So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

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Sharon
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So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by Sharon » Tue Jun 07, 2022 1:57 pm

Interesting how it was Dad or Grandpa who got most started - and Dad for me too. I started at about 10 with Dad hunting rabbits and me carrying a .22. If I could carry the gun the whole trip without dragging it in the mud, I was allowed to shoot at a target at the end of the day.
In those days of course rabbits abounded. Only had to step out of our door and cross a dirt road to hunt. Now that road is a 5 lane highway . Dad also got 2 sons trained to be great hunters too.
He raised and trained beagles which led to my great interest in gundogs and trialing.
Thank you Dad.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by Steve007 » Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:56 pm

Nothing wrong with starting this way if you are talking about hunting rabbits. I can't see any negatives. But it is worth noting that if you are going to get involved in something like pointing dogs, starting as an adult has positives as well.

I never saw a shotgun until I was well into my 40s and certainly never knew anyone who bird hunted in my immediate family. But I had a long and fairly successful history as an adult in conformation (this means dog shows) as an exhibitor, breeder and judge and have put quite a few obedience titles on various dogs as well. When my career moved in a direction that required a good deal of travel (as I was single), it was an insurmountable problem. So I changed dog hobbies. Fortunately, I know how to learn things and have always spent money on my hobbies. I read lots, purchased a shotgun, took extensive professional lessons and practiced a lot. Kept on reading. When I rose to the height of mediocrity as a shot after two years, I went bird hunting with a friend, purchased a very well-chosen dog and went on from there.

There is a lot to be said for learning things as a child, but there is also a lot to be said for having a modern education, ability to read and learn and determination to do so as an adult combined with a solid foundation. I've trialed (FC), hunt tested (MH) and bird hunted a lot, have some good shotguns that I do pretty well with and have some serious knowledge of a number of different dog sports at advanced levels from which I can draw. It works for me.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by fishvik » Wed Jun 08, 2022 7:00 am

I started in college with both bird hunting and dogs. Started with a crossbreed and basically was self taught using books and articles in magazines. I've never gotten involved in trialing but work at developing good "meat dogs". I've been at it for 50 years now.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by Dakotazeb » Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:28 am

I started tagging along with my dad pheasant hunting before I was in school. Got my first shotgun in 1956 at age 10. Back then no one had a hunting dog. I got my first hunting dog, a Springer, in 1974.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by gonehuntin' » Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:24 am

When I was 6 or 7, Dad used to carry me on his shoulders if I tired while he ran a line of snares in Nova Scotia. We hunted nearly daily, potting the plentiful grouse out of trees. Lots of grouse in those days. Occasionally we'd get a snowshoe hare. I was addicted from an early age. By 12 I was working on a dump truck to pay for a Bluetick Coonhound I wanted. That was the first dog I'd owned. Years later, at 21, I had moved to Wyoming and got my first Lab. That started everything. I became obsessed with them and for the next 25 years had assorted labs, setters and a GWP. Labs were my babies though and I eventually turned professional, competing in trials at first in BC, where my wife and I then lived, then moved to CA. and worked in the largest, to my knowledge, kennel in the country. We ran up to 120 gun dogs of all breeds in training. I moved to Idaho and specialized in AKC Field Trial Retrievers. I eventually had to move back to Wi. when my father died and there my last Lab died and I got into pointing dogs, first English Setters, then DD's. That span of 70 years brings me to this day, where I still hunt every day I can and still run DD's. The fire still burns but the body sometimes merely idles instead of racing. Yes, this is my final dog.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by Sharon » Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:11 am

gonehuntin' wrote:
Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:24 am
When I was 6 or 7, Dad used to carry me on his shoulders if I tired while he ran a line of snares in Nova Scotia. We hunted nearly daily, potting the plentiful grouse out of trees. Lots of grouse in those days. Occasionally we'd get a snowshoe hare. I was addicted from an early age. By 12 I was working on a dump truck to pay for a Bluetick Coonhound I wanted. That was the first dog I'd owned. Years later, at 21, I had moved to Wyoming and got my first Lab. That started everything. I became obsessed with them and for the next 25 years had assorted labs, setters and a GWP. Labs were my babies though and I eventually turned professional, competing in trials at first in BC, where my wife and I then lived, then moved to CA. and worked in the largest, to my knowledge, kennel in the country. We ran up to 120 gun dogs of all breeds in training. I moved to Idaho and specialized in AKC Field Trial Retrievers. I eventually had to move back to Wi. when my father died and there my last Lab died and I got into pointing dogs, first English Setters, then DD's. That span of 70 years brings me to this day, where I still hunt every day I can and still run DD's. The fire still burns but the body sometimes merely idles instead of racing. Yes, this is my final dog.
Highlighted part done by Sharon

Now isn't that true. :) I'm 75 and yes this is also my last dog , but maybe.........:)
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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by cjhills » Wed Jun 08, 2022 11:17 am

Sharon:
I have 10 years on you. Just got a Min Daschundt puppy. I still have two GSP females that I run every day. these will likely be my last dogs. The little Doxy should last me 'til I am 100.I planned on a litter this spring but my female didn't like my choice of males and the stud dog owner got Covid, so I gave that up. Might try again in the spring.
I was nearly 60 when I started raising and training serious dogs. About the time Pheasant populations got good in South Dakota. I had to learn to shoot
flying birds in open country. Got my first talented dog in the nineties. I hunted, competed and trained with many of the best trainers in The Midwest.
I gave my construction company to my sons and, Grandsons, sold some of my land, quit working and started guiding, training, hunting, Breeding Dogs and doing what I wanted to do.
Best thing I ever did.......Cj

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by Steve007 » Wed Jun 08, 2022 11:27 am

Regarding "this is my final dog," I will simply mention that after that a life with mostly multiple dogs, when I lost my Gordon Setter in 2009, it was the first time I had been without a dog in 40 years. The truth is that life is pretty darn bleak and unhappy without a dog. My fairly new wife -- a non-dog person-- had no idea why I was depressed. She kept on whining about "working on our relationship." I knew the relationship I needed and I found it --- with a German Wirehaired Pointer.

When you start talking about "this is my last dog", you might want to consider that there is more to dogs and dog sports than bird hunting, and that life really isn't much fun without a dog.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by gonehuntin' » Wed Jun 08, 2022 12:40 pm

With me, it's maybe a bit different than some of you. My son isn't much interested in hunting and my Daughter has two little girls. I'm screwed. My dog's mean a lot to me and I'm not willing to die and have them spend the rest of their lives as pets. And probably p.i.t.a. pets at that. With a bit of luck, well actually a lot of luck, I'll be about 85 when this pooch runs out of gas. And really, I've been at this a LOOOOOOOONG time. If I spend my last few years feebly fly fishing, that ain't all that bad either. Just don't want to wear diapers while I'm doing it!

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by Steve007 » Thu Jun 09, 2022 1:37 pm

Good subject, Sharon, and some very good replies. This is interesting stuff! Looking forward to additional responses from members.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by cjhills » Thu Jun 09, 2022 6:05 pm

I will be 85 in 2 weeks. I am actually in fairly good shape. I give the dogs a lot of credit for that. I Mastered my last dog 6 years ago. It got hard to keep up the pace in the tests after that, so I gave it up.
I have chickens, pigeons, two GSP and a Daschundt puppy. I need a reason to get up in the morning. Maybe not that many or as early as the little Daschundt thinks I should.
It is also important to try to keep your strength. I eat a high protein diet. With two eggs in the oatmeal in the morning. No white bread and little whole wheat bread. Also planks and pushups. Surprising how good that works..........Cj

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by BlessedGirl » Fri Jun 10, 2022 11:40 am

cjhills wrote:
Thu Jun 09, 2022 6:05 pm
I will be 85 in 2 weeks. I am actually in fairly good shape. I give the dogs a lot of credit for that. I Mastered my last dog 6 years ago. It got hard to keep up the pace in the tests after that, so I gave it up.
I have chickens, pigeons, two GSP and a Daschundt puppy. I need a reason to get up in the morning. Maybe not that many or as early as the little Daschundt thinks I should.
It is also important to try to keep your strength. I eat a high protein diet. With two eggs in the oatmeal in the morning. No white bread and little whole wheat bread. Also planks and pushups. Surprising how good that works..........Cj
Wow, that's great! Good for you!

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by BlessedGirl » Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:10 pm

This is an interesting thread. Sounds like a lot of you have 50+ years on me.

My grandpa was an avid hunter and salmon fisherman. Dad never was that much of a hunter, but I was born sandwiched right between 4 boys who liked that sort of thing, so that's how I started hunting. I always liked dogs and tree-climbing, building forts and that sort of stuff boys are supposed to like, but I learned how to be a girl, too. I went through hunters education when I was 11 and started hunting blacktail deer on and off. I think it was the day after my 15th birthday that I shot my first deer with a borrowed 20-guage bead sight shotgun (yes, a bird gun, coincidentally). That was also the last time I hunted. It was a really stressful time of life for me and I didn't have a clean kill on that buck, so I had to stand there and watch that majestic beast die. I was out of shells. Everything had a sort of compounding effect on me, which I'm sure was part of the reason I had no desire to hunt again.

The dogs came into the picture when I was little. Dad bought us a $75 herding mutt puppy from an auction and that ended up being the most loved family dog we've ever had. Since then we almost always had a dog (or a few) around the place. In the beginning of 2020 we had to put down my favorite dog, our German Shepherd. After that I decide to follow my long-time dream of owning an Irish Setter. I started researching them and was quite horrified. All I was seeing was show dogs and that wasn't the picture I had of them in my mind's eye. Eventually I stumbled upon the field dogs and they seemed more like what I wanted. Almost 14 months after I found the dog I wanted a puppy from, I got my hands on my puppy. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but everything fell into place like it was divinely planned. Sometime during the process of getting the pup, I decided that I might as well make my dog happy and let her hunt! That got me excited about bird hunting, and now I'm looking forward to our first bird hunt this year.

I can't imagine what a mess I would have gotten myself into had I ended up with a hyper show dog... So thankful it ended up how it did.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by mask » Sat Jun 11, 2022 2:43 pm

I got my first pointer when I was six. I had two uncles and several cousins that raised pointers and when we visited my grand ma we always had a few days to hunt. The dog I ended up with was white with a black mask. He didn't run fast enough to run AA so he was hunted. I called him long ranger or ranger but my uncle informed his call name was mask. We lived in northern California and my grand ma and all those AA bred pointers were in Oklahoma so we didn't go every year but when we needed dogs we always came home with one. The kin folk I got dogs from are all gone now and the first dog I had to buy was about ten years ago. Like a lot of folks on here I'm getting a little long in the tooth but I still have three pointers and still hunt chukar in very rough country. I will never forget that first pointer and how much we loved each other.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by RayGubernat » Sun Jun 12, 2022 9:23 am

Great topic...interesting reads from several contributors.

Here's my tale...

My Dad hunted with his brother and neigbors as a child...rabbits, pheasant,squirrels, etc. His father usually had beagles, but back then we actually had snow on the ground for weeks at a time soyou could run beagles on rabbits.

One of my mom's sisters married a fellow from western Kentucky that she met at a USO gathering, before he shipped out to Europe during WWII. He was into pointing dogs and when he married, he settled here...and borught dogs. My Dad and he hunted together...a lot. When I was 10 I started to walk with them, with a juvinle license but no gun. I was a bird flusher, bird carrier and an extra bird limit, but i didn't care about any of that becasue I got to go with the big guys. My Uncle's sons also went out, but they got bored with just being there, so in succeding years it was usually just me busting the brush. At 12, I got my dads old 12 ga. Elsie to use. It kicked like a mule and weighed a ton(or so it seemed), but again...I didn't care. Both my Dad and uncle were crack shots and VERY quick on the draw, so I didn't usually get too many shots, but again, I didn't care. I actually figured out a couple of gambits that allowed me to get a shot or two. My uncle liked to hunt in the middle position with my dad and i on the flanks, nd of course, he wanted his dogs(usually had two down at a time) to hunt in front of him. on the way to the hunting grounds, i would bribe one of the dogs with doggie treats that i had in my pocket. Then s the dog "drifted" in my direction, i would pull out a treat or two and throw them to the dog. Grdually the dog would head to my side and i would increae the distance. If the dog found and pointed a bird, I would go over and...as I was kicking the bird ito the air... I would holler"Dog on point!! And then get my shot. I usually got away with that once on a trip, but that was enough.

When I was 15 my uncle sent home a pointer puppy from litter he had and Jack became my dog. I knew next to nothing about training a dog to hunt, but Jack knew enough about hunting for both of us. It took about a year and a half to get him to the level needed to be a useful bird dog, and in the meantime, I watched a whole lot of birds fly away out of range...but eventually, he figured out that his odds of wrapping his gums around a bird improved when he held the bird for long enough for me to get there. Once I had my own dog, I would hunt him away from my dad and uncle, as the opportunity presented itself. Jack had a cannon for a nose, so it was not uncommon for me to be limited out on pheasant, and back at the car, when my dad and uncle returned with their limits. My uncle was not real happy about that when it happened, bgut my Dad was cool with it. my uncle was a VERY competitive guy and had to be top gun. which isprobably why his kids did not want to hunt with him all that much... but he was a "tough as nails" birddog man to the core. Over the years I learned a lot bout bird dogs by watching him.

I hunted with Jack all through college and pretty much all day, four days a week during the season until he was 10 or 11, then sparingly until he was 15 and I had him until he was18. Killed a couple thousand pheasant and Lord knows how many quail over that dog. Other than my Dad, he was my best friend and one heck of a bird dog. We spent many a day, morning to night,in the car coming and going and in the field... with just each other.

Still miss him...and he has been gone looooong time. He was special...we were a team.

Anyhow that is how I got started and why I am still chasing after bird dogs, best I can.

RayG

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by sns2 » Sun Jun 12, 2022 1:43 pm

Great stories folks.

I was 12 and my buddy 13 when his family took in a Pudelpointer that was roaming the neighborhood. It was abused by the owner whom they later tracked down. Poor dog was beaten down bad. We would try our best to hunt with him. He was better at busting birds than pointing them, but on occasion he’d flash point which we thought was really cool. When we got our hunting licences, and wheels, we would go jump shooting ducks with him. We’d have to throw sticks or rocks near the downed ducks to get him to go in the water, but as young kids we had fun.

When I was in gr 11, I bought a Springer pup. Two weeks later she died of poisoning. My dad found slug poison that he had left on the side of the house that I knew nothing about. I was heartbroken.

I then thought, I will get a GSP. So what does a gr 10 kid do? He goes to a dog show. There was a lady there who told me her show dogs were fantastic hunters, so I bought a pup from her. I should have known better when my buddy and I went to her trailer and saw she had 27 dogs. Puppy mill of the highest order, but what does an excited kid know, and she was a good liar.

That winter, I went to the Boat and Sportsmen Show which had hunting dogs doing their thing, as well as a few dog clubs. The president of the local pointing dog club invited me to a training day in the spring. I went and was downcast to find out my dog had literally no interest in birds. Zip, zilch, nada.

That man felt badly for me and told me that he was thinking of selling a three year old female who had puppy and derby placements, as well as a litter of pups, a few of which were on the ground pointing birds at this trading day. I asked how much and he said $1000. That was a lot of money for a kid in gr 11 in 1984. I worked for my dad and saved the money and bought a real bird dog. I trained and hunted her hard. I’d net pigeons under bridges, and drive to the country to put her on wild birds. I had found my passion.

Most importantly, that man who sold me my dog, a hard drinking, crazy bugger, took me under his wing and hauled me all over heck’s half acre hunting and field trialing. I then convinced my dad to pay for half the cost of sending her to a pro in Washingston State, Bob Dietering. In the six months she was there, I travelled down from Canada twice to see her. "bleep" if she didn’t win the first Open Gun Dog Stake she ran in. Due to my dad’s business taking a downturn, we had to bring her back home early. That sucked because Bob thought she had the right stuff to compete at the highest level. Regardless, she was my first good dog and I loved her to pieces. She passed at the age of 14. That fall she had taken a downturn and was diagnosed with cancer. Her last hunt in late November, she somehow summoned the strength to go hard. It was like she knew. We got our two pheasant and I was heading back to the truck when I lost her. I looked long and hard. Found her on point in the tall grass. She gave me a glance out of her eye that had “Dad, where in the heck were you?” written all over it. Even though I had my limit, I shot that rooster as a I knew it would be our last together. It was.

I was in my 20s at the time and finding my way in life, so no more time for a dog. Got married and had kids, the youngest of which was asthmatic and allergic to dogs. Thankfully, he outgrew it and so 6 years ago were on the hunt for a hunting dog. Through the recommendation of an internet friend, I was told about a deal on a young dog that was too good to be true. I called the pro who trained it and he told me glowing reports. So, thinking this dude was giving me the straight goods, I bought the dog and my young son sold his rifle to pay his share, as I wanted to teach him responsibility, and I thought it would work out well as it did for me when I was in high school. Nope. Dog was not as billed. Not at all. After a year of trying everything in our power, that dog went to a family looking for a pet. Broke my son’s heart. Was totally my fault. I trusted and got burnt. I should have known better.

A year later we got a Lab who is now four. I had never had a retriever, but joined a club, found a few mentors, immersed myself in learning, and worked my tail off in training. As importantly, I listened to people who said to buy the very best breeding you can find. At two, he got his first Master Pass. He’s a helluva animal.

Last summer, my son, who had just finished gr12, begged my wife and I for his own hunting dog. He is a great kid, loves dogs, and as he petitioned me, he basically had his gr 11 and 12 years robbed by Covid (he’s a good athlete and all sports were wiped out). He had his own money, so how could I say no. I assumed he was gonna want a Lab, but nope. He wanted a GSP. We found a hot blooded field trial breeding in the US, as I did with my Lab pup, and bought a GSP puppy.

She is 10 months old tomorrow and basically came outta the womb pointing intensely and standing her birds log enough to easily get to her and kill the bird. We have worked hard with her and are looking very forward to her first hunting season, as she is definitely ready. We can’t wait. I have so much enjoyed being with my son in this pursuit, and find it super cool that he is following my journey to a tee.

It has been incredibly rewarding having hunting dogs in my life. Dogs are better than most people, but I am preaching to the choir.

One of the neatest parts has been seeing the bond that my son, and my first mentor have developed. He’s in his 70s now, but loves being with my son and talking bird dogs.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by slistoe » Mon Jun 13, 2022 9:38 am

I got started with hunting before I was even aware of it - one of my memories as a child was watching my dad and his friends haul an antelope through the trap door of the kitchen to the cellar to hang. It is a vivid picture in my mind and later in life I learned we moved from that house when I was just under 3 years old. Many Sunday afternoons were spent target shooting with the Marlin 22 and when I could hit 5 for 5 on the beer bottle caps in the sand at 25 paces I was allowed to take a turn at shooting the heads on grouse. At twelve I mowed lawns for the summer and bought my first gun from the sears mail order catalog - a single shot 410 (despite the objections from my father that a shotgun was only good for ruining meat). I grew up reading the dog columns in Outdoor Life and Field and Stream and dreaming of wingshooting over a pointing dog. When I got married, had a job and was settled I figured it was time - bought a Brittany pup from a hunter. It was a wild thing - the kind of dog I would dream of owning now but was a real handful for a fellow with no experience with dogs and no one to learn from. Sadly that dog was hit on the road at a year and a half old. Because the area we were in was goose hunters heaven I bought a Lab and she was an awesome dog. But I still wanted a Brittany. Bought a pup and the breeder invited me to come to a trial - there I met the dog fraternity - the folks that lived and breathed bird dogs. I entered my first trial in 96 and lived and breathed dogs with them for many years. (sns2 - I'm sure I would have met up with your "hard drinking, crazy bugger", but since that describes most everyone who was there it doesn't really narrow it down much). The kids became teenagers and chasing their interests and ambitions left little time for competing with dogs so I faded from that scene. I still have a lab and 3 Brits and will always be in the field gunning over a dog.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by MNTonester » Thu Jun 23, 2022 9:48 am

My dad and his cousins lived near each other as kids/young men and they hunted grouse and rabbits. We also had relatives on the farm in SE MN where they would go to pheasant hunt. Even my mom would go down to hunt with the inlaws and other family members (before 6 kids came along). As little kids, we caught the desire to hunt from dad, uncles, etc. At age 12, with our gun safety training certificates, my brothers and I finally got to hunt with dad and carry a gun. At first, we didn't have a dog, but we were the eyes and retrievers for dad and each other. Back then it was only grouse and rabbits. We lived in NE MN at an innocent time when you'd see all kinds of kids headed through town to the nearby woods to hunt after school. Not so much as a glance about that. At some point my dad got Princess, a yellow lab. She never retrieved but was a great flusher and would sit a downed bird; in addition to being an absolute sweetheart of a family pet. When she passed on, my dad got Mollie, a black lab who was an excellent hunter and pet. By this time, I was going to college and only got out to grouse hunt on visits back home. However, I was attending school in SW MN and tried my hand at pheasant hunting (without a dog). Didn't really know what I was doing but a group of us got out occasionally and actually got a few. Fast forward almost 20 years and now married. My wife and I bought a big yellow lab on our way home from our honeymoon (1978). Knew nothing about training and it showed in this stubborn, but sweet natured dog. The mining company I worked for fell on hard times and we sold Katie to a man who actually knew how to work with a dog. I had one or two opportunities to go to South Dakota to hunt with relatives but could not see my way to do so. I would still get out grouse and rabbit hunting during those years, without a dog. At some point we got a family invite to hunt Iowa at a time when the bird numbers close to rivaled South Dakota. They had dogs and I was hooked on pheasants and dogs. Having an Iowa license, I had an opportunity to go for one last January hunt and asked my dad if I could take his lab, Maggie, with me. He said, no, get your own dog. The next year I broke the lab mold my dad and siblings were in by getting a Springer Spaniel. Bilbo was an incredible no-quit pheasant finding machine in addition to being another sweetheart of a pet. When he was a pup, I lost a job and was going for some retraining program that didn't start until that winter so I had the whole Fall off and the grouse cycle was at its peak. Getting into so many birds and lots of time afield, Bilbo taught himself in addition to my meager training skills. Eventually my dad and two brothers started pheasant hunting in SE MN and I finally (not having hunted pheasant for almost 20 years) went along. We hunted out of a dog friendly motel in Austin, MN. Some years were bountiful, some were spare, but we loved those yearly get-togthers and my brothers and I have turned this into decades long tradition where they come to MN from Texas and Colorado to hunt pheasant and grouse. Somewhere along the way, we got an invite from my wife's sister in SW MN to come hunt there and that's where our pheasant hunt has taken place since then. I lost a job and gained a job that allowed me more time off and I made many a pilgrimage either alone (with Bilbo and eventually my black lab, Chaz) or with a friend or two to SW MN. My in-laws were very indulgent of me and took a liking to all the friends I would bring down there. Eventually Chaz was my only dog and the pattern continued; family hunt and individual hunts. The one constant was the dogs; they were the reason I love hunting and they are an important part of the family. My dog now is Oscar, a standard poodle who is every bit the flusher retriever Chaz was. Bilbo was the best hunting dog I've had but Chaz and Oscar are mighty close. I see for most of us the influence of a hunting dad has been very important, but then, someone like Steve who was largely self-taught, can end up with the same enthusiasm and joy of hunting dog ownership.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by Steve007 » Thu Jun 23, 2022 10:43 am

MNTonester wrote:
Thu Jun 23, 2022 9:48 am
I see for most of us the influence of a hunting dad has been very important, but then, someone like Steve who was largely self-taught, can end up with the same enthusiasm and joy of hunting dog ownership.
"Self-taught" would not be precisely correct. I received quite a bit of professional instruction in shooting, bird dog training, field trials plus a good deal of study through books, magazines and videos. And of course, I did learn from others that I shot or hunted with. But it was certainly all done as an adult starting at the age of 40+ , though I had a successful background in dog sports of a non-hunting nature previously.

StrAp44
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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by StrAp44 » Sun Jun 26, 2022 8:19 pm

Growing up I had a step pap who hunted but wouldn't take me ("because he's not my grandkid") and an uncle who hunted at a camp that didn't allow guests. I finally got my hunters safety at 17 years old, took my first deer freshman year of college from my best friends stand as his dad mentored me. Then hunted about 1-2 days of rifle the rest of college. At 24 I had coworkers take me out for my first upland hunt. Another coworker convince me to get a bow. I've been hooked since. At 32 I got my first PA (archery) buck, at 33 I was finally in the position to get a bird dog. I still hunt with my friend/mentor (my friends father) at least once a year in PA and again for trip to NY, this year he has agreed to join me in a pheasant hunt or two over my ESS.

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roaniecowpony
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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by roaniecowpony » Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:24 pm

Old thread, but then it seems this forum isn't seeing as much activity as it used to 4 or 5 years ago.

I was a service brat at about 6 years old in 1962, with my father who was stationed at Glasgow AFB Montana, when he took me and my older brother rabbit hunting and pheasant hunting. My brother and I were the bird dogs. We flushed and occasionally pointed, then retrieved. We were steady to the flush and shot and worked voice and hand commands. I don't recall doing whistle commands. Mom would get pissed at dad when we came home with our faces all scratched up from the bushes out by Saco and Malta.

Service life is constant change and by 1965 we were off to Japan and by 1968 my dad was retiring from USAF and mom wanted to live her dream of being in California. So, that's where we stayed. I never hunted again until I was 18 years old, when I took our old 22 rifles out and started chasing around the desert. I also took up archery hunting around that time.

My hunting mainly consisted of rifle and archery deer hunting in my 20s and 30s. I took up skeet shooting in my mid 20s but moved away from it and the deer hunting by my late 30s, when I took up horses. A bunch of years of horses and I was ready to move onto something less physical by my 50s.

I went back to skeet shooting, then sporting clays and took up some walk-up valley quail hunting that proved to be rewarding. But I was losing birds after they hit the ground. So I figured a retriever was what I needed. That was my first dog at age 50. An American field Lab, fast, energetic, prey drive like a lion. Wow! I was impressed with a dog's abilities. That lab proved to be a real upland bird producing partner. Easily doubling or tripling my bag.

As the Lab aged, I took interest in getting another dog and took a George Hickox class. That led to buying a pointer from George. Now I'm on my second pointer. I love the abilities of a pointer, but miss the affections of a Lab. I have friends with GSPs and they have all been quite affectionate dogs. I may consider a GSP for the next one, if I have another hunting dog in me.

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Re: So how did You get started with dogs and hunting?

Post by mnaj_springer » Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:02 am

I'll keep the revived thread going since I haven't been active in a while.

My story is a little different because I am really the first generation of bird hunters in my family, or at least serious bird hunter. I grew up in a family that almost exclusively hunter deer, but sometime around age 10 I started watching shows (this was pre-YouTube) and read about bird hunting because the local Sharptails caught my eye.

Eventually I was able to buy my first Springer (with some help) at age 12. He was my dog and mine alone. I trained with with the help of more training videos and books, but mostly his natural talent came through. We chased those sharpies and also the occasional ruffy all over. And occasionally we'd shoot ducks and geese. Now I look back and think if I would've known half of what I know now, he could've been a lifetime type of dog.

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