Relocating, whats he thinking?

[Elkhunter]

So my pointer who is 3 years old, I sent him off to get broke this summer. Ran him on a ton of wild birds this fall, did great. Last couple of trips he is pointing birds then I have to relocate him numerous times to find the actually covey. Today we had a snow storm, 4-5 inches of snow. I found him on point twice, I would walk 40-50 yards ahead of him and no birds. I go back tap him on the head, he runs in a straight line like a cat and goes on point again. I walk out 40-50 yards ahead of him no birds so I go back and release him again. Same thing, cat walk in a straight line and go on point. Ended up relocating him 4 times before we finally flushed the covey in a dead burnt cedar tree. They were over 250 yards from where we first found him on point. He did this twice, I dont know if the scent will scoot A LONG ways across snow, or what. What is going on in his head that he thinks he should point them that far away. Is he getting enough scent that he should point? Also I have hunted him 2 previous seasons with none of these issues, just the last couple trips he has done this. Whats he thinkin?

[campgsp]

He's getting smarter. First wif of scent freeze. I like when a dog points farther away. Shows they have a good nose and I don't like a dog covering a bird.

[cjuve]

Have you gotten after him for self relocating? Sounds like the birds are moving off after he establishes point I actually perfer my dog to move with the birds and keep contact. Sounds like to me he has been made to be a little cautious. Also, the scenting conditions here have changed dramatically in the last couple of weeks he may think that he has a nose full after how dry it was.

[RyanGSP]

the dog is trained to stop and not move once he has established point so what can you expect.

I would say its a combination of his nose and the birds moving. What we as hunters dont see is whats going on until we get there. Most birds are not scared of dogs until they get too close, so once the dog establishes a point, especially from a distance, the covey will move away from the dog.

Personally I prefer a dog to hold point when pointing covey birds and move accordingly when hunting pheasants here. Takes some dogs a bit but they all figure it out.

[Vision]

Boy to have the problems you have. A pointer like that and a GSP like Sadie, man I bet your suicidal

[Fester]

sounds like a good nose to me

[ACooper]

Sounds a little "sticky" to me but, I cannot tell you why he just started doing the last few hunts. I can tell you I've seen much improvement from Dez while hunting wild birds, in the past he was much like your dog and would point and we would relocate excessively. The more birds I have been able to put him the more he is learning that he doesn't have to point at all scent but now more often than not he will slow WAY down on scent but not point until he really thinks he has a bird.

[RayGubernat]

I think the other posters have nailed it. Your dog most likely established its first point at a respectful and respectable distance from the birds, which allowed them to walk off. The fact that the dog found the birds within about 250 yards means they were not running and it also means that the dog maintained contact with them and maintained a healthy distance from them.

At three years old that is pretty awesome, in my view. As you dog gains experience, I think you can expect it to press the birds a little more so that they set instead of run. As it is, the dog nailed the birds down when they went to a secure place to hide. I would suspect that if the birds were caught out in the open and pressed, they would have busted and flown. Could be your dog knew that at this early age. In any case, you can bet the birds will school the dog on just how close it can get before they exit stage left.

Have fun and enjoy. Keep doing what you are doing and let the dog do what it knows how to do with as little intereference as is humanly possible. All in all...sounds pretty good to me.

RayG

[Elkhunter]

Sounds a little "sticky" to me but, I cannot tell you why he just started doing the last few hunts. I can tell you I've seen much improvement from Dez while hunting wild birds, in the past he was much like your dog and would point and we would relocate excessively. The more birds I have been able to put him the more he is learning that he doesn't have to point at all scent but now more often than not he will slow WAY down on scent but not point until he really thinks he has a bird.

Ya its kind of weird to me, I mean he has seen hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of chukars. But just lately he has been doing that, hopefully just a phase!

[Elkhunter]

I think the other posters have nailed it. Your dog most likely established its first point at a respectful and respectable distance from the birds, which allowed them to walk off. The fact that the dog found the birds within about 250 yards means they were not running and it also means that the dog maintained contact with them and maintained a healthy distance from them.

At three years old that is pretty awesome, in my view. As you dog gains experience, I think you can expect it to press the birds a little more so that they set instead of run. As it is, the dog nailed the birds down when they went to a secure place to hide. I would suspect that if the birds were caught out in the open and pressed, they would have busted and flown. Could be your dog knew that at this early age. In any case, you can bet the birds will school the dog on just how close it can get before they exit stage left.

Have fun and enjoy. Keep doing what you are doing and let the dog do what it knows how to do with as little intereference as is humanly possible. All in all...sounds pretty good to me.

RayG

No moving off, I was looking for tracks in the snow and did not find any till right before they busted 20 yards in front of me. Hopefully just being careful, he has seen hundreds of birds this year alone not too mention the previous two years. Maybe just an anomoly with the snow and all, heck they might just stick real bad when its cold and 6 inches of snow!

[Elkhunter]

Boy to have the problems you have. A pointer like that and a GSP like Sadie, man I bet your suicidal

LOL, I needed you there to walk back up those treacherous snow covered rock slides to relocate him! Let me know your schedule next week, gonna head out.

[RayGubernat]

If there were no tracks, then it had to be scent stopping the dog.

It would be extremely unusual for scent to travel 250 yards, but not impossible, if the amount of scent was large enough and if the scent was channeled by the wind and the terrain. Certainly there is not much to absorb or mask any scent if the ground is snow covered and frozen. It is also possible for scent to have been laid down some time before, and only become airborne when the sun hit the snow, warming it enough to release the scent molecules.

We know only so much about scent in general and only so much about how a dog identifies the scents of birdsin amongst all the other smell. I can still marvel at their abilities in this regard.



RayG

[DGFavor]

Real common with some snow and a little breeze to get some looong range points. Just gotta trust the dog to do what his nose tells him - if it says stop, they stop.

Saw this dude come on a dead straight line for over two miles, just nodding his nose up in the air now and then, to a wolf pack's elk kill. Who knows how far before we spotted him he picked up the scent or how many times he had to relocate before he got it nailed!! That's an impressive schnozz!! :


'course he had to shoo the dang canines off his find before he could enjoy it:

[ultracarry]

Since I started hunting Kimber this Jan she has nailed 100+ yard points on birds. What's worse is she did it the end of last season a time or two.

What I have found is I am not trusting her enough and wasting my time relocating her instead of just walking out in front until I flush a bird. I guess its just me that has the problem, she seems content.

[Vision]

Boy to have the problems you have. A pointer like that and a GSP like Sadie, man I bet your suicidal

LOL, I needed you there to walk back up those treacherous snow covered rock slides to relocate him! Let me know your schedule next week, gonna head out.

I will shoot this time while you train.

[JKP]

What kind of birds are we talkin?? What are the covey birds.

I think if you hunt a dog enough on wild birds, they stop pointing from hundreds of yards away and learn to "nail" birds down. Is this a young dog? If so, get the trialing over with and then hunt the dog on wild birds. It'll take care of itself.

[Elkhunter]

What kind of birds are we talkin?? What are the covey birds.

I think if you hunt a dog enough on wild birds, they stop pointing from hundreds of yards away and learn to "nail" birds down. Is this a young dog? If so, get the trialing over with and then hunt the dog on wild birds. It'll take care of itself.

Chukars. He has been hunted for 3 years on wild birds.