Just joined and wanted to say hello to everyone and introduce myself. I answere to many things but Bondhu will suffice here. Love quail and pheasant hunting behing my LLewellin setter. Again, hello to all.

Bondhu:

Ordinarily, I'm not the first guy around to run out and greet the newcomer but welcome! Now I have to confess - your mention of a Llewelyn setter caught my eye. I remember some neighbors when I was a kid always kept Llewelyn setters and I haven't seen any in over 50 years. Never hunted behind them (the dogs were strictly family pets) but I remember them as very friendly and (unlike some setters I could mention) quite intelligent dogs. Anybody who gives a Llewelyn setter house room is OK in my book!

thanks for the hospitable welcome gerrys375.
what upland game is available in the Empire State?

Bondhu:

My state is NY. We have ringnecked pheasant and ruffed grouse as our traditonal upland birds. When I was a boy(I'm 76) we had quail in my own county of Putnam less than 60 miles from NY City and quail hunting was so good on Long Island (in the most southern part of our state) that millionaire hunters came there ( as they do today to Georgia). Those days are long gone. We have had Hungarian partridge introduced on preserves years ago. (I haven't hunted in the field for years now so I don't know if they are a legal game bird afield in the wild) When I was a boy and as a young man we hunted pheasants in corn fields when the stalks were standing. (Combines were unknown in my dairy farm county) I used an English Cocker spaniel who would push the pheasant into running -and me running like crazy to make the pheasant fly before he got to the stone wall (where he could slip over into the next field). In later years we shot what were called "brush" pheasants -because they hid in brushy ravines. They were challenging because you usually heard them take off before you saw them flying crosswise to you and going fast. No dog was needed for this. Both kinds of pheasant shooting were different. Years later I was persuaded by some friends to go to a pheasant preserve. It disgusted me and I can only pity people who have only gone for pheasant at a preserve. It would be nice to hear how a Llewelyn setter behaves in the field whether on quail or pheasant.

Great story. I bet that little E. cocker was a hoot to watch work. I have not had the pleasure of hunting behind one but I do know that they are an intelligent breed. I am a native Texan but have lived in Oklahoma for the past few years. Western Oklahoma is as good as any place I've ever hunted for quail(primarily bobwhite and a few blues). It's rough country but still holds great numbers of birds. This last season ran into a gentleman from Maine who drove down to hunt. He also hunted Alabama on his way down. Had a real nice brace of German Shorthairs. Said he would make it a point to be back next year. Our pheasant hunting takes place in the most northwest counties and all the counties in the panhandle of Oklahoma. Farming and cattle are the chief ecomnomic base of the area. Corn, soybean, and wheat fields seem to go on forever. They were'nt kidding when they wrote those famous lyrics, "Oklahoma, where the wind comes whipping down the plains". A late season hunt there can be a punishing affair for both man and beast. Being from New York, you fully understand the word "winter". Growing up in southeast Texas, my idea of winter was a light jacket in the morning which was shed by noon. I have since been educated.
You mentioned behavior in your previous post. I have owned and hunted english pointers,english setters, german shorthairs, and brittany spaniels. Had some good ones and some not so good ones too. Each breed and each dog has their own special characteristics. The Llewellin or at least mine was bred to be a close foot hunting dog. My previous setters tended to range to far at least for me. They were all big running dogs that canvased the area real well. Sometimes too well. Anyway, Tucker my Llewellin, seems to be something special. He is by far the most intelligent dog I've owned. He is staunch on point, backs, steady to wing and shot, and retrieves. His working range is about 75 yards. He seems to inherently know what to do and not get too far away while doing it. I wish I could say this was all due to my fantastic training abilities, but I can't. I just got lucky with this one. I'm down to my Llewellin and one female gsp. She's probably got 2 seasons left before she enters retirement. Seriously considering another Llewellin at that time. Great talking to ya.