# The fun with Finn continues.



## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Went out this morning with the boy to see if we could kick up some stragglers after yesterday’s big storm.
The state stocks birds in CT, and they must have released them yesterday prior to the storm. Poor birds spent the night in the wind and rain.
Finn picked up two fairly quickly. I was a little disappointed because he spent all day yesterday in the house, and I wanted to run him for an hour or two.
On the way back to the truck we met an older guy, probably mid to late 70’s, who hadn’t met with any success. We talked for a bit, as he had a beautiful vintage Parker double. Just a gorgeous shotgun.
I asked him if he’d to like to go back out with Finn and I, as I knew Finn had been birdy in a spot, but we already limited out for the day.
He said sure and about 15 minutes later he got a nice bird.
It was a good day. I got to watch a NAVDHA Prize 1 GSP work. Impressive!! He was being handled by his owner and I think it was her daughter doing the shooting! They were a great team.
Here is the ubiquitous tailgate shot for the day.
I was using my 28ga this am. It was nice and light.
Get your poochies out and have some fun this weekend. 😃


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Looks like a ton of fun for both of you! Really nice of you and Finn to lend your skills and time for the other gentleman.

I'd really like to get to a point where I could partake in the sport, i just find penetrating into it while not knowing anyone who does it, is really tough. I tried but have all but given up with Ellie's breeder who is big into the scene in the area. She's just too busy with all the events and everything else. My next step is to ask her if she knows anyone willing to take a newbie under the wing in helping teach me how to train Ellie. Next challenge is finding appropriate game lands.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Dan_A

It is fun to help folks and it gives the dog more time to hunt. I've helped a few folks through the years and it has always been a positive experience. The guy we hunted with yesterday had hunted many years with dogs, but was just at a point in life where he could no longer commit to a dog. I'll see him again. I tell you though, he got around pretty darn good for a guy in his mid to late 70's. Finn didn't wait on him.

If Ellie has the abilities, don't waste them, and her. Certainly don't wait on the breeder, as you probably don't have the exact same goals in mind. Pour over your state regulations, get your license, and get her out there.
NAVDHA can kind of be a little bit expensive to get started with, as you have to join the national body and then the local body, but the access to fun runs, derby's, and actual testing becomes available. You also will meet lots of like minded folks.
NAVDHA has a training guide that we used to call the "green book". I don't know if they still put it out for sale, but that book, will get you through probably 90% of everything you need to get Ellie out there. It's broken down into the functional areas of the test, and some may be of no interest to you, so you can focus on the areas that are.
A NAVDHA trail has a range of folks attending.Some are owner/breeder,trainers working their dogs for titles to increase breeding fees, and establish kennel lines, but many are just people wanting to get their dogs trained and out in the field hunting. It works for everyone up and down the line.
Almost all states have areas set aside for field trials and dog training. they may be a drive, depending on where you live, but they exist. See if you can find those. If you can find the field trials schedules, you can come in the day after a trial is complete and work Ellie on the birds they left out. 
As for game birds, quail are very, very, easy to raise and keep. If you have any type of a backyard, you can build a combination"chicken tractor/johnny house" and keep 3-4 dozen in it. Check Craigslist for birds and get a bunch of 6 week old birds. At 3 months they're mature. I don't recommend starting with day old chicks. That takes a fair amount of equipment that most folks just don't have around.
Finn is by no means a "finished dog". Not a chance! By this point, all my other dogs had definitely been more "polished", but Finn has exceptionally good natural hunting instincts, that only one of my previous dogs had. The rest were good, but not this good! Point being, you don't need to wait to have the perfectly trained dog. You just need one that hunts, finds birds, isn't gun shy, and comes when called. Mostly. 

Get Ellie out there. She know more about "the game" than you're giving her credit for.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

Dan_A said:


> Looks like a ton of fun for both of you! Really nice of you and Finn to lend your skills and time for the other gentleman.
> 
> I'd really like to get to a point where I could partake in the sport, i just find penetrating into it while not knowing anyone who does it, is really tough. I tried but have all but given up with Ellie's breeder who is big into the scene in the area. She's just too busy with all the events and everything else. My next step is to ask her if she knows anyone willing to take a newbie under the wing in helping teach me how to train Ellie. Next challenge is finding appropriate game lands.


not sure which area you live, but you could look up hunt tests in your area and go there to visit, watch, talk to people, members of the organizing club. chances are that you will find someone who can help you further. some clubs are pretty active in terms of organizing training days, some barely do anything. if you can find one in your area doing training days, it could be an idea to join them. i am a full beginner in the area myself, started learning it because of Bende and now hooked up, it became my favorite hobby. both of my dogs love it too and i think training them myself and learning along the way created a much stronger bond with them than ever before.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I agree with @Gabica
I train with a Weimaraner club in north Texas.
I don’t own a Weimaraner, or live in north Texas. They are a active club, with some very nice welcoming members. I ran Shine at one of their hunt tests last March, and joined their club right afterwards. I’ve been training with them since that weekend.
I asked Gabica to help at the last hunt test, as she was there running her dogs. She can tell you, the perfect spot to watch dogs, handlers, and judges is if you get to be the bird planter. Plus bonus fun, you get to drive a utv in the field.

A lot of opportunities open up, for people that are willing to help.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Thank you @gunnr , @texasred , and @Gabica !

I looked into NAVHDA and found a chapter in my area here in North Carolina. HOME | Foothills NAVHDA . It looks like their training and testing grounds are only an hour and a half away. I'm going to email them to look into how to get started.

edit : An added bonus if Ellie and I both enjoy this, I have an excuse to buy a new gun. 😆

I just realized that I highjacked your post gunnr, I'm sorry about that!


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

No worries my friend.
I treat a thread as if we were all sitting around a table having lunch. The topics will continually change during that time together. 
You and Ellie have found a path forward and that is what is most important.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

not sure where you are in NC, but there is a hunt test this weekend as per below, if you can go and visit them tomorrow and walk some of the braces, have Ellie socialized there, you may get one step closer to your new gun

*Sandhills Pointing Breeds Club* 
Sandhills Pointing Breed Club grounds
3280 Jackson Springs Road
Jackson Springs, NC
Web Site:http://sandhillspointingbreedsclub.org


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

texasred said:


> I agree with @Gabica
> I train with a Weimaraner club in north Texas.
> I don’t own a Weimaraner, or live in north Texas. They are a active club, with some very nice welcoming members. I ran Shine at one of their hunt tests last March, and joined their club right afterwards. I’ve been training with them since that weekend.
> I asked Gabica to help at the last hunt test, as she was there running her dogs. She can tell you, the perfect spot to watch dogs, handlers, and judges is if you get to be the bird planter. Plus bonus fun, you get to drive a utv in the field.
> ...


oh yes, me giving full gas to the UTV and driving on those fields, heaven! thanks goodness no police was there to remind me of bird field speed limit. In fact the whole bird planting opportunity was a plenty of fun and i have learned a lot from it. And unlike some others like to do i did not play Freebird haha.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Gabica said:


> not sure where you are in NC, but there is a hunt test this weekend as per below, if you can go and visit them tomorrow and walk some of the braces, have Ellie socialized there, you may get one step closer to your new gun
> 
> *Sandhills Pointing Breeds Club*
> Sandhills Pointing Breed Club grounds
> ...


Great thanks for the find, I'm in Charlotte so this is within reasonable range. It is too late for me to go now this weekend unfortunately. I bookmarked that club and will be reaching out to them letting them know about me to see if the club is welcoming to newbies like myself. Maybe this is a better option than the NAVHDA club, or at least another option.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Gabica said:


> oh yes, me giving full gas to the UTV and driving on those fields, heaven! thanks goodness no police was there to remind me of bird field speed limit. In fact the whole bird planting opportunity was a plenty of fun and i have learned a lot from it. And unlike some others like to do i did not play Freebird haha.


I turned a bunch of birds loose once, and no one lets me forget it. It was funny then, (well 5 minutes after it happened) and it’s funny now. I was reaching into the transport cage, and the rubber glove I was wearing got caught on the wire. Quail flying out, and I could not get my arm out to stop them. What makes it really funny, is the cage was inside my Durango. The windows were down. So the quail were flying out the windows.
I do kinda feel set up, because it was someone else’s idea for me to use those gloves. My husband nicknamed me Freebird. 🤣🤣🤣


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

texasred said:


> I turned a bunch of birds loose once, and no one lets me forget it. It was funny then, (well 5 minutes after it happened) and it’s funny now. I was reaching into the transport cafe, and the rubber glove I was wearing got caught on the wire. Quail flying out, and I could not get my arm out to stop them. What makes it really funny, is the cage was inside my Durango. The windows were down. So the quail were flying out the windows.
> I do kinda feel set up, because it was someone else’s idea for me to use those gloves. My husband nicknamed me Freebird. 🤣🤣🤣


and just for everyone`s imagination, i looked back while i was fixing to get without MY GLOVES pigeons from another cage and i saw the Hitchcock movie revived, i was pretty mad that i did not have my camera ready, it was such a treat. well someone gotta feed those hawks hovering around...


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I used to belong to the Carolina NAVHDA chapter when I lived in the area. Sounds like they may have split into to two groups since I don't remember there being a Foothills Chapter back then. This was 6-7 years ago, but I imagine a lot of the same people are involved and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a more welcoming group. Most of the trainings I went to were in SC, because that was closer, but the one NC training weekend I attended was on public lands, the Sandhills, and I needed to get a hunting license per state regulations even though I wasn't handling a gun. So hunter education and getting your license would be a good place to start. 

You're also close to Mo Lindley, a dog trainer in Piedmont, SC. Texasred recommended the book "Training with Mo" to me and while I haven't pursued the hunting thing beyond my dog's Natural Ability test, I remember preferring some of his methods to the NAVDHA way.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Mo has a long standing reputation, of being a wonderful trainer. Tons of experience with Vizslas. I wish I lived that close to him. I’ve even considered making the long drive, to go to one of his clinics.


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