My tiny English Setter, Skitso --

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For over a decade she did the high tail, but this season at thirteen and a half she has decided she doesn't have to --

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Unseen in this picture, there is a large coulee between us and those trees in the background which is where Cock John fell and she made a hell of a retrieve getting down in there and coming back with the bird.

Dave, same thing happened to my setters once they got older, pointed with much lower tail.

If I may be so bold as to make such a proclamation on her behalf, I would say that after nearly thirteen years of service..Skitso has well earned every right to stand with her tail at half mast along with every other bird dog who has blessed their owners with the gift of their loyalty and good times in the field!

Here's to Skitso :cheers:

3 Devils Dilemma - we call her Emma - I too... just just feel so lucky to have this dog.

My boy Parker with his hard earned ribbon at a trial last month.

Congrats Daryl!

Nice gun too....:shock::bowdown::cool::clap::envy:






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Thanks Dean. I entered him in the pointing dog class and he bested 20 or so other setters and pointers. He is the second pointing lab I've had the pleasure to hunt with and in these trials, as it is in the field, his labrador retrieving abilities makes all the difference in the final bag and the final score.
The gun is my VHE 20, the first 20 I bought in 1971. I traded a friend of mine a 12ga. Superposed even up which I paid $400 for. I got my monies worth out of that deal.

Taken this past Sunday. My 14 month old Lew Sophie and my 7 year old Golden. Sophie finds them and Gracie bats cleanup. The gun is a restocked Fox Sterly 20 gauge ejector:



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Here's one of my hounds, Fina, with the day's take in Maine last season.

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I'd like to hear your thoughts on shooting snowshoes while hunting with a bird dog.

How does your dog act?

How does shooting rabbits in his presence affect his bird hunting?

If there are no ill effects I would say you have one exceptional bird dog.






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I think the European versatile's were bred for feather and fur Dean...

That's exactly right.

Good breeding & tons of exposure is key - emphasis on exposure IMO

Exceptional intelligence sure doesn't hurt either.

I'd like to hear what Jeff has to say too :corn:

If I shoot a snowshoe while bird hunting they retrieve it for me. Then we continue hunting birds. It's that simple. Often late in the season in ct when we go cottontail hunting I'll bring my shorthair (not pictured here) for retrieving duties out of the thick brush because my dads beagle won't do it.

I will say rabbits are usually targets of opportunity and I don't encourage them tracking fur if I know that's what they are on. Once in a while I'll shoot one because I want a rabbit in the pot, but more often I call them off and don't take it.

Kansas turned four today..best dog I have ever had :)

Good question Dean. My Lew last year at 9 months old pointed three Porky's in Maine. I didn't know whether to kill them in front of her or not because I didn't want her to think we were hunting Porky's.

Maybe Legh Higgins will chime in and tell us how he keeps his dogs away from Porkys.

They are to be avoided at all costs... Vet bills after a run-in with a Porky are pretty expensive.






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I would call her off immediately. If you shoot one in front of her she might try to retrieve it or mouth it at least. or maybe the next dog through the area will try to worry the carcass or roll in it... Bad, bad medicine those porcupines!!






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Not only the expense but a Porky can put a dog down for the season (that's what happened to my Magic when he got a couple of hundred quills in his hind quarter) or it can kill a dog. In my book there is only one kind of Porky, that's a dead one....

I've never had a quill in any of my setters. They have pointed quite a few. I simply pull them off with a stern warning and tell them to move on.

I know several guys that porky proof their dogs in a similar fashion to snake or deer proofing. Set the dog up to investigate a fresh road killed porky and when the dog shows interest burn them with the collar hard. If the dog has any brains at all it should only take once, maybe two times.

Of my bird dog owning acquaintances those with continental breeds are most plagued with porky problems and vet bills. Some on numerous occasions. The propensity to grab and kill is bad news. I always discourage it, be it mice, chipmunks, skunks, or anything else.

Daisy has a vendetta against porkys and will go after every one she finds. Once she got into one but not to badly and I was able to pull out the quills. Twenty minuets later she was ripping one to shreds. That resulted to a trip to the vet and just to be a pain in the ass we were hunting up north so it was an ER visit to the local vet.

Here she is relaxing after a days hunt.....no porky's:) She's a big fan of the heated seats after the hunt:)

Not only that..but shoot any sort of critter for your dog..especially one that they interacted with and they'll see it as a good thing to take the gun to it the next time they come across whatever it is.

Exposure

I snake-proofed Kansas at about 5/6 mos - he's a smart dog - it stuck.

I didn't kill the Porkys in front of her. I told her to leave it alone and let her hunt again. After she was well out of sight I shot two different Porky's. I've paid the vet bills twice with my Golden's. I don't like Porky's at all.

The very first day that I hunted Star in Pittsburg I found him face to face with a large Porky. I jacked up the juice on his e-collar and gave him a jolt. He let out a yip, backed off and I have never had a problem with them since. I know for a fact that last summer he an my buddies lab found one together, and the lab had quills and my dog did not.

I've come to the conclusion that Lews figure them out pretty darn quick. :)

I can shoot hares while bird hunting my DD, it's either let him go with it or call him off when he starts one ....but it's not something I encourage in the setter,he's much softer than the Heiko and if by chance it became an issue it may be hard to correct