Hunting improvement on my 1 year old GSP.

[mmcspadden]

Ok...this my pups first hunting season and she is doing great she points and hustle all day. 2 areas I see where we can improve our hunting experience.

Situation 1
Pup points covey of quail. Gunners move it to shoot. Birds get up…shots are fired, but no birds are downed.
Dog chases a single bird as far as it will fly and while doing so runs over lots of good hunting area.

Questions
1. Would steading her up help this?
2. What other methods are used to call a dog off the chase?

Situation 2
She points covey of quail. Gunners move it to shoot. Birds get up…shots are fired. Many birds fall dead.
Dog chases after flush and finds 1 downed bird. We know another dead bird is in an area, but pup wants to find more birds instead of finding the dead ones. I want her to find the dead bird.

Question
1. How do you train a dog to hunt close for dead birds?

[Cicada]

I too have a 1 year old GSP
We had a ton of fun hunting this fall. He shows some real promise but has a few faults too. When I dared to complain about them my mentor was quick to remind me he is just a pup he will figure it out; just give him quality one on one hunts.

And tell the other guns to get their own dogs

Grant

[DonF]

Take the chase out of your dog. You can do it while hunting but I much rather do it in a controlled situation. I assume the dog has been worked with an e-collar? Keep it on a low setting the dog can feel. When she take's off after the birds, let her go maybe 10 yds and start nicing here until the chase stops. Situation 2, pretty much the same but you also need to get her to hunt close for the dead birds. In the training field, plant some dead birds and then take her out, check cord if necessary. Make sure you know where the dead birds are. Take her in that direction and just as you see her perk up give a sound, same one all the time. I used a bob white whistle. Get her to where she understand that sound that there really are dead birds to be found.

[mask]

A few pigeons with tied up or clipped wings planted may do the trick. Do not lie to a young dog if you tell it to hunt dead be sure there is a bird to find. If you have to hunt with a group insist that only one person shoots per covey. If they don't want to take turns let them hunt with their own dog in a different area.

[mmcspadden]

Awesome...I will give the a try. Thanks again.