Springer spaniel had a blast

[HerrJaegermeister]

I am getting my 3-year-old male field bred English springer spaniel ready for the upcoming pheasant season. I actually work him all year, but his work-outs are getting more intense as the season arrives Oct. 26 here in Iowa and in Nebraska.

I like to get him in condition by running him as I ride my mountain bike. We go to a nature center in nearby South Dakota that has lots of grassy fields, crop fields and trees near the Missouri river.

I only run him hard like this on cool mornings because dogs can get fried in the heat. He is trained to run to my left and not get in the way. An Innotek collar helped train him with that. I can run him on a crushed limestone trail. It is amazing what kind of effort a well-conditioned dog can put out.

We warmed up a bit and then I got into low gear and rode very slowly through a grassy field. He had a couple of nice flushes, all within shotgun range if we were acutally hunting. The pheasants were holding close on a cool morning with dew on the grass.

We ran for about another mile or so and came across a picked corn field with an area of thick bent-over grass between the trail and the field. As soon as I stopped, a large rooster burst from in front of my tire. The dog peeled off to the left and gave chase to three roosters trying to run away. He flushed them at about 15 yards. More hens and young roosters also flushed farther away to the left. The dog was going nuts.

I ran him for a few more miles and then turned and rode between rows of pine trees and plum brush. At the end of the strip of planted trees it was exploding with flushing pheasants. As he was going for a rooster, a hen came from the side and whacked him on the head with a wing.

The best flush came when we came into some thick grass and I could see a hen running about five yards ahead of us. The hen jumped up but could not get her wings open in the grass. She had to run in front of a crazed dog until she could catch air.

I stopped and watered the dog for about 15 minutes and ran him fast back toward the vehicle. He slept the rest of the day after getting more water and food.

What do you all do to get your dogs in shape for pheasant hunting? I hope you also try to get yourself in condition because the best hunting on public land is where nobody wants to walk.

I just laugh at the fat road hunters who don't bother getting in a hike to pursue pheasants. A full game bag on my upland coat is worth a work-out.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I had Springers for a long time and they were great dogs. I got mine "in shape" by taking them for long walks in a drainage that was full of waterfowl, fox, and other such critters. I'd set the dog into a "flush" of a scrub, or copse of trees or whatever, if one flushed a bird, I'd "shoot" it with a blank pistol.

This was followed by lots of praise for the dog.

I'd also use retrieving dummys etc. This got them in great shape for hunting grouse, etc.. though not as much for pheasent but we had a great time. Making your dog hunt with its nose is something you can do by scenting a retrieving dummy, then dragging it through the brush and letting your dog 'find" the dummy.

I also bought a pheasant wing and sewed it to an old baseball glove to teach the dog to carry with a soft mouth.

(sadly, that old hunting buddy passed away some years ago and I haven't thought about getting another dog.. but i might get another springer someday... they are ceratainly great hunters)

 

[TBAUS]

I used to have Springers when I lived in the mountains of northern California. I used to practice a lot with a bean bag with pheasant feathers sewed on. I used to hunt a lot of quail with my Springer. A lot of the hunting was along cliff faces. To teach the dog to scale the cliffs safely, I used to take her down to the creek in the summer at the bottom of the mountain and then climb back up different ways. Sometimes it was difficult for me to scale the walls, but my trusty Springer , April, was right behind me.
When she was a wee pup, I took her to the creek in an area that had a 20 foot high dirt wall that was scalable, but pretty steep. I went down with the dog and then used tree roots to get back up. I sat just out of sight encouraging April to come to me. She whined and cried, but after about 30 minutes, she found a way up. Pretty much after that, she could climb anything. Some of my quail shots may have been only 20 yards out, but by the time the bird fell, it was 100 yards down. April always came back with the bird. Springer Spaniels are great dogs. Their hair is a little long for Texas though.