I recently joined Pheasants Forever co-worker Rehan Nana on a visit to Berg Brothers Setters. Rehan, with his heart set on finding a pup from a red setter litter, and the Berg Brothers having a famous reputation for their hunting lines of both English and red setters, made for a natural match. To Rehan's credit, he wanted to complete the due diligence of examining the expected litter's dam and sire in hunting action. With a day of bird dog talk on deck, I eagerly accepted the invitation to tag along for the observation.
To my great pleasure, I learned an absolute ton about bird dog training and breeding during the afternoon's proceedings. However, one observation left me babbling for days after the visit.
As I observed the sire, "Slim," elegantly work the field in search of a planted quail, I realized the dog held its nose in the air the entire time. This was in stark contrast to my own German shorthaired pointer's nose to the ground, then to the wind, then back to the ground, method of searching for bird scent. While I've hunted with a myriad of bird dogs over the years, including a wide variety of setters, I typically am focused on my own shorthair's progress in the field. Consequently, watching Slim with complete and sole focus, I was startled by the difference in scenting style.
"Nose to the ground appears in bird dogs with hound in the breed, like your shorthair," explained Ben Berg. "The nose in the air is what makes a setter so special. That scent cone is more dispersed in the air than it is on the ground, so an excellent wind-scenting bird dog should have a bigger scent cone than a dog that scents the ground alone."
This jewel of wisdom opened my eyes and my understanding to why so many ruffed grouse hunting traditionalists favor setters. A dog with a wider scent cone would logically bump far less ruffed grouse, a naturally skittish bird. Conversely, a bird dog that uses the ground scent to track roosters prone to running, as well as tough-to-kill winged roosters would have obvious advantages.
As I listened, the female red setter, "Belle," scented the ground where Slim had earlier pointed a quail. "Most of us bird hunters love to chase all the birds of the uplands," Scott Berg explained, "so the magic in finding an exceptional bird dog is completing the due diligence like Rehan to find the selectively bred litter that's going to produce your best chances for the magic."
Scott offered this list of five key questions for puppy buyers hoping to find that magical bird dog:
1) How many females does the breeder evaluate to find a female suitable for breeding? Producing the best of any breed is by definition a numbers game. The more highly selective the process, the better the result. In other words, evaluating five females for every one that is kept of breeding is better than two.
