Upland Bird Dog Power

Discussion Not Debate

This bird dog power article is not offered as "expert" advice or as training information. It is merely and only observations passed onto us over the years from many hunters. It is offered here in recognition of the many plains and wood grouse hunters that come our way to hunt.

This article does not disparage between pheasant and quail dogs. The author, MAHA partner John Wenzel, hunts upland birds almost equally between pheasant and multiple quail species with occasional trips for plains and woods grouse.

The point is that we do not discriminate between pheasant and quail dogs in spite of how many upland bird hunters in fact do.

Bird dog power amongst upland bird hunters is a topic of much discussion and personal preference. We will not enter into a debate with this segment. We will rather offer as observations those topics that Mid-America Hunting Association hunters over the years and coming from a wide variety of home state bird hunting background.

The common upland bird dog power topics covers the range of:

Range

Point standoff

Pattern

Check back

Steadiness

Breed

Range

Topics of range are split between pheasant and quail hunters with fewer dogs that can make the transition from quail to pheasant vice pheasant to quail. The discriminator appears that for the better pheasant dog on bird point defined success requires a slower and closer working dog. This topic is relative to the next of point standoff as the common belief is that quail will take more dog on point pressure than pheasants. The central difference in range is the bird of pheasant and quail and their evolutionary enhanced escape beahviour.

The pheasant evolved as a bird comfortable to being on its own or in groups. this loose social connection enhanced its primary escape behavior of running. Running is also less energy consumptive than flying. Many hunters of good pheasant dogs will talk of point, track, relocate, point, track again for as many as 6 points and covering over a 1/4 mile before the pheasant either holds up for point or flushes long.

Quail on the other hand evolved into a covey bird where a single quail is very much a rarity. Quail's survival or escape primary measure is to attempt to remain motionless and unseen and secondary to multiple bird flush that confuses predators with an overabundance of targets.

In contrast to what is described of many good pheasant dogs are the quail proficient dogs that on entering a tall grass field have the pheasants flushing like popcorn out of the popper.

The difference between these two characterizations of good pheasant and quail dogs is that the better pheasant dogs works slower, have longer standoff on point. The quail dogs run faster typical of edge habitat and have found quail will remain on closer stand off points.

John,

Now that I'm in my forty seventh year, limits of birds are not as important as they once were. Give me a full day afield, with a brace of half decent birds dogs, and I'm good. Nevertheless, its a fine day when the walk back to the truck is accompanied by a hefty game bag.

Didn't move a bird out of first farm I hunted Saturday morning, just as well as dogs thought they were in an all age stake. Second farm dogs had settled down some, Ginger nailed a covey in a brushy draw in middle of bean field, Chaps backed from about 40 yds, picture perfect, took two bird out of covey, didn't hunt the singles. Worked hedge row back to truck, lost Chaps and found him pointing down into ditch, thought it might be one of the singles, no a big rooster actually held, on a 50 degree day, until I flushed it.

By then it was noon, almost 60 degrees and I had a 2 1/2 hour drive home. I was thinking of calling it a day, but decided to hunt one more farm in this unit that I'd never hunted. Cover was awesome, bean/corn fields intersected by grassy draws and hedge rows, feed was everywhere. Two roosters pushed out ahead of the dogs on the initial hedge row, we marked their destination for later consideration, Ginger pointed another covey in the middle of a bean field, harvested two birds, made mental note not to miss church the next day. Turned back towards the truck and worked some thick cover bordering a bean field, Chaps wouldn't come out of it, a hen flushed, we were coming to the end of the cover, I knew what was imminent, put my track shoes on and double timed to the end of the hedge row, just in time to have that little piece of cover erupt in ringnecks. Walked back to the truck with dogs still pointing birds, me flushing them, and the dogs not understanding why I just laughed, watched the birds fly, and told them, good dog!

Thank you, and Jon, and Shawn, for all the hard work you do for all of us.

Best regards, Pedro

Point Standoff

Amongst pheasant hunters there are always some that have dogs of superior bird point ability than others. The common thread to these superior dogs is they are not better, faster or have a more efficient range to find pheasants. It is that they point earlier in the scent cone than what many dogs do as not pointing first scent, but creep to point preferred scent quality. These longer point stand off pheasant dogs are typically a minimum of 4 feet from a single pheasant in thick cover with under a 10 mph wind, preferable 6 feet and under ideal conditions may extend that point to 12 feet.

Quail dogs on the other hand have a tendency to have a point standoff on average less than that of the better pheasant dogs.

Pattern

Upland bird hunting patterns of the dog work does affect success at quail and pheasant hunting more so than any other dog behavior.

The best quail finding dogs in the central mid-west run hard the long linear edge habitat that runs for miles upon miles. Check back for these quail dogs is typically visible from ridgeline to ridgeline or across lightly brushed/wooded creek bottom. This quail habitat encourages dogs to run further due to the open nature of the crop fields allows quail dogs to see their master for a 1/4+ mile many times over the course of a day's hunt.

This long running linear quail finding pattern id poorly suited for the thick, tall grass where the highest pheasant densities are to be found. It is also less effective in the long running thick and wider draws of Kansas where pheasants frequently take cover. This thick cover will quickly consume a dog and a dog that has been conditioned to visible check back will be hard pressed to locate his master.

A pheast dog with a more circular pattern will more effectively cover the more uniform and block like characteristic of the better pheasant cover. Check back is more frequently by hearing the hunter walking through the grass, scent tracking to the hunter's location or as is most common near physical as the dog must get right up on the hunter to see the hunter.

Between these two upland bird dog power or bird finding illustrations the grouse hunter will do well in the pheast cover and acceptably well in the quail habitat. The difference is largely the better mid-west linear edge running quail dog will find more coveys, find them faster and cover fields in less time. This difference is that a good quail dog hunter will cover 4 quarters in a day. A good pheasant finding dog typically three quarters in a day. this last quantitative measure is supplied for those that find a need to put nature into a box of absolutes.

Point Steadiness

Working through this upland bird dog issue came these two observations.

In terms of bells and beeper collars. The opinion is that bells are acceptable for quail hunting and not for pheasant. It is the belief that pheasants are far more sensitive to noise pressure than quail. When beeper collars alone are discussed it is those set with the longer lag time from the dog initial stopping to point and the beeper sounding. Again, the discussion is not to immediately follow the sound of a running dog by a beeper that in close sequence applies more pressure to the pheasant than a beeper with a longer lag time to sound.

A second discussion topic was those that hunt with others find they can walk and talk with unloaded guns enjoying a more social hunt on quail than on pheasants.

The difference this point steadiness topic brings us is that the quail will withstand more pressure of all types and remain motionless where as the pheasant is more sensitive to all forms of pressure. When it comes to dog point steadiness it remains in both conditions of quail and pheast hunting the dog remains absolutely motionless until flush as a minimum. This assumes a stationary bird(s) and does not include the relocate required of ground moving birds.

Breed

Dog breed is a topic no reasonable upland bird hunter will enter into as it is highly personality dependent. the discussion on this page is oriented to the pointing dog breeds as quail are included and overwhelmingly the most prolific quail hunters are of pointing breed dog hunters.