New member with a new dog - Advice requested

I finally got around to taking the hunter safety course last summer in am just getting into pheasant hunting but I love it so far. Our family has some land in NW KS that I hunted 5 times last year along with some WIHA areas around it. I've read the majority of this board back to 2012 and gained alot of knowledge it would of taken me years to figure out on my own so I appreciate everyone's input.

The majority of the time I was working solo with no dog just walking edges and learning, hunted a couple of times with buddies but never with a trained dog. My 9 year old mutt is terrified of gunshots and wouldn't even go in the field with me so I picked up a 6 month old pointer from a buddy in December but didn't hunt her this season. I was able to gun break her so that is not an issue. She is currently 11 months old for reference.

I was planning on sending her off to a 1 month boot camp in KC this spring but with the Pandemic I have temporarily relocated out to the farm house on our land in NW Kansas and am attempting to train her myself. My friends dad does alot of pheasant hunting and his advice was to let her find as many pheasants as possible and worry about actual training this summer which is what I have been doing so far.

Most evenings I'll walk her through the CRP without a lease for about an hour and she is doing a great job of finding and tracking pheasants but here are some issues I'm having that I am looking for feedback on. I have no pen raised birds just wild birds to work her on.

1. She is not pointing yet, just flushing pheasants. From my limited research I've read that eventually they realize they can't catch the bird themselves and start pointing but I have not seen this yet. Is there anything I can do to encourage her to point instead of chase until they flush?

2. When she finds a scent and starts tracking there is no controlling her. She will find the scent, start following it through the grass until she finds it. How can I teach her to stay close and slow down when she is on a scent? I have a 30ft check cord but normally just let her run free. (There have been times when she has gone 100+ yards away from me bob'n weave'n through the grass and over hills and all I see is a bird pop up in the distance, currently I just tell her good job when she comes back)

3. Any drills or training sessions you would recommend for working her on wild birds?

4. I'm planning on cutting off actively seeking out wild birds in about 2 weeks so they can start (makes circle with left hand, puts right index finger through circle). Is this a good time frame?

Here is a picture of Milo
View attachment 9853
 
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Welcome to the forum Carl, and the sport!

I don’t know much at all about pointers (I’m a lab guy myself), but it sounds like she’s off to a good start. Best of luck to the both of you!
 
You're just starting a decades-long good times hunting period. Enjoy!

Your dog is a natural hunter and bird finder. Some fine tuning is needed.

Stick with the check cord so she gets accustomed to being under control.

Teach her "whoa," the most important command afield. I live in town and walk my dogs on a leash about every day which was how I taught them whoa by stopping and saying whoa or emitting a short, one note whistle, not loud. Do this repetitively and the dog will learn whoa. You can do this with your check cord too.

Once the dog knows whoa, it's time for an ecollar. It's an ideal way to control the dog afield without a cord and in silence, essential for pheasant hunting. But the dog must already know the command before it is enforced with an ecollar. I like the basic DogTra ecollar that has three modes: vibrate, nick, and shock and has adjustable power. My dog is trained and I rarely ever have to do anything but vibrate which I use to get her attention and she often just pivots and heads toward me when I vibe her. Start with vibe, then nick, and only resort to shock if necessary and be very careful about the power setting. A strong shock would only be appropriate if your dog is about to run into the path of a grain truck, is approaching a pack of coyotes, etc.

As for pointing, it should come in time but right now she's having a ball chasing birds, something you must and will put a stop to in due course with whoa. Be patient. Not all dogs develop at the same speed.

Nothing beats having an eager dog out front in a field finding birds for you. Enjoy and good luck.
 
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Welcome Carl. Professioanal training or at least help from a trusted source is a great way to learn. There are a ton of different ways to train and finding your way is the right way. As long as you are willing to listen and learn you will pick a lot up from "trusted" people. You will never stop learning about e-collars, techniques with pointers, training tips, and ways to hunt in you lifetime. Just stay humble, ask more questions than give answers, and you will become a seasoned bird hunter in no time!
 
I finally got around to taking the hunter safety course last summer in am just getting into pheasant hunting but I love it so far. Our family has some land in NW KS that I hunted 5 times last year along with some WIHA areas around it. I've read the majority of this board back to 2012 and gained alot of knowledge it would of taken me years to figure out on my own so I appreciate everyone's input.

The majority of the time I was working solo with no dog just walking edges and learning, hunted a couple of times with buddies but never with a trained dog. My 9 year old mutt is terrified of gunshots and wouldn't even go in the field with me so I picked up a 6 month old pointer from a buddy in December but didn't hunt her this season. I was able to gun break her so that is not an issue. She is currently 11 months old for reference.

I was planning on sending her off to a 1 month boot camp in KC this spring but with the Pandemic I have temporarily relocated out to the farm house on our land in NW Kansas and am attempting to train her myself. My friends dad does alot of pheasant hunting and his advice was to let her find as many pheasants as possible and worry about actual training this summer which is what I have been doing so far.

Most evenings I'll walk her through the CRP without a lease for about an hour and she is doing a great job of finding and tracking pheasants but here are some issues I'm having that I am looking for feedback on. I have no pen raised birds just wild birds to work her on.

1. She is not pointing yet, just flushing pheasants. From my limited research I've read that eventually they realize they can't catch the bird themselves and start pointing but I have not seen this yet. Is there anything I can do to encourage her to point instead of chase until they flush?

2. When she finds a scent and starts tracking there is no controlling her. She will find the scent, start following it through the grass until she finds it. How can I teach her to stay close and slow down when she is on a scent? I have a 30ft check cord but normally just let her run free. (There have been times when she has gone 100+ yards away from me bob'n weave'n through the grass and over hills and all I see is a bird pop up in the distance, currently I just tell her good job when she comes back)

3. Any drills or training sessions you would recommend for working her on wild birds?

4. I'm planning on cutting off actively seeking out wild birds in about 2 weeks so they can start (makes circle with left hand, puts right index finger through circle). Is this a good time frame?

Here is a picture of Milo
View attachment 9853

Great looking dog.
 
You need some planted pigeons or chukars and keep that dog on a check cord. Teach the whoa command. The more you let her hunt for herself the more bad habits you are creating. She is learning to chase not learning to hunt.
 
Good advice so far on the check cord. But don't overdo the training. I'd resist the urge to train the dog for long periods of time each day. Then again, a dog like that needs exercise. Dogs learn all the time, not just when we're trying to train them.

A few thoughts:
First, I wouldn't praise an 11 month old pointer for flushing a bird. And I for sure wouldn't praise her if she ignored a recall command in the process. That's not the behavior you'll want, so don't reward it. I'm not suggesting that you correct it, just ignore it.

Second, I would try to find a place to run Milo where she won't encounter pheasants. A little light cover would be great. I have 3-4 place close to my house where I'll take my dogs for exercise that have nothing but tweety birds. I let them off leash and walk around with them. When they're distracted by something I'll change directions abruptly without saying anything. They learn quickly to pay attention to where I am and what I'm doing. I start this when the dogs are much younger than yours. Depending on how independent Milo has become, this may not work.

Third, there are 3-4 episodes of "The Hunting Dog Podcast" featuring Justin McGrail answering listener questions. IMO the first two of these are excellent. You'll hear a lot of questions from listeners that are in a similar situation.
 
Bumping and chasing is a great way to instill prey drive in a shy dog, I think you're past that. There's a fine line between a self hunter and an independent dog, the line being...when you come over the hill, she's standing her birds waiting on you.

You might want to start putting some brakes on her. If a dog doesn't have a lot of point bred into them, oftentimes they figure out the team concept when you begin shooting pointed birds for them.

There's a lot of information out there and lots of training programs, find one you like and stick to it. Best of luck and welcome to bird hunting.
 
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