Rain & Scent Question

[SnowDog]

Hi All - I'm a relatively new upland hunter working with my first dog now for three years. Over the past few trips it has been raining pretty hard while I've been hunting or the night before and my dog is having a tough time finding birds. Often we kick them up before he gets birdy. I'm pretty sure this is due to the rain, but wanted to get some pro advise. Anything we can do to help increase our success besides waiting for better weather?

Thanks in advance!
SD

[wildweeds]

What kind of dog are you using breedwise? I used to have springers and my personal opinion is that they are the best thing for wet conditions and upland birdhunting.I've got setters now and I personally don't think they do as well when it's raining,they are air scenters and springers are ground scenters,when it's raining I feel the scent gets pushed towards the ground,and when it's dry out the scent can drift in the wind making for better conditions for an air scenting dog.Versatiles(Gsp,GWP,Viz,Brits) do some of both ground and air.I myself don't like hunting in the rain so I just wait it out,I either get it done mid morning or in the afternoon,The last couple of weekends I've snuck out and lucked out with dry weather in the late late afternoon.

[Stilly bay]

most of the scent birds produce come from their mouth as they exhale, the rest comes from their body and to a lesser degree their feet. when it rains ( as your finding out) most of those scent particles coming from the birds mouth get washed away or soaked as they fall on plants and the ground. generally if your dog bumps a bird in the rain it means he didn't smell it until it he was right on top of it and the scent hadn't been absorbed by the surrounding moisture.

when dogs hunt ground scent - like springers- they are following a combination of foot and body scent and the birds breath since often times when the birds hear you and your dog long before you flush them and they hunker down close ground as the try and sneak away.

too dry can also be a problem since scent will actually evaporate. not to mention your dogs mucous membrane will dry out and really compromise his scenting ability. there are some areas in africa where they don't bother with any kind of scent control when big game hunting because the sun will cook it away before their prey comes by.

my theory on why its so dang hard to find a pheasant after you flush it is that while in flight their bodies get air washed of most scent and when they land they some how hold their breath ( for lack of a better term) while they run away. wether they hold their breath or breath out their mouth instead of their nose I dunno.. its just a theory.

[SnowDog]

Awesome advice!!!! I have a lab, and he seems to do a bit of both air and ground scent. I never knew it was their breath that produced most of the scent! I also wondered why it was sometimes so hard to find a bird I just saw land after being flushed. Made me crazy a few times.

Like I said, I'm new to the sport and learning fast. I got into it sorta by accident. We bought our lab as a pet, and the breeder told me he came from great pointing lab bloodlines. So at 4 months old, I bought a shotgun, took him to a release site and let him go. 15 minutes later he pointed a bird and then flushed it, I shot it, and he retrieved it. This was the first time I ever fired a shotgun  So, I decided to learn how to train him (and myself) and after 3 years, he has turned out pretty darn good.

Thanks again for the tips! Great to get some education from you veterans!

Cheers!
SD

[Stilly bay]

maybe I shouldn't have said "most of the scent" but a huge portion none the less.. at least on par with body scent .

I never knew it was their breath that produced most of the scent! I also wondered why it was sometimes so hard to find a bird I just saw land after being flushed. Made me crazy a few times.

Like I said, I'm new to the sport and learning fast. I got into it sorta by accident. We bought our lab as a pet, and the breeder told me he came from great pointing lab bloodlines. So at 4 months old, I bought a shotgun, took him to a release site and let him go. 15 minutes later he pointed a bird and then flushed it, I shot it, and he retrieved it. This was the first time I ever fired a shotgun  So, I decided to learn how to train him (and myself) and after 3 years, he has turned out pretty darn good.

thats an awesome story! I love hearing about folks from non hunting backgrounds finding the sport

[wildweeds]

After todays jaunt in the rain perhaps experiance plays a role as well,Took the 10.5 year old dog and she did pretty good,hunted her 45 minutes and she found one bird.Living a half mile from the site affords me a really good chance to hunt the last hour or less and get there for afternoon cleanup.Two weeks ago she found 5 birds in an hour,it wasn't raining that day though.This morning we took a one year old pup for 2 hours and he found 2 birds,shot one over him.Didn't have a lane of opportunity for anything but a miracle shot this afternoon,and it was a hen so I passed.

[akirkland]

One hen and 4 roosters today. My lab is 4 and didnt hunt anything last year. It diddnt rain today but it was super wet out.

[Labs07]

We had a pretty good day on Saturday, kind of wet and misty but then rained a bit throughout the day.  Shot a limit and missed two in the early morning.  My Lab is now 5 and has lots of experience in day and wet condictions.  I think after a while the dogs adapt and learn what birds do in different condictions.  The thing that blows me away sometimes is when you just fold a bird and mark it but they run anyway.  They are just tough.