Thread: the cover your dog hunts

We all have different breeds of dogs and those dogs work good bad or indifferent in different terrain and cover -what do your dogs do well in and what cover do you prefer personally for them .
My own wide preference is for classic pointer setter land -wide open dune areas suit my dog very well and the next season I will hunt that in the north and the forest at Muriwai which is mainly cut over but also offers some quite open areas under the tall pines .

My dog needs a lot more wild birds in different forestry terrain where I do loose sight of him and cannot say 100% he wont self flush a moving bird .Some times when MY dog is out of sight or thinks he is he will forget who he is there with "ie ME " and have a play -Ive seen him do it without him knowing I am watching . In the dune areas I have no problem and he tends to hold point very well and will road and flush with ease .
My boy a pretty reasonable dog but needs work --it never stops

I love the open type country you speak of but locally my dog finds himself working a lot more in the heavy cover. Sometimes he will point birds but then have to push deep in the cover to get the flush, can be tricky ebing unsure as to what hes doing when working in the heavy stuff i.e pointing etc. Being small helps him get through the blackberry bushes for retrieves

my pointer gets hunted in all types of country, swamps, sand dunes ,cutover, standing pines, gorse, scrub. He knows when hes allowed to get out 2-300 mtrs and when he has to shut rite down and hunt close because its gorse/scrub that we are hunting, he is more of a versatile than youre "classic" pointer. He also gets used as a duck dog and is as good or dear i say it better than the labs i have seen of late.

My cockers get hunted in scrub, gorse , pine cutovers and swamp edges

Originally Posted by horihunter

I love the open type country you speak of but locally my dog finds himself working a lot more in the heavy cover. Sometimes he will point birds but then have to push deep in the cover to get the flush, can be tricky ebing unsure as to what hes doing when working in the heavy stuff i.e pointing etc. Being small helps him get through the blackberry bushes for retrieves

Hey cuz, i run a bell on my pointer in cover that i cant see him in, that way you know where he is and when hes pointing/taking a shit

Originally Posted by upnorth uplander

Hey cuz, i run a bell on my pointer in cover that i cant see him in, that way you know where he is and when hes pointing/taking a shit

I can usually smell when hes doing that....haha
Might have to give that a go but the birds are pretty cagey around here, might put them up too soon

i have never had a bird flush because of the bell, i think it actually works the other way round and makes them sit tight

thats because theyre to lazy up north Z

Originally Posted by upnorth uplander

Hey cuz, i run a bell on my pointer in cover that i cant see him in, that way you know where he is and when hes pointing/taking a shit

Haha you're not the only one to have fallen for that one

Originally Posted by upnorth uplander

i have never had a bird flush because of the bell, i think it actually works the other way round and makes them sit tight

that has been my observation too, upnorth uplander.

and your observations of your dog in different terrain Eeebees ?is your EB better in wide open or tighter cover

There is often much debate about the range of the EB in the breed community...he has a natural inclination to vary his range depending on the cover...not all do of course, but I have found with mine that because our hunting is generally in rough close cover they tend to work close unless on hares on open farmland, obviously. However, my bitch's sire and dam have had numerous occasions on the steep chukar country in the South Island and prove that range for those exposed to it can extend to many hundreds of metres. Watching the pup I sent to Australia working on the stubble after that fantastic stubble quail, again the range can be great. When you consider that the breed hails from a country of woodland and pasture etc his hunting range was never that vast unlike the moors for instance ranged by the ES and the EP.

This is the sort of country I hunt my dogs on...



Bells are useful...

I saw a litter brother to EBs bitch go once, it ran as big as the setters did that day

I think good dogs will adjust their range, whether it be a Pointer or a spaniel, depending on the cover.

Dogs that do not, don;t do so as a result of poor training, dogs that do, do so as a result of better training. Genetics may be a component, but it is doubtful good breeding alone will dictate these behaviors.

its interesting what each dogs "actually"does in the different variety's of cover .I hear some trialers say their dogs will do everything but I tend to doubt it unless it is exposed to all forms of cover regularly and has a bit of experience under the belt .
I dont like rough cut over or real tight stuff I cant keep a reasonable eye on my dog as I do know its current limitations and dont kid myself about it .

The EB is an interesting dog and I m glad to see they are in use in NZ -I have only ever seen one lot in Taupo owned by a guy that well may have passed on by now .The guy was the game keeper for Poronui station and was a vigilant protester against 10/80

Chris Short was a mate of Ruffs' I believe?