Shot my first birds from my own dog.

F

frantzracing0

New member
I have hunted and shot pheasant plenty in the past (with limited success) but have never owned my own dog. This year I started looking for my first hunting dog. I was originally looking at pointers. French brittanys mainly. But I changed my mind considering I hunt more rabbit every year than pheasant. So I bought a beagle HOPING I could train him to find birds. Well, yesterday was his first day in the field to look for pheasant. He did great!!! I filled my limit (2 birds here in PA) within the first hour. One hen, and one rooster. After my limit was full I put the shotgun back in the truck and continued to run the dog. All in all he flushed 6 pheasants in 3 hours.

I couldnt be more proud of him, he activly searched for these birds and was able to outrun them to get them to flush. He worked inside of 40 yards all day long and never once ran off game.
 
duckn66 said:
That's great! How do you keep him off the rabbits and on the pheasants?
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Honestly, I dont. Mostly where I hunt rabbit is extremely thick and full of rabbit. Its my little honey hole. But while out hunting pheasants, if he decides to run a rabbit I let him. I just look at it as a bonus.

With that said, I honestly think he enjoys hunting birds more. He doesnt run rabbit well by himself. If there is another dog or a pack he is a rabbit machine. Must be due to competition. But once I got him in the field for the first time, he was work work work to find those birds
 
He will not run deer (I put deer hide and pee on a mouse trap in the yard and now he wont even look at a deer) and im working on breaking him of other off game.
 
Sounds like a fun dog. Hunt with a guy couple times a year that has 3 beagles. Pretty dang fun watching them chase the bunnies.

He's a good looking dog in those pics!

Not up on PA laws, but why do they let you bust hens??? I'm assuming it is a "stocked", but that is how most populations got their beginnings. Just curious....
 
shorthairs4life said:
Looks very interested in those birds. Is it tough for him to fit the birds in his mouth to retrieve?
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He doesnt retrieve, and honestly I dont know if he ever will. BUT, he does locate the bird and sits there all excited until you pick it up. He knows whats coming, lots of dog love for a job well done. He also stopped a cripple and didnt let him get away.

I look at it this way, he is not a traditional bird dog. He is a hound, so in reality I will be giving up some in regards to what he can/will do. Im very proud of him and the fact that I have a good rabbit hound that will also fill my freezer with pheasants is a blessing to me. And honestly, watching him run rabbits and chase pheasants through the grass is the most fun I have ever had hunting. I could care less if I actually shot one hahaha
 
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btomlin said:
Sounds like a fun dog. Hunt with a guy couple times a year that has 3 beagles. Pretty dang fun watching them chase the bunnies.

He's a good looking dog in those pics!

Not up on PA laws, but why do they let you bust hens??? I'm assuming it is a "stocked", but that is how most populations got their beginnings. Just curious....
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There are some areas that are cock birds only. But on most gamelands with stocked birds you can shoot either.
 
Great story and congrats on a great hunt. Used to run beagles a lot and we had some that would put up birds but none that did it with the enthusiasm that your dog appears to have for it. Thats is great.

Did he put up the woodcock also that you are holding?

Matt D
 
Matt D said:
Great story and congrats on a great hunt. Used to run beagles a lot and we had some that would put up birds but none that did it with the enthusiasm that your dog appears to have for it. Thats is great.

Did he put up the woodcock also that you are holding?

Matt D
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He did put up the woodcock, chased it through pricker bushes until it jumped. He didnt sniff it out, but seen it run and sight chased it. Im ok with that as long as it doesnt get out of hand chasing every bird around.

Training was simple honestly. I worked him on a 35 yard rope to force him to work inside that range. I gave him Phez wings on a daily basis and honestly just let him eat them. This got him used to the scent, then we began games of hide and seek with the wings. Within a week he was tracking a pheasant wings 75 yards around the yard.

He has a distinct whine when he finds a bird. He stares at it and almost "points" the bird. Once it starts moving he circles in barking and up comes the bird. Its an awesome feeling seeing your dog that you trained doing exactly what you want of him. The best part, this is only 2 weeks of training so far. I can only see it getting better!
 
Congrats! You're enjoying watching your pup do what he likes to do. It gets no better than that.
 
Thanks, it really is a joy to experience. I havent enjoyed hunting small game this much since I was a 12 year old child. He does have some issues that were working on, but that is the fun part in my opinion. I work with him every single night and he gets better and better by the day. His biggest issue right now is that he wont open up on a rabbit. He will run them with passion, especially in a pack. Just will not bay consistantly yet. Being so young though, I dont see a problem.
 
Hell, I still have issues . . . I still miss but my dog forgives me (other than giving me "The Look" on occasion, lol.).
 
limits

in the mid 70's I hunted a couple of times over a beagle, no rabbits for this dog, her mind was on pheasants, not only did I shoot a limit of 4, daisy also retrieve every one of them, she would drag them back by the neck. and I trailing a pheasant, she sounded just like a beagle. loved yer post

cheers
 
mustistuff said:
in the mid 70's I hunted a couple of times over a beagle, no rabbits for this dog, her mind was on pheasants, not only did I shoot a limit of 4, daisy also retrieve every one of them, she would drag them back by the neck. and I trailing a pheasant, she sounded just like a beagle. loved yer post

cheers
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I would love to teach him to retrieve, and I am slowly working on it. But if it never happens, im ok with that too.
 
Nothing like the man - dog team in the history of the human race.
 
BritChaser said:
Nothing like the man - dog team in the history of the human race.
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That's a good one right there.

Great job on hunting with the beagle, frantzracing0. It's a good reminder that you don't have to go 'by the book' to have an enjoyable and successful hunt. Now, will he swim out into cold water and nudge a duck back to you? :D
 
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