Waterfowl hunting without a good dog is tough, I have seen it so many times where we've wounded a duck that we could of never found without a dog. If you know the general area where the bird has gone down, and you can get to it quickly and get your dog down wind you stand a pretty good chance of finding it. But Dutch is right, sometimes you just don't find them, it's too bad but thats just the way it is. I had an old black female lab, that was unreal at marking birds, she settled an argument between me and a hunting buddy one day. We were jump shooting a creek in the Fraser valley, we jumped a bunch of mallards and I knocked down one one the other side of the creek, and I exclaimed to my friend I got one, he said I got one too and that it on the other side of the creek, I said pardon me that's the bird that I shot. Well, a mild disagreement ensued, as we walked up to where there was a bridge across the creek (about 75 yds. down stream) the dog retrieved the bird that I knock down and the discussion continued. Not noticing her going further up stream and from the tall grass she came out with my buddies bird. Water fowling is tough without a good dog.