Lurcher on slip or off

[Scentchaser 48]

Want peoples opinions on if the keep the lurcher on a slip or not when bushing......if I'd had mine on a slip with me I'd have scored today but he wa free and just not in the right spot to get on it,but 10 min before that he knocked up a rabbit himself so what's everybody's thoughts and preferences, atb scentchaser

[hot dog 133]

I always have them off the lead.otherwise I get dragged all over the place and it's better for them I think.

[mighty celt 996]

As it's mostly fox I hunt with my bushers IL always have my lurcher on slip or she will be in there with them,if it's rabbits your hunting I'd let lose,

[foxpack new 831]

Rabbit bushing ,lurchers off keeps them sharp and helps fitness , 

Fox bushing always on slip and away from cover .as mighty celt says ,most dogs are clued up so no what's going on and can't resist  to go in .

[Borr 5,805]

I like to see a lurcher hunting, can't say I've had bushers either good enough or in enough number to reliably push average covers, I do keep my bitch on a slip now and again , mostly to avoid drama or injury I wouldn't say she's a good hunter although she'll air scent and surprise us here and there, more point and shoot. I like the dogs off lead as much as possible half our walk is to tire the buggers out, I use my mother's Russell ATM he's giving voice on bunnies etc, great little busher , but I only get out now and again so generally chaos ensues and I see more than the dogs lol. Some of my favourite days were with a few runners all hunting, and some of the most boring was holding a runner on a slip in the fog listening to hounds a valley away lol. I guess it's which work you prioritise and what's been said above .

[white van man 3,300]

Mainly off for me. They miss a few but normally they are in the right spot. If it’s a big patch of cover then sometimes have them set way back and on a slip. I’d rather let them get some exercise and work it out for themselves. If you go to regular spots they soon suss out where the quarry will run. 
 

[Scentchaser 48]

Great to get others feed back had mine knocked 2 rabbits up today and he was jumping about in patches of brambles on a few others...Great fun....my vizsla ran a few too..

[harryshounds 943]

Always off. 

[paulus 26]

My last 2 would work cover as good as any spaniel,  They soon learn to read a quarry and how to deal with them in certain places, If they don't see or smell it then you will walk right past it if there on the slip lead, Even when you add terriers and spaniels into it, you can stand outside a big piece of cover with the dogs on there slips but its pot luck as to where the quarry will pop out, 

[Daniel cain 45,123]

If im out with a bushing pack/hounds then big dog on the slip...out local with my terriers its off

[gaza 508]

Just good luck ain’t it. Few weeks ago lucky charlie catch across a footpath cover to cover lurcher off lead, if on slip wouldn't of caught. Cant say he was following terrier in cover though, did orig but then winded it further up hedgerow away from terrier. This week terrier coursed one across 2 fields if lurcher was on slip might of got him sighted in time but we were both wrong side of dyke. Yesterday lurcher loose, terrier pushed a rabbit right towards us couldnt of missed so prob same result if on a slip. Hot spots hell stick to terrier but got a habit of checking in with me too much and because ive got no control of terrier range often terriers yapping on and lurchers with me. 

[Scentchaser 48]

12 hours ago, paulus said:

My last 2 would work cover as good as any spaniel,  They soon learn to read a quarry and how to deal with them in certain places, If they don't see or smell it then you will walk right past it if there on the slip lead, Even when you add terriers and spaniels into it, you can stand outside a big piece of cover with the dogs on there slips but its pot luck as to where the quarry will pop out, 

I'm lacking on the busher front atm,got a vizsla that pushes cover but in really thick brambles she can't get in as she's as big as my lurcher but not through lack of trying so I'm part busher...just bought a pup in for bushing but still on first vax so next season be in a better situation,but I walked patches of brambles out and they was 3/4 rabbits in 1 spot which got exciting

[stevemac 433]

We like our runners to hunt up their own so are usually off lead, however when the terriers are working a patch the runners are kept at heel ready to spring the trap.

Edited January 4 by stevemac

[OldPhil 5,672]

Sometimes, when folk are pushing Deer through a belt of woodland, towards a crossing place, it pays to keep your dogs leashed....

Often, two or three critters will run out, away from the disturbance, and if you let one dog go on the first, and just hold back for a moment until he is wed to a specific target, you can then slip your next dog, onto number two ...

This method can often give you a bigger reward....

However, when hunting other quarry, I want the dog to choose his spot and position himself in the right place, at the right time...

It sometimes takes an inexperienced jukel a few goes before he becomes educated (and sadly, some hyped up specimans, never twig onto the game) but it has been my experience that "you have to do it wrong, before you get it right".....but when you do,....it's well worth the cursing.....

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5 by OldPhil

[Allan P 1,149]

I don’t use a slip and prefer the dogs to hunt. 

The older one will stand and stare into the bush if there’s something in there whilst the younger one seems to think it’s a good idea to run round the bush until the quarry panics or I wade through the bush  and flush it. ( I don’t have a bushing type dog )

I have no idea why she has started doing it and it’s frankly annoying. However she has had some success so I guess she will keep it up. 

Maybe I should resort to a slip or just get over it and let her do her thing.