Gundog walking, off season.

wildfowler94

Lads my mate asked me what was the legal position of walking a gundog on land in the off season as he heard of a lad getting in trouble with his gun club for it, tbh I was stubbed as I had no idea, now as I dont do it I just walk or go public park or lake. wait until august to go near fields. but whats the story.

garv123

wildfowler94 wrote: »

Lads my mate asked me what was the legal position of walking a gundog on land in the off season as he heard of a lad getting in trouble with his gun club for it, tbh I was stubbed as I had no idea, now as I dont do it I just walk or go public park or lake. wait until august to go near fields. but whats the story.

Nothing illegal about it at all but the people dont want the dog in cover putting up birds that are breading or dogs ruining nests and killing young.

dodderangler

wildfowler94 wrote: »

Lads my mate asked me what was the legal position of walking a gundog on land in the off season as he heard of a lad getting in trouble with his gun club for it, tbh I was stubbed as I had no idea, now as I dont do it I just walk or go public park or lake. wait until august to go near fields. but whats the story.

Afaik there's no law against it but most won't walk their dogs on land this time of year as pheasants are breeding and a dog could scare a hen off her eggs or abandon her hatch/ chicks this leading to dead chicks so I can understand why the gun club wouldn't be happy about it. I stopped not too long ago when I spotted a hen sittin in a ditch now I didn't see any young but she could've been on eggs so il be leaving them be till about August
I'm just walking mine in parks and doing retrieving and recalling work and start walking te fields in 2 months or so

jap gt

I keep my 2 out of the fields until august. Only time i take them on pheasant ground is just before the sileage is cut. 1 farmer asks evrry year

deeksofdoom

I take them through grass fields because in fairness as soon as the mower goes through it they're going to be wiped out anyway.

ByeByeGTI

pheasants are a protected bird of season and in my opinion should be left alone to breed.
and anyone just walking a shooting dog knows exactly what there doing.
plenty of vermin work to be done this time of year.

jap gt

ByeByeGTI wrote: »

pheasants are a protected bird of season and in my opinion should be left alone to breed.
and anyone just walking a shooting dog knows exactly what there doing.
plenty of vermin work to be done this time of year.

most fellas with an interest in pheasants will keep well away from them, but i would rather my dog hunting them off of a silage field than a mower killing them all. i have spotted 3 different hens with chicks on land i shoot and i will be doing all i can to make sure the mower doesnt get them, i as well as others put a lot of time and money into looking after pheasants, releasing birds filling feeders etc

ByeByeGTI

jap gt wrote: »

most fellas with an interest in pheasants will keep well away from them, but i would rather my dog hunting them off of a silage field than a mower killing them all. i have spotted 3 different hens with chicks on land i shoot and i will be doing all i can to make sure the mower doesnt get them, i as well as others put a lot of time and money into looking after pheasants, releasing birds filling feeders etc

sounds like great work on your behalf. our club do a great in protecting what we have it just sickens me to see people with no respect for the birds they shoot in November same people first to complain about no birds around.

dodderangler

ByeByeGTI wrote: »

they shoot in November same people first to complain about no birds around.

And prob same lads who shoot 4 or 5 each on November 1st

meathstevie

Pheasants, and other game birds except under derogation, can not be hunted in the closed season and that's hunting in any shape or form as far as I'm concerned including "walking" a working gun dog in areas where you know these birds can and will be present. Call a spade a spade, the only thing you're going to achieve is destroying otherwise viable clutches.

On the other hand the argument of flushing sileage and hay fields before mowing makes a lot of sense. If it means loosing the chicks if they're to young to run out of harms way you'll have at least a fertile hen that's still alive.

ByeByeGTI

dodderangler wrote: »

And prob same lads who shoot 4 or 5 each on November 1st

don't get me wrong me and my shooting buddy's often shoot 4 or 5 in a days s shooting we invest our money and time to make sure a good stock of game

ByeByeGTI

meathstevie wrote: »

Pheasants, and other game birds except under derogation, can not be hunted in the closed season and that's hunting in any shape or form as far as I'm concerned including "walking" a working gun dog in areas where you know these birds can and will be present. Call a spade a spade, the only thing you're going to achieve is destroying otherwise viable clutches.

On the other hand the argument of flushing sileage and hay fields before mowing makes a lot of sense. If it means loosing the chicks if they're to young to run out of harms way you'll have at least a fertile hen that's still alive.

exactly that's how i see it anyway

ace86

Can I ask is it May or June that pheasants hatch in the wild? where in rough ground with rushes byres etc would a hen make her nest? How long does the cock stay with the hen after mating, hatching etc?

lb1981

ace86 wrote: »

Can I ask is it May or June that pheasants hatch in the wild? where in rough ground with rushes byres etc would a hen make her nest? How long does the cock stay with the hen after mating, hatching etc?

They can have a couple of clutches during the summer ,nests can be in long grass or ditches,i came across chicks in August last year.

lb1981

wildfowler94 wrote: »

Lads my mate asked me what was the legal position of walking a gundog on land in the off season as he heard of a lad getting in trouble with his gun club for it, tbh I was stubbed as I had no idea, now as I dont do it I just walk or go public park or lake. wait until august to go near fields. but whats the story.

It is not against the law ,your just a **** if you do it ,lads in my club do it ,bunch of ****ing assholes.
The whole philosophy of vermin control is to aid pheasant breading then you have clowns who run their dogs through nests ,i would love to throw them out of the club ,but its not illegal so you cant.
This time of year i change the dog food to low protein and cut back on it a bit and they get 2 runs if possible a day in the park or over on the green just to keep a bit of the fitness level up and a bit of training, i dont let them back into the fields till the land is in stubble ,the majority of birds should be flying at that stage.

EPointer=Birdss

Anyone that knows their ground & pheasants should be able to run their dogs to keep them sane without ever meeting a pheasant. I have 2 spots I go to where I have yet to meet a pheasant or any other game for as long as I can remember. There are no hoppers, it is wet ground, & generally not ground to hold birds. Don't even meet hares & there's loads of them around.

As for silage cutting - I do this every year with the pointer where ever possible. I leave him drag a lead & if be points I grab it. Get one of the lads to walk ahead of him. Have often gathered eggs or young chicks which would otherwise be mince. Stick em in a incubator or under red light