A pointing dog is used primarily for hunting animals that are hiding in order to avoid being detected, which fits the bill for forest birds.
The dog must be in close contact with the hunter and search in arches ahead and to the sides. If possible, you walk against the wind to make it easier for the dog to get the scent of the bird and more difficult for the bird to hear you. If the dog runs too far off, you will not be able to see it when it “points”.
When hunting on the mountains, the distance between hunter-dog may be up to 200-300 metres. It is mainly airborne bird scent that will make the dog “point”.
When hunting in the forest, the dog must stay closer to the hunter since visibility distances are much shorter in the forest than on open ground. Here, the dog focuses more on tracks made by the bird on the ground, following them to find where the bird is lying. Forest birds walk long distances on the ground and sometimes the hunter will need to advance a couple of hundred metres after the dog has first pointed, especially since the bird may try to run away during that time.