Vince Dye has 3 young pointers that needed work on birds and Sally has never had a bird shot over her so we got some pen reared birds and worked our pups on them. Vince has a call back pen so he got 50 quail for it and I got 20 to shoot over Sally and Betsy.
Sally pointing a quail.
Betsy pointing a quail.
Sally pointing a quail.
After we picked up the birds I went to the training grounds while Vince went after his pups. Training dogs, especially, young dogs can be as much fun as hunting. I dizzied 3 quail and threw them in the tall grass along side of a hedge row. I turned Sally loose with a Garmin E-collar on. I usually put an e-collar on her but she has never been stimulated with it. I want her to think that getting the e-collar on is a good thing.
As we went down the hedge row she smelled a quail and flushed it. She chased it over the hill. She came back and we went to the other side of the hedge row to get the wind right for her. She hit the scent cone on a quail and pointed. I let her stand for a while then started in front of her. She moved forward and the quail flushed. I shot through the hedge row and the quail dropped but she didn’t see it fall.
She was really getting excited. We went through the hedge row to find the dead bird. When we got near where it fell she went on point. I thought it was the dead bird but a quail flushed and when I shot she saw it fall. She ran to it, picked it up and started back toward me at a dead run. She went by me at about 90 miles an hour and went over the hill. I called her but she wasn’t coming back. I went over the hill and she was lying in the grass playing with her bird. I got close to her and knelt down, calling her. After she passed me a couple of times she finally came to me. I petted her, telling her what a good girl she was, until she dropped the quail.
I tied her to a fence where she could see the action and put out 3 more quail. I put the Garmin GPS and a Garmin e-collar on Betsy and turned her loose, pulling a check cord. She acts like she’s more in control when she drags a check cord. Betsy pointed one of the quail that I had put close to the head of a draw. The cover was pretty thick in an area about 150 yards by 150 yards. The first bird she pointed was along the edge. As I started by her she moved and the quail flushed. I missed with the first shot but connected with the second. Betsy saw it drop, ran to it and picked it up. When I called her she came to me. I petted her until she dropped the quail.
We continued through the thick cover and she pointed another bird. When I flushed this one it flew straight toward my truck and I couldn’t shoot. She chased it for a little way then went back to hunting. She pointed another quail. I walked past her and she flushed the bird. I shot it and she saw it go down. She picked it up and came to me when I called her. Neither of these retrieves were text book retrieves but not bad for the first two birds she has seen go down. I tied her to the fence and put out 3 more birds in the thick cover at the head of the draw.
Sally was ready to go. She had watched and whined as I worked Betsy. I left a leash hooked to her collar as she hunted to give me a better chance of catching her when she “retrieved”. She didn’t even slow down on the first quail she found. When it flushed she chased and I didn’t shoot. She only chased a short way then went back to hunting. We had a pretty good south wind and when she went by a quail she whirled into a point. I circled around where I could walk toward her front. I saw the quail running from her toward me and she saw it too. As I got close she flushed the quail. The bird went almost straight up and when I shot it dropped where she could see it. She picked it up and came close to me but didn’t slow up until she hit the end of the leash. I pulled her to me and petted her until she dropped the bird.
She went back to hunting and pointed another bird along the edge. I let her stand for maybe 45 seconds before walking in. She moved and the bird flushed. When I shot it went down in a harvested soy bean field and she saw it drop. She ran to it, picked it up and came close enough to me I could grab the leash. I pulled her to me and petted her until she dropped the bird.
As I was going back for more birds Vince showed up with his 3 pointer pups. I didn’t have my hunting vest on so I put these two quail on the roof of the recall pen. I came back later to get them and only one was there. I don’t know what happened. Maybe a hawk. I put Sally back on the fence and we put out birds for Vince’s pups.
These pointer pups were about 3 months old and they pointed well and with lots of style. We worked them one at a time. Them having early success on finding birds made real hunters out of them. We put a few quail in a bird bag and as we went through the cover would throw a bird down and call the pup back. We also had hidden some for them to find on their own. One of the pups was on point and the bird walked around in front of him. He never moved until the bird flushed.
After we worked the pointer pups we worked Sally and Betsy again. Training dogs is fun and training really young dogs is even more fun. You can see them make progress and start to figure this game out. I had never shot over Sally and the pointer pups hadn’t been shot over but they never acted like they heard the gun. I shot my 28 gauge and Vince was shooting a 410. Neither made much noise but to young dogs with great hearing they were plenty loud. With this many quail the pups just wanted the bird.
This was the most productive exercise I have been able to do with Sally and Betsy. All young dogs should have this but it’s not possible for everyone. Without Vince I would not have been able to do this with my dogs so, Vince thanks a lot.
Sally on the left Betsy on the right.
Betsy. It will soon be my turn.
Sally. It should always be my turn.