Hunting with two dogs.

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
I know I post a lot. One thing I've been thinking of lately. The dogs I hunt with are goldens named Skye and Roxy. I don't really live in pheasant country so I'm always driving a bit to go hunting. I've got no gripe with that because I honestly just feel lucky to drive an hour and hunt marginal territory, or go two plus hours to get into really prime spots. I hunt MN mostly as that's home. Iowa I get to a bunch and am glad I do, it's a fun state to hunt. South Dakota I hunted three times in my life(4 if you count turkeys), what a great state. This year I saved all my vacation time to burn up on fall bird hunting, I plan on getting out more than I ever have🤞.

Without going behind the scenes of the dogs schedules, there's times when they both want to hunt, and others when only one can make it. They are sisters(albeit distant relations) but Skye is 8 and Roxy turns 3 around pheasant opener. As it goes with a new pup, Skye was the veteran who did all the work and Roxy just followed along figuring things out, just shy of a year old. Roxy learned the ropes, flushes and finds her share of birds, and is great to have along on a hunt. I love them both, but Skye is a bully once the bird is found. If Roxy sniffs a downed bird, Skye immediately comes over and steals it. I realize a good dog trainer wouldn't have this issue. I however am not that skilled. Any training I've done was just taking them out on public land during hunting season. I'm not looking for any solution, Skye will always assert her dominance, but Roxy is never one to be deterred, which I'm forever grateful for.

My plan this year, especially when hunting multiple days in a row, is to hunt one dog and then the other. As Skye gets older I think a rotation will help her. I don't have money spots like Remy where an easy limit is more likely than not. I'm not A5, back home smoking his pipe in front of the hearth with three wild roosters hanging in his garage before the golden hour even starts. I usually hoof it all day to get a chance at a limit. Maybe I'll take a weekend or two and just bring Roxy. Last year by Marshall my buddy downed a rooster in a cattail marsh, and two guys and 3 dogs looked for half an hour and gave up hope. Walking back to the truck we were whistling up the dogs and Roxy didn't show. You guessed it, she came back late, but had a rooster gently hanging in her chops. It's really tough trying to choose a dog to go hunting. Skye only has so much time in the hourglass, so I almost can't turn her down. Roxy is a trooper and has been a great hunter in her own right. I know the dogs would have been better off hunting with a guy with a better grasp on dog training. But maybe they're better off going with an average Joe like me than being couch potato dogs and never hunting at all. Either way, they mean the world to me. Good luck everyone in the upcoming season. I can't promise much other than truthful reporting on my success in the field, and the times when the roosters got the better of me. For I'm sure there'll be days when the wise old roosters flush out of range, my shooting eye is off, or I just plain fail to bag a bird. Either way, I plan on getting the dogs out in the field as much as life will allow. I've got my priorities straight.

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I like having 2 dogs on long trips. My Vizsla cut his paws up last year on snow and ice and I had to pull him. Wasn't anything major but I could tell it hurt, so I let him heal up. My GSP is half his size, older and tougher feet. She didn't have an issue with her feet, so I hunted with her every day and left him in the truck. If he was my only dog, I would have had to pack up and go home.
 
The way I have to get my days in at this point in life with work, wife, kid etc is blocks of days at a time. I can't imagine getting that done with one dog, we'll have 3 or 4 dogs wore slick after a 4 or 5 day trip even rotating them. We usually drop 2 and rest 2 each field to get through a long trip. I love hunting multiple dogs at a time but it's a lot to keep track of at times. I am a believer in hunting young dogs with seasoned ones but they all hunt different together so finding the right combo sometimes takes some miles.
 
Can understand the Dilemma well. Have a six year old springer and a 1 year old. My two girls work together fairly well but as you noted anytime the younger dog gets in a bird the older wants to retrieve. Still working the issue but for the most part glad to have two good noses in the field. Headed to NODak in about a month and the extra dog is a bonus so I put up with my poorly trained girls. At my age the hunt is as much about time in the field with friends and my furry partners.
 
One dog is stealth, two dogs are a competition. Once tried three as I was covering large track of CRP. Got my four Kansas roosters, but it took some CPR to recover from exhaustion. Dogs were happy and the young dogs received some experience. Don’t recommend.
 
I agree with the above post on the younger dog. Quite often they become distracted by other dogs. Mine did when she first went afield around 6 months of age. There were 2 other older dogs trying to hunt and she thought it was more of a game.

For the rest of that first season, I hunted her alone. She quickly realized why were out there without the other dogs present.
 
Best to hunt young dogs by themselves most of the time. Then the young dog builds confidence and doesn't have his/her birds stolen, either on flush or retrieve. Pheasant hunting gets a bit hectic at times and a young dog can too easily submit to the older dog's drive. Once the young dog is confident you can hunt them together, though still, it is good to separate them periodically.
 
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