Game Preserve Hunts May Be Just What a Gun Dog Needs

Your gun dog’s show career has ended, and it’s clear the dog is not content being a couch potato. 

Having been smart enough to put bird interest in your dog when he or she was a puppy, you’ve done some field training with the dog and maybe run a hunt test or two or even finished a title. You have taken your state or provincial gun-safety course, learned to shoot clay targets, and are starting to think that you’d really like to know if your dog can do the work the breed was meant to do, which is actually hunt birds. 

The big question is: How do you start?

Well, if you want to give your dog the best chance possible to learn how to do the breed’s historic work, you and the dog shouldn’t just head out to any available field or marsh unless you know that the site is absolutely loaded with birds: Nothing discourages a dog — or a hunter — quicker than hunting in areas that are game deserts. In other words, they are devoid of any game birds. 

When there are no birds for the dogs to find or fetch, it destroys their confidence as well as their desire to hunt. A lack of game, incidentally, will also have the same effect on novice hunters. A day here and there when the dog goes birdless won’t have any long-term negative effect on the dog, but if dogs go days at the time without encountering birds, they will get discouraged. Birds are the ultimate reward for gun dogs, so, for that reason, it is important that they get the opportunity to work them as often as possible. 

Preserve hunting is valuable for pointing breeds because preserve birds typically “hold” better for these dogs.  

While the best of all possible worlds would be to find an area where you and your dog can hunt that’s loaded with wild birds, such idyllic hunter heavens rarely exist these days. The reason for this rare occurrence is that loss of habitat has created a sharp decline not just of game birds but also songbirds virtually everywhere in the U.S. The trend toward larger and larger farming operations with the emphasis on row crops — corn and soybeans being the most prevalent — has destroyed much of the birds’ nesting and escape cover as farmers are strongly encouraged by their bankers to plant fencerow to fencerow in order to eke every possible bit of revenue from their tillable land.

Drainage practices that date back to the 1930s, many of which have been strongly encouraged by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have also eliminated roughly half of the nation’s wetlands, according to studies done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Commodity prices have encouraged farmers to withdraw croplands from the Conservation Reserve Program when their contracts ended, and this financial reality has hastened the loss of the remaining habitat. All these factors are why finding a place with lots of wild birds for your dog to hunt is a near impossibility these days. 

The best option for finding somewhere to hunt that has a lot of birds is a hunting preserve. 

Putting dogs in situations where they can encounter plenty of birds sets off their prey drive like nothing else. 

Now, it’s true that many of these establishments are hoity-toity and pricey private clubs costing a fortune to join and an arm and a leg in yearly membership fees — if they’ll let you become a member at all. But a far greater number are open to the public, and some even have no membership fees. There are several of these open-to-the-public preserves in every state, and at many you simply pay for the birds that are released for you and your dog. So you determine how much you are going to spend for each hunt.  

However, it is still not exactly cheap. For example, at the preserve where my dog and I hunt, the cost usually runs about $35 per bird. But putting it in perspective, the cost our annual four-day goose hunt on the Canadian prairies runs about $2,500 when you factor in licenses, lodging, meals, gas and bird cleaning. You can buy a lot of birds for $2,500, and the dogs don’t know the difference between wild mallards, pheasants, quail or chukars, and shooting preserve birds. Just as Gertrude Stein noted that a rose is a rose is a rose, to a gun dog a bird is a bird is a bird. 

There are several open-to-the-public preserves in every state, and at many you simply pay for the birds that are released for you and your dog. 

Why are plenty of birds so important to a gun dog? There is an old adage that it takes birds to make a gun dog, and, unlike a lot of adages, this one is actually true. Putting dogs in a situation where they can encounter plenty of birds builds their confidence and desire. It sets off their prey drive like nothing else does. Many times, dogs that have shown very little interest in retrieving dummies or frozen birds will wake up immediately to what you want them to do when a live bird that they’ve found is shot for them. All of a sudden there is an answer to “why” that makes sense for the dog for much of their training; this is really important for all gun dogs, but especially with soft, sensitive dogs.  

Suddenly there is an answer for “why” that makes sense for the dog with regard to much of their training. This really important for all gun dogs, but especially soft, sensitive dogs. (Photo: Krista Smude.)

My current dog is one of those “softies” and is a prime example of the good things that can come from a dog getting the opportunity to hunt a lot of birds. He went from a dog that was very discouraged with training to one that is sometimes almost too enthusiastic about training after just one season of hunting on a preserve. Now if his interest in training seems to be waning, a day of hunting restores it. Preserve hunting is also valuable for pointing breeds because preserve birds typically “hold” better for these dogs, so if you have a young dog or one that’s not all that solid with regard to its pointing skills, you have more time to steady the dog before the bird gets nervous and flushes.  

Preserve hunting has several advantages. Among them is that it’s a much lower-pressure situation than hunting wild birds: If the dog messes up a bird — or, as also often happens, the hunters miss the shot after the dog has done a stellar job of finding the bird — there’s no concern that there won’t be another chance for either the dog or the hunters to redeem themselves that day. There are always more birds on a preserve. What this means is that preserve hunting lets you relax and pay attention to your dog instead of having to be so focused on getting the bird. 

If a dog’s interest in training wanes, a day of hunting will usually restore his enthusiasm.  

For some gun-dog owners, preserve hunting is the only realistic option. They live in a city or the suburbs, where there are few if any wild birds to be found. Even if they could be found, most generally local ordinances prohibit the discharge of firearms. And in a lot of instances, any hunting of those few wild birds that might have found city life to their liking, even without actually harvesting the bird, would be considered harassing wildlife and also likely would be prohibited. 

For others, the issue is a lack of wing-shooting skill. It does little good to have the dog find bird after bird but never get feathers in his or her mouth. Being a member of a preserve or even hunting at the same preserve fairly regularly will give you the opportunity to meet a lot of people who are good shots and are also willing to hunt with you. Adding the birds you buy for your dog to the birds they are buying for their dog or for themselves just adds to the number of opportunities for both the dogs and the shooters.  

Dogs quickly learn that the preserve grounds are a bird-rich environment so they are excited to go to work when you get to the grounds and will hit the ground running.

Dogs quickly learn that the preserve grounds are a bird-rich environment, so they are excited to go to work when you get to the grounds and will hit the ground running. Hunting on a preserve can also help your dogs in hunt tests. While you may occasionally lose some points on their technical obedience, preserve hunting teaches them bird sense, and if a dog has good bird sense, it greatly improves the chances that you’ll leave the test grounds with an orange ribbon in hand.  

Preserve hunting teaches bird sense, and if a dog has good bird sense, it greatly improves the chances of a qualifying score.  

While you may have been told that pen-raised birds are tame and lazy, one trip to most preserves will quickly persuade you just how mistaken that notion really is. All pheasants, wild or pen-raised, seem to be born wearing track shoes. Even though they’ve been “planted,” they don’t stay that way. They run, and while you know just how many birds have been released in an area, finding them is another story. As for the ducks, on the preserve where my dog hunts, the ducks on the duck pass fly high and fast. While they are mallards and not canvasbacks, so they’re not whipping along at 70 mph, successfully harvesting them is still a challenge. Folks who regularly break 24 of 25 clay targets on the skeet field have been known to miss several ducks in a row on the preserve where we hunt.

The dogs don’t know the difference between wild mallards, pheasants, quail or chukars, and shooting preserve birds.

There are a good many dogs that need to see that there is a reason for all the things we ask them to do in training. Hunting on a preserve lets you show them the “whys” for things you do in training in a controlled situation. It also provides a solution to another major issue, and here I am speaking from my many years of experience training gun dogs, not as someone who is a member of a shooting preserve: Nothing good ever comes from hunting a dog where there are no birds.