Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hunting With a Blue Heeler

I've got a 5 year old Blue Heeler who will fetch just about anything I throw for him, whether it be a frizbee, ball, stick, etc... Anyway, I was wondering if anyone's used them effectively for stirring up small game or flushing (not necessarily retrieving) upland birds...I realize they're traditionally bred for farm/ranch/herding use, but figured I'd see if hunting was another area they could handle. He's very obedient as far as staying close and not running off, loves getting outside to work/play, but I'm not sure how he'd be as far as gun-shyness.

Anybody?

No reason gunshyness should be more of an issue than with any other dog. Handle it the same way.

They say you can teach a dog to do anything. One thing for sure, he'll never run out of gas, or at least I never saw a heeler that did.

Good luck,

t

I had a female that would retrieve ducks with the best of 'em. Loved hunting from a canoe. She was also a natural blood trailer, went to elk camp for 5 years and really took a shine to finding and baying cripples. One gut-shot spike bull holed up in a scrub oak patch, and she grabbed his nose and hung on till my hunter got there. He thrashed her against the brush so bad patches of hide were peeled off but he finally gave up and just stood there. Any timber patch you wanted cattle out of, she wouldn't quit till every cow(and every elk) was clear. She was also the best coyote decoy I ever seen and would kill a trapped bobcat in nothing flat. Versatile dogs that aren't just cowdogs. Don

Saw a duck hunting video once where they were using a German Shepard as their retriever, did a good job of it.

my old red heeler was a squirrel treeing fool. we would run them up the tree and howl and bark till you got. after u shot the squirrel it was a foot race to see who claimed it. me or wesley the great red heeler. best damn dog i've ever had.

This female had a blue heeler cow dog for a daddy. They both were great pheasant hunters, the heeler daddy was the better of the two. He embarrassed a few high dollar German Shorthairs in the fields and cattail patches of home.

I lost track of him one day in a 1/2 acre of swamp & cattails. It took me over thirty minutes to locate him, still locked on point with a rooster under his nose. Another time, five of us went out for pheasant in foul weather, wet and cold with a mist lying right on the ground. We did not see a rooster that day, but the heeler killed four hens before they could get off the ground.

Properly trained a heeler will also keep your pheasant hunting grounds cleared of feral cats. I always thought that to be a desirable trait in a bird dog. I know we had some pictures of the old boy, but I sure can not lay my hands on any now.

Great pic, Idaho!

I rescued a clutch of heeler pups, when I was in south TX. Man, they went fast. Found them under a bridge....starving to death....nursed them back to health for a month or two....placed an add...and BOOM...they were gone.

HoundGirl

Mine like waterfowl and upland. On elk hunts they wear packs and help carry out the load.

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That was the fall of '81. Been a bit of water under the bridge since then. I left the dog on the farm with my folks when I moved to town to be with the first and last woman I found that would have me. This sheltie cross and her heeler daddy have been gone for over twenty years now. They sure were great dogs while they lasted.

Idaho-....nevertheless, loooove the John Denver hair cut<giggle>...and the fact you remember the pooches speaks volumes. Thanks for sharing.

Alamosa- what kind of bird is the first dog escorting? Great pics....btw.

HoundGirl

HG
Those are pheasants.
t

Noticed the pheasants.....but couldn't make out the first bird/dog in Alamosa's pics....thanks, T!

HoundGirl

I've a 4 yr blue heeler that works stock will flush and retreive mountain grouse for me when I'am hunting a horseback and I've put him on a couple of bears in the trail in front of the horses to clear a path so I can get to the huckleberries, so far he hasn't retreived them yet. Danny

I guess I didn't get that picture. Sorry

I really enjoy this thread. It's nice juxtaposition to the other stuff, although I must admit my participation in the other. But I like this better.
t

Wow, you all have had far better experience than I'd have expected. I know dogs are versatile, especially heelers, but it sounds like a lot of them really took to hunting quickly. I'll have to take mine out for rabbits and squirrels, and upland birds next fall. Any tips for training? I'm not looking to turn him into a full-blown bird dog, just trying to point him in the right direction.

Pointing in the right direction, will probably be all it takes, SN.

At the risk of insulting other collie, working types, the heeler types, probably the most versatile of all breeds for performance, function, versatility. Take advantage of it SN, or you'll miss out on a lifetime of memories and adventure!

all i did was teach wesley and rowdy to fetch and heel. their natural instinct to herd took over once the game was spotted or spooked.
both of these dogs were used daily for work on our farm and would herd anything that moved, like my sister, horses, cows, 4 wheelers, lawn mowers, tractors and such. those dogs acted like they would die if i left the house with a gun and they couldnt go, but in truth they didnt really care about hunting they justed wanted to be with me.

We were with our dogs in the field farming and handling cattle all day every day and they were trained to work cattle first. All it took to make the switch to game was to point and PSSSST, just like siccing them on a recalcitrant cow.

The heeler daddy I mentioned was actually my Brother's dog which he got when he was in Jr High School. I inherited the dog when my brother died at the age of twenty. Both of these dogs would retrieve from the water anything which floated, right to the water's edge. They never let a crippled bird get away, but neither of them ever carried a bird back to our hand. They would catch, hold, and kill any running, swimming, or floating critter with feathers. But as for an actual retrieve, they both would just look at you as if to say, "You've got two perfectly good legs." "Get your lazy butt over here and pick up this stinky bird." "I did the hard part, what more do you want."

Houndgirl, Who is John Denver? Was he the Skipper's "Little Buddy"?

No? Us old pharts have a hard time keeping up with the celebrities you youngin's recognize.

That's Bob Denver.

John Denver, the singer.