Gun Dog Column - Fall Changeups - North American Outdoorsman

Bird hunting season is in full swing, offering endless opportunities to chase chukar, pheasants, ducks, geese, and more. But while planning your hunts, think about what they can do for your dog. A change of scenery and variety in hunting experiences not only keeps your dog engaged but also sharpens their skills and enhances their overall performance. Whether it’s introducing them to new terrain, different game, or challenging conditions, mixing things up can lead to exciting adventures for both you and your dog. This fall, make it a priority to create memorable hunting experiences that benefit your dog’s mind and body. And when weighing various hunting options, think first about what it will do for your dog, not you.

Because dogs get bored doing the same thing over and over, it’s good to introduce them to change. Be it food, training times, training places, and hunts, I’m always trying to vary our schedule. Of course, my dogs would be content sitting in our duck blind every day, or working the same mountains for sooty and ruffed grouse. But I try to take them on different hunts whenever I can, as it’s not only exciting for them, but a thrill for me.

The author and his female pudelpointers, Echo, on her first wood duck hunt. She retrieved three limits of ducks for a trio of hunters, in a range of conditions she’d never before experienced…and loved it!

A few seasons ago I took my female pudelpointer, Echo, on her first wood duck hunt. I grew up hunting woodies near my home but never had a dog as kid. I figured it’d be a fun change of pace for Echo. Due to the tight confines of our setup, I wanted to only take one of my dogs for ease of control. A couple buddies invited me to hunt a small creek with them. We were in place well before daylight with a dozen woody decoys spaced out in a small creek in front of us.

Fifteen minutes before shooting light the woodies started bombing into the decoys. By the time shooting time came, Echo and I were wound up. Ducks continued pouring in and in less than 20 minutes it was over, we had our three limits of wood ducks. It was the most fast-paced action Echo had ever had. Once the shooting started she was never in the blind, rather picking up ducks as fast as she could.

Echo was grabbing birds off the ground, amid a thick oak grove, off the water, and from beneath dense brush that lined the creek’s shore. Crippled birds that swam into the shoreline brush gave Echo fits, but her tenacity and diligence paid off. She slept heavily the rest of the day, for the 21 retrieves in such a short time, in some very challenging habitat, wore her out. But she did so well that we repeated the hunt a few weeks later.

In 2019 my wife and I moved back to Alaska where I enjoyed some great hunts for the Vancouver variety of Canada Geese, and so did my dogs Echo, and my male pudelpointer, Kona. Hunting here took place on a vast tide flat and it was easy for both dogs to see miles in all directions. The calls of geese bounced off the surrounding snow-capped mountains, resonating throughout the valley. When bald eagles flew through, or when a tide shift occurred, hundreds of geese would take wing, their calls getting the dogs more and more excited.

Flocks of these geese would pass overhead, and often I was able to connect on doubles, which was good for both dogs. Due to the vastness of the land we hunted, it was a great joy seeing and hearing geese moving most of the day, for me and my dogs.

I also hunted ruffed grouse in the river bottom at our home in Hyder, Alaska. My dogs had never hunted river bottom grouse, only pursued them in the Cascades, back in Oregon. In the river bottom, they loved working stands of cottonwoods and semi-open spruce forests, and they did very well.

A change of hunting action is healthy for your dog, breaking the rut of always doing the same thing in the same place. Here, the author’s dog, Kona, retrieves a Western gray squirrel he first treed.

These are just some of the recent hunts that offered different experiences for my dogs, and me. We’ve also been to Saskatchewan where we learned all about high-volume snow goose hunting. We’ve hunted quail in the high desert, doves in farm fields, band-tailed pigeons in the mountains even Wester gray squirrels in the big Douglas fir forests of the Pacific Northwest. One of Echo and Kona’s favorite hunts in the fall is for turkeys, where they point and flush them.

I’m a firm believer in change being a good thing, and such is the case when it comes to hunting with dogs. Gun dogs are bright, always up for a challenge and they thrive on all things new. It’s good for their mind and body.

This fall, consider taking your dog on a new hunting adventure. Not only will the experience be enjoyable for both of you, but your dog will come out a better hunter because of it.

Note: To watch Scott Haugen’s series of puppy training videos, visit scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram & Facebook.