**Need some guidance**

[FamilyMan01]

Gentleman, I have had my nearly 8 month old Britt out 4 times now and just flat have been unable to find a reasonable amount of birds to get some good training in.  I really would like to find some quail, huns or even a chukar or two to let my young dog work to help intensify his interest.  I feel terrible watching him work for 4-6 hours running his heart out and not being able to put him on any decent number of birds.  Out of the 4 trips we've made this year I've only been able to put him on 2 small covey of quails and 1 wild rooster.

Not looking for a honey hole, just some decent hunting grounds where I can get some good bird contacts for my yound dog.  Please PM me if you can point me in the right direction.  Thanks guys in advance............

[Bwana Bob]

Try the Yakima Res. You should be able to find lots of birds there, especially quail. Or you can lend him to me and I'll hunt him with my Brit this weekend for 3 days. He'll come home tired but Ill get him into lots of birds, just kidding. Lots of birds around the tri cities also.

[whitey]

A great place to get your pup into and started on birds is Cooke Canyon. They have lots of room and the benifits far outweight the cost.
There are other places that offer the same hunting situation for around the same amount of money. Get the pup on birds then you will aleast know your dog has an understanding of what it is doing while in the field.
Good luck and best wishes.

[fethrduster]

Pay to play is a great option for a young dog.  You might even consider getting a pigeon coop and raising a few pigeons yourself, so you can work your dog on them in the back yard.  You might also consider joining a pointing dog club.  You meet lots of guys and find out good areas to go to.  The Yakima res for quail does seem like a no brainer though if you're willing to make the drive.

[thinkingman]

Both the above ideas are great.
There has to be a trainer near you with live birds.

[10Key]

Echo above recommendations...If you are looking for quail, there are literally thousands of acres open to the public in central Washington AND they hold tons of quail and other game birds for that matter. Quail are nice because they tend to hold well (good for young dog) and if you find a good sized covey you can have fun for most of the day, makes it worth the long drive from Western WA

[FamilyMan01]

I've been able to train with him at least once a week on pigeons.  I just want to get him on wild birds.  Pigeons are a great tool IMO for early stages of the training.  However, nothing can compare to a young dog being able to have contacts with wild birds. 

I do live on the west side of the mountains but will drive just about anywhere to get my dog on some birds.  Looks like I am going to have to look into the Yak Rez. 

Any suggestions on where on the Rez to go? Any particular creeks or areas which are better then other's?

Gentleman, I appreciate the comments/suggestions so far and will post a picture here shortly (as soon as I can figure out how) of my young Britt.

[Stilly bay]

I've been able to train with him at least once a week on pigeons.  I just want to get him on wild birds.  Pigeons are a great tool IMO for early stages of the training.  However, nothing can compare to a young dog being able to have contacts with wild birds. 

with a decent remote bird launcher you can make a homing pigeon as hard to approach as a late season pheasant.  then if you mess up its with pigeons and not game birds.

wild birds are great and all but they rarely put you in a situation you have complete control over. I don't care how many contacts you have, wild birds are not going to train your dog for you like so many magazine articles are trying to make us believe.

[TVHunts]

Another echo on the benefit of pet n shoots.  Cooke Canyon, Pitts Game Farm in Coulee City, Miller Ranch in Sprague.  All good places to put your pup on birds.  And, for the most part you can get on the birds again if they flush out without the success.  It was always money well spent in my opinion for my dogs.  Good luck to you. 

[wildweeds]

Actually I have a way of planting homing pigeons that require zero electronics and zero skill on the part of the handler to "Guess" at the "right" time to push the button.  The birds are as close to wild as it gets,actually you really want to do it with kill birds,because if the dog does it right.............. you wanna kill it.

Quote author=Stilly bay link=topic=111027.msg1458154#msg1458154 date=1353991940]

I've been able to train with him at least once a week on pigeons.  I just want to get him on wild birds.  Pigeons are a great tool IMO for early stages of the training.  However, nothing can compare to a young dog being able to have contacts with wild birds. 

with a decent remote bird launcher you can make a homing pigeon as hard to approach as a late season pheasant.  then if you mess up its with pigeons and not game birds.

wild birds are great and all but they rarely put you in a situation you have complete control over. I don't care how many contacts you have, wild birds are not going to train your dog for you like so many magazine articles are trying to make us believe.
[/quote]

[Stilly bay]

Actually I have a way of planting homing pigeons that require zero electronics and zero skill on the part of the handler to "Guess" at the "right" time to push the button.  The birds are as close to wild as it gets,actually you really want to do it with kill birds,because if the dog does it right.............. you wanna kill it.

Quote author=Stilly bay link=topic=111027.msg1458154#msg1458154 date=1353991940]

I've been able to train with him at least once a week on pigeons.  I just want to get him on wild birds.  Pigeons are a great tool IMO for early stages of the training.  However, nothing can compare to a young dog being able to have contacts with wild birds. 

with a decent remote bird launcher you can make a homing pigeon as hard to approach as a late season pheasant.  then if you mess up its with pigeons and not game birds.

wild birds are great and all but they rarely put you in a situation you have complete control over. I don't care how many contacts you have, wild birds are not going to train your dog for you like so many magazine articles are trying to make us believe.

[/quote]

can you employ this technique by yourself or do you need a helper?
 the main benefit of the remote launcher is they don't have wives and funky work schedules or kids.

[wildweeds]

No helper required,The only thing launchers are for is backing/honoring training

[Stilly bay]

No helper required,The only thing launchers are for is backing/honoring training

they are real handy for simulating hunting scenarios and teaching a dog not to crowd birds.
 I really don't know of a better long distance / practical way to teach a dog to be respectful of a bird's space without the help of a launcher or wild birds. granted this isn't an issue for the field trial groupies, where standing over planted birds seems to be acceptable.

[Birdguy]

Familyman, PM sent.

[wildweeds]

I will gladly show you how to do it,guaranteed no FT groupie knows this trick,it's very very very old,it's a trick I learned from a fellow in the pro training world who was nicknamed the "Pigeon Magician",he was the first pro trainer to switch from wild birds to pigeons in the early 50's.The dog better be locking up 20+ feet away or it's bird in the air.

No helper required,The only thing launchers are for is backing/honoring training

they are real handy for simulating hunting scenarios and teaching a dog not to crowd birds.
 I really don't know of a better long distance / practical way to teach a dog to be respectful of a bird's space without the help of a launcher or wild birds. granted this isn't an issue for the field trial groupies, where standing over planted birds seems to be acceptable.