Pointers late season in tall cover

J

jmnhunter

Active member
in the next coupel of years, we will begin the stage of adding a pup to our family as my current pup is 8 right now; been toying with going with a pudel Pointer, the ONLY thing that worries me right now is hunting a pointer late season in the thick stuff, cattails, willows, etc. where seeing the dog isnt doable until you start and finish a push around a frozen pothole or slough.

how do you hunt these with your pointer?

do pointers really range that far out-or is this all training based?
 
The easiest way to keep track of your dog in thick cover is to purchase a GPS collar. I have the Garmin Alpha and love it. They are not cheap but well worth it in the long run.

Not all pointing dogs run big. A lot depends on the breeding and training.
 
GPS is the way to go.

I was concerned about my dog in cattails as well. But she eats them up. She definitely works closer, but birds hold SOOOOO well for points. It's really a lot of fun.
 
jmnhunter said:
in the next coupel of years, we will begin the stage of adding a pup to our family as my current pup is 8 right now; been toying with going with a pudel Pointer, the ONLY thing that worries me right now is hunting a pointer late season in the thick stuff, cattails, willows, etc. where seeing the dog isnt doable until you start and finish a push around a frozen pothole or slough.

how do you hunt these with your pointer?

do pointers really range that far out-or is this all training based?
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my pudelpointer is a cat tail busting fool.......i just listen for him and watch the cattails moving (even though he wears a beeper collar, i rarely use it)......when he stops i give him the release command and send him in, bang!.......when there is light snow on the cats, it's really fun to watch him leave a trail....the thicker cover the closer he works.....open fields he opens up.
 
In my opinion, Its just as much the dog as it is the training. Of the 2 Brits we have currently, one ranges different than the other. But both have been taught to stay close, esp in heavy cover. One female we had would point a ringneck on scent alone, we were pretty new to the bird dog game and she taught us more than we taught her. If there was a bird there, she would point, even if she couldnt see it. She had the instincts of a champion. A dog that will hold a point and not creep when im not looking is what we want. IDC how far they range. We use SportDog 1875 Upland combos and love them.
 
poninskib said:
In my opinion, Its just as much the dog as it is the training. Of the 2 Brits we have currently, one ranges different than the other. But both have been taught to stay close, esp in heavy cover. One female we had would point a ringneck on scent alone, we were pretty new to the bird dog game and she taught us more than we taught her. If there was a bird there, she would point, even if she couldnt see it. She had the instincts of a champion. A dog that will hold a point and not creep when im not looking is what we want. IDC how far they range. We use SportDog 1875 Upland combos and love them.
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All pointing dogs point on scent alone. If they dont, they probably aren't out hunting. And yes gps is definitely a game changer but not if your dog doesn't hold point from a distance. I have 2 that hold forever but 1 likes to move a little, she doesn't full out jump in but likes to almost circle around like she is trying to corral...She doesn't do this when she points close. Some dogs will get a little more independent the further away they get from ya, even with a collar on.
 
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PheasantWhisperer said:
All pointing dogs point on scent alone. If they don't, they probably aren't out hunting.
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Kind of what I thought. Although I wouldn't say they point of scent alone as they will sight point if the situation arises. But a dog that only sight points is not a good dog. And because a dog points on scent doesn't mean it has the instincts of a champion, it's just doing what it's suppose to.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Kind of what I thought. Although I wouldn't say they point of scent alone as they will sight point if the situation arises. But a dog that only sight points is not a good dog. And because a dog points on scent doesn't mean it has the instincts of a champion, it's just doing what it's suppose to.
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Abso-freakin-lutely dogs point by scent and not sight! Had a guy along on a hunt once who had never hunted with a pointing dog. My setter slams into a solid point, standing in open ground, carpet of leaves is all underneath her. He walks up and is looking around on the ground. I ask what he's looking for and he replies the bird. I tell him, "See that clump of brush and weeds 20 yards upwind? That's where the bird is". He asks "But what's she looking at?" Not looking at anything, her phenomenal nose is picking up the birds body scent on the wind from 20 yards away. I called another guy over, who went through the aforementioned clump and out goes the pheasant. A dog has 500 times the scent of smell compared to a human. They'll scent a bird on the wind from 50 yards.
 
our group only hunts late season (Thanksgiving or later)...typically cold, can be pretty nasty weather, crops mainly out = a lot of cattails. We only hunt pointers and we all have GPS. Not saying pointers are the only or even the best way to go here, just saying we do it and we kill birds. Wife won't let me have all the dogs I want or I'd have pointers, flushers, retrievers, and probably a German Shepherd or two! Joking aside, I just love bird hunting over a point / pointer (personal preference...do whatever floats your boat)...so I went with pointing dogs that I also duck hunt with.
 
I love pointing dogs have 4 English pointers and two GSPs

Hunting cattails sucks with pointing dogs if that is what you plan to hunt get a flusher it will be way more productive and a lot less stressful
 
bobman said:
I love pointing dogs have 4 English pointers and two GSPs

Hunting cattails sucks with pointing dogs if that is what you plan to hunt get a flusher it will be way more productive and a lot less stressful
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Sucks might be kinda strong, but bobman makes a good point. Wading into the middle of a 20 ac cattail slough cause your garmin says your dogs pointed 200 yards into it, can suck. More than one occasion I wished for a flusher, or had trained my dogs to flush on command. Actually have a couple of young ones that don't necessarily need to be commanded to flush.
 
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