Pheasant scent = nothing Pheasant wing = results?

Jeff V

Jeff V

New member
I dont get it. I dumped a whole bunch of pheasant scent on a canvas dummy, threw it for my dog a few times (3 year old yellow lab) and then put her in the barn, drug it in the grass and put it in the weeds on the fence line, let her out walked over by the scent and nothing she could never find it unless i walked right up on top of it and she would lose interest quickly.


Today I went to gander, got a couple pheasant wings, zip tied one to a rubber dummy threw it a few times got her excited and did the same thing. She wanted it bad and the second i let her out of the barn the nose was on the ground. She hit the trail and went right up to it and grabbed it.

So what gives, the feathers get her excited about it finally? I plan on gettin her rilled up on the dummy before we go out into the field tomorrow to try and get a few birds in the snow. Hopefully that works. I was thinking I had a dog with a busted nose for the longest time all it took was a little bit of feather to get her going.
 
maybe the pheasant scent doesn't smell like pheasants????? I got a bottle of pheasant scent also but the dog I had at the time had no interest in it.
 
Need more info about hte dog... How many birds has it put up? Are you just starting? Etc. It is possible that the dog did not make the connection between playing fetch and actually hunting up a bird. If the dog is a working bird dog already, then I would say teh scent is a wash. Instead of buying scent go find a few birds at a local bird farm.
 
1 bird yesterday when we were out hunting. Shes brand new to this. 3 year old yellow lab. Ive been hiding the dummy with the wing on it in the tall grasses in the landscaping so it is not visible and just walking around the yard with her and she will get down wind of it and bust into the grass and pull it out.

However when we were out hunting she was not doing this she would get on some scents and follow them but wasnt really nose to the ground on the pheasant tracks. we saw 5 birds, she only kicked up one the rest was me and my partner.

I am going to go tomorrow and pick up some birds from a guy who is semi local. I think she just needs more live birds under her nose so she can put the scent with the task.
 
If you have a game farm close you may consider purchasing some birds and hunting them on the farm. Talk to the game farm operators, and request the locations of bird placement. Inform them that you have a pup in training.

All the training in the world is no replacement for time on live birds.
 
I can buy the birds and haul them to the property that I hunt. Place them myself and work with the dog for about 1/4 of the cost hunting at this place.
 
This may sound silly, but do you know how to place birds? You will need to put them to sleep to get them to stay for any amount of time. To do this, you tuck the head under the wing. Supposedly it helps to tip them at a 45deg angle toward the ground, but in all honesty I've never tried that.
 
yeah i used to pheasant hunt when i was younger at a private club. my uncle showed me the trick.

i guess if you kind of lean them to the side that their head is tucked under they are more likely to stay put.

i cant remember if I used to do that or not.
 
you don't train a dog, the dog just has to figure out what you want him to do. if hes not catching on like you think he should youre, doing it wrong. the trick is to train you to be able to communicate what you want him to do. dont give up you will catch on lol
 
and thats what i was thinking. she needs live birds. she caught on to the pheasant wing/dummy almost instantly and i never see her more excited than when she sees me grab that wing/dummy.

i can only think the logical next step is to teach her that flushing up a live bird gets her something to retrieve and her favorite treat and lots of praise.

She is a really smart dog, she rings a bell to go outside, returns to me when i beep her collar with no command needed, and seems to have no trouble sniffing out the pheasant wing. I just need to get her to this next step.
 
all the labs i trained i used a dummy with a traing pistol to get them to associate gun fire with retrieving and wings to get them on the hunting/flushing. dont worry shell get you trained
 
Well I guess she can do it.

Bought 4 birds today, took 2 out planted them and let her do work. she found the first one dug it out from the brush it ran she chased it and flushed it into the air. bang flop on my part and she brought it back.

next one she caught it herself. i went over free'd it and she went after it and flushed it up, bang flop again but this one she wouldn't retrieve. Maybe its cause she already grabbed it I dunno.

she also kicked up a wild bird but I missed. Either way I am happy.
 
Originally Posted By: Jeff Vnext one she caught it herself. i went over free'd it and she went after it and flushed it up, bang flop again but this one she wouldn't retrieve. Maybe its cause she already grabbed it I dunno.

More likely because you took it away from her once at that point. Sounds like a smart dog.

It's already been stated in different ways above, but there is NO substitute for wild bird contact.

Good for you for getting her out and keeping at it. I'd change my focus if I were you to finding where there are wild birds to hunt. She will do the rest.

Sendit
 
You should have started your dog a long time ago, but if you want her to be interested you have to remember that labs are a very playful breed and you have to treat it like a game. You need to take a pheasant or quail wing and tie it to a rope and play with her, let her see it, pull it around the yard and when she gets really interested in it put her up and run a very short drag. Put the wing in plain sight, let her out and walk her on the drag pointing at the scent. When she sees the wing she will know what she is after. As she gets better you can run longer and harder drags. Some would call this the old fashioned way, but its the only way to get real results.
 
You should have started your dog a long time ago, but if you want her to be interested you have to remember that labs are a very playful breed and you have to treat it like a game. You need to take a pheasant or quail wing and tie it to a rope and play with her, let her see it, pull it around the yard and when she gets really interested in it put her up and run a very short drag. Put the wing in plain sight, let her out and walk her on the drag pointing at the scent. When she sees the wing she will know what she is after. As she gets better you can run longer and harder drags. Some would call this the old fashioned way, but its the only way to get real results.
 
Get a good beagle, a good one will track anything you tell them to.
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Glad to hear she got a hang of going after birds. Good luck.
 
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