Hunting your Bird Dog

[JJD]

hunt with a Chessie who will sit on a whistle. You'll get far more pheasants than hunting over any pointing breed. Especially in the Dakota's and Montana. Sharptail....get a pointer

Depends on how, and where you hunt.  In milo, cut corn, and cattails, your right.  But push birds into the coulees and natural prairie landscape where birds spread out and can be pinned, and a pointing dog will smoke a flusher/retriever.   You throw some snow on that milo, and that changes everything as well.

The grassland where we hunted was mostly about 3-6' tall. Plowed fields and cut wheat were the only open range. Hard to see a dog on point looking out over a couple thousand acres of chest high grassland. That's where the chickens feel safe.

thats why we have garmin tracking collars. you don't need to see your pointy dog to know where he is and what he is doing.

And beepers with point mode.

Ahhh nothing like the sound of a truck backing up for ambiance while your out hunting... or even worse, that fake hawk scream... or bobwhite chirp. I wish they would make those things illegal.

Doesn't bother me a bit, turn off my hearing aids and it's back to peace and quiet.   

[Happy Gilmore]

I've always had labs until about 6 years ago and have two Pudelpointers now. My pointers find and pin more wild roosters than my labs did. They are more fun to watch IMO and the shots are a lot easier when you flush the birds yourself IMO. I never have hunted over wild birds with a pointing lab but don't get as much enjoyment out of watching them work as I do a pointer. When I go to Montana every year to hunt pheasants with lab and Weim guys, my dogs always produce more birds in the bag. A lot of pointers don't like to get in the brush and thick cattails like a lab but Pudelpointers do. I've hunted with Wirehairs that crash thick cover as well or better than labs also. I think the pointers especially shine when the bird numbers are down and the dogs need to cover more ground to get a limit in the bag.

Was yours one of the ones who hooked up with Richard in MT last season?

[Stilly bay]

hunt with a Chessie who will sit on a whistle. You'll get far more pheasants than hunting over any pointing breed. Especially in the Dakota's and Montana. Sharptail....get a pointer

Depends on how, and where you hunt.  In milo, cut corn, and cattails, your right.  But push birds into the coulees and natural prairie landscape where birds spread out and can be pinned, and a pointing dog will smoke a flusher/retriever.   You throw some snow on that milo, and that changes everything as well.

The grassland where we hunted was mostly about 3-6' tall. Plowed fields and cut wheat were the only open range. Hard to see a dog on point looking out over a couple thousand acres of chest high grassland. That's where the chickens feel safe.

thats why we have garmin tracking collars. you don't need to see your pointy dog to know where he is and what he is doing.

And beepers with point mode.

Ahhh nothing like the sound of a truck backing up for ambiance while your out hunting... or even worse, that fake hawk scream... or bobwhite chirp. I wish they would make those things illegal.

Doesn't bother me a bit, turn off my hearing aids and it's back to peace and quiet.   

that kinda defeats the purpose of having a beeper doesn't it?

different strokes for different folks.
I value stealth for my hunting trips. any human/unnatural noise tips the birds off and puts them on alert. I can stand beepers and people that constantly hack and call for their dogs out side of a field trial.

to me a good day in the field is when I only have to say "good dog" and "load up" it doesn't happen as much as I would like, but I really enjoy running silent when I can, and I feel I bag more grouse because of. too often have I heard birds that were pinned down flush at the sound of a beeper.

I do really like the tritronics beeper that can be activated with your transmitter, that is very handy and a safety feature to boot. kinda like when you loose your car in a huge parking area and push the lock button on your key fob.

[Shannon]

Happy,
No I didn't meet up with him last year. The pudelpointers that were in that group he did meet up with-  I'm not sure they are an average representation. Maybe my dogs aren't an average representation because I hunt them 50+ days a year. I'm not saying my dogs are the greatest bird dogs out there but they are extremely lethal on pheasants.