How far should my dog stay away from birds

P

Pheasant Hunting Fever

New member
I have a 7 month old engis pointer. He is doing good. But i am a first time handler and first time hunting with a dog.So i am used to jus a pheasant jus pping out of no where, but with the dog how far do you want him to point on a bird ? Kolton
 
This is a tough question because there are so many variables in the field hunting wild birds. A lot depends on the cover and conditions. There are times the bird will be right under the dog's nose. But if you have a strong breeze the dog might lock up on point at first scent and the bird could be 10-15 feet away, or more. I think most pointing dogs will go on point when they get a strong scent. If the bird then starts to move my Brittanys will come off point when I approach and start to slowly track the bird trying to pin it down.

This is all part of the learning process for your pup. Don't expect too much at 7 months. Give him another 4-5 months and you will be amazed at how much he starts to figure out on his own as the natural instincts start to take over. As I said in my post on your other thread, be patient, you're working with a young dog. If your dog has a hunting background and proper breeding he will figure it out and it will all start to fall in place. This being your first dog you will learn right along with him. In fact, he will probably end up teaching you. Just enjoy the experience, it's a blast!
 
There are at least two lines of thinking on this. Some hold that your dog should point as soon as it makes game. I think this comes from the field trial and open lands type parties that run English pointers and setters and thosefield trial type Shorthairs, etc..
The "close working" pointers used on pheasants in heavier cover are expected to point closely on well located birds. Breeding and training are important to reach your goals as to what you want the dog to do.
Aclose working dog is more likely to point at a greater distance in short cover as ther would generally be more scent on the wind.
________
Vaporgenie Vaporizer
 
Last edited:
This is a interesting topic to me. The simple answer is far enough away that the dog doesn't bump the bird.......

I think that when your talking pointing breeds it depends on experience,training, how good they are picking up the scent and how the birds act, and what the wind is doing.....

I know with my dog, if we have a good wind she's working into and the bird isn't moving she will point a pheasant at around 20 yards. Now if wind is bad or there is no wind it will probably be more like 10 yards.

At the opposite end of the spectrum when we chukar hunt, with a good wind she'll point a big covey of chukar up to 70 yards away.
 
A lot of times with the wind you will get flash points where the dog is running, turns abruptly and points solid on birds that the dog ran by but caught scent once it was down wind.
________
Easy vape
 
Last edited:
What I found with my GSP is that the bird is the best teacher! The more birds you get him on the faster he/she will progress. When my GSP started his first season last year, he was flushing birds simply because he was not able to judge the scent. It was amazing how fast he progressed after about the second day of hunting, keep in mind last years opener was the first time i ever put him on birds, I concentrated on obedience training and let the dogs instincts do the teaching. i hunt at a local club where lots of birds are planted so he had about 200 birds shot over him in a span of 6 weeks. This year was his second season and after not hunting for the past 9 months they still remember! So my tip would be to get him on as many birds as possible pin raised or wild! He'll learn eventually, just be patient and let him flush a few birds he'll slowly learn :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top