How to Train Your Pheasant Hunting Dog

When the Kansas pheasant hunting season remains on the distant horizon sometimes hunters wonder how to bring excitement back into their bird dog. Often at this point in the year, many gun dogs are lounging and sleeping in the shade. Dreaming about pointing a game bird in thick CRP grasses in a cool Kinsley Kansas November breeze. Using pheasant training dummies are a great way to keep your hunting dog tuned.

When playing fetch becomes too much of a bore. A realistic pheasant training dummies such as the “Deadfowl Trainer” made by Dokken can liven up the training experience. Dog owners can inject some purchased pheasant scent into the training dummy as well. These often run around $25 plus the cost of the scent. A less expensive version is a standard plastic knobby training dummy can be purchased for around $5. If scent or a sense of realism is desired, try attaching a couple of pheasant tail feathers to the dummy with duct tape. A little whiff of those feathers will really pump up the bird dog and get him or her excited about retrieving again.

Another practical method is to clip some wings off the pheasants harvested during a season. Store the wings in a seal-able plastic bag in the deep freeze, and get them out when ready to use them. Bird dogs will love pointing and/or retrieving these in the back yard.