When to use the German Pointer

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Sc00bied00
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When to use the German Pointer

Post by Sc00bied00 »

I was hunting some White-Tail ptarmigans earlier with my German Pointer, but the dog seemed to be doing more harm than good. Birds never really got close to us, would hardly ever come back like they usually do and seemed to just get spooked by the dog all the time. When trying to use it for canines, deer and turkey, I have had fairly similar results, often spooking whatever it detected before I'm able to get line of sight on the animal. So far I've really only like it for Rabbits, Pheasants and (surprisingly) Willow Ptarmigans.

What has everyone else's experience using the Pointer been? What species do you use it for, and when do you just leave it in the lodge?
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Dubitabilus
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by Dubitabilus »

In the beginning levels, I exclusively used my German Pointer on Logger's Point for Cottontail Rabbits and Pheasants as you have.
These animals don't flee at first, but try to hide in the tall grass or undergrowth.
Conversely to your experiences, when I take the GP Ptarmigan hunting, the birds try to hide like Pheasants, so I can "kick them up" into the air.

Then again, this is in single player. In Multiplayer I've noticed rabbits and birds lose the "hiding" mechanic and just flee.
However, I've noticed that Ptarmigans in MP always try to come back to the spot they were spooked from.

Hope this helps
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xOEDragonx
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by xOEDragonx »

While not confirmed, I believe this is a bug and it's specific to the White-tailed ptarmigan only. If you take the dog hunting with you, unlike other ptarmigans that will sit on the ground and only flush once you've about stepped on them, the WT ptarmigan will actually start to run away across the ground when you're still 50m+ away and they won't actually flush until they're well over 100m+ away. It just isn't possible to hunt them with the dog the way you can willow or rock ptarmigan. However, if you leave the dog in your tent, you'll find you can walk up on them and flush them just like any other species. It's only the dog that causes an issue with this species... a real shame because they are by far the hardest ptarmigan to find since they're spread out over such a large area and they're often in areas of tall grass so you usually can't even spot them from a distance. Try hunting them without the dog and see if this experience is the same for you. I'm not sure if this bug has ever been officially reported, but most of the dogs have some bugs to them that need fixing.
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Sc00bied00
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by Sc00bied00 »

Used the dog on both the willow and rock ptarmigan, it worked a lot better there so it seems you're right and this is just a bug affecting WT ptarmigans. I've heard some people say it's also bugged for turkey, shame that's something we have to worry about when taking it out of the lodge.
Dubitabilus wrote:Then again, this is in single player. In Multiplayer I've noticed rabbits and birds lose the "hiding" mechanic and just flee.
However, I've noticed that Ptarmigans in MP always try to come back to the spot they were spooked from.
Is this an actual thing? I've often wondered about this, always assumed it was just some rng and confirmation bias. I guess I'll be hunting rabbits/birds in SP from now on.
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Brutus969
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by Brutus969 »

Do they only spook WT ptarmigans whilst in pointing mode, or even when they are just walking around with you?
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by xOEDragonx »

Brutus969 wrote:Do they only spook WT ptarmigans whilst in pointing mode, or even when they are just walking around with you?
I don't know for certain. I had my pointer along just recently to chase the new puma and had some flying overhead that I was able to shoot, but they were already flying so it's hard to say if the dog and I had already spooked them and they were returning or what. It's to the point where I don't even take the pointer on a WT ptarmigan hunt so I'd have to make a special trip just to test it. I almost prefer the lab in the mountains anyway... it's not all that hard to listen for and flush the birds myself, but it sure can be a terror trying to find them if they fall into tall grass. The retriever doesn't seem to disturb the birds at all no matter the stance that it's in although I usually have him laying down so I can actually hear birds flapping and not his feet.
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by Kinarr »

Sc00bied00 wrote:I was hunting some White-Tail ptarmigans earlier with my German Pointer, When trying to use it for canines, deer and turkey, I have had fairly similar results,
Using the dog for deer is stage 3 in training it up. I am still working with pheasants, turkeys, wabbits and cyotes to get to stage 3, it's hard work. So you must be quite experienced in using your pointer.
Mine works well with these species, but I wouldnt even bother with ptarmigans. I can see why you have problems, they are much more skittish than pheasants.
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Brutus969
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by Brutus969 »

So I tested it and if it isn't in pointing mode, it doesn't spook the birds. So the dog is still useful for letting you know if they are within 120/160/200m.
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by mel_o_mel »

I find the pointer very helpful with ptarmigans, but sometimes the birds are flying all over the place and you need to be aware of whether your dog is tracking one that's on the fly. If the dog is in tracking mode but I can also hear birds flying I'll periodically call the dog back and send it back out to see if there's something closer. Of course it helps if the dog is leveled up and its cool off period is low.
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xOEDragonx
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Re: When to use the German Pointer

Post by xOEDragonx »

Brutus969 wrote:So I tested it and if it isn't in pointing mode, it doesn't spook the birds. So the dog is still useful for letting you know if they are within 120/160/200m.
I've found the same. I've had the pointer with me on my last several hunts in the mountains chasing puma. I've stopped to shoot ptarmigan a few times when I was in an area chock full of em. As long as the dog was simply walking without a command or laying down in the stay position, the ptarmigan never acknowledged him. I do believe however he is still scaring them when he is in the tracking state for deer/felines.

So if your dog is set to track anything in the mountains, you can expect it to be nearly impossible to chase white-tailed ptarmigan at the same time. Again, this doesn't affect willow or rock ptarmigan at all. Hunting them with the pointer is no different than hunting pheasants in a field. The pointer points and they lay hidden on the ground until you flush them. It's the white-tailed ptarmigan specifically affected by this issue. If your dog is set to track, the ptarmigan don't lay down and hide. They will start running, often from 100m+ away from you and your dog and then they'll flush themselves when they're 150m+ away. You can't even get close to them on the ground if the pointer is tracking them. So there is certainly no pointing white-tailed ptarmigans.
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