Upland Bird Dog Power - a second perspective
Upland bird dog power means several things to different hunters. The short answer is:
Upland bird dog power is bird finding capability of a dog that renders shot opportunity to the hunter.
Upland Bird Dog Power in Pictures
An early season quail hunt. As a self guided upland bird dog hunter organization most self guided hunters do their own training. The value of this organization is that we offer the land and wild pheasant and quail resources to allow that hunter to enjoy his buddies to that level he trains.
A singles quail point long after covey flush, above.
All breeds and most hunters welcome. Canines are not judged by anyone than the hunter that hunts them.
(right) Hunts here trying to get that on point picture is first priority. Shooting the quail second. When a hunter gets to this level he has a much more leisurely approach to his hunts than could ever be achieved on public lands. This picture is not quite there with the ear flipped.
The first element begins with the type of hunter we will work with.
In our case, that is Mid-America Hunting Association, we first refer to canine power relative to the self guided quail and self guided pheasant hunter.
That self guided aspect means much. Not all have that capability See fundamentals.
We seek the hunter that enjoys his four legged buddies away from others and wild game. It is not a club environment, just hunt execution.
Elements include:
The canine may be a pointing, flushing or retrieving selectively bred or mixed.
The issue is for the hunter to enjoy the hunt. To enjoy that field work requires a partner that hunts for the foot hunter.
Quality habitat does not come packaged in large contiguous acreage. In the central mid-west the most commonly bought and sold acreage is a 1/4 section or 160 acres. Selectively leasing multiple smaller acreage parcels, 80 - 640 acres, produces more action than contiguous large area parcels. That is simply the nature of our regional habitat. Our understanding of that leads to more field action and less nature walking.
Success elements continue with one that either flushes or is steady to point for shot opportunity. The long ranger flusher or unsteady point only disrupts the field from a good hunt. No secret here. It is more an agreement that the land and wildlife may be good while the hunt terrible for reasons other than land or wildlife. Something many hunters would not consider relative to their upland bird dog.
This article has been disappointing to many readers that seek from it the ultra secret of great hunts. Getting back to:
Upland bird dog power is bird finding capability of a dog that renders shot opportunity to the hunter.
Is that the hunter has it or he doesn't. If he does not then he is not likely to enjoy this Association. We can't train that in a web article. We are a hunt execution only organization.
Upland Bird Dog Power
An old buddy, warm day, late season. He does well on tall grass wild pheasant hunts.
Snippets such as these have long been commented on as being the most informative.
One of those rare covey points in the wide open with nothing but blue-sky shooting.
To miss a shot under such conditions is frequently the result of hunter fatigue. That fatigue is from the walking required to get to this point in the hunt.
A test of walking fatigue incurred during quail hunts is to ask any dedicated quail hunter how many consecutive day long quail hunts he will make. Most will agree after the first it becomes harder and rarely does anyone hunt three in a row before sleep-in day
