who hunts birds over dogs

[slowpokebr549]

It's amazing what a rock hard point will do for my tired legs. Just when you are thinking about heading to the house the dog goes down, suddenly you aint tired no more. I have hunted with some truelly outstanding dogs in my life. My father owns some really prime quail hunting ground and we have worked hard to provide feed and habitat for them. We never had any lack of volunteers to help us hunt them. My favorite dog of all time though was my jack russel Maxwell. I used to take him along on quail hunts on occasion.All of the blue bloods and trial dogs owners would get snooty until they saw him work a covey. He even raised a front leg when he pointed.He was better at hunting dead than any setter,pointer,or retriever I have ever seen or owned.He even flushed on command. God rest his rotten soul, that was my one good dog in a lifetime.

 

[bucktales]

Matching the bird dog to the hunter and his quarry is paramount for a satisfying hunt....Fred

Very well said and so very true. :thumbsup:

 

[Britsmoothy]

Here is yours truly with my cocker x springer gripe, good companion and good bird dog.

Britsmoothy.

 

[Vaino]

You sure got that right.....Fred

 

[hawk]

those are some fine looking animals fellas.
fred only tring to be modest... it seems when ever I boast about how good my dog is at hunting... thats when she makes me look like a story teller!
the line is from old man and the boy by robert rourk.

as for grouse in the northern canadian bush you can almost hunt them with a club. they won't run till you kick them up...un less they've had some presure ...where we hunt them it's a 6 mile boat ride to the top of the lake and no roads let alone people up there.
I guess it'll be different for everyone.
thanks for all your imput on the matter good luck to all of you this coming season.


hawk2

 

[paulvallandigham]

There has to be a place in heaven for great hunting dogs. If there isn't, I am not going!

 

[Idaho Ron]

I've hunted WILD pheasants and ruffed grouse over both springers, labs and pointing dogs and enjoyed all. The problem w/ slow, close workers of both types is that they never catch up to the bird. Both wild pheasants and grouse are runners and a bold, aggresive dog is needed to either cause a flush or bring the bird to point. I've seen a slow, close working springer work a pheasant for 3/4 mile and never did flush the bird. Same thing w/ a slow working setter of mine....point, break...point, break...and this would go on and on and the bird would eventually flush way ahead of the dog. This dog was good on woodcock because they don't run very far and most of the time, not at all. When pheasants are plentiful any kind of dog will "scare 'em up" and in fact, in some areas, a dog isn't necessary at all. {Dakota drives}. No...I like aggresive, hard working dogs that will do whatever it takes to put meat on the table and the hunter just has to keep up.....Fred

You have well trained and slow mixed up. No one said a dog had to be slow for the hunter to keep up!
In fact a MH field bred ESS is going to be a fast ground covering dog. The dog is trained to quarter and in the case of a dog trailing a bird the handler MUST be able to hup the dog while it is hot on the bird. I hunt WILD pheasants, Valley quail,Huns, chukar,Ruffed grouse, blue grouse, and sage grouse, and sharptailed grouse. I wrote a story for a Magazine called Spaniels in the field. It was called the Idaho Upland slam. I shot all of those birds over my spaniel in one year. In fact I did it every year for about 6 years.
I hunt with German shorthairs now but I would do another spaniel in a heart beat. While I love spaniels my GSP's put more birds in front of the gun. They run BIG and cover ground. They are steady to wing stop to flush and force broke to retrieve. They are great bird dogs.
Remember trained does not mean slow. How do you think we got the chukar? Here is a picture of some blue grouse and me and my dog Buzz. The other one is of my GSP Hildie when she was just a baby. She is 10 months old in the picture.
Ron

 

[Vaino]

Nice country and evidently you've had some good shooting. By "hupping" you mean stopping the dog while it's trailing a bird? What happens to a running pheasant in the meantime? I also prefer pointing dogs and English setters specifically vs flushers....takes too long for the flushers to cover birdless areas. Started off w/ 3 pointers and found them to be too far ranging and hard headed, so then used 3 English setters which were ideal for ruffed grouse and woodcock but were also used for pheasants. The setters would go on point and the pheasant would run, the dogs would break point, make a semi circle at a very fast clip, cut the bird off and point the bird, usually w/in 3-5 ft. It was a joy to watch these very fast and bold dogs. My experience is that ruffed grouse are a little more difficult for the setters than pheasants because of cover, multiple birds and the erratic nature of grouse. Never hunted w/ a flusher that once on the trail of a running bird, could be stopped...if that means "hupping". Exidently it can be done, I've just not seen it....Fred

 

[Idaho Ron]

The cover that a guy is hunting is a big part of it. If you are hunting a 1000-acre CRP field vs a tight ditch bank. There is a secret on hunting chukar. Chukar will move out of the canyons in the morning. They will feed on top on new grass. If you can get a wind that blows from the desert to the canyon the dogs will trail the birds AWAY from the canyon rim into the wind. Once the birds push about so far from the canyon rim they will sit for a pointer or will flush for the flushing dog. If the dog trails the bird TO the canyon the birds will simply jump over the edge and are gone.
On pheasants that are running from a flusher. When hupping a flusher you have to depend on the dogs nose. The bird does not quit putting out scent. What happens in most cases where the dog looses the trail is either the scenting conditions are poor enough that the trail dissipates quickly or the dog is unable to adapt to the changing conditions. In either case the hunter has to keep up to a point. But also the dog MUST learn from his mistakes, or success. If the dog has success by running flat out that is the way he will do it the next time. If the dog uses ground scent and tracks the bird down like a convict in a swamp that is what he will do. My spaniel Buzz would do both but he was best at tracking, and would not give up a track.
I am not saying a guy should walk like he is out for a stroll. The hunter has to keep up his part but running is not that part for a fully trained flushing dog. The kind of cover a guy hunts makes a big difference in dog work and success of both the dog and the hunter. Ron

 

[oneeye]

I have not shot blackpowder over my GSP, but I have shot archery and modern shotguns over her for 10 years now. I hope to shoot blackpowder over her this fall. I am not sure how many more seasons she has left in her.
Dan

 

[Blizzard of '93]

not with a BP shottie but yes with cartridge shotties. I had a King Charles Spaniel I hunted grouse and quail with in field and wood and dove and duck floating the river.
I had a Black Lab I hunted duck with in the Tidewater coastal areas
Two best dogs a man could hope for. I have a BP smoothie in the future for turkey.

 

[laufer]

over my gsp, no bp just regular 12ga sxs.