Poor man's tracking collar

[Spevin]

I remember , back in the day . We used to put a bell on a dog to keep track of the pack . Does anyone still do this ?

[duck duck goose]

I know of a few guys up in Canada who use bells on their dogs. They say they think it helps keep the wolves away, but I have no way of confirming that.

My dogs have some pretty jingly dog tags on their collars which I like. It acts sort of like a bell and makes it a bit easier to keep tabs on them.

[ethertonee]

Used it before I had money to buy a tracking collar. Still use it when taking a pup for the first couple of times with an older dog to help the young dog go to the older dogs. Not all the time just the first few. Just like Mr. Wick suggest in his books helps out.

[pegleg]

I have bells and sometimes use them in real thick brush if I remember just to have a better idea of what's happening while I'm cussing the thorns. Its not a bad idea for guys that hunt wit their hounds and have closer handling dogs but if they get to far it only helps you know when and if they show up again. If they're trailing their voice carries better then any bell you could hang on them

[Mike Leonard]

I have a wide array of bells hanging around the barn most of them have been used in our bird dog program over the years but occasionally I do use them with younger pups just to keep them directed towards the mentor dog.
All kinds of things can distract pups when they are out in the field and if your lead dog happens to be rather tight mouthed he can slip away from the pups open up and leave and then it is all up to you to try to get them in the deal.
Some older dogs learn quickly if they stay quiet and slip away they can dump those pesky pups and also hog all the glory. I have been lucky to usually have a several broke older dogs that I can rotate and that helps with this problem. Once the pups get it, and are all about the hunt you can leave the bell behind because they will have their attention glued on the four legged pack leader.
As Nathan indicated in very heavy cover the higher pitched Swiss type bells carry a long ways to a dogs ears and can be very helpful.

An old time cat hunter that helped me a lot back in the 70's ran a strain of his own bobcat dogs and for the most part they were semi silent dogs. He seemed to have a sixth sense and new exactly what was going on but I can tell you for sure those bells sure helped me out. LOL!