Have a guy stand 200 feet away with a shotgun…
Take a dummy with a pheasant wing, or better yet a dead quail or pheasant and throw it up in the air… have the guy with the shotgun shoot as the bird reaches it’s highest point. This associates a bird dying with a shotgun blast but WAY, WAY far away…
Do this 3-5 times, and then move up 20 or so feet… do it 3 more times…. And move UP .. BUT watch the dog to see if it bothers them or not.
Move up and repeat
Move up and repeat…. And so on
By the time you are next to the guy you will have shot 20 or so rounds…. Every time the dog seems hesitant slow down, and maybe even back up.
Your job is to get them to associate the blast with a falling bird….
This method if from John Han’s “perfect start” clinic…. And it really works well.
