Originally Posted by
cscollins3857
Hello all, new to turkey hunting and I have two dogs, both under a year old, that I’ve dialed in on e-collars. Things like come/here, wait/stay, and stay by me/heel. Like I said, both under a year(7 and 10 months) so they’re not totally trained yet but good enough, I think, to start runnin on wild game.
One’s a German Shorthaired Pointer, and the other is a 50/50 German Shepherd-AmStaff Mix.
I’ve seen my pointer spook/tree turkeys on two separate occasions, before I even knew those were turkeys he took off chasing; he’s very motivated to get out and spook whatever he can. I felt if I had a shotgun in hand, I could’ve skeet shot both turkeys. Also, he’s a laser beam on scent trails I’ve laid with beef and venison livers. So how do I turn this into proper turkey hunting? My shep-pit pup mostly stays on my hip but occasionally takes off after stuff with the pointer. Not a lot on the YouTube about dog hunting turkeys so I figured I’d ask y’all.
Any advice on turkey hunting southern, public land is appreciated. I’m currently in Alabama, Talladega National Forest, but I travel to hike and whitetail hunt in the Oconee National Forest in GA and all over the Chattahoochee National Forest. Also moving back to the Lake Oconee area in Georgia next year to hunt with my dad closer to home.
First post, hopefully someone else on here runs dogs on turkeys and can help me out while the gettins still good.
God bless
I had a mixsetter/pointer that I trained to beak bird. I got him from a turkey dog lineage at 4 months old. It was extremely hard work getting him to do hunts. He had a great interest in any bird that he saw but getting him into turkeys over the summer months is tough and requires a lot of your time. In some states it is illegal to run turkeys when there is no season. He did get the hang of it after much work, teaching him to bark was also a challenge because your dog will be 100-150 yards away hunting and you need to know that he is into birds. Jake actually learned to bark in my yard when I'd run songbirds out of our pines and chase after them making a fuss. He saw me and picked up on it as crazy as that sounds. Once the dog breaks the birds go to him and make a quick blind for you and the dog. Look into the trees right at the break site, sometimes a couple will fly up and set their with you right under them. When the dog hears the birds calling as they are coming back he will begin to quiver wanting to get after them or at least Jake did so you have to help him there also. My dog hunted until he was 3 years old and got me and my brother birds for two fall. He developed epilepsy at 3 years old and was gone by a year later. I can tell you this: you will have no greater satisfaction that having your dog hunt with you and break birds. Knowing that you both worked together to get to that level. It is frustrating and hard but worth it once the dog understands. Good luck.