A hard and hot Springer or English Cocker flusher will often put a Pheasant up 100 yards out....If they have the cover, and are runners, they will run until their choice is to fly or be chomped on....And you are not going to keep up with the chase. Have only had one that figured out the game and got ahead of them on occasion. A wild Pheasants hearing never fails to impress me...Have had more than one get up at 100 yards out,...and with the Dog at heal... too many times to think it was only happenstance. Or one or a couple get up, which sets off a chain reaction, and others get out....and some at 100 plus. Hunting dogless, or with a Pointer or flusher it makes no difference.
All of this makes me believe that pure wild Pheasants are a different Bird than the salted fields at "Thunder Chicken" lodge...Still, I wouldn't mind hunting there on occasion..Just for the opportunity to fire up your Dog,,,and the shooting....
The vets will tell you cutting Porcupine quills to make removal easier is not the thing to do....Have had to remove them from mine and friends Dogs a few times. It is often not a one man chore...He had a Dog die from a quill....He missed one and it found its way into the Dogs stomach...
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/porcupine-quills-in-dogs-and-their-dangersAddition: The hearing of a great Dog is also something that never fails to impress me...The great ones will hear a Bird hit the ground when shot...even tho they didn't see the fall...and go right to it. Some will find a hit Bird that sails on a long way before coming down...A good Dog most definitely puts more Birds into the bag with less shots fired....
