New guy from south central PENN.

[padave]

Hi all,
Just checking in from south central PA. I just took my 1 y.o. lab out for our first hunt at a local game farm. ( mainly for him to get the feel of it ) we got 1 out of the 3 birds we paid for. But he did ( I think ) find the other 2 pheasant hens. He was acting " birdie" but I didn't see anything and got impatient and moved him on, I'm pretty sure it was 100% my fault. Live and learn I guess. But the rooster he jumped up was perfect but the problem came after I shot it down the dog ran in the opposite direction of the bird, not that he was gun shy he's been to a shooting range and I have a dummy launcher that uses .22 cal. blanks. He ran in the other direction because he followed the noise from the gun shot that echoed in a hollow. Has anyone had this problem or have a tip on correcting this. My guess is that if it were flat land where there is nothing to echo off of he would have paid more attention to the bird. Let me know what you think.

Thanks, Dave.

 

[FLDBRED]

Dave,

Not sure have far along you are with your training, but if you teach your pup to "hup" he will be concentrating on where the bird falls instead of where the gun shot came from. There is no substitute for spending time in the field with your pup, you guys will learn each others traits, which is especially important with a flushing dog.Learn to trust his nose! Hooking up with a training group in your area would be ideal. Have fun and enjoy each other as you learn.

 

[1pheas4]

Welcome to the site PAdave. I think your pooch will be just fine. It was his first hunt and he flushed a bird. Sounds like he's already it going on.

It takes time in the field/experience until they really get the hang of things. In the mean time he's going to do some silly things out there that have you scathing your head. It's normal. Enjoy your new dog and take your time with him.

Nick