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Joined: 14 Apr 2020 Posts: 144 Location: Boise,Idaho

Maybe it has been discussed here before I joined, but since it looks like we have some experienced upland hunters, do you use bells on your dogs or not?
I have asked a few guys but the reactions are all over the board.
I don't use one as my dog hunts usually within shotgun range.
Hope this does not open a huge can of worms.

Bob

Old question...new ears....happens.

Bell...grouse and woodcock.
Even with an Astro, a good bell provides an immediate connection, if one can hear, with the dog....which is swell and an element of tradition or personal history that appeals to some folks.
Basically, one listens to not hear a bell.

No bell...pheasant.
The landscape, shortgrass or hilly, finds, for me, no equal necessity as above...consistently anyway.
Plus, I think comparable quiet or softer noise from several directions is a large hammer for a pheasant....forcing the colorful lad to deduce a multitude of odd sounds, which can work on his nerves and, often, to his loss.

Other birds likely hit one or the other of the above....but, fit & try would seem a wise move, eh?

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1841 Location: Central ND

Yingle Yingle Yingle,

Hi Honey I'm home!!!

Absolutely no bells for any reason when I am hunting any type of bird. You just walked into the birds living room no point in ringing the doorbell to let him know you are there.

I did try a bell way back when and soon figured out that when I couldn't hear the bell, I couldn't find the dog. That ended that short lesson.

Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 1973 Location: Maine

I have a couple antique sleigh bells I hang on the inside of the doorknob to th front door to let me know when the door opens.
Does that count?

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1841 Location: Central ND

Nope, that's a perfectly useful application for a bell.

Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 1460 Location: Eagle, Nebraska

no bells or beepers. Hunt a lot of upland game, lot of pheasant, less noise the better.

Joined: 09 Sep 2006 Posts: 863 Location: NoDak

No bells, but I do use a beeper collar in point only mode.

On the prairie here, bells really don't cut it in my experience.

I also use a Garmin Pathfinder as insurance. I don't like looking at a screen every few seconds. But will look when the dog is out of sight. Just to know where they are.

Best,

Greg

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.

Bell on the dog, when hunting, always.

Best,
Ted

Joined: 24 Mar 2010 Posts: 280 Location: Northwest PA

My preference, Hunting primarily ruffed grouse:
- No bell
- Astro
- low-tone Beeper in point only mode

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1841 Location: Central ND

Forgot to add.

Beeper in point only mode and only when it is a must.

Joined: 07 Sep 2011 Posts: 567 Location: wheeling, wv

Grouse and woodcock: I use a bell, with dogs also wearing a beeper collar with the beeper off, but use the locate button button as a back-up if having trouble locating the dog. Also use the silent/vibrate mode to recall the dogs when necessary. Really like my Dogtra T & B Dual.
Pheasants(wild): No bells just the locate button when needed and silent recall. Minimal use of whistle.

Joined: 26 Apr 2016 Posts: 369 Location: Vermont

I always use a bell to keep tract of my dog, especially when hunting with other dogs. I also use my Garmin Alpha which gives me piece of mind in the covers I hunt. I like to know what my dog is up to and where he is. Might cost me a few birds but i'm ok with that.

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 1113

Just a question for the gotta use a bell guys, has anyone ever successfully hunted Huns out west using a bell? I just have trouble seeing how that would work with those skittish birds.

I use a bell & Garmin Alpha combo. My dogs work fairly close (75 yard casts). However, with age my hearing is not as good and I find it difficult to always locate the dog with just a bell. Early in the season in the U.P. a GPS or beeper/locator is very handy because the dog can be 6’ from you and you can’t see them. Later in the year I could probably get by with no bell or GPS. For pheasant it depends on the height of the grass on whether I need bell/Garmin.

Good Hunting,
Mike

Technology has both enabled a larger safety net for our dogs as well as provided for an improvement in reducing noise around birds...ie, often.....more dead birds, especially of some species.
However, a definition of success, competition and need may be the true and core issues.

Many, as noted here, double up with both technology and older options, which I find reasonable and is often my own path.
Probably does little harm to other bird hunters but...one never knows. Embarassed

What folks did before the latest and greatest hit the shelves?......hard to fathom that reckoning, once technology has a firm grip upon us.
My guess tho is that they lost dogs and were shattered, killed birds and grinned.
My hope is that they also found and appreciated a certain sense of value in the sound of a bell being pulled left and right by a dog's nose....in cover where use made sense.