How far do you let your dogs go?

Like choices of which gun, which ammo, or even which pickup to buy, the choice of which dog depends on a lot of situations. Fortunately, there are a lot of choices, whether pointers, flushers, or both. Will they live in your house or outside in a kennel? Do you need a calm one or one that is high-strung and tons of energy? Do you need a big/strong dog to get thru the cattails, or a smaller dog to just hunt the tall grass or CRP?

Like Carptom, I'm old enough to not run down birds anymore, and get tired quicker. Sometimes we need to throttle back and change course...
 
I've owned shorthairs all my life and while I know there's some close working ones, my last one was not. Otto was a big runner and frankly it drove me crazy the past 4 seasons. I had to hunt with my finger on the collar to keep him in somewhat control. It wore on me and finally I had enough as it wasn't any fun for me or him. I sold him to a guy that wanted a "big runner" and bought myself a Brittany. Last season was Finn's first and man, it was so nice having a closer working dog. He stays within 50-75 yards most of the time and is constantly checking to see where I'm at. It brought the joy back to hunting. I'm almost 50 and for me the days of big running dogs are over as it's too hard to keep up.
 
Since my Sportdog vs Garmin thread almost got hijacked...I figured let's have the debate.
What breed of dogs are you hunting over?
How far out do you let them range? Plus, let's see the boys and girls for a dog tax!


The above was the original post. I don't see the part about only being about pointy dogs...
 
CRP said:
Since my Sportdog vs Garmin thread almost got hijacked...I figured let's have the debate.
What breed of dogs are you hunting over?
How far out do you let them range? Plus, let's see the boys and girls for a dog tax!


The above was the original post. I don't see the part about only being about pointy dogs...
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I don't know a lot of flusher guys using GPS collars and letting the flushers range. Would make for some dynamic situations. Good for keeping bird numbers up. ;)

Just giving you a hard time. It is one of those things where the pointer crowd knows immediately it's about pointers, and we get a kick out of the flushers chiming in.
 
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Mine's a Brittany. If I'm hunting alone I let the dog do the hunting as long as I can see it or hear its bell. If I'm hunting with others I try to match the range of their dogs.
 
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What I do is I put my nephew and my cousin out in the woods, and then I just turned my dog loose, and if the wind is right those guys are going to get past shooting like ducks.
 
Short answer is it depends. For the most part mine hunt at 150yd or less but there are times depending on cover ect that they will range out to 4-500yds. Really the only time I rein them in is if there is a safety issue, like getting close to a road.
 
KansasGsp said:
I've owned shorthairs all my life and while I know there's some close working ones, my last one was not. Otto was a big runner and frankly it drove me crazy the past 4 seasons. I had to hunt with my finger on the collar to keep him in somewhat control. It wore on me and finally I had enough as it wasn't any fun for me or him. I sold him to a guy that wanted a "big runner" and bought myself a Brittany. Last season was Finn's first and man, it was so nice having a closer working dog. He stays within 50-75 yards most of the time and is constantly checking to see where I'm at. It brought the joy back to hunting. I'm almost 50 and for me the days of big running dogs are over as it's too hard to keep up.
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Good move!
 
Dakotazeb said:
My dog is certainly a "family pet" She has full run of the house and can sleep on any chair, couch or bed she desires. I have a wire crate in the den next to my desk and as I type this she is sleeping in the crate. The crate door is open and she can leave it if she wants. But traveling is different deal. When traveling, whether it's hunting or our annual trip for the winter to and from Arizona she is in a crate/kennel in our SUV. She is very content and happy there and it's also a safety factor when traveling. So I do not agree with your statement "You do not put them in cages".
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ditto
 
What you really need is one of those versatile breeds. You know, the ones who can juggle, walk on 2 legs, and breathe underwater.

Anything less is just not a worthy canine
 
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