Pigeons for retriever training?

[1911 DeadHead]

So I think my pup needs some live birds and was wondering if this is even legal to do. Can I trap my own pigeons? Does anyone know of any local pigeon fanciers that sell them? Any help is appreciated.

I do know a place to get frozen ducks, but I really think the live birds will help the dog's drive. Hunting will be both new to me as well as the dog and hope that I can train him well enough this year to be able to hunt him.

 

[daspurlock]

I trained labs for many years (HRCH Bay,HRCH Sprig) and pigeons are great for young dogs. If you can trap your own your ahead of the game. The best thing you can do is join a retriever club in your area. It's a great way to get with people that are wanting to do the same thing you are in training a great dog. you'll find this is the best way to meet your needs. There are some clubs in Indiana, good luck.

 

[1911 DeadHead]

Thanks for the input. My google-fu came across this place.
Dawn to Dusk Hunt Club - Upland bird hunting in Northwest Indiana.

They are in Valpo, which is nice and close. I sent out an email asking some questions.

Anyone ever heard of or been there?

 

[billcollector]

Dawn to dusk is a hunting/game preserve. Not sure if they really get into the training on bird dogs. One that i would recomend is Kankakee Retriever Club. They meet at the Grand Kankakee marsh or Lake County parks department property. They work with you on how to train your dogs. They have a website Home They are a good group and would be more apt to help.

 

[gunrunner0]

I know a guy in Bremen who raises and sells pheasants, but that may be too far for you.

 

[Field King]

Once in awhile someone list quail for sale on Craigslist, just type into the "search" and ads will come up when available, I buy them on occasion, I just bought a pigeon trap from gundodgsupply.com for about $35, I will be trying to trap me some! I buy pigeons at a flea market in western Indiana when for $2 average when available!

 

[GSPBirdDog]

I have had the same problem in the past owning 2 German Shorthair Pointers. My advice would be to find somehwere you can buy "Homer" pigeons.....some call them homing pigeons. By doing so you can buy them at almost hatchling age so they will always return to the pigeon coope. Now this is only good if you have a spot to put a little pigeon coope(maybe 4ft by 4ft by 6ft tall). I take a long peice of 1" pvc pipe and drive it in the ground and tie 30ft of kite string to the top of the pipe and the other end to the pigeon. That enables me to train my dogs on point without the pigeon flying away and having to wait or recapture it. I am sure this method will work fine with training your retreiver to flush and retreive.
Also... I found it helpful to buy some training dvd's.....I bought the ones by George Hithcoch and really liked them. I hoped this helped you out and wish you and your dog the best of luck. The best training tool i have found of all is to love your dog unconditionally and give them lots of praise!

 

[1911 DeadHead]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will try to find some homers to raise. I do have Evan Graham's Smartworks. Dawn to Dusk does say they do have training facilities for dogs, so I suspect it could be a good place to introduce real gunfire to them and I'm sure there will be plenty of advice there. They may have a new member for the fall. I've also just started using master's voice gunshy cure system. I figured it would not be bad idea.

Thanks again for all the responses.

 

[1911 DeadHead]

Here is a couple photos of the guy

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[hountzmj]

There used to be a guy in the South Bend area who was pretty big into waterfowl who used pigeons to train his dog. IIRC they were homing pigeons and he also raced them in pigeon circles.

He went by the name Pigeon in online forums.

I actually hunted with him once when he was looking for a 2nd hunter so to not have to hunt alone. But oddly enough I can't recall his real name.

I've since moved out of that area and don't frequent the Hunting Indiana forums as much any more. So I've lost track of him.

He was good guy. Nice boat, nice dog. I imagine his training birds were good stuff too. You might try to locate him since you are in his general area.

 

[Josh Ward]

Good looking dog !! +1 on Kankakee River HRC, good folks.

Shoot me a PM, come down and train sometime. Be more than happy to help you and point you in the right direction. I might even have some live ducks around......

Oh, and don't bother looking for pigeonflyer the dude from SB, hes is, or at least was in jail for felony residential entry with a deadly weapon. He ain't allowed to have guns no more so, no more huntin for him....

 

[Expat]

I used to buy chukars for training my Brittanies. They are pretty tough and hold up for a couple of training sessions.

 

[daspurlock]

These are the clubs that were around when I played the game. Kankakee-north, Hoosier-central, Inducky- south. I don't know if Inducky is still around they have had their ups and downs. I was one of the founding members, it use to be a great club hope it still is.

 

[1911 DeadHead]

Thanks for all the input guys. I've been able to trap a few pigeons and the dog went ballistic, which is great! I've just been using one a session for a few tosses with the flight wings bound, them I release it. Now I just need a starter pistol and a place to train without the hassle of police being called. I was worried enough about a neighbor complaining about the pigeons being tossed. Thanks again everyone.