Different scents from hens and roosters

Frangler

Active member
Sometimes I swear my 4.5 year old GSP can smell the difference between a hen and a rooster. She seems much more intense on a roosters trail and even has different body posture. Anyone out there seen the same thing in their dogs??
 
I have witnessed a difference between them as well. I believe it may have to do more with the habits of the different sexes than with the scent of them. Who knows, sure makes you wish a dog could talk. lol
 
I have noticed that also. When a hen flushes and I don't shoot, I don't get that same stink eye from her as when I miss the rooster she kicks up!!
 
I have noticed that also. When a hen flushes and I don't shoot, I don't get that same stink eye from her as when I miss the rooster she kicks up!!

LOL!

I used to think that I noticed a difference, but I think that I was influenced after-the-fact by MY higher excitement level at a rooster flush. When I look at it with a more critical eye, the dog herself seems pretty much the same on both scents. I suppose the rooster being that much bigger and dragging around a long tail might lay down a little more stink to get riled up about, but I don't think that there is any difference, speaking for my dog only of course.
 
I've had three dogs that with age and expeirience seemed to know the difference. One would simply flush hens rather than point them, tho he always pointed roosters after reaching age 4-5. The others would point hens when things were slow or no roosters aroun. Otherwise just kind of ignored them.
On the F&S PHEASANT TEST, the author said no way. I disagree.
 
I've had three dogs that with age and expeirience seemed to know the difference. One would simply flush hens rather than point them, tho he always pointed roosters after reaching age 4-5. The others would point hens when things were slow or no roosters aroun. Otherwise just kind of ignored them.
On the F&S PHEASANT TEST, the author said no way. I disagree.

That's awesome. Thanks for the feed back. I dont want to come off like i have the best bird dog in the world but she definitley seems to know the difference. My dog will point hens but her tail tends to flag when it's a hen or like your dog she will flush them on her own. I like to think that a dogs nose is powerful enough to know the difference. Especially when they never get to retrieve any of the hens.
 
With my more experienced dog Dakota, I can usually tell hen or rooster, but that is based on the differences between how hens and roosters react.

With the roosters, they typically run - Dakota will go on a staunch point, soften up, I tell him "free" or give him a hand signal to go ... then this process repeats until we get into a corner or edge and the rooster flushes, or has run a half mile away and nothing flushes! :laugh:

With the hens, they typically hold more often than not. When he slams on point and doesn't budge my first thought is "Hen!"

I am pretty certain that they can smell the difference, and as dogs get more experienced, I think that they would be more inclined to point roosters, since they are the ones that get shot and that they get to retrieve!
 
Dunno.

But thinking about it, pheasants don't use scent to feed, breed, flee or congregate, so it seems unlikely there would be any difference of significance.

but, like I said,

dunno.

:)
 
Dunno.

But thinking about it, pheasants don't use scent to feed, breed, flee or congregate, so it seems unlikely there would be any difference of significance.

but, like I said,

dunno.

:)

I just read in article in the smithsonian that talks about how birds use quantum mechanics to navigate and feed. This basically means they use sight, sound, smell, the sun and earths magnetic field to find their way on a daily basis. I have been releasing coveys of bobwhites on my property for the last six years for dog training and they always find the food I put out for them. It's made me scratch my head on how the heck they find seeds on the ground from the chicken scratch I throw out. I used to put it in areas where the seed was visible but it would expose the birds to avian predation so I started spreading the seed in densely covered areas where they could feed with out being seen by hawks. I wasn't sure if they would be able to find the food before other birds ate it all up but the day after I put the food in a different spot the birds were on it esting away. This got me thinking that birds may use their sense of smell more than we realize. I started putting their food out in different areas each time as an experiment to see if they could find it. Sure enough they never failed to figure out where I had thrown the seed. I even Barried a couple handfuls under a light film of dirt and leaves which they quickly found and scratched out of the ground. Makes me wonder how a bird that low to the ground that doesn't fly often can find the food without using smell.
 
With my more experienced dog Dakota, I can usually tell hen or rooster, but that is based on the differences between how hens and roosters react.

With the roosters, they typically run - Dakota will go on a staunch point, soften up, I tell him "free" or give him a hand signal to go ... then this process repeats until we get into a corner or edge and the rooster flushes, or has run a half mile away and nothing flushes! :laugh:

With the hens, they typically hold more often than not. When he slams on point and doesn't budge my first thought is "Hen!"

I am pretty certain that they can smell the difference, and as dogs get more experienced, I think that they would be more inclined to point roosters, since they are the ones that get shot and that they get to retrieve!

I agree on the running rooster vs. holding hen. When my pup locks up a hard point and doesn't budge, especially this late in the season, I automatically think hen. When she points, then moves, then points, then starts running, that's almost always a rooster!

That said, I don't think she differentiates the scents of the two. If she did, I don't think she'd lock up so hard on the hens. She'd smell it, know it was a hen, and move on - this never happens.
 
Hens vs Roosters

I had two Beagle; Pete and Tilley(litter mates). Pete did the hunting and Tilley just came along because she liked hanging out. I can't tell you how many times Pete hunted thru an area only to have Tilley come along and flush a hen. I hunted with those two Beagles for several years and I know for a fact that Pete knew we were hunting roosters; not hens. There were times when he would go under tumble weed drifts and come out with a rooster that was looking around wondering what the heck just happened. They just happend to be the two dogs I had when I started pheasant hunting, but Beagles make great pheasant dogs and I sure miss those two.
 
i know my old brittany and my labrador(both gone now)seemed exceptionally proud to bring a rooster to hand. more so than a quail or a duck.just seemed like a dead pheasant meant they were in the "big league" that day
 
Well im with you, i too believe my dog knows the difference between hens and rosters. Because when we are in the field and she comes to a hen she will slow down and just look at it then trough off and then the hen flushes and she doesn't care at all but if a roster is around she acts like a crack head until she either points it or flushes him every time.
 
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