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:thumbsup:

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

Quote:

---

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:thumbsup:

---

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

Quote:

---

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

---

:thumbsup: 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 :P

Quote:

---

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:thumbsup:

Quote:

---

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...

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/...ck106011-1.jpg

Bells are useful...

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/...falco17102.jpg

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?

I took my wife on her honey moon trout fishing behind Poronui -the station manager had Chris pick us up at the gate and drop us off at the back of the farm and then he picked us up 3 days later -we were just using DOC land so most impressed with that and them for their generosity.
I went back to Chris house and saw his dogs with much excitement as I had never seen working Brittanys ever in NZ and had previously read a bit about them .Has Chris gone to the big bush block in the sky?

The majority of the most productive hunting I do is in cutover. I do a lot in a wide variety of terrains though.

The ideal cover is the kind that lets you keep an eye on your dog at all times but holds birds. Fortunately with Quin especially, he'll hold his birds for however long it takes so him getting out of sight isn't a real concern.

This is one of my favorite places to hunt because of the conditions for running the dogs.

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/Photo118.jpg

hers some different types of cover I hunt in

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/v...otpointing.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/v...tchonpoint.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv61/zharn/spot6.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv61/zharn/tui.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv61/zharn/spot.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/v...uailwithar.jpg

my favorite grounds -Z place .If I we had grounds like this all over NZ on mas we would have far more dog people for sure as its a most enjoyable walk and hunt

Chris was indeed a good mate of mine and we ran our dogs together on Poronui for some time. We usually used his brittany's in the open crops and areas and the springers in the heavier cover. (They were not EB's) They were, although from Australia, to all intents and purposes American brittany's). I was a senior guide on Poronui (Flyfishing and Pheasants) on Poronui most of my adult life. (Pheasants were a very late edition and largely gone now.)

I personally really only rated his imported Bitch "Lace", his lack of good blood to use for sires i think watered down the line a little, but still very useful dogs. Yes Chris has left us sadly. I have great memories of hunting and having a few drinks with him. A passionate guy and an awesome artist. I donated a very nice trophy of a springer flushing a pheasant to the Working Spaniel Club which he carved out of a single piece of deer Antler.
Attachment 4442
Attachment 4443
Attachment 4444

RIP Mate, you were a top bloke!

yep , Chris was a good bloke .I remember after three days on the river bank camping and my wife had had enough .Karina had not long been in New Zealand and we married 4 months later and took her on one of my adventures for her honeymoon -I am a tight prick :ORLY:

I fly fished while she watched and landed what I thought was a perfect caught fish .A long cast to a dark spot on the other side of the river with a dry fly , an amazing strike and a landed fish -soooo stoked until I noted the fish some how had foul hooked through the back area .

Anyways the rain set in and the wife was about had it with her new NZ outdoor experience having to carry a pack rather than a hand bag for a few hundred meters to the spot where we would be picked up to be taken back to go back to our car at the entrance of Poronui -then Chris arrived in the truck and all was smiles and thanks --Ill post a couple of pics of the trip !!! RIP Chris and great efforts pal with your vigils against 10/80

great photos to Ruff -thanks for sharing !!