Hunting Washington Forum

Other Hunting => Bird Dogs => Topic started by: Tjajwilson on July 30, 2013, 04:27:31 PM

Title: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: Tjajwilson on July 30, 2013, 04:27:31 PM: I am training my griffon and I'm looking for a pigeon trap and releases, or anything else you might think will help. I'm new to this so any help is appreciated

Thanks,

TJ
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: Happy Gilmore on July 30, 2013, 05:17:06 PM: Save your money and just build a bird pen and buy birds.

Oh, and get a 30' rope. best to make it from something thin which won't give you rope burn too bad. Home Depot has some stuff which works fine. Might want to pick up cat kennel at a garage sale to carry birds around. tie string around their feet and about 30' to a wood block and you have instant homing pigeons and bird release all in one for about $10 cost including the bird.
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: Tjajwilson on July 30, 2013, 05:35:26 PM: So as a last resort I'll do that lol but I can get a new trap at big r for 30 bucks or so and a release for 12.99 at cabelas
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: bracer40 on August 01, 2013, 09:47:43 AM: As an alternative to the 30' thin rope, the same length of thin air hose from the hardware store works well too. Best thing about it is it doesn't get tangled and is less prone to snagging in the field.
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: Stilly bay on August 01, 2013, 10:36:39 AM: For $30 you could build three traps yourself that would work so much better than what you could buy at cabelas or gun dog supply.
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: SnowDog on August 01, 2013, 11:05:10 AM: I built a small coop for less than $100 and got very young birds from a guy in Arlington for $10. After three weeks I have them returning to the loft so I can use them over and over. For birds you plan to shoot, you can find them on Craig's List for $5 each.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/3970031751.html (http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/3970031751.html)

You can also just build a small cage or purchase a small animal crate from Petco and just keep buying your birds from craigslist. The homers are really the way to go.
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: Don Fischer on August 07, 2013, 03:49:07 PM: Guess i don't get what the 30' rope is for? Go into old barns after dark and shine a light on the pigeons and you can pick them up like berries on a bush. Release traps? I'm guessing from the price your talking about, you looking for manual traps. I don't have much use for manual traps. I've got a set of remote's that are great but cost some money. To supplement them I've got kick traps to plant birds in. Of course it's best to have a dog really steady to use kick traps, be a good idea with manual traps too.

I have had a pigeon loft for about 30 yrs now, I have never had to buy pigeon's. Got into homer's a couple years ago and a guy I know pretty local that races, gave me three pairs. Lost some to hawks but still have about 40 birds now and five or six nest's in there. Get yourself about ten birds and lock them up. Once you've got most on a nest, open the bobs and let them come and go. The breeders will come back to their nest's. The other's might too and then again might not, the heck with them. The one's on nest's are gonna create so many babies your gonna have to shoot them to defend yourself! Figure two sq ft per bird in a loft. A dinky 4'x4' loft will handle 8+ birds with ease. You'd never have to buy another bird. Catch your own and you'll never have to buy a bird.

one problem with the home grown birds. If you have enough birds and the word get's out, the phone will drive you crazy with people you didn't even know existed wanting to buy birds. I've sold a few and helped guy's start a bunch of loft's. Think I,m about done selling them, I can use the extras as shooter's myself. One guy in Bend wanted some to start a loft and if he calls back I'll sell him some then I don't think I'll sell any more.
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: wildweeds on August 07, 2013, 09:59:43 PM: 30 foot rope is a checkcord,at least that's the way I took it.
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: Happy Gilmore on August 08, 2013, 09:20:26 AM: you only need a bird, rope and a gun to train a pointing dog. Or, almost any gun dog for that matter. Your dog won't find any electronic launchers out hunting. They are handy if you work alone although, if you can get a friend out to help you once every week or two, there are a million and one different things you can do to train your dog. Shooting a bird over them every day isn't necessary and that is about all a launcher is really needed for anyways.

You need a bird launcher because you don't have homing pigeons? Tie 50' of kite string to a pigeon and add a little weight on the end of the string. You've got an instant homer. It will fly off, dog doesn't know it didn't fly away to china. That's all that matters.

If you've got a good pointer that has a natural point, about all you need to do is put some obedience into the dog for it to be a good gundog. Pointers are easy to train.
Title: Re: Bird dog supplies.
Post by: Tjajwilson on August 16, 2013, 05:59:18 AM: She is going to be much more then just pointing I got her pointing now and retrieving from a blind and from water ( mostly) and soon on to rabbits. Versatile hunting dog is what I'm trying to create with her.

I started to trap some pigeons at my work so hopefully the few I get will be enough.

This is tess my new wire haired pointing Griffin