lab quartering

[wildwings]

after 2 weekends into pheasant season, I'm looking for a bit of advice. My 2 year old lab quarters well, stays close, and has a great nose. Here is my problem. I hunt CRP ground, which has grass about knee to waist high. My dog will raise his head above the grass, get scent of a bird, and then start heading out in that direction. He will wait for me when he gets out in front very far. Usually there is a bird at the end of the chase, which sometime is 1/4 mile or more. I know the pheasants run out ahead alot, but am I working the dog correctly? DO I let him lead me, or make him quarter in front of me, even if he has a faint scent of a bird somewhere else? Unfortunately, it's been windy and dry this year so the scent has been hard for him to stay locked on.

[fabsroman]

When I hunt upland over my lab, I pretty much let him lead me to the birds and I try to keep up with him when I think he is locked on a scent. He knows the birds are going to be in front of us, so he works back and forth in front. Usually, you will be able to tell when the dog locks onto a scent and becomes birdy. That is when you have to stay close to a flushing dog like a lab.

Maybe some of the other lab owners will have some better advice for you. I haven't really trained mine to hunt upland, but he still likes doing it. I haven't even researched it that much.

One guy on here, Doc E, has a pretty good hunting lab, but I don't know if he uses him for upland hunting. If he does, he will probably be able to give you some sound advice regarding it.

["yote"]

I've been hunting labs for 30 yrs and have come to a few conclusions. If at all possible, I only hunt my dogs INTO the wind.
On strip cover, {railroad tracks, drainage ditches or frence-rows}
I hunt them into or cross wind. That gives them the opportunity
to smell the most ground. Hunting with the wind makes them
"snorkel sniff " or do a constant back-track thing. When hunting
strip-cover, work the hound on the down-wind side of the cover
so that it can smell everything in the cover. Hope this helps.

P.S. Stay away from hunting "with the wind" if at all possible.
All you end up doing is "herding" birds and in the end they will
usually end up escaping out the end unless you have posters.

[wildwings]

The wind direction makes a lot of sense. I also try to avoid hunting with the wind at my back. I guess my real issue is this. While hunting, into the wind, my dog will raise it's head abve the grass/weeds and smell a bird far off. I usually let him lead me to the bird, which might be 1/8 mile away. If the bird isn't running, he will flush it. But then, I'm in the middle of a field, and not sure what way to go. Sometimes, we go to the far fence, and the bird has run out the end.

Sorry to be so long, but here it is. When I can tell the birds a ways off, should I make the dog ignore it, continue quartering, and follow my way of hunting? Or should I forget my hunt plan, and just follow him around? This may just be personal preference, but just wanting some other hunters ideas.

Chuck

["yote"]

Trust your dogs nose. If it stays in range, let the dog pick the hunt.


P.S . look at the piece of ground are trying to hunt and try to plan your hunt in order to trap or force the birds to flush.