When I was younger my uncle had two excellent bird dogs. A setter-pointer mix named Bob was my favorite. The closer Bob was too bird, the lower he stood. Sometimes he was on his belly. When that happened the bird was only about two feet from his nose.

Ever have a dog that would lay down like that?

I had one that would get lower when the birrd was close but not lay down. If his head was high and windd in his face it may be quite a way from him.

Well the name setter goes back the pre shotgun times when the birds were caught with nets. The dogs were supposed to get low so the net could be thrown.

I’ve had dogs lay down on point over the years. It was usually in dry hot weather when scenting conditions were bad, or when a dog for whatever reason didn’t smell the bird until they were on top of it. Hard hunting dog stops like he hit a brick wall and down he goes.

Yup that what a good dog do.

I've always owned Brittanies. I can't get over the action involved in them being birdy and being on point. I can't tell you how many birds I've missed or even watched fly away because I'm so enamored with the dog's action.

I thought you had a bird hunting deer. Ive hunted over shorthairs, wirehairs, small munsterlanders, pointers and setters and never saw that. That would make a gps collar that much more important.
I could tell how close a bird was by my shorthairs mouth. If it was open and slowly moving up and down, he scent was fading. She also did this when tracking. Closed mouth meant that bird was within a few feet. B

Yes, every dog is different. Experience will let you read the dogs points. My setter gets more like a statue the closer the bird is. I like a dog that points high, easier to see in tall cover. Dad has a good GSP, but with her brown color and docked tail she can be hard to see. She wears an orange vest to help. My classic English Setter is still easier to see. She holds her brush up high like a champ. The trade off is at the end of the day. The GSP is clean as a whistle, while my Setter has picked up every burr in the section. But my Lord is she a painting on point.

My setters first season. closes today. Have not seen him crouch down but son and grandson hunted him enough Saturday he lay on the tailgate while getting a drink of water. Next spot we put him in he forgot he was tired though

Awesome

Had a Brittany what would get lower to the ground when tracking pheasants. Lower she was closer she was to bird. She would point standing up though. Probably the best pheasant dog I've ever hunted over.

I just thought the dog was getting down so he wouldn't get shot, lol.

Nah, be hard to see that in brush. We do have one that raises his head high. And we have a pretty decent dog that we got at a steal because the owner didn’t like that his tail wasn’t dead center when pointed, it’s off to the right just a tad. We’ve got some “defects” that some folks don’t want based on aesthetics. Some of these owners and managers won’t have a dog that doesn’t fit the absolute standard of how a pointer should look on point. All we care about is that nose, lol.
No matter the looks, when they are ranging and come to a stop so hard their rear end swings around because that nose caught that scent, we’ll that just can’t be beat.

Disclaimer…we hunt off horseback. So that tells you how far our dogs range out.

How many horses you through to find one you can shoot off of?

Danny I would imagine they could shoot off any of them if they so desired. Don’t know why they would and don’t think the birds would hold long enough for them to get close enough. Some of the clients make enough noise as it is. Then again, it all depends on that particular day. Some days they flush before the hunters even get close and some days the guide walks right through them and about has to kick them to flush. That last scenario is very rare as these are wild birds, but it does happen.
Had a hunter bring his “French” dogs last weekend and one of my Dachshund’s would’ve done as good of a job. After the first 20 minutes he asked where the birds are as our dogs were out hunting and his were walking in front of the horses. I replied they apparently weren’t feeding yet and still balled up. After the first point he walked back and asked, “These aren’t released birds are they?” I replied “No sir.” He then went on to explain his outstanding trained dogs were used to walking the feed trail and finding coveys right next to them and the places they hunted were more open. So I said, So you hunt release birds. He said, Well yeah, but they are great at finding them. I just smiled and asked can I put his dogs back on the Jeep because they won’t find any of those here.

Come to find out after talking with the Client who booked the hunt and is a regular, he invited him and his “outstanding trained quail dogs” because he was tired of hearing about how great they are, lol.