First time bird dog owner

H

Hosk13f

New member
Hi all, just finished up my first season with my own bird dog safe to say I am hooked. I grew up hunting with my dad's dogs first labs and then Pointers mostly for pheasants and preserve chukars. Wanted to dog to do it all that I was familiar with so I went with a yellow lab, and she is a far better hunter than me. In our first year we focused mostly on waterfowl, we are still working on getting her to retrieve big geese but she does great on ducks, pheasant, and chukar. Hoping to get her on some ruffed grouse and woodcock next season and maybe do a trip to North Dakota or Nebraska.
 
Welcome Hosk. This sport is second to none. It's good for the body and soul. Although there's a lot of ribbing on here about dog breeds, we don't mean it. You have chosen your dog wisely.
 
Hi Hosk,

It sounds like you are off to a great start and I bet you have tons of fun experiences ahead. The goose issue can be addressed through training and I wish I had known about it when I got my first bird dog.

I have been hunting waterfowl and pheasants with Chesapeake Bay Retrievers for 25 years. One thing I would suggest is that you find an experienced trainer to help you force-break your dog. All of the difficulties I had with my first dog never occurred with the next four and I attribute it to the force-break training they had at an early age.

Good Luck!
 
That feeling when the dog finds, you shoot, and then the dog brings you a bird - unequaled in all of life.
 
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Fox Walker said:
Hi Hosk,

It sounds like you are off to a great start and I bet you have tons of fun experiences ahead. The goose issue can be addressed through training and I wish I had known about it when I got my first bird dog.

I have been hunting waterfowl and pheasants with Chesapeake Bay Retrievers for 25 years. One thing I would suggest is that you find an experienced trainer to help you force-break your dog. All of the difficulties I had with my first dog never occurred with the next four and I attribute it to the force-break training they had at an early age.

Good Luck!
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The breeder we got her from is a great trainer who has been really helpful along the way, fortunately I was able to have him train her four 3 months over the summer while I was in my internship. She is force broke but just has trouble actually picking them up since she is a smaller lab, I plan to get her plenty of goose experience to have her be a rockstar by next year
 
Wind River said:
Welcome and congrats on your choice of dog. Remember, a bird dog needs birds, birds, birds, birds, etc. Try to give them many chances, not excuses. Good luck Hosk.
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Working on getting her more birds, thankfully PA lets us do put and take chukar throughout the year excluding woodcock migratory zones in the spring and time between youth and regular pheasant seasons so i plan to get her on plenty more this off-season
 
Welcome to the best site on the internet for talking anything bird hunting related. I too have a yellow lab (Fox Red) and he is on the smaller side as well (68lbs). He is primarily used in the uplands, as he is a pointing lab, but he can handle it all.

Geese are tricky for sure. On his first one, he looked back at and I swear he said "Dad, what the hell do I do?"! If you are so inclined, find a local retriever club and work with them on their training days. You might also look into trying the hunt test game. It is great for you and the dog.

Best of luck and ask any questions.

PS... Is the 13F in your name an MOS by chance?
 

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LC Smith said:
Welcome to the best site on the internet for talking anything bird hunting related. I too have a yellow lab (Fox Red) and he is on the smaller side as well (68lbs). He is primarily used in the uplands, as he is a pointing lab, but he can handle it all.

Geese are tricky for sure. On his first one, he looked back at and I swear he said "Dad, what the hell do I do?"! If you are so inclined, find a local retriever club and work with them on their training days. You might also look into trying the hunt test game. It is great for you and the dog.

Best of luck and ask any questions.

PS... Is the 13F in your name an MOS by chance?
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I am going to join the local retriever club here soon, so far training days have not worked out with my work and school schedule. And yes 13f was my MOS when I was still in.
 
Hosk13f said:
I am going to join the local retriever club here soon, so far training days have not worked out with my work and school schedule. And yes 13f was my MOS when I was still in.
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Here is an extra big welcome from one old Fister to another!
 
Hosk13f said:
Hi all, just finished up my first season with my own bird dog safe to say I am hooked. I grew up hunting with my dad's dogs first labs and then Pointers mostly for pheasants and preserve chukars. Wanted to dog to do it all that I was familiar with so I went with a yellow lab, and she is a far better hunter than me. In our first year we focused mostly on waterfowl, we are still working on getting her to retrieve big geese but she does great on ducks, pheasant, and chukar. Hoping to get her on some ruffed grouse and woodcock next season and maybe do a trip to North Dakota or Nebraska.
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Big geese are a challenge. My dog retrieves to hand, but not big geese.
 
Goosemaster said:
You can't beat a yellow lab for geese.My dog swam across the Missouri.
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That picture was from his first ever waterfowl hunt. He was our only dog that morning and got 14 geese and 2 mallards. He had both land and water retrieves. He really was not sure on the first one, but figured them out quickly and didn’t let their size get to him.
 
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