Getting a dog to hunt more cover

[IDHunter]

My 10 month old GWP has been doing something when hunting thicker cover that I'd like some opinions on. We routinely hit some WMA land where pheasants are released throughout the season, so there is a decent number of birds and a heck of a lot of old scent as dozens of birds are killed in these areas each week. There is a variety of cover, but overall it's more on the tall/thick side as opposed to "open country". It's thick enough that in some places I can't see the dog once he is 30+ yards away. One thing I've noticed my dog doing is running right past a lot of this cover rather than quartering through it and hunting it thoroughly. When he gets on scent he works it pretty much as I'd expect (although consistent points and holds are a work in progress still), but I'm also wondering if we are missing birds by not thoroughly working all the cover. If I'm being honest I would bet money that we are missing some birds because he is running past them without taking the time to hunt all of the terrain. I've been letting him dictate the hunt as much as possible, with me only recalling him if he's approaching danger or getting close to other hunters. But again, with so much cover being run past I'm debating changing things up. I've thought of using his Ecollar to keep him closer and cast him into more of the cover, but that would likely require A LOT of handling and I know there can be a downside there as well. So, what would you guys do? Would you keep things as is and risk missing birds in some of the cover, but trust the dog to find others? Or would you reel him in and make him hit more of the cover to try and get him used to working closer and more completely when in this thick type of stuff?

[weimdogman]

Seems I pheasant hunt as much or more then most here so...... I handle my dogs. A little handling that produces birds and the association between cover=birds is made. Once that happens I handle way less. Pheasants are not like bobwhite you cant run big find a covey then work singles. Ain't going to happen. Have a dog on point from 10 yards and chances are that bird doesn't stick around.
Yes hunting the heavy cover you do get wild flushes due to the amount of noise you and the dog make. Run big and you get pointed birds running or flying off before you get there.

For me it's simple I have the dogs so they can hunt the cover. I like the dogs to work from light cover to heavy cover and then repeat.

[birddogger2]

Best way I know of to get a dog hunt cover is to get in there yourself. If you are fighting your way through the cover, the dog will almost certainly be in there with you. You will see to that. Briar proof bibs, a canvas coat, leather gloves and a boonie hat to cover your ears from the stickers used to be my standard dress.

Getting in the thick and nasty might not help your shooting percentages , but I'd bet you will see more birds. And you will have a 'shore 'nuff bird dog when you are done to go along with the scratches, scrapes and cuts.

RayG

[IDHunter]

Seems I pheasant hunt as much or more then most here so...... I handle my dogs. A little handling that produces birds and the association between cover=birds is made. Once that happens I handle way less. Pheasants are not like bobwhite you cant run big find a covey then work singles. Ain't going to happen. Have a dog on point from 10 yards and chances are that bird doesn't stick around.
Yes hunting the heavy cover you do get wild flushes due to the amount of noise you and the dog make. Run big and you get pointed birds running or flying off before you get there.

For me it's simple I have the dogs so they can hunt the cover. I like the dogs to work from light cover to heavy cover and then repeat.

What range do you typically limit your dogs to when chasing pheasants?

[weimdogman]

Range always is dictated by
Cover- I hunt many small areas-think weedpatches around old building sites-wet areas in fields-land bordering wetlands
Scenting conditions- this year is extremely dry and also above average temps-many days have been windy
Birds spooky or not-hunted from 3 15 till sunset 1 night birds held great- next night same hunt in a different area and birds were spooky as all get out(they did)
# of people with me - sometimes my dog(s) are working for 3 to 4 people so they can work 150 yards from me and still be near a shooter.

My dogs generally cast out 25 to 75 yards and then course back and fourth. Keep in mind you stated cover you cant see 30 yards in,often I cant see 10.

I ran open , short to 3ft high , prarie with a couple buddies. 1 had a young hellfire gsp and a old gsp.
His young dog may have been 200 yards out. Old dog 60 to 200 yards depending on if she was lost or not. My weim was from 40 to 150 yards out. All birds were pointed and shot over her. She knows to run grass but hunt cover. His young dog and the owner got a education that day , and since then that dog is way more productive.

On his behalf he only wanted the dog to find birds and planned on fine tuning the bird handling as he goes. He does have a nice pup and he will train him to be a fine bird dog.

[IDHunter]

Makes sense, of course. For the cover that I'm typically hunting for pheasants I feel like 10-60 yards would be about perfect, so i guess I'll just have to work harder on setting that boundary for the pup and see how long it takes him to catch on.

Related to this, does anyone know if the Alpha 100 has any type of setting that you could essentially put a "boundary" in a 60 yard radius from you and it would tone the dog any time he exceeded it? I know you can do it with a fixed location, but not sure if you can do it from a moving location such as from the controller itself. That could be real helpful for this situation so that I'm not constantly having to hit the tone button myself until he figures it out.

[gonehuntin']

If the wind is from the cover and the dog hunts it when there's scent and doesn't when there isn't, there's really no reason for him to enter it. He'd be hunting barren cover, a waste of his time and yours.

[IDHunter]

If the wind is from the cover and the dog hunts it when there's scent and doesn't when there isn't, there's really no reason for him to enter it. He'd be hunting barren cover, a waste of his time and yours.

I hear ya. My question/dilemma is for those days when either there is no wind (which we got a lot this time of year where I live), or if we are not able to hunt downwind of particular cover.

[gonehuntin']

The way I've always done it is to give a hand motion toward the cover then physically walk in there with the dog. You can also plant birds in cover so they learn that's where birds are.