Personal Goals

[bigeyes]

I have a GSP right around 100 and he is vet definition of healthy. His dad is about 115 with muscle straps running down his chest and legs like you have never seen. Really are great dogs, it always impresses me how quick they pick up on things and how easy it all comes to them. Sure is fun to watch a pointing dog work.

[BLACKJACK]

Its always interesting to see the differences of opinion on forums like this. The guys that get out hunting a lot think its ok to shoot lots of birds and the guys that don't get out much condemn them. Back in my younger days in the late 80's, I had lots of private CRP land to hunt down by Rochester, my work hours allowed me to get out every evening at prime time, and I had two labs, so my goal was to have 28 birds in the bag after two weeks of the season and a 60 bird years were common. And yes I ate LOTS of pheasants, I burnt my wife out on pheasants in mushroom soup. My feeling is that if people get out a lot, go ahead and have fun and shoot some birds.

Now a days my goal is to just to get out and watch the dogs work, its a joy watching the enthusiasm of my labs, but I also like to shoot a bird now and then, its nice to get into an area with birds, 'hunted too hard public land' gets old after awhile. I've also had the opportunity to hunt SoDak the last few years where lots of birds are seen and shot, so my blood lust has been satisfied, so I can enjoy the hunt and dog action here in MN.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

My goal this year was to get a pheasant mounted. Goal accomplished. I got a rooster in Iowa with over 24" tail. Got it to the taxidermest the same day I shot it and it was in great condition.

[LuciandTim]

Just reading all of this and I was thinking....In regards to seeing your dogs work, which to me is the best part about Pheasant hunting....Some said they don't care if they shoot a bird or not.

Does your dog feel the same way???

And another opinion here: I just spent a couple days in my favorite pheasant hunting area and I saw so many birds that I couldn't believe it. We had our limit by 1pm and were flushing birds walking back to the car. Now if I lived in the area I would be hunting any chance I had. And if I did that i'm sure I would shoot a lot of birds also like some of the above mentioned. If you have the chance get out there and kill some pheasants....man its looking great this year!

[ATM]

LuciandTim, Sounds like you had a good time. If you hunted the 3 counties u mentioned in a previous post, I have also been seeing alot of birds in the area. Unfortanately my pointer recieved a large cut to his eyeball last time out so we will be taking a little time off. I will be hunting that area for 4 days after thanksgiving if u would like to meet up for some hunting. Adam

[LuciandTim]

Would love to meet up, I took that weekend off. I actually hunted farther south by Slayton, and hit Rock County and part of Nobles. I had a blast, just a little far to do everyweekend.

Shoot me an e-mail and we'll talk about it...

[email protected]

[CaptainMusky]

Those are some HUGE GSP's! Chester is now 45#'s and cut and only 4 months. I think he will be a giant. I am excited. I love having a bigger dog because they work the thick cover so much better.

That was an interesting question luciandtom about does the dog feel the same way. I know there were many times where my dog worked hard for a bird, pointed it and an awesome flush only to have the master miss horribly. He just stood there and looked at my like, man, I just busted my (Contact US Regarding This Word) and nothing in return! There is a reward for them when you bag a bird and I can definitely see disappointment when an opportunity is missed.

[Mr. B]

I am not sure about the disappointment when a bird is missed and my lab knows all about me missing birds. The only time she seems disappointed is when we have to leave or we do not go.

Can a dog tell when it is time to go hunting? And I do not mean from seeing people getting ready to go hunting. I have been trying to get out every Tuesday and Thursday after work for an hour. Due to things at home this week I have not been able to.

The last two nights Maggie has almost seemed depressed, laying around and just not acting her usual self. Until I told her to go and get her ball. After an hour of playing in the house lastnight (If you ever want permission to take your dog hunting start tossing the ball around inside at 9 pm. My wife told me if I do not take Maggie hunting and wear her out I was in big trouble.) she was back to normal.

Captain, I have never hunted behind a large dog, how do they work thick cover better? I am just curious, does size matter how they work cover?

[CaptainMusky]

I have had GSP's ranging in size from 45# to 80# and had a couple springers in the under 40# category. It may not be fair to compare different breeds and each dog is different, but the larger GSP's were able to bust through the cattails and brush where the springers had trouble with the thicker cover.

Just my experience. I know some people like smaller dogs for cattails because at times they can burrow under the cattails. As long as the dog is not overweight, I prefer a larger dog and they seem to have better stamina and don't get worn down in the thickest cover.

Bigger dogs are more prone to health problems with joints and such, but they seem to hold up better hunting for me anyways.

[bigeyes]

Mr. B I am not sure if a bigger dog actually works thick cover better or not, but it kinda seems like they would have an easier time busting though. I really don't hunt with a small dog much other than a friends 40# English pointer he is kinda cute when he gets in weeds taller than him(which doesn't take much) he stops about every 20 ft and stands on his hind legs like a praire dog trying to look around, then back to work. My dog is tall with long legs and a lot of clearence(friends call him a pony), he can simple trot though/over stuff a smaller dog might have to be constanly leaping over. I have a neighbor with a 25# springer(maybe 6-10" of clearence) I honestly have never seen her hunt, but can't imagine how she would every make it in thick tall stuff very long.

[Mr. B]

Ok that makes sense, about being able to see over the cover and having the stamina to break through the cover.

Maggie my lap pictured in my avatar is 55 lbs. Not sure how tall she is but it is funny to see her running through tall thick grass. About every five or six bounds she will make sure to lift her head above the grass. Sometimes it looks like she is on springs and bouncing through the cover.

When she gets in to the really thick grass around the edge of a wetland she does one of three things: break though it, burrow under it or pounce on it. The last time she pounced on it I think she knew there was a pheasnat there, not sure how the rooster made it out of the grass with a dog on top of it but it only made it a short distance.

[bigeyes]

I don't think that 55 is real small, bottom line is if you have a good dog they will jump, dive, wiggle, crawl, burrow or whatever it takes to get the bird anywhere. Btw my buddy has a female black lab and man are they fun to hunt roosters with, dang good pheasant dogs too!

[lawdog]

My labs are about 65 and 80 pounds respectively. Neither is small, both will go whereever they need to to flush pheasants.

[CodyDawg]

In my experience, the bigger dogs dont have the all day, every day stamina that many of the smaller breeds do. Not just on Day 1, but on Day 4, you can see the difference. It makes sense too as they just have to pull around that much more weight.

My brittany is now 14.5 years old, but when she was in her prime she never found cover that she couldnt handle at 45#s. It is just harder to get a big dog through the thick stuff as well. In my experience, they go like crazy for the first 6 hours then start to wear down and by day 3 you can tell the difference. But that is just my experience and I am sure there are individual dogs that dispel this theory.

[bigeyes]

Yes, I think that is true it depends on the dog, but I also think it depends on the weather a lot too. I release a fair amount of pen raised birds on a private farm for personal dog training starting each August and Early September. I can't and don't run him hard or long but after an hour or two I have caught him laying down under scrub brush for shade during a hunt. If it is 60 or above he really wears down quick, but it seems with mine the colder it is the better he is. Might have something to do with him wanting to keep moving and stay warm? I know if the temps are 30-40 and low 50's he goes all day and I have never seen him sit or lay down at the end of a hunt. I really think heat hurts dogs especially big ones and really any that are in bad shape/health. Remember a couple years ago in SoDak when the papers reported hundereds of dogs dieing on opening weekend with the warm temps.

[bigeyes]

Cody-btw you are a lucky guy, I only wish I could ever get out on a 4 day hunt. I don't think it has ever happend. Made a few 3 days in my life, but they are pretty rare, I am happy to get out for a day, 2 in a row is a bonus. That dang work, wife and walleye fishing keep getting in the way.

[CaptainMusky]

CodyDawg, I used to think that big dogs would lose energy too because of their size, in fact, my first GSP had that problem but that was due to the food I was feeding him.

At that time (20 years ago) I bought whatever was cheapest. He would dump like a goose and be tuckered out after the first 2 hours of hunting.

Larger dogs need different formulas of dog food, much like feeding a puppy. I have had GREAT success with Diamond Large Breed formula and I now feed my dogs every morning and night instead of just at night. It gets them used to eating in the morning and then they don't burn off most of the calories in their sleep.

Sounds simple enough now, but I sure learned my lesson after years of wondering what the heck I would do on the 3rd day of a trip. There are lots of excellent foods out there, I no longer buy the $5 a 50# bag at Mills. They eat less and dump less too. I do have to buy more fertilzer though!

[CodyDawg]

bigeyes,

I hear ya about the wife and work deal, but you get no sympathy from me if you go a-fishin'!! Yeah, I am lucky, no doubt about it. It is an annual trip for fathers and sons and it rocks. You learn a lot about dogs on Day 4, that is for sure. We had to tip a lab out of her crate to take a leak in the morning. But then she warmed up a little and was fine.

[Rost]

I usually shoot around 20 per year. My brother will easily shoot 60 back in MN. In my opinion, there's no such thing as "game hog" when it comes to pheasants. One bad winter, and they're gone anyway. So shoot em' while we got um.

And, as long as your not over your possession limit, your fine. We get to hunt 3 months out of the year and I am not about to pass up any oportunities.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the "hunt". It's not all about killing. IMO it's about having fun with my buds. But I will say it's more fun to limit than not.

In 3 hours I will be in my stand

[LuciandTim]

Well put Rost.

[buffalomark]

This is interesting, "Set a goal for roosters killed." I personally try to hunt 1 or 2 days a week, with one trip to SD and I take home 20 to 30, but have never counted my birds. I developed what I call my grading system for each day. I count number of flushes. I don't worry about roosters or hens since I can't control the ratio. 10 or less flushed is a grade of D. 11 to 15 bird flushed is a C. 16 to 20 is a B. 21 to 25 flushes is an A. Anything over that is an A plus. Last year I had two days of over 50 and one day I had 63! I mostly hunt alone and I enjoy just being out. I don't need the meat and I can buy better tasting birds it is not about the kill. I wish sometimes that I could practice catch and release.

[james_walleye]

Hey Buffalo how are the bird numbers up your way? My brother in law is from Rockford and is just getting into hunting. He really enjoys hunting behind my GSP and has even gone so far as too go look at buying a brittany but hasnt yet. I think part of the problem is he isnt sure how the hunting is up that way and isnt sure how easy land access is.

[buffalomark]

I haven't much this year. I am working a second job this year. Locally there birds, but there are lots of hunters. I only go locally if I can go during week. All of my spots are getting houses built on them or next to them making it very difficult to hunt. If i go quick I hit Paynesville or Kimball. I usually try to get west of Benson. Good Luck1