I’m from north central and have been hiking on conservation areas and private ground since September 1st. Have not seen any pheasants and have walked up 2 coveys of quail so far, will continue to be out walking and will update again next week.
I agree with you if the dog wouldn’t handle, but with a tracking collar and the lack of birds these days a big running dog makes sense. Sure there’s going to be birds that will flush before you get to her but that’s just part of the hunt. I never needed a tracking collar until this dog came...
I have a Brittany that ranges nearly a half mile, she was professionally trained and I run a tracking collar on her. You walk half the distance and will find twice the birds in my opinion and that’s important as I’m in my late sixties.
Brittany from Shubert, Nebraska breeder in 1970, best nose on a dog I ever hunted over. Hunted over many dogs since that was faster, covered more ground and was better retrievers but never came close to having the nose.
Nightlite has some bibs that are waterproof and briar resistant that are really durable I hear. I have a pair from the original makers of this type from Wicks Outdoors that I bought in 1986 that I still use, not sure the Nightlite version as durable as the Wicks brand.
Looking forward to opener in Missouri for quail, have spent last week doing whistle counts of coveys coming off roost and might be slightly better than last year. Looking forward to getting to hunt with my oldest grandson this year which means so much as my dog and myself are piling on the...