Hello All:

I am new to upland hunting, I have 15 month old Pudelpointer who has been training hard, and I would love to get her on wild birds. I have been thinking of going to eastern OK due to living in Dallas and because my little girl wants to go with me and a 8 hour truck ride may not be the best for her right now. Just looking for a little guidance and some opinions.

TIA
Fern

Take a peek of the NSTRA schedule in your area. She can get accustom to the shooting at a distance.. Everyone is welcome to take their dogs into the field and shoot the leftover quail after the trial on Saaturday.

Make life easy for yourself and come try what we offer. Lots of 8 hour trips end with no birds. With us you can get your dog on birds and be home in time for dinner.

AggieFern, welcome to the forum and upland hunting. There are three or four more of us on here with Pudelpointers. How old is your daughter? It takes birds to make a bird dog and nothing will teach your dog to handle wild bird like wild birds. Do your homework and your dog a favor and put some miles on your truck.

Location, location, location. I would have visited you years ago if I had been closer.

No argument about wild birds and Preserve hunts offer closeness for ease of access and guaranteed birds when time does not permit the long distance chance to hunt.

You live relatively close to some excellent wild bird opportunities if you are willing to travel a bit with your dog.

Everybody's situation is different but it is not terribly expensive to equip a truck for travel with your dog, stay in a cheap hotel for a couple nights and buy an out of state license. I know a couple dozen men who travel to hunt more than once a year. I'd gladly offer specific advice about a travel setup via PM if you ask. Here are some potential destinations with good public wild bird hunting for you to investigate and consider if you decide to travel.

SE Arizona offers excellent (in good years) wild Mearns, scaled and Gambel's hunting. I stay in Sierra Vista.
SW New Mexico offers excellent scaled and some Mearns hunting. Look around Silver City.
Of course Texas has decent opportunities in most years but it is mostly pay to play.
Western Oklahoma has excellent wild bobwhite and some limited scaled hunting. Black Kettle, Beaver River, Optima etc.
Western Kansas has excellent pheasant, bobwhite and scaled quail hunting. Cimarron National Grasslands and WIHA properties.

All of these are easily within a days drive of DFW and there is enough information out there on the interwebs to enable you to find birds without too much effort. You and your dog deserve the wonderful experience of locating and ethically taking some of the beautiful wild gamebird species available in this magnificent and diverse country.

NO 1..get your dog used to gun fire, to much the first time can be disastrous

Nailed it.

Pecan Ridge Outdoor center in Scurry has some nice birds to train and hunt. Give them a holler