"Cover Dog" Trial

[TAK]

what about the EP u got picks of her

This will get the fur going! See my dog Clown in my aviater?
Put a big long tail and a little more liver and not as tall and you have her!
I don't know if she stands with style, she is pretty rattled.
My Step son is pretty proud of himself for saving her. She was trapped down a canyon, he climbed down a pretty step cliff to go get her with two 4 wheeler tie downs! He Tied on to her and then after she was pulled up he got pulled up.
Mom won't let use keep her in the house and I don't want another dog taking space for a GSP!
Mom wants a, Get this... Maltese! Cats beat them up!

This thread has been Hi Jacked!

[Wagonmaster]

Sounds like your step son did a really good thing.

We found a pointer in ND weekend before last, but a different deal entirely. It had a regular collar, a tracker collar, and a collar that was dangling three "bonkers," which are the biggest heaviest rubber bungee you can buy, with one end cut off, the other end attached to a heavy collar around the dog's neck. The purpose of the bonkers is to slow the dog down. We called the numbers on the collar several times, and finally got the guy's girlfriend in the evening when we were done hunting and were about half way home. Did a 180 and brought the dog back to the guy in the dark.

It was a pro training there for the summer. He had lost the dog early that morning and had been out looking all day. Dog had gone into a sunflower field and never came out. We had found the dog mid-afternoon and it had already been gone 5 or 6 hours. It was running the roads looking for Daddy. The girlfriend said "Where are the rest of the bonkers?" I guess the dog started out dragging ten. They must have weighed about 3/4 of a pound apiece.

We got a glass of O'le Pedros and some good laughs out of it.

[Ray]

How does one keep track of a dog that is ranging 100-300 yards out in thick woods? Do they allow the use of beeper collars in these trials? How does this translate into actual hunting, and are these dogs too "hot" for the average hunter?

[Ray]

Beepers are not allowed in the grouse trials anymore as I understand it. They use bells. Those handlers have way better ears than I do.

300 yards is pretty extreme though, in the grouse woods, and did not mean to imply they spend alot of time out there. Sometimes they are just off the trail (logging road) too. Was trying to talk about the range they must be able to run to on occasion, to do the job, not the average range. Should have made that more clear.

Alot of times they have to dig pretty deep in the woods. The grouse woods we have, has sloughs and wet depressions that can be pretty big. So there might be a swamp or slough hole, and the dog will make a big move around the far edge of it. The slough hole might start right off the trail and be a couple of hundred yards wide at the widest. Often if the grass or cattails are not too high in the slough, the dog can be seen and heard off and on running the far edge. So they can get out there. I would say, though, that if you want an average, most of the time they in the 50 to 150 range.

Obviously I'm new to this "cover dog" stuff. I live in Montana and mostly hunt the prairies, but I do a fair bit of ruffed and blue grouse hunting in the forested mountains. Even 50-150 yards seems far in the woods. Out on the prairies too much range isn't an issue, but in the woods it sure is. It's just more pleasant to hunt the woods with a dog that you don't have to keep hustling after and going looking for all the time. Is it the fact that these dogs have more innate desire to stay with the handler that makes them different from other field trial dogs? That is, do they check back frequently so that you don't have to constantly be running after them? If you stop moving, will these dogs come back on their own, or do you have to call them back every time you stop?

I'm intrigued with the notion of a dog that has speed, range, and style for the prairies, but will shorten up and handle easily in the woods. I haven't seen a dog yet that will do that. Will a field trial cover dog fit that description?

[jgf@gratiot]

Depends on the dog, depends on the stake. I live in Michigan, the Championships are a 50-80 dogs, and if your dog is not coursing sound, and having at least a couple birds pointed, then you are probably not in the money. Same as any othere trial, we want the dogs to stay in front, use proper application, be stylish, and point birds. In a weekend trial you won't need the same kind of performance always, but in the big trials to win you would hope for a dog just on that edge of bell range, usually at least a couple hundred yards, sometimes fading in and out. I also go to the prairies and these same dogs will lay out there for you, maybe not all age style but they cover a lot of ground, and after a day or two, maybe less, there all in the mix of just being a good ole bird dog.

[gonehuntin']

What are they running on those dogs for bells, church bells? No way in heck I can hear a bell on mine at 100-150 yards, especially if there's any wind. Guess that lets me out with no beepers allowed.

Those sound like great trials to me and the true test of a great shooting dog.