WDFW Bird Dog "Training Season" ??

[aaronoto]

The regs are kind of vague....  What the heck is this season?!  Does it mean a guy can train dogs on wild birds on public land from August 1 - March 31 and shoot them when in season (assuming proper license) but only train on them pre/post season?  Then after March 31 you have to transition to only the sites listed in the regs instead of any public land?  If anyone could shed some light on this season it would be much appreciate!  I'm not looking to release pen raised birds on public land and shoot them, but I would like to take my pup to some spots I hunt and not only run her around so she gets used to the terrain but also continue her gunfire introduction work out there as well.  I'm guess the shooting part would be the only thing that would raise some eyebrows since nothing would be in season, if I didn't have my shotgun on me I'll claim to just be a bird watcher that happens to own a gun dog and we were out for a walk

Thanks!

[wildweeds]

Intalco is a year round dog area, obviously be mindful of spring waterfowl chicks. I used to train there all the time when my dogs were younger. And I shot pigeons for them. Never got hassled once, but then again I knew the guy that ran the complex at lake terrell.

[aaronoto]

Intalco is a year round dog area, obviously be mindful of spring waterfowl chicks. I used to train there all the time when my dogs were younger. And I shot pigeons for them. Never got hassled once, but then again I knew the guy that ran the complex at lake terrell.

Been spending some time out there already, stayed away from the ponds though in case anyone was hunting ducks.  Won't have to worry about that for too much longer though.

[JayBird02]

Starting now until March 31 I will run my dogs on public ground and train with wild birds. I use 12 gauge blank rounds and make sure I don't carry any real ammo with me just in case. Granted I live in Eastern Washington so it's a little easier to find wild birds and I have pointing dogs. As far as the bird dog training areas go I'm with you the regs are pretty vague and the only place I know of over here is over 2 hours away. Lucky for me I found a farmer near by that will let me train with pigeons and pen raised birds on his property after the 31. I did used to do some training over at the Stillwater (By Duvall) release site/training area but I always got weird looks from people who were just using the area to take their dogs for a run.

[jetjockey]

I believe it means from April 1st-August 1st you cant train on public or private land on wild birds.  The reason being is April-August is when the birds mate and hatch.  The point of the training season is allow wild birds to mate without being bothered.  Released birds are fair game, but you better be able to prove they are pen raised birds and you probably shouldn't train in an area where known wild birds exist.

[AspenBud]

You can run the dogs on wild birds on public land from now until March 31. After that you want to stay off public property with the dogs in a training capacity until August.

I believe some, not all, of the pheasant release areas are open for training year round, though I know in the case of some they rotate where it can be done (Shilapoo and Vancouver Lake come to mind).

You must have a small game license for either however and a western Washington pheasant license to work on the release sites open for it on the west side.

What is less clear is the use of birds. I wrote the WDFW about this last year and I got some uneasy and somewhat vague replies back but the crux of it was that game birds used for training must be banded (as in, they better be able to trace them back to the seller, especially if you are shooting them). They weren't clear about the use of homing pigeons relative to that however.

I would give the local field office a call if you really want to be sure. If you e-mail them, print the replies and take them with you to show to any LEO who might want to check on you in the event they see things differently.

[aaronoto]

Thanks all, makes sense now!


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[scottr]

I think even a zip tie on the ankle of a pen raised bird is good enough for banding your planted birds.

[Old Dog]

I've got a state game farm license, and it is my understanding that you have to have the WDFW game farm receipt, and the bird has to be marked, either by removal of the outside toe on the left foot, or with a WDFW band on the left leg.  Laws and rules change, but I'm pretty sure that is current.

[Birdguy]

When I had my gamefarm license they said they preferred a state band but after talking with them (the upland game manager at the time) I was fine with tie wraps as no native bird should have one on  . The receipt was MANDATORY if the birds were to be released and could escape as they wanted the insurance the birds were tested and certified disease free. A call to WDFW and talking to the current upland manager Brian Caulkins (sp) would clear it up.

[wildweeds]

Birds are birds and pigeons work just as good as the others,maybe better. Better in the fact that if you get overzealous on correcting the dog will blink pigeons but not gamebirds. Plus 3 pigeons can be bought for the price of a single chukar.When 12-15 bucks get shelled out is when the hokey rubber hose hobbles and cardboard squares come out. And that turns it so fake it isn't funny. Shortcuts with dog training never work out very well.