Hunting tall cover and it’s mid January. I use the pager function on my beeper!
Our cover is tall and its January. The dogs have no problems hunting as the cover is mostly comprised of broomweed. Broomweed is shaped a bit like umbrellas, wide at the top on a narrow woody single stem arising from the ground. Quail can easily run down below yet they are shielded by the overhead cover against avian predators and man.
Broomweed is best attacked by freezing precip like freezing rain, sleet and snow. It’s really weird this year as my lease has been passed by each time we’ve had frozen precip. I actually live to the south of my lease and we have been hit by frozen precip 2 or 3 times already.
So what is my tactic in this kind of late season cover?…
… I run the dogs with beeper collars. I let them run silent and when I am not sure where they are, I page them. Tap the page button and the beeper responds with a single chirp. Press and hold, you get continuous beeps. Let up off the button and the beeper shuts off.
Typically, when I have lost sight of the dog, I page and listen for location, page again, listen for location. If they are audibly not moving, I head for the dog as it may be standing point.
Why not enage the point mode on my beeper so I know when he’s stopped? I dunno, I just don’t want to hear the beeper that much and I think late season bobs are a bit more savvy. Besides, I can sometimes see the dog as it goes on point so the constant beeping would not be necessary in that instance.
Last time out we found 8 coveys. All nice sized coveys. Each time the beeper played an integral part of the hunt. Not for all the coveys but nonetheless, a very important role.
Beepers have a place. I am grateful for my DT systems spt 2432 as it offers terrific flexibility.
This all flies in the face of me being mostly a double barrel purist when it comes to old style hunting tools. Oh well.
Happy huntin’
Dave
3 comments
Dave, I have been using my GPS with the beeper that goes off at the handheld unit, after a dog goes stationary for more than a few seconds, with the 5 second delay plus the amount of time you missed the dog it seems to work o.k., as for the broom weeds I have not found that many birds in it, I get up early and position myself where I can hear the bobs chirp in the early morn,and I have not heard as many calls coming from the broomweed as I hear from the heavy mesquite and cedar breaks…………..rt
That sounds good. All we have is broomweed. If we didn’t hunt the broomweed, we wouldn’t be able to hunt.
I like the idea of the GPS but lately I have been riding horses and running dogs so I am really able to locate and find them within seconds.
I especially like the GPS feature of beeping at the receiver instead of the dog since it is less likely to spook the bird.
I have to use trackers because right now that’s all the AKC allows when my son runs dogs at their events. My tracker system was quite expensive so I guess I get my nickels worth. But for other folks, they might consider the gps.
Thanks for terrific feedback!
Dave
Hi Dave
I do the exact same thing with my DT beeper collar in the tall switch grass Sophia and I hunt. There have been more times then I can count that its given me and idea of where she is and if shes moving better then run point mode.
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