Ed, When conditions are right for it, I sometimes put some tape over the opening of the beeper to dampen the sound (again, when conditions allow me to hear well). You can tape any portion of the opening to "regulate" the sound. However, now I use the remote on-off version from Try-tronics. I can run the dog without sound and turn on the beeper remotely if I lose track of him/her. I've only had one dog that I felt comfortable using the "point only" mode. My dogs range out based on the cover.
Gordon Setters are sometimes too smart for their own good. When we have snow, they learn that they can block the beeper opening by rubbing their necks in the snow. Over the 30+ years we've hunted Gordons, they have all figured this out. Thankfully (for me, not them) we don't have all that much snow here. It does make me feel bad, though, because it's clear that they don't like the noise -- who would?! But, now that we have tracker collars, we can minimize that issue. I do run my dogs with the beeper collar and tracking collar when in wolf country, however, to hedge my bets against a wolf encounter. I had a wolf come after one of my dogs and don't want that situation to ever happen again.
BTW, if your friend is in Iowa, he's getting some fierce weather as I type this, as are we here in North Missouri.
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"Doubtless the good Lord could have made a better game bird than bobwhite, and better country to hunt him in...but equally doubtless, he never did." -- Guy de la Valdene (from A Handful of Feathers )
"'I promise you,' he said, 'on my word of honor, I won't die on the opening of the bird season.'" -- Robert Ruark (from The Old Man and the Boy)
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