Opinion poll!

[Onk]

As all my past dogs in life have only been steady to wing not wing and shot I figured I'd ask you hunters, not so much trialers, what the pro's and con's of each is in your opinion. Also if it is worth the training and time to teach your dog wing and shot if you have no plans on testing or trialing. Not looking for right or wrong just opinions.

[ultracarry]

As my dog was only a hunting dog before I got hooked.... U have more chances when hunting quail to flush, shoot, reload, flush, shoot again.... Can't count how many times my dog would have taken a covey out and not given me a chance at those tighter holding birds if she would have ran through (at the one I missed).

[cjhills]

It's easier to train steady to wing if you train steady to shot at the same time. we train them all that way and let them regress to steady to wing only if that is what people want. CJ

[tfbirddog2]

For me and being a guide I would end up hunting dead all dang day if I trained for steady to wing. For me(IMO) I find it a great disapline tool but thats about it, my dogs are broke to whistle "no bird" if the bird is not shot or is a hen ect... But when guiding if my dogs were steady to winged and the amount of customers that ding birds we would never fill bags and be long days in the field!

[doco]

For me prior to trialing, I always trained steady to wing, shot and fall. It secured my Opinion that no one would ever have an opportunity to shoot my dog. I always felt comfortable taking many of my friends 10 year old kids hunting without worry. On a side note, it's not only the kids you have to worry about. A few years ago I watched my brothers friend ACCIDENTALLY shoot and his beagle at 7 yards while snowshoe rabbit hunting. I saw the rabbit pass perpendicular to where he shot and he hit his dog square in the face and chest as the dog was coming to him. That just confirmed my Opinion of why all Bird dogs should be steady unless you hunt alone.

[PrairieGoat]

I typically only hunt wild pheasant with family and very close friends whose safety habits around my dogs meet or exceed my own. Due to pheasants ability to fall out of the sky stone-cold dead and then run off, I decided early on that I wouldn't train my dogs to be steady other than "to wing". I want the dog on his way to the pheasant at the earliest opportunity. My dogs are trained to stop on the "no bird" command or misses.

That being said, if I let anyone other than this "select" group hunt over my dogs, it would be a very different story...I would want them steady to shot at the least.

[rinker]

Early on my dogs were not trained to a very high level. One incident changed my mind about this and from that day until now I have trained my dogs to be completely steady until released.

I was pheasant hunting in southwestern Iowa. We pulled up to a spot and just sat there in the truck for about twenty minutes because it was not yet shooting time. We started to get out of the truck about five minutes before shooting time. When my buddy opened his truck door, pheasants started flushing all around us. I would guess that about 100 pheasants flushed over about 60 seconds from within 50 yards or so of the truck. If I am wrong about the number, it is because I am too low. I have never seen anything like it. Virtually every one of these birds flew north across a field and landed in a fence row. My buddy and I were so excited, we were going to march down that fence row like Sherman through Atlanta. I had a female english pointer at the time that was a pretty good dog, but not real well trained. We got to the end of the fence row and the dog pointed immediately, the plan was coming together. We flushed in front of her and a hen got up and flew straight down the fence row about 8 feet off of the ground. My dog was right underneath her the entire way, and about every ten yards for a half mile she knocked another bird. I stood there watching all of those pheasants fly in the distance and made a vow. I vowed that by next season my dogs would be completely steady to wing and shot, and stop to flush.

I can not count how many times since then that having a finished dog has allowed me a few more opportunities at birds that I would have not had otherwise.

[northern cajun]

Steady through Fall is simply a more controlled environment for all involved dogs and gunners. Safer in my humble opinion.
In addition were birds covey up you will get more oppurtunities with a completely broke dog that doesn't bust up additional birds like a dog that breaks on flush or shot.

[birddog1968]

For me and being a guide I would end up hunting dead all dang day if I trained for steady to wing. For me(IMO) I find it a great disapline tool but thats about it, my dogs are broke to whistle "no bird" if the bird is not shot or is a hen ect... But when guiding if my dogs were steady to winged and the amount of customers that ding birds we would never fill bags and be long days in the field!

This is where my thoughts come from as well.....


I should add if there is still scent my dogs generally won't move with the first flush.....they are smart enough to know they still got bird/s in front of them. Had this happen numerous times last fall.....