doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Wild Birds vs. Game Preserves

Holy schidt, this thread is only 5 years old! Who dredged this puppy up?

Just look back through the post dates and you can tell. Upper right hand corner of each post.

Best,

Mike

It will be a cold day in Hell before I paid to hunt preserve birds. I will do without first!

Doug,
Yes, unfortunately, it was not a great year and we only got into a few. Builder shot the only bird that day. But I think he got the idea very well.

Since this thread started and I posted 5 yrs ago, I have started going to a preserve under pressure from friends. I've grown to almost hate it and had sworn it off the last time my friends talked me into going. However, given the short time I've owned my new pointer and a rapidly approaching hunting trip to KS, I went last weekend to a preserve to get the new dog on lots of birds in a short time. When I took the dog out with our group, I didn't take a gun, just a whistle and my other dog gear. The dog worked impeccably, pointing lots of birds and was steady to wing and shot, and I had a great time, maybe the best time I've had at a preserve.



I'm dreading my report card from Mike next week.

SOUNDS LIKE You two should just take DOGS and CAMERA'S...........

I did that a couple weeks ago on wild valley quail when I took the new dog out. Lots of fun, too.

It is a shame that in most areas housing has taken over and the only fauna that co-exists is deer and turkeys, especially in the area I live in. At one time this area was a pheasant hunters dream. You could start in the morning and hunt the alfalfa fields and put birds out all the time, hunt the heavy cover later and hunt the same alfalfa late in the afternoon as the birds were coming back to roost.
That has all changed, the state doesn't care any more for the upland bird hunter, they are catering to the deer and turkey hunters. It is true that a lot of this new farming is now leaving less "patches" of cover, and that the CRP program is not doing any good because there are no birds to use it.

It will never come back, pen released birds very seldom make it through the winter and if they do couldn't find a mate to establish anything with all the foxes and now coyotes.
So if you want to have a bird dog, they need birds, and released ones are the only choice, either state released, which is a joke, or buy some yourself and stock them. It is not the same as wild bird hunting, but you do what you have to do.

My favorite released birds are chukkars. In my experience they fly very well (compared to other released birds) and covey up quickly after being busted. They run enough to challenge the dog's manners but hold well enough to get pointed and flushed.


Best,

Mike

Mike,
Are you texting and driving? Aren't you supposed to be on your way?

On the pen birds, this guy here in central CA has some Tennesee Reds (quail) that fly really well and hold decently, more like wild birds. The valley quail are a bit more jumpy. His chukar and pheasant are good flyers, but hold unnaturally tight, IMO.

Leaving in about an hour. Waiting for Miz Ruth to finish making the peanut brittle.

Best,

Mike