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Upland birds for young GSP

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swagelin

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Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone knew of any state parks / areas in Massachusetts where I might find some upland birds. Not for hunting right now but I have a young GSP. I am looking to exercise her mainly but also if we came across a bird or two that would be great. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know.

Thanks!
 
swagelin said:
Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone knew of any state parks / areas in Massachusetts where I might find some upland birds. Not for hunting right now but I have a young GSP. I am looking to exercise her mainly but also if we came across a bird or two that would be great. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
That's a tough one this time of year. Pheasant is a stocked bird in the fall season on WMA. They are not a naturally reproducing species in New England and holdovers are rare. Grouse are almost gone from Massachusetts now but I did happen accross one a couple of weeks ago down on the cape. Upland bird hunting is dying or almost dead in mass except for the stocked pheasant in fall. Way up in Maine the logging roads hold a fair amount of grouse but it's a long drive.
 
Section 1

"The verb ''to hunt'', in all of its moods and tenses, includes pursuing, shooting, killing and capturing mammals and birds and all lesser acts such as disturbing, harrying or worrying, or placing, setting, drawing or using any device commonly used to take mammals and birds, whether or not such acts result in taking; and includes every attempt to take and every act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take mammals and birds"
 
pupchow said:
Section 1

"The verb ''to hunt'', in all of its moods and tenses, includes pursuing, shooting, killing and capturing mammals and birds and all lesser acts such as disturbing, harrying or worrying, or placing, setting, drawing or using any device commonly used to take mammals and birds, whether or not such acts result in taking; and includes every attempt to take and every act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take mammals and birds"
Click to expand...
Are you saying you believe it's illegal for a guy and his dog to walk through a public land field and let his dog sniff for birds?
 
Your best bet would be to find an area where they've been running pointer trials on the cape. They use quail and don't shoot them so they end up hanging around. But stay away from any areas that would typically hold woodcock as they're nesting and this is the time of the year you should avoid them.
 
Gonna be hard this time of year. Not sure where in MA you are but there are a few clubs that offer pheasant hunting year round. Your best bet is to find one of those clubs and join

I was a member at Western MA bird dog club last year to get my new lab pup trained and can say it’s a great club.
 
Best bet for this time of year training is to locate some pheasant wings, probably from someone here, and buy some pheasant scent. Drag it through the grass on a string and leave it. Then release the dog that has NOT been watching. That will train them to scent, follow and retrieve. No hassles in the field with young birds and nests.
 
RDG said:
Gonna be hard this time of year. Not sure where in MA you are but there are a few clubs that offer pheasant hunting year round. Your best bet is to find one of those clubs and join

I was a member at Western MA bird dog club last year to get my new lab pup trained and can say it’s a great club.
Click to expand...
+1

Join a bird dog club. Western MA bird dog club is a great club, there is one by me called Hedgerow Hunt club in Royalston, MA.
 
swagelin said:
Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone knew of any state parks / areas in Massachusetts where I might find some upland birds. Not for hunting right now but I have a young GSP. I am looking to exercise her mainly but also if we came across a bird or two that would be great. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
You could try Flaherty Field Trial Area in East Windsor, CT. There's already been several field trials there so the odds are good your pup will find some quail. Another alternative is to buy some quail or chukar/huns and plant them yourself. Good luck!
 
Usually in March/early April there are flights of woodcock coming back. I walk (er...train... with the new regs) my dog in Barre Falls all the time and there are lots of woodcock around. The other day we moved 7 birds on 4 mile walk. I do try to keep it to a minimum as they will be nesting soon, this spring is so wet it's likely gonna be a bad year for that, so I'll try to run the dog in other areas where there aren't so many birds.

In the early fall you should be able to locate some quail or chuckar from a breeder etc. If the dog is pointing song birds, etc...your halfway there anyway. GSP are pretty much naturals, and the main thing is keeping them close while they are young. As they get older they are really good dogs.
 
A pointing dog trainer that I knew had a bunch of homing pigeons. She would go to a field and plant them for the pup to find and eventually flush. The birds would make it home before they did. Rinse and repeat.
 
Last dog I did I used both live birds, scent, and wings. I bought 2 dozen pheasant chicks and raised them till they were adults. Started with wings and a scent drag eventually working to live birds. I have a 4 month old English pointer now that I have been working with. Not going to use live birds this time other than what I may bump into in the wild. The roosters were relentless with ripping the hens apart. This is my first pointer, always had labs and I don’t think I will ever go back to a lab. Watching the 2 side by side the puppy already covers double the ground, nose in the dirt the entire time. Just from what I have seen in 5-6 weeks I have had him the training is so much faster. The natural drive seems stronger.

Where are you located?
 
Brian5582 said:
Last dog I did I used both live birds, scent, and wings. I bought 2 dozen pheasant chicks and raised them till they were adults. Started with wings and a scent drag eventually working to live birds. I have a 4 month old English pointer now that I have been working with. Not going to use live birds this time other than what I may bump into in the wild. The roosters were relentless with ripping the hens apart. This is my first pointer, always had labs and I don’t think I will ever go back to a lab. Watching the 2 side by side the puppy already covers double the ground, nose in the dirt the entire time. Just from what I have seen in 5-6 weeks I have had him the training is so much faster. The natural drive seems stronger.

Where are you located?
Click to expand...

That's awesome. I just started with a trainer up in NH (East Coast Field Dogs) doing some field training including live birds. I live just outside of Boston so it is a little bit tougher for me to raise birds. I agree with everything you are saying about the drive I've seen between pointers and labs. My pointer requires a ton of exercise and is definitely more stubborn but from what I've seen she has a lot more drive. I'm sure each dog / breeder is different so I am certainly not saying anything bad about labs.

After speaking with the trainer I am less concerned with getting her in front of lots of birds right away. He believes that once a dog can find and point birds that's all instincts. Training the dog is more important since once they start they will always find birds. Obviously you want to get the dog on birds but I agree that it is a natural drive for them versus training which is really teaching the dog.
 
Mine was also a lot more stubborn to begin with, that nose gets on the ground and that is all they are focused on. A good breeder and good bloodline also obviously has a lot to do with it. We just got really lucky, my wife was talking to some people at work that have pointers from the same breeder and had nothing but good things to say. They use them primarily as field dogs and raved about them. We were looking for a pup for my son to grow up with and they happened to have the one beautiful male left and we wanted a male after having females forever. My wife says “let’s just go look, it’s a lot of money for a dog” I said when does looking at a available puppy ever stay with just looking. As you said I love all my labs but they are dumb as a box of rocks. Their love is unconditional and they are great family dogs but dumb, dumb, dumb lol.
 
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