Vince Dye and I went to Ridgeway, Missouri, to Harding Gamebirds, training dogs. Vince has a female pointer, named Roxie, that is about 8 months old and I have Sally, 8 months, and Betsy, that is about 20 months old but hasn’t had much training. I got Betsy just before bird season and when I turned her loose she wouldn’t come back until she was exhausted. Consequently, I didn’t do much with her through the season. Now we are working on “here” and “whoa”.
This is me teaching heel and whoa to Sally.
Sally on point.
Betsy on point.
When we got to the game farm the Harding’s had their truck loaded with birds and were ready to put them out. This late in the season it’s hard to have good cover but their fields were in good shape and their food plots had lots of cover. As we got ready they hid 15 chukars in the grass cover and the food plots.
We turned Vince’s dog, Roxie, out first with an e-collar and a Garmin GPS collar. Vince works a lot and Roxie has less experience than the other dogs. As we headed to the first food plot we saw a chukar in the air. We weren’t close enough to see what happened. We continued toward the food plot and Vince looked at his GPS and said, “where’s that dog.” About that time we saw her coming with the chukar. She had chased until the bird landed, grabbed it and brought it back, alive. The retrieve was well over a hundred yards.
We thought the chukar would still fly so I hid it in the grass and Vince called Roxie back. She caught the scent and went on point. When I tried to get the bird to fly it ran through the cover. Roxie got on the wrong side, where she couldn’t smell the bird, and when she went on down the food plot I shot the chukar.
As we went down the food plot Roxie pointed again. Vince held the check cord, so Roxie wouldn’t catch the bird, and I walked in to flush. The bird fluttered and I flipped the safety off as I raised the gun. The bird ran a few feet and I slipped the safety back on. Then the bird flew. When I pulled the trigger the safety was on. By the time I flipped the safety off the bird was a long way off. Old men do dumb stuff.
We continued down the food plot and Roxie pointed again. This time when I walked in everything worked as it should. The chukar flew and then dropped when I shot. Vince released Roxie and she made another retrieve. We took her back to the truck and I got Betsy out.
Betsy is a runner. She, when turned loose, has a habit of coming back when she is totally exhausted. Vince had a plane to catch at 1:40 pm and we couldn’t afford for her to run all day. I put a Garmin e-collar around her neck and flanks and a Garmin GPS around her neck. I also had bought a 2 foot heavy chain and put a snap in the middle. I hooked this to her collar and when it dropped down the chain hit her knees as she ran.
When I turned her loose she was afraid to move. I thought if she found a bird she would run but maybe not run off. Finally, I picked up the check cord and she moved but stayed right with me. I’ve been working her in the yard on “here” and “whoa”. We got to feeling sorry for her and I took the dropper chain off, after about a hundred yards, of her walking at my side. Within seconds the GPS showed her across the creek and off the place we were hunting.
Sally on point
I called her and she came by me as I crossed a wooded draw. I put the dropper chain back on her. She got out maybe 25 yards but she pointed a bird. I stood on the check cord as Vince went in to flush her bird. When the chukar flushed she hit the end of the check cord. I waited until the chukar dropped before releasing her. She ran to it and rolled it around but didn’t retrieve.
She still was only about 25 yards from us but I thought this might make her learn to hunt for me. We hunted another food plot back toward the truck and she pointed again. I stood on the check cord as Vince went in to flush. The bird flew really well and Vince made a good shot. I released her when the bird fell. She ran to it and rolled it around. She stayed with us back to the truck.
Sally was next. She’s only about 8 months old but she has more experience than the other two dogs. She has pointed quite a few wild quail, some pen reared birds and a lot of pigeons. I put the e-collars on her neck and flanks and a GPS collar around her neck. She was also pulling a check cord. Normally, she doesn’t have a check cord on but I didn’t want her catching any birds.
Sally and I are working on here and whoa.
We went back the opposite way with her than where we had run the other two dogs. She started down the food plot and went on point. I picked up her check cord and Vince circled around where he could come straight into her face. When the chukar flushed it made a complete circle right above Vince, twisting him all the way around but he made a good shot. I released Sally and she grabbed the chukar and started toward me but stopped short. I knelt down and called her but she just sat down and looked at me. I went to her and petted her until she dropped the bird.
She ran the edge of the food plot but only went about 25 yards before pointing again. I held the check cord as Vince flushed the bird and shot. When the chukar fell I released her. She ran to it, grabbed it and came toward me but stopped short again. I knelt down and called her. She just looked at me. I went to her and petted her until she dropped it. She has to be thinking, “when am I going to get him trained to come get this bird.”
We went on through this food plot and started into the next one. About 50 yards down the next one she whirled into a point. Vince was behind her so I asked him to pick up the check cord. I walked into her face and was real close to her when the bird flushed. It fell when I shot and she grabbed it. She got closer this time but still didn’t bring it all the way.
We had seen a couple of birds fly into a draw and went along the edge without finding them. We crossed the draw and went back through the fields that Roxie and Betsy had hunted. As we got to the area where Roxie had retrieved the first bird she went on point. I thought maybe it was a hot spot but when I got close I saw a chukar in the tall cover. I held her check cord and Vince flushed and made another good shot. She picked it up and stopped short again. I went to her and petted her until she dropped it.
Sally backing Dolly.
We hunted back to the truck. We had time for one more short hunt so Vince turned Roxie out. We hunted back the same way we had taken Sally. Roxie hunted each of the food plots and went on point on the edge of one. As Vince and I walked up the chukar flushed without Roxie moving. Vince shot but hit the chukar too far back. We watched it fly about 125 yards then drop straight down. Roxie watched it as she chased. It no time she came back with a dead chukar. I’m going to say it again, Roxie is an English pointer. She retrieves like a Lab.
Roxie checked this field out and we crossed the draw back to the other field. She was running hard then slid to a stop. She was pointing into the edge of a food plot. Vince held the check cord and I walked in to flush the chukar. It flushed toward a draw with some trees in it. When I shot Vince dropped the check cord and Roxie made another retrieve.
We decided that we needed to leave so Vince could catch his plane but it had been a good day training dogs. Any day spent with your dogs is a good day but today we had good flying birds and realistic cover to find the birds. I think it was good for all 3 dogs. Good flying birds make training dogs fun. Vince and I knew it was good for us.
Betsy training on whoa and here.
Sally training on here and whoa.
Sally on point.