Huntin' Bells

pdiddy · Post by **pdiddy** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:24 pm

Hi all,

For those of you old-school hunters who put bells on your pointing dogs, I have a question for you. My understanding is that the majority of bells are the "cow-bell" style. However, a buddy of mine makes bells for falcon hunting which are high pitched and the sound travels a good distance - I think they might be an awesome bell for pointing dogs. You can see the bell in this picture.

My question is, what is the desired pitch for field work, and does that change depending on the kind of terrain one is hunting. Ex: flat open prairie vs. grouse woods.

Thanks a bunch for any input you can give me!

Wagonmaster · Post by **Wagonmaster** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:43 pm

I am one of those. I use bells because I have high frequency loss. The bells have a lower frequency. Teeny little tinkly things would not be audible to me. Maybe your hearing is better.

Post by **Ayres** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:01 pm

I'm really fond of the sound of the small swiss-style bell. Unfortunately, my dog isn't, so we go without a bell.

You can listen to all kinds of different bells on the LCSupply website:
http://www.lcsupply.com/Product/Dog-Bells/

tradhuntr · Post by **tradhuntr** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:37 am

i have tried two diffrent types of bells a cow bell witch i am useing now and brase christmas bell type...well the cow bell is quite loud and can drive you nuts after a wile ..well it dose me.. the christmas bell type, if there is a good wind forget about it the sound just goes away. and they fill with seeds and twigs quickly and requiers you to clean it out...i belive iam going to look for a bell with a lower tone to it. like the swiss bell. well untill i get the money to buy a beeper....i guess if you would like to see how it works put it on your dog and wile you are out tranning see how it works...i just don't think that the sound will travel as well as it dose on the birds...but i could be wrong

ccavacini · Post by **ccavacini** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:42 am

Years ago, my dad used to dress up like Santa, complete with sleigh bells attached to a leather belt. Found them awhile back, drilled a small hole on the top, and use it with my dog....pleasant sounding bell.

zachsdad · Post by **zachsdad** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 10:15 am

I have a small " goat bell" a cow bell design about 4 x 2 inches that we put on my Dad's GSP. It has a low tone that I could hear a long way out through thick South Texas brush. Shooter is a big dog and it didn't bother him a bit. It did sound a little like a goat stampede when he was really making tracks though.

I have a small dog bell that Zach picked up at Gander MT or somehwere and I had it on Teal when we were hunting doves over some standing haygrazer so I could tell where she was while looking for down birds. Much higher pitch and harder for me to hear til she got within close range

My hearing is so screwed up from years on tractors and equipment and unprotected shooting while younger that I have to have a louder lower tone.

Trapper · Post by **Trapper** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:09 am

I have a handmade bell specifiacally for dogs. I am in the process of recreating it. Need to find a brass suplier

Post by **grant** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:08 pm

I use a small steel bell while hunting, so I can keep track of the dogs.

NE Vizsla · Post by **NE Vizsla** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:50 pm

I used a bell on my pup, it helped keep track of him in the house. Of course it didnt help him any in his sneek attacks on the family cat.