long enough for me to whoa her and I was able to get out front of her and flush to bird, she held point!!!! It was awesome!!!

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jbr03
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Post by jbr03 » Sat Jun 23, 2007 4:02 pm

its been a little trial and error but ive got it pretty much figured out. i was tying a piece of 3 ft string line to the birds foot and then tying the other end to a 2 inch or so peice of dead palm frond that are everywhere, which is very light but the birds still didnt want to fly. i think they really couldnt get enough power to get themselves and the peice of stick out of the grass which is getting a little tall. so ive been taking a piece of neon yellow string line about 20 ft long tying one end to the bird and the other to a heavy lead fishing weight probaby 3 lbs or so (a little overkill considering i tried a 3 oz weight on them and they still couldnt fly too well) but its working out. the string weighs nothing and i just wrap it around the weight after i cut the bird loose and reuse. once i get a launcher ill probably get rid of the weight and tie it to the launcher
Brian

waddler

Post by waddler » Sun Jul 01, 2007 5:15 am

I am getting pigeons for the first time. My training area is adjoining the Loft I am building in an old chicken house. I am going to house the birds there for a few days and then try to use them.

Question.

What conditioning should I do to get them to fly the 100 yards or so to return to the loft?

waddler

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Post by Greg Jennings » Sun Jul 01, 2007 5:20 am

A few days probably won't get it. 2-3 weeks is more like it. Even better is to let them start laying.

Best, Greg J.

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Don
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Post by Don » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:17 am

You want to be sure, wait till they start to lay. Get a few nest's with a couple egg's, those birds will come back. Don't try all that training the bird's to use the re-entry, when your ready, just tie up the bob's and let them come and go as they will for awhile. Then every couple day's, drop a bob. You'll have them coming ang going and they trained themselves to do it. Don't concern yourself with birds that don't come bak at that point either. The only birds that matter are those that do. If there are some not on nest's and they don't come back, don't worry. Sometimes those birds might take a bit longer to re-enter. Just leave the bob's up and quite often the birds coming and going will draw them back in with them.

It's good for you that you've switched to pigeon's. That is the absolutely best training bird you can get. This belief that you need game birds so people run out and buy expensive game birds is a poor idea. Finish the dog on game birds when the training is done. You asked how to get a pigeon to fly the 100 yds back to the coop. Mine will come back over 50 mi, 100yds is a no brainer. I'm not sure you could teach a pigeon to land in 100 yds if you wanted to! I doubt you'll find many pigeons that won't just leave when you flush them out if you don't hang stuff off them to keep them from flying. I've found it courious that many people don't like the poor flying habit's of pen raised game birds so they go get pigeons and tie stuff to them to keep them in the field. Where's to reason to that?

When you have pigeon's, you have the best there is for training. Let them fly away and they'll go back into the loft, so let them all fly away. Make yourself a rule, one flight per day for each bird you use.

I might add one more thing. You really don't need homer's although they are nice. Just catch some out of a local barn. So much for all those poor flying $5 each game birds that the preditors are feasting on.
Never set your dog up to fail - Delmar smith

The greatest room in the world is the room for improvement - William F. Brown

Some people think to much like people and not enough like dogs!

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Don
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Post by Don » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:22 am

Waddler,

Didn't I just see you over on PDJ? The started dog thred? If that was you, nice post.

Another couple things I didn't mention above. don't shoot up all your birds. Your dogs will only learn to retrieve with a shot bird, little else. Every bird you shoot is a bird you'll have to replace. A shot bird only get's used once.

And, when people get a pup, first thing they should do is get a coop going so that when the pup is ready to start, the birds are already coming and going. To many people wait till they are ready to start training to set up the birds then are behind the 8 ball!
Never set your dog up to fail - Delmar smith

The greatest room in the world is the room for improvement - William F. Brown

Some people think to much like people and not enough like dogs!

waddler

Post by waddler » Sun Jul 01, 2007 1:44 pm

Don,

Yes I posted ober on PDJ, I have never been in my present situation and am looking for some mistake preventers.

I have some Pigeon Harnesses, etc coming in shortly, the pups are only 5 months old and they will be on released Pheasants in October, so I have time to set the pigeons up. I will use them just for letting the pups scent and point until they are acclimated enough to return to the loft. Thanks.

Waddler

Neil Mace

Post by Neil Mace » Sun Jul 01, 2007 7:44 pm

Hall of Famer Buddy Smith uses a May Pole to good effect, it is a 25' 2" PVC pipe with a 40 - 50" nylon cord. It will work with quail, but better with pigeons.

He trains all his dogs to both scent and sight point with one, he believes, and I agree, a good dog uses all three of his major senses; scent, sight, and hearing.

Neil

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