I haven’t really acclimated to the summer heat yet. I’m going to have to get out a lot earlier in the mornings to train the young dogs. Yesterday morning it was 75 degrees at 7 am. No matter how early I start that is too hot. Not only is it hard on the dogs but it’s also hard on the pigeons.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
Josie pointing with 4 pigeons, in release traps, in one spot.
Abby pointing a pigeon.
I have seen a couple of different people posting tips for bird hunters and thought maybe I would post a few. I have been hunting birds for a lot of years but I still learn something new each year if not each hunt.
The first tip I have is when a dog goes on point don’t tip toe in looking at the ground. In the first place if you start tip toeing in the dog will want to help you flush the bird. If you walk in aggressively the dog will rear back a little expecting the bird to flush.
When I’m working my dogs at home, when they are holding their birds well, I sometimes pick up a stick and beat the cover in front of them. They learn to hold even with me acting crazy.
I usually look about 3 or 4 feet high in front of the dog when I walk in to flush. This way I catch the bird flushing out of my peripheral vision. This, on the skeet field, seems to slow the clay pigeon down and gives me more time to get on the bird. I hit few birds that I see on the ground.
When a covey flushes it’s hard to control yourself. Especially if it’s a big covey and close. The sky is full of birds and anywhere you shoot should bring down a bird. Not so. You need to pick out one bird. But don’t just look at the bird look at it’s head. If you really concentrate on the head of the bird that’s where your shot should go.
I guided at a shooting preserve for a while and saw a lot of people that thought the bird could out fly the shot. I’ve seen people try to walk in with their left foot in front for several steps. I don’t know if this feels as awkward as it looks or not. Some people raised their gun to their shoulder and walked in this way. I even had one guy with a hammer gun have the hammer back, until I saw him.
If you are shooting shotgun shells that are at or near 1200 feet per second this is about 800 miles per hour. There’s no bird that I know of that can fly that fast.
Josie on whoa with me pulling on the check cord.
The best thing you can do for your shooting is practice mounting your gun to get a consistent gun mount. I kept one of my heavier guns in my bedroom for a long time and would mount it 50 times of the night and 50 times when I got up of the morning. I used the corners of the room and where the wall and ceiling comes together. I shoot right handed and I would always bring the gun up starting with the left hand moving the barrel along the ceiling line and the right bringing the butt to my shoulder. The left hand should move first. I tried to move the barrel down the line where the ceiling and wall came together. I shouldn’t have to say this but make sure your gun is empty.
Michael McIntosh has a great trilogy of books about gun mount and shooting in general. The books are Shotguns & Shooting, More Shotguns & Shooting and Shotguns & Shooting Three. I have read each more than once and will reread them over again, I’m sure.
Today I gave the dogs what I call their prison hair cuts. Sometimes I call them their Bubba hair cuts. After I’m through they look like Bubba in the next cell at the prison gave them their haircuts. But it has to be cooler for them.
Abby
So far this year Sally’s hair hasn’t got real long except on her ears. After I cut everyone else’s hair I put her on the bench and tried to cut the hair on her ears. I can do anything I want with her except cut the hair on her ears. She even tried to bite the clippers.
After trying on the bench, I had set up, I sat in the door of the shed with her head between my legs. Nothing worked. She pulled away.
Next week should be a little cooler of the night, so if I will start early, I may be able to work dogs. Until next time. God Bless.