Steady to flush and shot?

[BradyBuck]

How many hunters find it necessary to steady your dog to flush, shot and fall? I am newish to upland hunting but I’ve always steadied my flushers to the flush, shot and fall. Pretty much every hunting video I’ve seen of upland dogs they all break as soon as the birds flush. Seems to create some dangerous situations.

Thanks

 

[remy3424]

I have never tried to train a dog to be steady to anything. I have had pointers (GSPs). To avoid a "dangerous situation", avoid low shots, adopt the blue sky rule.

 

[Headin west]

I mainly hunt pheasants but want my dog on them as quick as possible. So have never felt the need to steady them in fact the opposite is true.

 

[LCR10A]

Steady to flush shot and fall is a must for a hunt test but not so much for wild bird hunting, at least from what I’ve seen in person. Agree, It could be dangerous depending on who’s hunting with you.

 

[Wind River]

Unsteady dogs usually require more suturing.

 

[westksbowhunter]

I want my dogs on the birds as soon as it hits the ground.

 

[Quailnerd]

Nope I don’t, if you hunt birds that run something has to give.

 

[Quailnerd]

If a guy gets his dog to that point in training/testing that’s awesome, but to reliably put feathers in the bag I prefer them to break on shot and relocate freely

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

A field trial spaniel steady as all get out can be allowed to be UNsteady as all get out in actual hunting situations & spiffed back up for trials. Can they be allowed to be unsteady in some hunting situations, while required to be steady in others? I'm guessing so, but I'm uncertain. I don't train anywhere near to that level, as some of you know. My dogs follow a bird upon flushing it if they can, & I prefer it for obvious reasons. I've maybe had to hold off on 2 shots in thousands of flushes. Poor quality or still dizzy pen-reared birds that fly slow & barely get above the grass tips might be a different story, or so it would seem from some youtube videos. I have no first hand experience with such "hunting".

 

[Jawilor]

I'm in the same boat. I hunt with flushers and prefer they do a controlled chase after the flush. The sooner they get on downed birds, the better.

 

[LC Smith]

In the hunt test world, mainly for Labradors, the upper levels require steady to flush/shot, etc. for handling purposes. I have not trained my PL to be steady. There are times in which I wish he was...

 

[Mosby]

My Vizsla is a SH and is steady to flush and shot....most of the time but he has his moments. My GSP isn't.

 

[Gatzby]

For competition purposes all my dogs are steady to shot and flush. When we are hunting with people I know and trust I let them roll. If we are guiding a bunch of strangers I will whistle sit them on the first couple flushes and they will be steady, or at least mostly steady the rest of the day. I like to leave some fun it for the dog.

 

[carptom1]

For most of us that upland hunt there is little advantage for being steady on shot and flush. Those several seconds of waiting for direction can be crucial in finding a wounded pheasant. While I do agree that there is a safety issue if the dog is lunging on the flush, I haven’t had an issue with this in the past. I would agree in mixed company but if you are shooting this low then the dog is not the issue.

 

[Jpace]

A positive to steady to flush in a pointing breed is stop to flush. This allows you to catch up and handle the dog for any stragglers. Especially handy on prairie birds