“To Break or Not To Break, That is the Question” is the intriguing title of a piece Tom Keer wrote for Ruffed Grouse Society magazine’s Spring 2018 issue.
Keer interviewed seven men with various backgrounds in training, trialing, guiding and handling bird dogs. Among them is Matt Soberg, RGS Director of Communications and editor of Ruffed Grouse Society magazine and Jerry. Included also are photographs of two English setters we bred, Northwoods Carly Simon and Northwoods Guns N’ Roses, and long-time client Jim DePolo.
Our bird dog background is wild bird field trial competition where dogs must be steady to wing and shot. Major differences exist between dogs trained for those championship-level performances and hunting dogs. For our guiding work now, we allow our dogs to release after the shot.
Keer lets Jerry explain our philosophy and some of the differences.
“As a hunting guide, I want my dogs to consistently do three things: find birds, point them right and at a distance close enough to present as good an opportunity as possible for a kill shot.
“I like dogs to be bold and savvy to follow the bird until it is pinned…I allow my dogs to reposition until they have the grouse pinned. My clientele is comprised of serious grouse hunters who spent a tremendous amount of time in the woods. I can’t think of one owner of our dogs that fully breaks his setter or pointer. My dogs all release after the shot.
“I think field trailers prefer fully broke dogs for one reason. Their dogs can’t make errors around game. What counts is the find, so birds must be pointed correctly. If the bird is pointed but flushes wild, it’s still counted as a find. But to a hunter, pointed birds that flush may be out of range and not provide a good shot. Grouse trial dogs aren’t required to retrieve dead birds, but in hunting, getting to a crippled bird fast can make the difference between finding it or not. That is where breaking at shot can give the dog an advantage.”
Northwoods Rolls Royce (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013), owned by Bob Senkler. Photo by Chris Mathan.
A common belief about judging the strength of a bird dog’s nose is how far the birds flush in front of a point. The farther away the dog points the bird supposedly indicates better scenting ability and, conversely, pointing closer indicates a weaker nose.
I think the dog with the best nose does just the opposite.
First of all, the time-tested indicator of a dog’s nose is how many birds it finds. Period. It doesn’t matter, in this evaluation, whether the dog points far or close or simply flushes the birds.
Secondly, a dog can smell birds from far distances but not point them until well located. Many times I have watched a dog throw up its head, stiffen its tail and march 75 yards—or more—before stopping.
A good nose finds a lot of birds but the best nose finds a lot of birds and points them accurately. Further, the most accurate point is as close to the bird as possible without causing it to flush. Distance from dog to bird varies from inches to many yards depending on the species, age of the bird, habitat and time of the year. Often it’s a combination of several.
A dog must have the right genetics and development to accurately point its birds. From genetics, the dog should have boldness towards game with a keen interest to engage the bird. It should not be afraid to jump in on the birds and try to catch them. Also, the dog needs the right amount of the pointing instinct—too much point and the dog stops on the first scent it smells while not enough point and the dog won’t stop at all.
Next, development is crucial. The young dog should be allowed to find, bump and chase birds to learn how close is too close.
A dog with the best nose pays big dividends during the hunting season. Why? The shooting opportunities are better with an accurate point. Walking past the dog’s nose and having birds flush where you expect them is a tremendous advantage in killing birds.
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