Photo by T.C. Flanigan

My partner, Ed Lewanowski, normally hunt pheasants over my American water spaniel, Mocha, and Ed's springer spaniel mix, Sonny. However, on this particular day we were hunting a preserve with a guide named Dave Trusty.

Trusty likes to guide pheasant hunts with pointers rather than flushing dogs because the flushes are more controlled and his clients have time to get ready to shoot before the bird goes airborne. The flushing breeds, (like American water spaniels, most retrievers and springer spaniels) work a field with speed and precision, but the pheasants can explode skyward anywhere and without warning.

As we were working a field, Trusty's pointer, a Brittany named Spanky, came running out of the prairie grass into the walking lane ahead of me and took off running down the lane. He went about 40 yards and then darted back into the weeds and went on point in a classic "J-hook" maneuver.

I approached Spanky from behind, and when I was close enough, Trusty told me to gently nudge Spanky's hindquarter with my right leg to get him to move in on the bird. The worried ringneck flushed into the air, giving me an easy 15-yard shot. Spanky retrieved the handsome cock bird to hand to complete his classic fieldwork.

What I had just witnessed was a culmination of several hunting dog behaviors. Let's take a look at these behaviors to determine what makes a good pheasant dog.

RECOGNIZING LEVELS OF BEHAVIOR
All dogs operate on five levels of behavior. In the order of complexity they are: 1) basic irritability, 2) reflexes, 3) instincts, 4) emotion and 5) intelligence. All breeds of dogs possess some degree of these behavior levels.

Basic Irritability
Basic irritability refers to the acuity of the dog's five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. In terms of what makes a good pheasant dog, the ability of the dog to detect pheasant scent is probably the predominant factor. However, to focus on the ability of the dog's olfactory nerve tissues to discriminate airborne scent molecules alone would be a mistake.

We also have to take into account a dog's ability to see and hear. Any upland bird dog must be able to hear his master's commands, see a pheasant take flight and after the shot, see where the bird hits the ground. A good pheasant dog needs all of his senses of perception to recognize what is happening during the hunt.

However, it is because the dog's sense of smell is so much better than ours that we make them our choice for a hunting companion. Some scientific studies estimate that dogs have a sense of smell 10,000 times greater than humans. All of the hunting breeds have good noses. Breeds like English setters, English springer spaniels, Vizslas, Brittany spaniels, just to mention a few, all have good noses. It would really be hard to say (with accuracy) that one breed has a better nose than another.

As mentioned above, eyesight and hearing are important, too, but when pheasants are hiding in tall prairie grasses or cattails, they're not too easy to see or hear, either by dogs or humans. What gives them away is the scent they leave behind.

When a pheasant walks or runs through a field it rubs against the plants that are present, leaving molecules of its scent on the plants. This is called ground scent. As a dog works a field with its high-powered nose, it is these scent molecules that it detects and tracks.