new to gun dogs, advice needed.

[birdyhunter]

Ok so I'm new to this forum as well as new to gun dogs. I have a 7 month old gsp I have been working with myself and he seems to be doing great in my very limited opinion. He will sit, stay, heel, retrieve to hand, he's steady to shot (on ducks) and will retrieve them. I'm stuck on where to begin on quail however. I have researched till my brain hurts and have come up with a thousand different opinions. Any advice would be appreciated!

[Sharon]

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like your pup is doing great. Personally i would slow down but jmo. I'm assuming you have been using pigeon? Because pen raised quail flush poorly , often only running , they are a difficult bird for a young dog. I would hold off but maybe you have a CH on your hands.

[birdyhunter]

I actually just started using pigeon this past week and haven't even done much of that. He has never even seen a live quail but shows great enthusiasm with the pigeons. I'm having a problem finding any pen raised quail in my part of the state although I do have several coveys of wild quail on my property. Should I just try and get him into the wild quail right off the bat?

[jcbuttry8]

My pointer got to the point that she wouldn't even stop for the pigeons. Her momma was the same way. So, the setup we used was, tie down a quail and put it in the tall grass and put the releases behind the the quail loaded with pigeons. Had no issue getting her to stop on the quail and the pigeon helped her figure out that she couldn't catch. Seemed to work great and she never caught a bird. Works with chukar too.

Once they are steady with that then you can move to quail only and not worry about the crappy flyers.

Joe

[campgsp]

Welcome to the forum. Great breed of choice you have.

What exactly are you trying to figure out with quail? How to hunt them? Train with using them?

For training I would suggest pigeons. You will get the same results when you go hunt quail.

Sounds like you have a fine bird dog there.

[birdyhunter]

I have actually just started using pigeons in the past week. He has never seen a quail before, I am just trying to figure out how/when to start him on them. As far as guns and waterfowl go he was an absolute natural to both. Loves the water, loves to retrieve and absolutely no fear whatsoever of gun fire. Like I said I'm new to this so the timeline on when to introduce new things is still a bit fuzzy.

[Wildweeds]

It is hunting season,IMO the dog will learn far more than you could even try to set up and teach him if you just go hunting,keep your bar set low and let him figure it out for himself,the first season is the dogs,the rest are yours.

[birdyhunter]

Sorry for the whole double post thing, I forgot all my posts had to be approved at first so I just thought my phone had messed up. Anyway, keep the advice coming guys I really appreciate it.

[Sharon]

It is hunting season,IMO the dog will learn far more than you could even try to set up and teach him if you just go hunting,keep your bar set low and let him figure it out for himself,the first season is the dogs,the rest are yours.

x2 get him on the wild quail you mentioned.

[roaner]

For training I would suggest pigeons. You will get the same results when you go hunt quail.

I have found this to be untrue. Pigeon do not sound, smell, or act like quail. Dogs being very associative will, can and have in my experience, taken steps back on new species. My brit needed additional work on quail and pheasant.

Some dogs may make the association but I wouldn't make the assumption. A lot of people train with quail for that reason.

[4dabirds]

The level of expectation you have for your dog is your personal choice and is limited by your commitment to train your dog as well as your ability understand training technique. As you get into this sport your knowledge will grow and your understanding of dogs and the game will depend on your ability to decipher all the information you get , as to whether it is useful or not. http://www.georgehickox.com/about_georg ... icles.html This is a great resource for info that may help you.

[birdyhunter]

Thanks for the link! Very helpful info and will be put to good use.

[homestead setters]

Put him in the wild birds and just hunt him.