A common tip

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
Listened to a pheasant hunting podcast tonight and a tip given was to really slow down and let the dog work. I can agree with that. But I can also agree that sometimes picking up the pace a little bit can make a big difference. Late season when the birds started flushing just out of range if I hustled over often I could get a shot at a rooster. Perhaps in that spot after "all" the birds flushed and the 1 bird was downed/retrieved I should have slowly walked through it again in case one held tight. I think I would tell people this as a tip, "be cognizant of your speed, and match it to the conditions, cover thickness, and what the dog is doing. Sometimes speeding up is good and sometimes slowing down is good." Last year I hunted with a guy who walked the same pace whether we were going through light prairie grass or thick cattails.
 
I find myself recommending that people hunt slow, because in general, a lot of people hunt too fast. Pheasant hunting is an interesting game though. Sometimes my dog influences my pace, & that's usually because he's responding to birds. Sometimes I influence my dog's pace. Most of the time, though, I don't work very hard, he gets to hunt pretty thoroughly, & I feel like we find almost all the birds in our area. Our forward pace isn't usually fast unless birds dictate fast.
 
Bob Peters said:
Listened to a pheasant hunting podcast tonight and a tip given was to really slow down and let the dog work. I can agree with that. But I can also agree that sometimes picking up the pace a little bit can make a big difference. Late season when the birds started flushing just out of range if I hustled over often I could get a shot at a rooster. Perhaps in that spot after "all" the birds flushed and the 1 bird was downed/retrieved I should have slowly walked through it again in case one held tight. I think I would tell people this as a tip, "be cognizant of your speed, and match it to the conditions, cover thickness, and what the dog is doing. Sometimes speeding up is good and sometimes slowing down is good." Last year I hunted with a guy who walked the same pace whether we were going through light prairie grass or thick cattails.
Click to expand...
Bob, I assume the gentleman you hunted with that could maintain the same pace whether in light grass or cattails was not carrying a Medicare card. Richard
 
I had an eye opening experience about 8 years ago when a group of people came through an area with their 2 labs behind my group just hunted (we had 3 pointing dogs). We didn't kick up any birds but they kicked up about 4 birds and got 2 of them. What were they doing? Moving really slowly. Us? We're practically running through the field. Ever since then I move at a snail's pace (depending on conditions and situation) and let my dog dictate the speed.

Another tip is to always trust your dog. Always. I probably look like a jackass when I'm hunting. As I'm weaving through fields and going in circles following my dog as she's working. But I never dictate her direction, I just follow wherever she wants to go. I have a general direction I want to work a field but I don't walk in a straight line.
 
I think it can be both fast and slow depending on the day and the cover. Some say covering ground quickly increases number of contacts since more ground covered. Some say trying to get every bird in the piece up thus working slower is more productive. I try not to over think it but if one isn’t working then try the other. Main thing is have fun and as already mentioned trust the damn dog!!!
 
I gave up on walking straight lines while hunting a long time ago. I just follow my dog as slow as we can go, more relaxing, sometimes when that tail starts throwing a wind I pick it up a bit. I have hunted the same field the same day with same dog and picked up birds. Them squirrly roosters run all over the place some days.
 
There are a lot of variables and I think you're on the right track, Bob. Going slow is fine and dandy if there's birds in the area. If not, keep moving. I say all this, but I'm not the one who decides. All my trust is on the dog. If she moves ahead, I'll move ahead. If she circles and works an area for 10 minutes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Huede hit the nail on the head. Roosters is runners. Over, under, around, through and back again. If a guy is marching along without having that in mind, those wily buggers will win a lot more times than the hunter will.
 
I always get back to the truck and think there was one (or more) that probably got buy us today. Sometimes you even get to see one slither over into private property and think he outsmarted us today. You have to leave some for seed, gives you something to look forward to on the next trip.
 
Almost all the responses here say to trust the dog. Well, not everyone hunts with a dog. Just something to think about.

Trying to keep pace when there's knee deep snow also isn't going to happen. I'm young and I'm in good shape, but no human can trudge through that at a fast clip for very long.

Also, the time of day can make a difference too. I almost exclusively hunt in the afternoon/evenings when birds are either already roosted or heading to a roost.
 
Theres alot of "layers" to this topic-I think that experience helps tremendously in making the right decision. I generally start slow under most conditions but definitely have times where I move fast to flank , cut-off, or flat out bum-rush narrow pinch points etc.
super thick and tall rows demands me to move super slow and stop with alot more regularity and let the dogs work it out.
Over-all, I think the biggest thing people do wrong is move too fast-I can see where a pod cast with a limited air time will just touch off on a common /easy fix so they can cover all their dialogue for their show.
 
Agreed. There's been more than one occasion where I've let the dogs work a running bird very quickly through brome grass, etc., and by the time the bird flushed I was nearly jogging - but well within range for a shot. Likely, I would have been out of range had I called the dogs back and worked it very slowly.

That's one of the (many) reasons I enjoy hunting solo. I can speed up, slow down, circle back, zig zag, etc., at my own discretion. When hunting with others, often times it is a matter of safety. I also think that we tend to work much quicker when hunting as a group, and walk by several birds.
 
Never realized how key wind direction is until last year when three of us (stupidly) made a first pass through a good place with the wind at our back. Three cocks flushed from about 20 feet behind us despite our three experienced pointing breeds working the area.
 
Last edited:
cyclonenation10 said:
Agreed. There's been more than one occasion where I've let the dogs work a running bird very quickly through brome grass, etc., and by the time the bird flushed I was nearly jogging - but well within range for a shot. Likely, I would have been out of range had I called the dogs back and worked it very slowly.

That's one of the (many) reasons I enjoy hunting solo. I can speed up, slow down, circle back, zig zag, etc., at my own discretion. When hunting with others, often times it is a matter of safety. I also think that we tend to work much quicker when hunting as a group, and walk by several birds.
Click to expand...

I used to try and call my dog off and all that seemed to happen was watching the bird flush at the end of the field or we'd never get back on them. I've since just let him go and I go with, it helps that I am young and in-shape, but I've shot several birds after a jog or even short/slow sprint behind the dog. The only time it is annoying is the 5% of the time I'm hunting with someone else - I can either call dog off and decrease our chances of getting the bird, or just take off running with him. That said, my dog and I are a team and our styles fit, we know each others styles and body language and how to work together. When I'm older, I might work harder in training to keep a dog from chasing runners, but right now it fits my style.
 
Idk how you can even train them to not chase running, wild birds. A wild bird will only hold so long and I'd rather my dog keep moving with them instead of hanging back on point and the bird ran off. Pen raised birds that hold perfect sure. But wild birds get their track shoes on as much as they fly. Mine have chased many running birds that (like you) I catch up to them or I'm running and have to slam on the brakes and shoot.
 
Munster927 said:
Idk how you can even train them to not chase running, wild birds. A wild bird will only hold so long and I'd rather my dog keep moving with them instead of hanging back on point and the bird ran off. Pen raised birds that hold perfect sure. But wild birds get their track shoes on as much as they fly. Mine have chased many running birds that (like you) I catch up to them or I'm running and have to slam on the brakes and shoot.
Click to expand...
I've always thought that many times the dog can physically hear/see/sense the pheasant running ahead of them. I can call my dog off when she's birdy and searching, but it seems like there comes a moment when the radar locks on and I can either keep up or give up.

We all have to decide what we are willing to accept from our dogs. Personally, I've got no issue with breaking into a sprint (or what passes for a sprint these days) and getting after it. I know some folks think that's bad form and I would encourage them to do exactly what they feel like they should be doing.
 
Golden Hour said:
I've always thought that many times the dog can physically hear/see/sense the pheasant running ahead of them. I can call my dog off when she's birdy and searching, but it seems like there comes a moment when the radar locks on and I can either keep up or give up.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. I'll never forget when the light bulb went off that I needed to trust my dog. She was slowly working her way away from me and I stopped to talk to my friend as we were almost back to the truck. I turn around, and my dogs about 200 yards away.

I whistled and she didn't come back, gave her a beep on the shock collar, nothing. Then she locked up, and a rooster takes flight. She either was tracking that thing the whole distance or picking up it's scent from that far. Either way, trust your dogs when they seem to be disregarding you and they've got some experience. It usually means somethings up.
 
jackrabbit said:
I used to try and call my dog off and all that seemed to happen was watching the bird flush at the end of the field or we'd never get back on them. I've since just let him go and I go with, it helps that I am young and in-shape, but I've shot several birds after a jog or even short/slow sprint behind the dog. The only time it is annoying is the 5% of the time I'm hunting with someone else - I can either call dog off and decrease our chances of getting the bird, or just take off running with him. That said, my dog and I are a team and our styles fit, we know each others styles and body language and how to work together. When I'm older, I might work harder in training to keep a dog from chasing runners, but right now it fits my style.
Click to expand...
Ditto. And being a public land hunter, I'm not usually dealing with big bunches of birds to be spooked up ahead. If I can't keep up, he just goes. The strange thing is 90% of the time, it's a hen. Once I learned this, I was able to not make a big deal of it. He goes; flushes the bird; and comes back. And my dogs do it less & less once they realize I usually bow out of their long, speedy journeys. Also, I theorize that my attempts to call my dog off & back do more harm than good, as they alert any nearby roosters to our presence. And I rationalize that if my dog flushes a bird 150 yds out, had I kept my dog with me, we'd have never, ever seen that bird anyway, certainly not in range. It's really not hard to legitimize incomplete dog training.
 
All of the above is a good reason to learn your dog. We've all mentioned trust your dog, but learning your dogs tells are important too. When my 9 year old gets birdy, she usually slows down the pace but moves with a methodical purpose and her tail is wagging like crazy but only from about an 8 o'clock to 4 o'clock position. Normally when she's just searching and running it's spinning around and wagging. When I see her tell tale sign of "I got something" I know I have to keep up and stick with her.

Now my 2 year old I haven't figured out her tell yet, but in my experience most dogs have their own tell. It's up to us to figure out what it is.
 
I have my female lab trained to sit on a whistle toot. Can stop her on a runner as well if she gets too far in front. Saves a lot of running to keep up for this old cowboy !!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top