You’re going to hear me use the term “scent cone” a lot. The scent cone is the stream of scent that comes off the bird (or anything else for that matter). Picture a cone or a triangle with the bird at the tip. As the wind moves the scent of the bird, the scent is the strongest close to the bird at the tip of the cone in a small area. As the scent moves further away from the bird, its weaker but it’s over a wider area.
Here is a picture
When doing bird work, move the dog across the scent cone, not into it. So if the wind is blowing from the north, try to work the dog east/west and downwind of the bird. By doing this, you are able to detect when the dog gets the scent of the bird. They will usually turn towards the bird once they get wind of it.
