Pheasant scent..

sincere113

I'm in the process of training up my springer x fox terrier. Ive got to the point in his training where I need to get him to hunt ahead and follow scent. I've heard a few bad stories about the bottled scent you can buy, has any one any experience with this?

I have 4 pheasant held back from release for breeding purposes, is it enough to leave the dummy in the release pen to pick up enough sccent of them? The release pen is fairly big with just the 4 birds in it......

deerhunter1

sincere113 wrote: »

I'm in the process of training up my springer x fox terrier. Ive got to the point in his training where I need to get him to hunt ahead and follow scent. I've heard a few bad stories about the bottled scent you can buy, has any one any experience with this?

I have 4 pheasant held back from release for breeding purposes, is it enough to leave the dummy in the release pen to pick up enough sccent of them? The release pen is fairly big with just the 4 birds in it......

I have used the scent with great success over the years, still use it in summer time to keep dogs on their toes. no problems encountered.

dev110

sincere113 wrote: »

I'm in the process of training up my springer x fox terrier. Ive got to the point in his training where I need to get him to hunt ahead and follow scent. I've heard a few bad stories about the bottled scent you can buy, has any one any experience with this?

I have 4 pheasant held back from release for breeding purposes, is it enough to leave the dummy in the release pen to pick up enough sccent of them? The release pen is fairly big with just the 4 birds in it......

I only started training a springer last December and started to use the bottled scent and he is putting up every pheasant he comes across.

I think they are a good thing to have.

sincere113

Ok thanks, which brand are you guys using?

dev110

I'm using TrailMaster pheasant scent.
Got it off SportsDen.

mightyabhabelle

hi Sincere...

I bought a dummy Pheasant from here....

http://www.activehuntingireland.ie/ ... and the pheasent sent. I got a syringe and a needle and inject the dummy with the smell. I'd drag it about and leave in it a ditch.

This was great for training the dogs....

also... dont be without a copy of the GunDog Broad Sheets... best 40 pages of training you will every get for a dog :-)

rgds M

Alchemist2

Hi Sincere,

Tis great stuff as the lads have said, i also used it in the pheasant dummy then introduced a pheasant wing tied onto same dummy just to get em used to feathers before finally moving onto a pheasant pelt covered dummy... can be got from Sporting Saint in the uk for 20 quid.. great stuff to awaken the senses of an uninterested dog

kermitpwee

This sounds interesting lads. how do yee use the scent to make the dog hunt? Is it that he hunts for the dummy or what? I have a young dog coming on but he is not showing great signs off hunting at the moment, could do with any advice. Now he is 10 months and in the past i have waited till they start hunting of their own accord but if there is a quicker way then I'm all ears:D

mightyabhabelle

Hi Kermitpwee,

I am far from an expert in this but from my perspective there is two sides to the training.
1) Obedience in that they obey and act on your commands
2) Hunting - they know what to hunt for

For the first one... save yourself a bucket load of time an energy and get the GunDog broad sheets and stay with them. Dont go to quick through the lessons. I swear by these.

For the second one, hunting... the dog either has the nose or hasnt. You can develope it by using training aids like the scent which I would inject into the dummy doker and get the dog to follow the scent, retrieve the dummy and then reward them. At first I just throw it and they fetch but use the scent. I build this up and then drag the dummy to leave a scent on the ground and hide it. Its a simple process.

The only thing I do different is I keep the dogs of scents that I dont want them on, like foxes, rabbits rats etc... just keep them on pheasant.

I have 2 dogs... one has a great nose and only goes into ditches if it smells a bird. The other one nose isnt as great but it works every ditch to make up for it. Really depends on your dog as to the approach you take.

All the best M

ps... 30 mins training a night is what I did with the 2 dogs... regardless of weather.

jap gt

mightyabhabelle wrote: »

For the first one... save yourself a bucket load of time an energy and get the GunDog broad sheets and stay with them. Dont go to quick through the lessons. I swear by these.

where did you pick these up, i wouldnt mind having a read

cavan shooter

jap gt wrote: »

where did you pick these up, i wouldnt mind having a read

pm me your e mail and I'll sort you;)

sincere113

I downloaded Kindle to my PC and downloaded it off Amazon for a couple of euro. It is good and straight forward with no blarney. Just stick to the lessons and don't move on until you have the dog 100% on a lesson. I think that it would end in disaster if you move too quick without the dog being solid at the basics. I can't emphasise this enough.

I didn't take too much notice of the time scales though and just went at my and the dogs own pace. It took longer than 4 weeks to get the stay and stop command solid.

I just got to the questing ahead part and its all good so far!

mightyabhabelle

lads you can get the book here..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gundog-Training-Made-Easy-Begbie/dp/1411670299/britishshootinga

Its dead cheep. When I got them orginally... they where indeed.. A4 sheets but best money I spent.

Sincere.. you are on the right tracks... trust me... I moved to quick... had the dogs sitting, returning back on the whistle, on hand commands... but I moved to quick and it ended up the dogs forgot the earlier lessons... so I started again... from scratch... do it every nite.. 20 mins is all it takes.

Also if the dog is in the house dont let the family run mad with it. You have to be the master... do giving paw, or jumping up..(defo a NOT when you are in the field with the Gun)

I now on hand command, will have my 2 dogs lie down... I will through one dummy left and the other right... I point in the 2 directions and of they split... looks really impressive

chat soon... take the 6 months on lessons