My dog hunting setup:
1. Foxpro wildfire
2. mojo critter decoy
3. foxpro mouth call
4. primo shooting stick
5. Ruger American .243 Redfield 3-9x40
I've taken up hunting dogs about 5 years ago. The lessons I learned are:
1. mind the wind. as in be down wind of the area you anticipate they will be coming from. dogs are very sensitive to scents and will not come in if it does not smell right.
2. concealment. get low enough to have descent cover but still able to see the kill zones. i find sitting with my back against a tree on the edge of a bush line works best. don't move around too much and be slow in your movements
3. decoys. if you employ a mechanical decoy next to your caller and set it up 40-50 yards from yourself, the dogs will fixate on it and you'll have a better chance of getting your gun up without spooking the dog.
4. stands. the most important thing is your stand. the ideal stands you can access by foot in such a way that you minimize your exposure to the anticipated kill lanes. ie. sun to your back, wind to your face, not too much bush to push and don't too make noise setting up, being able to see your prey etc... avoid setting up in areas where the dogs can come from anywhere. Its best to try and call them from places you know there is a high probability that they are at. for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT over hunt a particular stand, the dogs will get use to the calls and you will have a hard time ever coaxing them out again. when leaving a stand, stay quiet, move out slow and watch for dogs where you least expect! i don't know how many times i've had dogs that i couldn't see from my vantage point bolt when i got out of my stand. some of the wiser dogs will approach the decoy/call very cautiously and will want to get the wind. I use a mouth call when the stand doesn't work to put out the caller/decoy.
5. keep up the call. if you do kill a dog or two in a stand, switch your call to wounded pup and let it play continuously for another 3-5 minutes. you may draw another dog out.
6. calls. try different calls and see what the dogs like in your area. I have had tremendous success with lightning jack, snowshoe and pup in distress. i've had them come into crow fight, fawn in distress and other high pitch calls. I call in intermittent series. I let the call play for 30 seconds or so at a time and then turn it off and wait a min. watch where the magpies come from, quite often they are bird dogging.