bellbeeper

Beeper Collar or Bell?

By Dennis Lutynski (SKYDANCE KENNELS)

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I like the BELL; its' hang loose spirit remains timeless in its appeal like an old rocking chair. Dog bells haven’t evolved much. You will find a better dog bell in an antique mall than most sporting stores. It is hard for me to embrace what sporting stores market as a bell, shrink wrapped and hanging on a hook. The bell for a dog could be sized for each dog range but, one great bell is all I need.

So you want this bell vs. beeper thing debated? Ok, lets put that big old bell on our English setter, or your pointer, and hear what happens. We both agree this area looks like a great grouse hang out. Pup is at heel, and the gun is over our shoulder. All right, let’s hunt. Pup is given the ok, and off goes pup along with his dancing bell. A few moments have passed and the sound of pup stops, relax its just pup relieving himself. Soon we see pup where we last heard him.

This great grouse hang out has turned into some real work, pups been going at it hard now for about 35 minutes. We have been able to hear pup every step of the way, and when not in sight we can hear by the bell, that pups heart is in this hunt.

Hmm, pup is clearly slowing pace and working a bit tighter. We can hear every step; ding, ding, ding, stop. Ding, ding, stop. I ask out loud to pup, *“whatch Ya got?” Ding, Ding, Ding, hard stop. We are walking to pup and I ask again “Whatch Ya Got?.” pups not moving or making a sound but, I’ve been paying attention. See pup is working his heart out for us, so I know pups whereabouts, and real soon we will see pup. Sure enough there he is, on a soft point. He's not moving but his tail tells me the bird is long gone. I am very sure the bird is gone, and I’ll tell you why. Just as we started toward pup 40 yards back, I was able to hear the faintest sound of a flush, and a dink of the bell. That Dink happened when pup lifted his head to get a better look at old Mr. Grouse as he flushed through the heavy foliage to that Great Escape. Pup was perfect, no doubt about it! Because, if pup had taken one step and flushed our bird we would have heard it sound out ding, ding, flush. Indeed our bird was not very accommodating.

Ok, its time now to flaunt our good nature, lets pullover and try the beeper. Maybe we crossed into the hot zone were the grouse are having a tea party. Beep … beep … beep … remember now the beep is every 5 to 8 seconds, and pup is feeling good, so he is on the move with great long strides. In 5 seconds of muted movement, pup can quickly dash past a great deal of brush, change pace from fast to slow and back again. Only this time we can’t tell if pup is lollygagging, or long striding because we only get about 12 beeps per minute. 12 Beeps per minute! Yup. That’s not enough information for me. Sure it works, and the colorless sound gives me great locating ability but, what I don’t know can hurt the hunt.

I should know if pup made a soft stop (slow small steps of pup working a feeding bird). Or, was it an abrupt stop from a strong first scent of bird, (like a resting woodcock). The bell gives me important seamless and calculated movement of pup on the run. Beepers give most hunters comfort-inducing ideas. Wait, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, pups on point… lets go. Pup is so easy to find. Wow, look at his beautiful point… and then a flash. Feather and bird, guns and smoke. What a great find, pup was perfect. So it goes, we had a great hunt, we’ve a bird in hand and pup is happy to be back in the hunt no matter bell or beeper.

Much of the time we hear what we want to hear other times do we really want to know the truth? The choice of configuration is yours, bell, or beeper collar. Good sense whatever your mind, theirs no need to stutter over the dilemma. The bell is effortless in accepting the wear and tear of time, and the elements, with a stately grace. I still enjoy the honesty of the BELL.

Note: Only on the rarest times will I hunt grouse with more than one dog at a time. On hunting grouse with two great field finished dogs at one time I’ll opt for the beepers and run one silent (point mode), or one with a bell and the other silent (point mode).

* When hunting grouse with my finished dogs I will always sound out “Whatch Ya got” When the bell falls silent. This is really the only way for a hard working dog to be alert that he is still with you in the hunt. The answer back is always the same…Dancing bell, or the thrill of a silent Bell.

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