So I love the new map I just think the spook radius for the game birds needs to be small as in real life when the pointer points you usually have time to walk up and the bird will flush then shoot
#Game birds
fleet prawn
faint bay
Quail spook way too far away & you can barely get to them after your pointer finds them let alone flush & hope they fly to you. Don't get me wrong the Pointer makes a massive difference in comparison to not having 1. But you have a high chance to ruin the pointers point & flush bc the quail spook radius is high. Where as with pheasant now I can literally walk next to them & they scurry away before finally taking flight.
Pointers lock on birds and holds them there till you tell them to flush. Rarely do birds scatter after a dogs got them locked in unless the holds too long then birds have the habit to spook, except grouse their 50/50.
tidal zodiac
Quail spook way too far away & you can barely get to them after your pointer fin...
Have not hunted quail with the dog in game yet but have huntem them IRL with dogs many times ..... if this holds true then quail AI definitely needs to be looked at and adjusted .... I like the way the dog works with pheasant and Grouse but was really looking forward to hunting quail as well ....
faint bay
Have not hunted quail with the dog in game yet but have huntem them IRL with dog...
Its 10x better with the dog than before but you have to sneak to the dog to avoid spooking the quail to get close enough. Thats been my experience idk if everyone else is having the same or different experience. Like you I had a pointer growing up n when she locks in on birds 80-90% of the time birds hunker down before being spooked. Except grouse, grouse always seemed to half glide and run-away n she would sit & tilt her head back & forth in confusion bc they dont flush like Pheasants or Quail it was hilarious.
tidal zodiac
@faint bay Yes different game birds act differently than other game birds ... This is why the best bird dogs are very specialized ... I would never train one bird dog to hunt quail, pheasant and grouse .... I would have one dog for each because the birds just smell and act or behave differently ....
As for the quail you are exactly right they hold on the ground a lot longer and I have also noted that it's somewhat related to temperature and pressure ..... The colder the temperature is the longer they will hold before flushing....
And pressure effects this as well for a covey that have been previously hunted or when hunting singles from a covey that has already been broken up... This is why if at all possible I would give the Bob's enough time to call the covey back together before hunting them again ....
So for the sake of the game itself they should make the quail hold longer on the ground before flushing and accelerate the time it takes for the covey to come back together again so that you get that characteristic flush of several birds at one time ...
And if they would add the sound of those birds flushing at the same time then I would be in absolute heaven with regard to hunting quail .....
faint bay
Agreed