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Bird Differentiations #7342791 11/09/18 12:58 AM
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NorthTXbirdhunter Offline OP
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I have a 3 yo female setter that came out of the womb on birds pointed. I have taken a couple of 100 wild birds over her in the last 3 seasons. One of if not the best young dog I have ever gotten my hands on. Fast forward to this fall and I got a chance to send her with a trainer to Eastern Montana. I got a call about 2 weeks in and the trainer asked “ I thought this dog was broke. She has run up and chased every bird she has encountered.” My dog spent 5 weeks up there and never once pointed. I was sick! The birds up there were pheasants, Huns, and prairie chickens. I get her back down south and get her on quail again and it is like she has never missed a beat. Steady as a rock!

Tell me why and what gives?

Re: Bird Differentiations [Re: NorthTXbirdhunter] #7343002 11/09/18 03:35 AM
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She won't hunt for yankees. If she is steady as a rock, what was the trainer gong to do for her ?

Re: Bird Differentiations [Re: nate33] #7343026 11/09/18 03:50 AM
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NorthTXbirdhunter Offline OP
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Get her in shape.

Re: Bird Differentiations [Re: NorthTXbirdhunter] #7343120 11/09/18 12:00 PM
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Well it is a setter. wink Just kidding. I don't know. Maybe she was mad at you. Maybe she will only work for you. New birds, new country.... who knows. The only way to know is take her there yourself sometime. I know the first time they see those big birds their eyes get big as saucers.

Last edited by bobcat1; 11/09/18 12:02 PM.

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Re: Bird Differentiations [Re: NorthTXbirdhunter] #7343417 11/09/18 03:56 PM
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The prairie has a tendency to open up dogs and make them run bigger. On unfamiliar birds, in unfamiliar situations some dogs take awhile to adjust. Being on a chain string with a dozen other dogs can also change their behavior for awhile. If she is doing fine back home I wouldn't worry. If she is to go north again, u take her, don't send her to a trainer.
Many trainers don't have the time to spend on individual dogs. They may only work once a day, so the dog may have not had enough time to adjust to new birds and big open country. My guess is she never had any chances at huns, was probably just worked on sharptails and pheasants. If she was staunch on quail and been shot over for three years, why did you send her to the trainer?
Was there a specific issue, or did you just want to get her in shape for the season?

Last edited by Mundo; 11/09/18 03:57 PM.
Re: Bird Differentiations [Re: Mundo] #7343463 11/09/18 04:22 PM
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NorthTXbirdhunter Offline OP
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I sent her to get in shape and let her work instead of laying around all fall. Typically, the prairie is magic for dogs at all stages of their careers. People still send champions up there every summer just to keep them sharp.

Re: Bird Differentiations [Re: NorthTXbirdhunter] #7344695 11/11/18 01:10 AM
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My take. The reason people send dogs up north is for young sharptails. You didn’t mention that. Pheasants compared to bobwhites are a much more challenging bird. They run. Running birds are a lot more of a test than tight sitting bobwhites.
Huns are bonus birds where I hunt in east Montana. Meaning there’s not enough of them to be the primary bird. That may be the case on Huns just not enough exposure to them. Prairie chickens I don’t hunt so can’t help you there

Hate to sound rude but bobwhites on private land are the least challenging game bird for pointers.

Last edited by blanked; 11/11/18 01:17 AM.
Re: Bird Differentiations [Re: blanked] #7344854 11/11/18 05:28 AM
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NorthTXbirdhunter Offline OP
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I have pheasant hunted Iowa and Kansas in years past with my Texas wild quail dogs that had never seen a pheasant. They pointed and held them like they had been doing it all their life. There was not even an adjustment period. Pointed straight out of the box and almost immediately on wild pheasants. Now that was a special set of dogs at the time. They knew what they were doing wherever they were.

Re: Bird Differentiations [Re: NorthTXbirdhunter] #7346403 11/12/18 11:28 PM
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In the area you describe I would expect sharptails rather than prairie chickens. I have been hunting some up there the last 20 or so years. In local vernacular Sharpies are sometimes referred to as "chickens". Young unpressured Sharpies hold well but quickly wise up and will flush if the dog advances into the scent cone. Their first defensive mechanism is flight and they seldom run or require a dog to relocate. Comparatively speaking, per your question, A quail dog can get away with crowding bobwhite but will not get to first base with pressured Sharpies if it crowds them. These characteristics make them highly desirable to train pointing dogs to honor their nose. Conversely, training with pen raised birds can lead to a dog that points from close range. Wild pheasant are runners and are fast. Very often they will run, requiring a dog to drift the track in order to keep the wind and point the bird rather than bump it. There are always exceptions but overall I believe both wild pheasant and Sharpies require a dog to stand its birds at substantially longer range than bobs. A wild chukar may be the only wild bird that requires higher level dog work to consistently control and point.

Last edited by Smokey Bear; 11/12/18 11:31 PM.

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