My pigeons have been breeding like rats. In a coop that should have about 20 to 25 birds I have over 50. I tried to give some away but so far haven’t been able to. Someone is supposed to pick some up tomorrow or Thursday but Vince Dye and I were planning to shoot some over our dogs. So yesterday, because the weather was cool, starting at about 57 degrees, I loaded 18 pigeons at daybreak, picked Vince up and we headed north. Vince has a friend that owns several farms so we checked a few out before finding the one we wanted.
Abby pointing a pigeon.
Ally pointing a pigeon.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
This area has really been hit hard with rain. A week or so ago they got 12 inches in one week. The place we picked was a hill side just out of a bottom. The bottom, normally in row crops, still had water standing in it but the hill side had dried. Although it was cool we parked in the shade so the dogs wouldn’t get too hot.
Vince and I hid 3 pigeons, in release traps, in the knee high grass. I turned Boss out first. Vince just had eye surgery so he didn’t bring a gun. We had started down the hill from the top and there was almost no wind. Boss had to get really close to the first bird before he pointed but he looked good. I walked all around the bird as I took pictures of Boss. Vince had the remote for the release traps. I signaled him to release the bird. It flew toward a break in the timber that was close but dropped at my shot.
Boss ran to it but didn’t pick it up. He rolled it around some. I’ve been working him on retrieving but we haven’t worked on fresh killed birds. Boss has never picked any birds up. He just rolls them around. I tossed it for him and said, “fetch”. That didn’t work either. We gave up and went toward the next ones.
The next 2 were higher on the hill and the wind was a lot better. He pointed the next one from a good distance. Some of these pigeons were really young. It’s hard to tell how they will fly once they get most of their adult size. I took some pictures but when Vince released the bird it only flew a few feet and landed. Boss was right there when it hit the ground. He didn’t pick it up. He just rolled it around. After a minute or so we went to the next bird.
The wind was not real strong but at least it was moving the scent. As we watched the dogs we could see them get a hint of the scent from a long distance and go toward the bird. They all 3 stopped, most of the time about 15 or 20 feet from the bird. But when they hit the scent right they would start moving toward the bird from about 50 yards away. In the wide open field, such as this one, you can see this happening.
Boss
After Boss pointed his third bird and still didn’t retrieve we put him up and reloaded the traps. The farthest trap down the hill we brought up where the wind could move the scent. Ally, Vince’s short hair, was next. She went straight to the first bird and pointed. She points with a high head and her stub of a tail is pointing upward. I took some pictures then Vince flushed the pigeon. Ally is close to retrieving but not all the way. She picked the bird up but didn’t take it to Vince. Vince worked with her a little while to no avail.
She did fine on the next bird but on her third bird she took a couple of steps. Vince set her back and she stayed, looking really good. But like my dogs she never did retrieve a pigeon. We took her back and reloaded the traps.
Abby was next. She’s doing better on the retrieving bench and she’s picked dead birds up before so I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had of retrieved. She pointed her first bird looking good. I took pictures as I walked around her. When Vince flushed the bird it flew just a few feet and went down. Abby was on it. The pigeon got away and started flying off. She chased a ways. The pigeon flew a circle and when it came back over us I shot it but Abby didn’t see it fall. I called her to the area and said, “dead bird, dead bird” over and over. She knows about hunting dead. In just a few seconds she found the bird but didn’t retrieve.
Ally
She went on up the field and found the second bird. As I was getting closer I saw her take a step, then another. I whoaed her and set her back. I kicked around in front of her for a while then Vince flushed the bird. When it dropped she ran to it, picked it up and came toward me. When she got close she evaded me and went behind me. She played with the pigeon for a few seconds then went hunting. After her third pigeon we moved the traps.
We were short some pigeons. I thought I had counted enough for 6 pigeons for each dog with 1 extra, just in case. But now we were 1 bird short. When Ally had got in the truck at Vince’s house she had stepped on the carrier I had some of the pigeons in. After I shut the door on her box in the truck, I noticed the door on the carrier was open and a pigeon had it’s head out. Maybe a couple had flown away before I noticed the open carrier or maybe I miscounted.
There was a ridge running through this field and we spread the 3 traps out along it. Actually Vince had grabbed the bird bag, with 3 pigeons and the traps and took them along the ridge. He walked so far I thought maybe he had got mad and was walking home. But when I saw him start back I turned Boss loose again.
Abby
Boss pointed his first bird and as I got close he took a couple of steps. I whoaed him and he stopped. I set him back. I stroked him a little. I took some pictures as I walked around him and the bird. But again he just played with the dead pigeon. He never tried to pick it up. We went to the next one.
Up on this ridge it was really easy to see where the dogs winded the bird and how they moved toward it. All 3 dogs pointed well off the bird. But all 3 were taking steps. Abby and Boss are usually very staunch. They go on point they will stay as long as the bird stays. Last fall during the hunting season Ally did too. I think at home they expect the release traps but not out in a hunting place. I think they knew this was really artificial.
After Boss pointed his third pigeon we reloaded them and Vince turned Ally loose. She pointed her first bird and I was closer to her than Vince. Vince had been picking her up and with his eye surgery I wasn’t sure he should have been. Since I was closer I grabbed her collar when she took a step and set her back. She styled right up and stood real pretty. She almost retrieved this bird. She dropped it about 20 feet in front of Vince and went back to hunting.
Abby
She was a long way from this next bird when she wheeled around and started toward it. She pointed from about 20 feet away. When she took a step I told Vince he should flush that bird if she took another step. She took a step and Vince flushed the bird. It came out of the trap and flew about 10 feet. Ally had it as soon as it touched the ground. We just rewarded her for creeping.
After she pointed her third pigeon we put her in the truck. Since there were only two pigeons left we picked up one trap and reloaded the other two. I turned Abby loose. It’s been a long time, probably since about March, since the dogs had been worked on birds. They have been excited.
Abby pointed her birds but took a step on one of them. She does pick the bird up but doesn’t want to share it with me. She took the step on her first bird and I whoaed her on the second as soon as she went on point. She didn’t move on the second. She knows whoa real well. But she has to hold on her own. If she goes on point 2 or 300 yards ahead of me I won’t be there to whoa her.
Boss on point with his back feet in a hole.
But all and all it was a real good morning. The dogs got to point some birds and see some fall. I’m not sure if I have ever shot any pigeons for them. That could have been the reason for them being less than staunch. With all of the green grass it may have been hard for the dogs to pin point where the birds were. Anyway, we have a long time to get them ready for the real thing.