How does that joke go? 

Q: What’s the only thing that two pro trainers can agree on? 

A: The third one’s bad methods … when he’s not around.

But here’s another thing all handlers can agree on: More is better. More bird contacts build better dogs, but with costs rising in every aspect of life—and especially with gun dogs—we try to cut where we can. One way to reduce costs is to shift from released birds to wild birds. But before we do, we’ve got to ask ourselves a question; what is the benefit to training on wild versus planted birds? Here are some thoughts from several professional bird dog trainers.

Training on Wild Birds

Smith Setters’ Harold Ray had the good fortune of breeding and training dogs during the golden age of quail that ended in the 1980s. The Hall of Famer arrived in Georgia in 1958 and started training dogs for Fred Beven.

“In 1964 I began working for Elwin and Inez Smith of Smith Setters,” Ray said. “Developing a kennel of good dogs meant I needed places to run them, and it was all around us. Back then there was so much farmland that the average hunter on public land easily could find lots of birds. During a low cycle I’d find about 20 coveys per day but in an average year it’d be common to find 50 coveys per day.”

Ray iterates how the sheer number of wild birds helped him develop high quality dogs like CH “Tomoka,” CH “The Performer,” CH “Bonafide, and CH “Destinare” who are honored in the Sporting Dog Hall of Fame.

“Those dogs sired a lot of pups, and their bloodlines have contributed to enhancing the breed which is what it’s all about,” he added. “Training dogs on wild birds is one reason why a lot of today’s hunters have great dogs.”  

These days, Ray uses a mix of all three types of birds: wild, liberated, and released.

“Here’s the whole thing about it,” he said, “I want to start all puppies on wild birds because they don’t cause the kind of problems that liberated birds do. Wild birds get away from chasing puppies, but a fast pup can catch a released bird. If you break a dog on wild birds then you can always use liberated birds later on.” 

Ray adds that Jonny house birds work well to help get pups to use their noses to smell birds. 

“I’ll work puppies on pigeons or released quail for a week, and then shift over to wild birds. I’ll stay on wild birds throughout the breaking process. When they’re broke, I’ll go back to released quail to get dogs ready for a trial.”

Training on Wild, Early Released, and Liberated Birds

Thor Kain of Super Storm Kennels in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, has consistently been in the amateur field trial winner’s circles for years. To achieve results like last year’s U.S. Complete Shooting Dog Association’s Amateur Field Trialer of the Year as well as winning the National U.S. Complete Amateur Puppy, Derby, and Shooting Dog stakes with three different dogs, Kain differentiates between training bird types. 

“You’ll find three different types of birds on my 1,300 acres of training grounds,” he said. “My wild birds are ruffed grouse and woodcock which I rely on when it’s not breeding season. I also use early release birds and liberated birds which are day-of-release.”  

Kain believes wild birds are ideal for developing a gun dog to the highest level. “Wild birds are smart, they’re wily, and they teach dogs a lot. But I can’t control the training situation with wild birds, and that’s why I like pre-released birds.” 

Kain keeps his bird costs down by raising his own pheasant, chukar, and quail and releases them when they’re young so they’ll behave like wild birds. 

“Because I manage my habitat to support those birds, I’m reasonably confident that the quail coveys will be in the millet and pheasant and chukar in the corn. I only use liberated day-of-release birds for putting the polish on a dog.”

Kain matches the training he needs to do with the type of birds on his property. 

“When introducing a puppy to birds I like either wild or early released birds,” he said. “The puppies won’t catch them, and since I have a pretty good idea of where they are on my property, I can run a controlled session that builds their fire. Puppies learn to use their noses quickly, so I’ll stay on the early released birds through the breaking process.” 

Once puppies learn what he expects of them Kain shifts back and forth between the pre-released and wild birds. “The dogs learn how to handle different types of birds and to have composure around them. Different types of birds are all part of a well-balanced training routine that helps every dog reach his maximum potential.”

Training on Liberated Birds

Mark Fulmer of Sarahsetter Kennels in Aiken, South Carolina says a function of where he lives makes him rely on liberated birds.

“I used to train on wild birds, but life has changed since then,” he says. “Out of necessity I’ve learned that liberated birds vary according to who raised them.” Because plantations and commercial hunting operations demand high-quality birds, many of the quail-rearing operations raise their birds in total isolation, keeping exposure to humans to a minimum. Fulmer mentions that only one person goes into his pen, and he does so at night with a flashlight.

“I’ll feed and water the birds, remove any dead or injured ones, and maintain an ‘as near to wild’ condition as possible. The result is a wily, fast-flying bird that runs and flies hard when pressured by a dog.”

Fulmer uses positive and clicker training methods and starts puppies on pigeons. “My quail work begins with birds in release traps, then moves to less restraints, and finally the dog finding birds on his own,” he said. 

Fulmer maintains two different groups of bobwhite quail for those purposes: Johnny house recall birds that are not shot and small flight pen birds that are shot when they are properly pointed.

Fulmer starts his bird training with puppies on place boards. “I’ll teach a puppy to stand on a place board,” he said. “When he’s solid, I’ll take him into my training field and let him find and rip some released birds.” 

After several bird contacts, Fulmer returns the pup to the place board and stands them.

“At that point I’ll pull a bird out of my vest, let the wing flap around, and put it back in my vest. After a week of that training, I’ll run them on my property, this time with planted birds in tip up cages. Sometimes I’ll put a quail in one cage, a pigeon in another, and a quail and a pigeon in a third.” 

Fulmer says there is a lot more that goes into his process but affirms liberated birds are invaluable for training. “When they get on liberated birds their genetics will kick in, but it’ll take a bit of time for them to figure out the wild bird game, but it always comes together.”