Let's talk quail and quail dogs

[Natty]

~70 birds in a 100 acre parcel? In MS??? Must be livin right... Dad has had pointers all his life. Always had two up until a few years ago when both had passed and picked up a jip puppy. She has turned out to be one of his best ever. Took her out to Kansas at 6mths and was pointing pheasants as soon as the tailgate dropped. Granddad sold two of his pointers to a doctor in Scotland after "The War". Needed the money but said he couldn't get over getting rid of them. I have never seen a dog with more energy than a pointer. That being said don't be like a lot of folks and leave them in the pen 24/7. That burns me up. They need to let that energy out. When it comes time to hunt they will be used to being out and won't go batsh!t crazy and run to the other end of the county. I'm sure dad would like to get in touch with you. You do the shooting and he'll bring the dog.

[Deadeye]

Do this.. give this guy a call. He manages Longleaf Plantation and can tell you anything you want to know about bird dogs. Most of his guides train and use their own personal dogs. I've hunted with some awesome dogs trained by bird hunters that have 50+ years in the sport. Ask 10 different old timer quail hunters and you'll get 10 different answers but you'll come away with the traits of each dog.

I have a German Shorthair and this dog is by far the fastest learner, quickest to please dog I've ever had. She's is primarily a retriever for me but you can see her pointing ability that is bred into her. She'll point squirrels on the ground like it's automatic to her... she'll point her tennis balls and whatever has a scent. It's awesome to watch her in the yard and see her natural instinct take over.

Again, call Longleaf and ask for Reece.

Dead

[bigwater]

1st let me say this.. I'm ecstatic to hear someone talk about the return of the wild quail. I've caught wind of this on some wrp tracts around the delta. I hope over the next 15 yrs this trend continues.. I think I'm safe in saying this but at one time quail hunting was probably the most popular form of hunting in the state.

I'm partial to english setters as those seemed to be our best dogs growing up. We had four generations of setters. Rock who my grandfather was offered $750.00 for in the late 70's. He was a helluva English setter, rocks son joe. A great dog who loved to hunt anything. Spiro which was joes son. He was a good dog. And then the last of the line spiros son doc. He too was a good dog, but the quail hunting around home had taken a dive for the worse as doc came into his prime..

Some things that stick out after reading this thread. 75% of teaching a dog to quail hunt is about getting the dog in birds. That's a good point. Let the dog get on some birds and if there worth a crap they'll quickly learn the do's and dont's..

Someone pointed out the combination of having one dog that ranges farther out and one dog that hunts closer.. Very good system.. The pointer will get out there and cover the ground while the setter worked in a little closer to the hunters

And lastly someone pointed out that if you have birds you got most of this thing whooped. I think their right about that.. You'll be able to find a couple of bird dogs that will serve you well..

All in all I would go with a pointer and a setter..

Good luck.. With this..quail hunting was a way of life in my family for many years. When I read this I immediatly flashed back to many many years ago hunting with my father and younger brother. I can see my dad pulling up to some 16th section land we use to have permission to hunt. We'd been hunting most of the day and my dad was like you boys stay here with the truck I'll take joe (Our English setter) down this line and see if theres anything down there.. If y'all see me wave my orange cap come a running. I can still see him waving that cap and us hauling booty down there while Ol joe steady as ever held point.

[kris Schaumburg]

all right i responded earlier, but i am back with a more detailed response.

A couple things to consider. I am going to stereotype the breeds a bit here based upon my personal experiences. People tend to be very biased towards their particular breed, so i am prepared to be harassed severely for my comments.

Best bird dog for straight upland work is going to be on of the continentals. Either a GSP or an english pointer. there are very good blood lines for both, and you can somewhat customize your look by choosing between liver or lemons or picking a GSP with a more german look (ie less white). A GSP if a bit more versatile, generally they like the water and retrieving and are more of a personable dog. A pointer is all business. Towards humans they generally are like cats, most of the time they are completely indifferent to people, punctuated by brief bouts where they decide to pay some slight attention to you for no particular reason. Having had a few very good english pointers, i can say they probably make the best field trial dog but the worst pet. Both of these breeds are high energy, its an injustice to have either and not excercise them regularly in a really large space. Also, both hunt way out, so you need some big open spaces to really capitalize on the dog. I personally don't want either, but i do think a dark GSP is about the prettiest dog on the planet.

Biggy, i am just speaking from my experience here and i probably wasn't exposed to great setters. But man, one word dumb. They are however affectionate, some hunt fine. Their long coats really pick up cockleburrs, thorns, beggar's lice, etc.

if you duck hunt as well, and want a dog that will do blood work. Might consider a drathaar. i really like these dogs. Some work water as well as a lab. Some lines can have a mean streak in them, and you will hear of instances of biting, which you would never hear about with a EP. Probably a side effect of their ability to work fur.



If you want a flusher, that opens up a lot of spaniel breeds, but it sounds like you want one that really locks up tight, so there is only one pointing spaniel. A brittany. IMO, for guys in the Eastern US that aren't trialing, a Brittany is the most practical pointing dog. They are nice size, work a medium distance, make great pets, and you don't have to be friends with your neighbors cause they won't range 8 miles as soon as you drop the tail gate. If i lived out west, i woudn't consider a britt because their terrain is different and you need a dog with more range. For here however, you can work small patches and woodcock covers and have a dog that will play with your wife and kids.

[kris Schaumburg]

I do a ton of quail and upland hunting. I am in a quail hunting club up in Tennessee. We hunt wild and pen raised birds. We also have a large kennel where we breed, raise, train, hunt and sell bird dogs.

If you have any questions, looking for a pup, or just want my 2 cents shoot me a PM and I'll give you my number.

Which club, Dunaway?

[kris Schaumburg]

[quote="greenheadgrimreaper"] it is safe to assume that if you have wild quail then "technically" the wild quai will do 75% of the training for you. [quote]


To this i would say no. A good analogy for this would be a lab. will 99% of labs run after a tennis ball if you throw it, yes. Will 1/10 of 1% act presentable and actually know what is going on in a duck blind? Proper training, and by that i mean 1/2 way knowing what you are doing, and doing it repeatedly throughout the year for the first 3 years of the dog's life is what makes a bird dog or a retreiver. For pointing dogs, I would say 75% of makes a finished pointing dog is whoa broken and steady to wing and shot. Neither of those will be instinctive nor self taught.

[grnhed]

Quail Valley, in Petersburg

[bigwater]

We always had good luck tying some type of chain or long heavy rope onto our young-new dogs.to slow them down... And then getting them in birds with older dogs who knew the routine... This method wasn't foolproof as there were some dogs that "got it" and some who didn't..

On a side note. I was hunting pheasants somewhere along the Nebraska - Kansas line this last year.. I had gone to the other end of the field to walk.. However when I got down there they told me to ride back as they needed an extra blocker.

So back I went and I set up bout oh.. 80 yards away from my dad on the end of the line. Dr grey who was scrounging around in his suburban decided to let out a dog that he had picked up to bring back to a friend. dog was a Gordon setter.. He got out and started working down the gravel road towards me.. My dad was like that dog looks birdy. Bout that time the ol Gordon locks up and points and the stars slipping my way ever so cautiously .. My dad starts heading my way to see if this dog is onto something. Finally we get together and move in on where this Gordon setter says the birds are.. Sure enough a dozen bobwhites flush out and damn near make me soils myself.. I got one and dad go one. First wild quail I had killed in 20 years. Made my trip.

Also I do recall going on some hunts at what is now circle m plantation. Back before it was circle m.. They had some really good GSP that worked hard and were better at retrieving than
our dogs..

[SWAG]

I am 41 yrs old have never quail hunted, but have always watched the birds with interest. I hear a lot of stories about back when and so forth. I can honestly say that there has never been as many quail on our farm in the Delta as there are RIGHT NOW!

[kris Schaumburg]

My dog may need to make it to the delta.

[bigwater]

That's more good news

[bowbird]

~70 birds in a 100 acre parcel? In MS??? Must be livin right... Dad has had pointers all his life. Always had two up until a few years ago when both had passed and picked up a jip puppy. She has turned out to be one of his best ever. Took her out to Kansas at 6mths and was pointing pheasants as soon as the tailgate dropped. Granddad sold two of his pointers to a doctor in Scotland after "The War". Needed the money but said he couldn't get over getting rid of them. I have never seen a dog with more energy than a pointer. That being said don't be like a lot of folks and leave them in the pen 24/7. That burns me up. They need to let that energy out. When it comes time to hunt they will be used to being out and won't go batsh!t crazy and run to the other end of the county. I'm sure dad would like to get in touch with you. You do the shooting and he'll bring the dog.

Just ask gunner on here about our quail hunting experience a few years ago. We let the dogs out of the back of the truck and one took off like a rocket, needless to say, we didnt see him again til it was time to go several hours later

[tica-tica]

I grew up quail hunting in Eastern North Carolina.......we smacked them back then! We had Pointers, English Setters, and every other breed out there. I hunted over a ton of pointers......and maybe it just the dogs I hunted around but they were all hard headed and wanted to wander off too far. If I had quail on my property and was looking for a dog, I would get an English Setter no question about it. My experience is that they are much calmer and "work" much better.

This is me but insert 'North Alabama' for 'Eastern North Carolina'.

I was blessed to have a dad with a passion for quail hunting and a back yard full of good bird dogs. At one time he owned 13 pointers. Others like to bird hunt but we had the good dogs so we got to hunt some fine property. We could hunt the entire redstone arsenal because some retired colonels like to hunt and we had the dogs.

The obvious key here in his statement is "If I had quail on my property..."

We don't have enough quail to hunt anymore so why have a good bird dog?

[H20fowlkiller]

We have some at the airport I work out of, and come 630 they are whistling. God I love that sound

[flyhi2]

I've been thinking about a gsp myself. Anybody have a good lead on a breeder? I plan on hunting my dogs so a hunting line is what I'm looking for. Also leaning toward the darker ones.