Noise

Flush em up

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I always try to be quite while me and my dog hunt due to when I make noise I feel like the pheasants flush way up ahead. I hunt pressured public and have had birds flush on a calm day when you quietly shut the truck door. When hunting thick willow swamps or cattails, I cant always see my lab and don't want her getting too far out. I have thought of the bell but think the added noise will put the birds on alert and flush them to far out. What is everyones opinions about adding a locator bell to the collar?
 
I have 2 very small labs, both weigh around 40lbs so they are tough to see in cover taller than waist high. I run my e collar and then run a normal collar with 2-3 of their rabies tags on them, the sound of the tags hitting each other is enough I can always tell where the dogs are when in the field and isn't overly loud as to send birds flying to early. Personally the sound of me walking through the cover is louder than the dogs tags on their collars.
 
I was out last week and we had birds pile out on adjacent land as we pulled up and got ready, didnt matter much as it was private. We hunted 4 days killed 12 and probably should of killed 20. I ran silent, beeper and bells depending on how thick the cover was. Had birds shoot over points or birds that flushed within 15 yds. Some areas the birds flushed if you slowed down. I dont consider myself a quite hunter, but have always done well in SD. Will some birds move out cause of the noise yes, will some birds flush as normal yes, so i would say add the bell if it spooks all the birds remove it. Just my 2 cents.
 
We run French Brits. Smallish dogs. Our first one was a tricolor that was mostly black and brown. In other words, damn near impossible to see in heavy cover. Started with nothing. Went to a bell. Didn’t seem to bother the birds much. That was fine until she went on point the noise stopped. Went to beeper collars. Usually just use the locate function but in heavy cover (cattails, tumbleweeds, high clover, etc) the beep on point function is perfect. Noise is important but just walking cover makes plenty of noise. Take a shot and every bird in the section knows you are there. No need to get so paranoid about noise that you become nonfunctional.
 
Most times I take a piece of black tape and take my pups tags to the ring and collar to eliminate the jingling. I need all the help I can get.
 
It's helpful to be able to hear your dog in order to locate him, but don't go overboard. Quieter is almost always better. There's a big difference between a bird hearing a shot & knowing there's something loud 1/2 mile away somewhere, and a bird hearing the constant jingle of a bell, or sound of a person's voice, which allows him to pinpoint you exactly.
 
Quieter always better , I almost always put my dogs training collar on a mile or so away from where I plan to hunt , my vest is on , gun close at hand , dog box and tailgate opened quite , running a tri- tronics Upland special with locate mode and no beep until dog goes on point then Hawk Scream .

Approaching birds from the less obvious direction / away from parking lot if on public good approach if it will safely work out .

Always shoot more birds with a couple dogs and 2hunters using hand singnals than a big group making a lot of noise ,
 
Yup they bust you worse than whitetails. I’ve always had the best luck alone and into a some wind, and absolute silence with the dog. Even then it’s tough.
 
Quiet is definitely better when hunting public, approach the entire hunt like you are on a silent stalk of a big game hunt.

I have a lab, when training him as a puppy I started with whistle training. 1 whistle meant sit, 3 whistles meant come. Once I introduced him to the E-Collar, which has a shock function and beep function, I then trained him that 1 beep meant sit, 3 beeps meant come. Over the years as my time spent training has decreased and his natural hunting ability has increased, it has more so transitioned into a series of beeps just means you're too far away and move closer to me. Anyways, it has allowed us to be quiet and still communicate with each other. Very rarely do I have to say anything while hunting. If I happen to lose him while hunting cattails I can usually just stop moving for a few seconds and eventually hear or see the busting through the cattails to locate where he's at.
 
Rereading this whole thing. Question was basically, "Will a bell on my lab make smart, public birds (presumably wild) flush far away?" They won't necessarily flush. They may just make themselves invisible. Pheasants can do that - easily. They're masters of evasion & they'll use the safest route possible. They only flush if THAT's the safest route. A bell will no doubt allow them to know precisely where you & the lab are & give them a better chance of evading you one of 100 different ways. 5-10 yards makes big difference sometimes, & the easiest way to gain that extra distance on them is through stealth & confusion. On public land birds especially, quiet is key! No talking. Use hand signals to the dog & to other partners. Hunt "backwards" from the way most people hunt an area. Hunt into the wind. No bells or other jing-tinglers. Not saying you can't shoot some public land birds with a bell on your dog...but most times, your chances diminish.
 
My friends & I hunt on public land. We always run the dogs with a bells or beeping collars. Never had any problems getting birds while making noise.
 
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