Bird dogs and pheasants

I'm getting bored. This sucker is filled with pheasant pictures, and Brad Pitt look-alikes, but I don't see one bird dog. Bird dogs to me are pointing dogs. The GSP generally rules the roost among bird dogs on pheasant.

Anyone have any pictures or stories about pointing dogs and pheasants?

I took my dog on a drive pheasant hunt last year. She wanted to run up and down the entire line of walkers. Also pheasants hold about as well as ducks. I decided after 2 days of frustration that pointing dogs and drive hunting don't mix. Maybe pheasants hold better in snow. I fared better than the other guy that brought his quail dogs...his male setter ran off and started chasing chickens. A guy brought 2 brits this year and didn't even run them.

If I hunted pheasants more than once a year I'd get a lab or a springer.

We have had some luck running one pointer at a time in CRP fields and getting a wide line of say 80 yards going. A good pointer with patterning ingrained deeply will pattern up and down the line - which depending on how thick the grass is means only being 30 to 40 yards out. I would say about 20% of our roosters per day (in South Central Kansas, higher in South Dakota) are pointed birds or at least where dog is pointing and breaking off etc and a couple of guys hot foot over and get ready. We get about double the amount of points on single hens. I never run beepers, always use a Garmin, and most guys in our group know not to be hollering "here" all the time to put the roosters on red alert.

The main issue I have with Texas trained pointers (and GSPs as half my group of guys now have GSPs) is they want to chase after pointed hens. Bad things happen when a dog is running 25mph after a pointed hen. Screaming Fido Here Fido Here at the top of your lungs tells every pheasant in the county here comes trouble.

All that said, I have been sniffing around on Texas pointing lab breeders myself - especially given the sorry and unexplained sorry quail seasons we have had the past three years. I have hunted with one and there is no style to the point, but its still a nice middle ground - especially if the beast would sit still in a duck blind and pull double duty there.

BTW - we have had guys come with us with good labs that work out 25 yards and you watch em when they get hot and scooch over that way -- very very effective but not as pretty.

I use a Vizsla, They are a close working pointer that work well on Quail and Pheasant.They adapt well to the hunting enviorment.If the habitate is tall she flushes.If it's short she'll point.here's some pics of her in action.

You made me spit beer all over my keyboard.

My GSP works about 25yds max, mostly closer and works the whole line. She gets wide (further out) on the ends and quarters in toward the center. Didn't train her to do that, she just does. She's already figured out if no shot is made, don't chase, just watch. She does good in the fields, but most of her points come at the kitchen table!

I hunted behind 2 nice dogs this last weekend, one was a pointer and the other a GSP. They would point the crap out the pheasant we were hunting considering it was so dry. The GSP would flush and retrieve as well.

Pheasants are tough on pointing dogs. They smell so good and run so fast and far. Most just end up busting birds that a little patience would have gotten. I take guys from Central Texas to Plainview and tell them to leave the big runners at home. Labs are fine as long as they mind.

I've hunted them many years and have hunted over only 2 good pheasant dogs.

One would work a line of hunters from end to end about ten yards out. She would bring a downed bird to the closest hunter and carry on with her hunt.

Another was a buddy's Brit. My buddy and I would hunt after school and walk maize and corn patches. About halfway up the last pass she would go sideways fifty yards, run up to the end of the field, and start working back to us. No one trained her to do that. That was a good dog.

i have hunted over my vizlsa for 6 years. best dog for the job. they work close, hold the point, and will never quit. when they get warm just trust.them, you will have birds in your bag at the end od the day.

Sorry Bill, no Pheasant pics, the last time I went pheasant hunting with a dog was with my old Britt J.R., I wasn't taking many pictures back then. He did a great job on the thunder chickens.

Hopefully I'll have some pics of my GSP on some pheasant in Kansas by the end of the season.

Bill,

We ran our Brittanys in Kansas in November. We were hunting real tall CRP and it was sort of funny to watch my dog quartering in that stuff like a porpoise, but he stayed in close - flushing and retrieving when I downed one. That grass is sharp edged and will cut a GSP or Pointer so I did not even put my Pointer on the ground for that hunt. Those boys up there tape 'em up pretty good but it wasn't really a problem for the Brits or Labs. I didn't get many pics but we had a great time.

I run my vizsla on pheasant and he does a good job. He works thik cover like a champ but roams a little to far out in thin stuff. I hunted this year with another Vizsla and a DD. I never got a solid point out of mine (not many birds) but the other two dogs locked up and held birds to flush and shot.

It all depends on the birds, the cover and the weather in my experience. If the birds will sit, they can be pointed, but if the pheasants have been hunted a lot, they won't sit unless the cover is very heavy. The weather, cold and snow, seems to make them hold a little better. There are some places we hit, where they might start flushing as soon as you stop to open the gate. I have a full mix of dogs (Vizsla, DD, Pointer) and they all had points in Kansas a couple weeks ago, but we also had fields where the birds were flushing 300 yds out. Pheasants are fun for that very reason - unpredictable!

OP-If you want to use pointers and actually consitately point pheasants in late season, Find the nastiest stuff around(backwater pits, old farm houses, nasty fence rows.ect) and send the dogs in, from my expereince that about the only place the birds hold well.


Other then that I second what Brian said its the unpreditablity of the pheasants that make them fun

I forgot to mention in my previous post that we also leave the ultra big running pointers at home on the pheasant trips, which is about half of the groups' dogs. Only the stay with ya dogs get to go up north... lots of dogs and wives unhappy come week before Thanksgiving.

Here ya go Bill, just for you
Me, my oldest Britt , Teal and Jojo the Boykin I had on Iowa



Me and the late , great Colt with his 2nd pheasant



Colt, Zach and Chester with Colts 1st phez. He pointed, Zach shot it and Chester retrieved it



I dont know so much about a Vizsla being the best dog for hunting pheasants. If they were there would be a lot more of them out there. And I am sure the guys that kill their share behind EPs, Britts,Setters and GSPs would take exception to that statement as well.

When I lived in Liberal back in the 90's I had A GWP and Vizsla that were a really good team on Pheasants. I do not know how they figured it out but when one of them got on a running rooster the other would loop out and then they would trap the bird between the two of them. I have never been able to get another pair to do it since then. Of course I moved to Tulsa then back to Gods country in Texas. While I was up there I also used pointers, but you have to be able to keep them close.

I don't know about any one breed being the best.however I do know that I get my fair share of birds and it is directly a result of my dog.

Hey Bill what about some all around BIRD dogs (Labradors)





These are from years past, but I am headed to Olton tomorrow for a day of pheasant hunting. You guys crack me up that think only pointers are bird dogs.

I had a setter that did that same thing in the hedge rows in Mo. when I hunted by myself, can't teach that...

More Brad Pitt look-alikes!

You can have your pointers for pheasant. Give me a durable lab any day of the week in rough pheasant country. My lab is by no means the greatest dog in the world- but he is 8 years old and pheasant hunted for the first time this season. He worked 15 or less yards in front of me and my buddy and flushed 3 birds and recovered one of the two roosters we shot ( the other didn't make it far enough to count as a recovery). It was like he had been doing it for years.

When you can teach your pointer how to fetch ducks and geese in one trip then I think you may have a leg to stand on. Until then, it's a doggy dog world and it's ruled by labs.

I agree labs are by far the better dog to use for pheasants. I took my Sandy for her first hunt this year. The first one she retrieved was at 60 yard and it was the first Pheasent that was shot on our hunt. After that she had it down. I am so proud of her as soon as I get some pictures sent to me I will get them out.

They all hunt different and have a purpose. Labs I've seen are smart as heck, retrieve like nobody's business, hunt close, and usually are more "flushing dogs." That's why they make great pheasant dogs. Pointers, at least most I see, are big runners, cautious, will not creep up on a bird, usually not retrievers-unless force broke, and most of all hard headed. Pointers can hunt pheasants, under the right conditions and mine can wind them yards before you get to them. Thus my problem--my dogs are taught to be very cautious--and it is tough on them with the concept of a running pheasant or blue quail.

I have to put a plug in for Spaniels...a lot of people will make an argument that they are the breed best suited for pheasants (labs clearly take all-around most versatile dog; I won't argue that). They hunt close, quarter quickly and naturally, and are strong retrievers. They also have more stamina in the uplands than a retriever due to their smaller size.

I like brittanies in milo stalks, as they don;t usually range too far and will help on some points on sitting birds that might otherwise let you walk past them. But, in the thicker stuff they often have a tough time getting through it. I've been behind some mighty good GSPs and Setters in those conditions. I wouldn't doubt a Visla would do a good all-around job, and I have hunted behind them on a couple of occasions, with them both doing an admirable job.

For me, I wouldn't trade my brits on pheasant (on quail - certainly yes most of the time), but I think it's kind of like your gun - everyone has what they like and are comfortable with them.

Labs are okay if you are a water fowl hunter.I have used them for upland birds as well,I would definetly prefer to have a lab than go without a dog.I would be a bit concerned about the inbreeding of the American lab. Lots of hip problems.
Other than that they are the most popular pet in America.

Labs are fine as long as you buy from a responsable breeder... Kind of like talking smack to a GWP guy becuase his dogs not a tatooed DD..Just saying.

Quail use a pointer, pheasants are a different animal, I'll take a well conditioned Lab on wild pheasants over a big ranging pointer any day of the week unless its a pen raised bird...

I've seen many a shorthair inside of truck cabs up north in pheasant country.
I've also shot many a pheasant under pointers in Kansas.
You just don't do it with 15 hunters walking corn rows.

very true!! I've killed them over just about all the hunting breeds out there, just perfer labs, as long as they are conditioned well!!

I do enjoy the grace of watching a GSP clear a 5 foot barbwire fence though, always thought that was cool to watch, then there is the hot wire and smaller pointers.. They always seemed to forget about them..

The part of Kansas I hunt in has mainly hot wires. When I meet up with some of the local ranchers and farmers, they don't care if you're hunting phez, they want to know if you've shot a mulie.
When I say no, they ask, "why not."
Apparently mule deer won't jump a single hot wire. They go through them.
I've been tempted, but I've never shot one, even though I've never seen a game warden.

Bobo, that is funny on the little pointers. I have always had big males and never had a problem but my little female gyp zinged herself about 4 times. Two of the guys in the group were mad at me all afternoon for lighting her up with the collar until later when I mentioned I was surprised Sadie couldnt figure out the hot wire deal.

I think it all depends on the type of cover you are hunting and how hard the birds have been hunted.

Wow, Bill. Hopefully, you're just trying to get everyone's goat here, because I usually like your posts. I'm afraid, my little Golden would have some words for you, if you tried to say she wasn't a real bird dog. She's retrieved too many ducks, pheasant and dove to think she's anything else. Hoping to get a goose hunt in before the season's all said and done.

Man, the best part of my hunt a couple of weeks ago came on a bird that I didn't even get a shot at. We were setting up to work an old homestead, and jumped up a rooster. My uncle was the only one ready to shoot and dropped him. He had designs of getting up and running off but my Belle girl absolutely hammered him, and brought him back to me. The whole time she was bringing him back to me, she was getting smacked in face with his wing.

My brother's pointer was already out in the field chasing the Ghosts of Roosters past and had no idea what happened behind him.

Frogs, Frogs, Frogs, I went on to explain that bird dogs to me are pointing dogs. Birds to me are quail. You go duck hunting, goose hunting, dove hunting or bird hunting. Bird hunting is quail hunting for me and most Texans.

+++++1. If you've never hunted pheasants with a Brit you just don't know.

Gotcha. I will admit that seeing a pointer tearing through the fields and then slamming on point is a sight to behold. My brother's pointer has one of the most stylish points you'll ever see. Once shot, you don't want him getting ahold of that bird, though.

To Reel's comment, I've only hunted behind Brittanys once. Apparently this guy had gone to NC to get this pair of started Brits with champion lines. Two of the cutest pocket rockets you'd ever seen. But, they were only interested in tearing through the fields busting up birds left and right. It was actually a blessing that they scared up a jack rabbit and chased it to the next section so mine and my brother's dogs could work. I love Brits, though, and I'm looking forward to being able to work behind one that actually LIKES birds.