Yesterday myself and a friend joined another friend and his three Pudelpointers for a day of pheasant hunting. The rooster were running, the dogs worked hard, and they found us some birds, and every bird that flew died and went home with us. Unfortunately the dogs also found a porcupine, and two of them needed quills removed. Lucky one dog only had three quills in it's nose, which were quickly removed, but the other dog had quills in it's nose, and inside and outside of it's mouth. With the owner holding this dog, my friend removed the quills until were were satisfied that we had them all. Then it was back to hunting, and the dogs seemed to have forgotten the entire porcupine incident. At the end of the day, we were tired, the dogs were happy, and we had pheasant to take home. With about a week to go in the season, we have done very well on pheasants this year, and the 28 gauge has killed every pheasant that it has been fired at.
Pheasants and a Porcupine
- Thread starter stubblejumper
- Start date
beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
Just "one of those days" with the dogs .... 
Been there, done that and all I can offer is probably better a somewhat mild encounter with a porky than a full on skunk experience !
Been there, done that and all I can offer is probably better a somewhat mild encounter with a porky than a full on skunk experience !
powdermaker
CGN Regular
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Yes, dogs and porcupines don't mix well. I can remember as a kid, our weimaraner getting a snoot full of quills. He would usually kill the porcupine and then wait patiently in our van for my dad to take him to the vet.
Nice job on the Pheasants, with 28ga, gotta love the Pudels!
Tip for the quills, a 1.5" diameter stick about a foot long held by a helper crossways in the dog's mouth in the molars with a hand on each side will help to keep the dog's mouth open and keep the dog from biting down and pushing the quills in the roof the mouth in deeper and in getting them out of the tongue.
Tip for the quills, a 1.5" diameter stick about a foot long held by a helper crossways in the dog's mouth in the molars with a hand on each side will help to keep the dog's mouth open and keep the dog from biting down and pushing the quills in the roof the mouth in deeper and in getting them out of the tongue.
We were pretty lucky, that no quills made it inside of the teeth, or into the tongue. They were just in the inner and outer lips, the nose, and a few into the gums on the outside of the teeth. As for the 28gauge, it is my absolute favorite gauge for pheasants and upland birds. Using the Fiocchi Golden Pheasant #6 loads, the birds just fold up in the air.
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
Unfortunately, I am probably the absolute worst person when it comes to remembering to take pictures.
badgreenbird
Regular
- Location
- Dawson Creek, BC
Porkies are pretty rare in central and northeastern BC in recent decades. Some sort of disease wiped them out and they really haven't recovered. So my dogs haven't had an encounter yet. My previous lab did have a run-in while hunting sharp-tails and huns in central Alberta 10+ years ago. I thought it strange to find a porky out in the prairies - not a tree in sight! We pulled the dog off quickly and he only had a couple dozen quills, which we pulled out without too much fuss.
The one I ate we did up in a stew so it could have been how it was seasoned. But it tasted like roast beef. Could have also been what it was eating.
Another great pheasant hunt today, with plenty of roosters, and no porcupines. The birds were running again today, but once again the three pudelpointers tracked them down and pointed them, so we could kill them. With luck, I might get one more hunt in, before I leave on my elk hunt.
Unfortunately my phone/camera got left in my vehicle, and we took my friends vehicle. If we get out again, I will try and remember to take pictures.
