How to work birds out of dense brush?

[Nutmeg247]

In a couple areas I frequent with my nearly-2 year old pointer, we often find Gambel's quail that are either right at the edges of extremely dense brush/chaparral, or that run straight into nearby pockets of this brush. Without a means to root them out, they're basically gone at that point. Does anyone use small flushers like cockers to move birds out of this type of cover, even though pointers or larger flushers like labs are more typical for western upland in general? ("West" for me means primarily NV, UT and AZ.) Just wondering if contemplating sort of a small, utility brush-buster dog made sense.

Thanks,

John

[zrp]

My setters will seek out that thick cover. A little bit of hair makes a lot of difference in the thick stuff.

[lugmastro]

My dogs will shred themselves in thick brush to get to birds. Many times here in NC, I find single Bobwhite's on the edges of thick cover. The more the dog is presented with the problem the sooner he figures it out. The dog should start to work the birds back towards the open once he realizes that they get away when he comes in from the wrong way. As for you flushing the birds, it all depends on how much pain you are willing to inflict on yourself to get birds. I am willing to come home scratched and bleeding, just like the dog.

[roaniecowpony]

I have a friend with a Jaeger something or another. This little pocket sized dog has a drive and toughness you have to see to believe. I think one of them would be perfect for your situation.

[DoubleBarrel GunDogs]

As long as your pointer is steady and will honor a flushing dog, a little English cocker or Springer can be a great asset in heavy cover. Introduce your pup to brush busting by tossing pen raised bobwhites into cover. I also find them quite valuable for hunting dead and retrieving game.

Nate

[Nutmeg247]

Thanks for the responses! My other half likes our pointer just fine, but occasionally regrets he's too big to really be a lap dog, so it seems a brush-buster could be a win-win.

@Roanie, are you talking about a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdterrier ? I'm not familiar with them, but just did a Google. I have thought about a terrier or a small beagle as sort of out-of-the-box possibilities.

I had always been on the east coast until the last 6 years or so, and have found some of the plants out here fascinating, particularly in some of the spots that have regular water. Quailbrush, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atriplex_lentiformis , for instance, just doesn't really have something similar back east.