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Thread: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    1,247

    Re: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron.C View Post
    Nice work mastercaster. Looks like Sako has got it figured out
    We still have work to do, Ron. I know i don't have to worry about the recovery part because I took the time to force fetch her so she know it's her job to find and bring the birds back. Still have to work on steadiness in the blind because there's the odd time she'll but out before being sent. She knows my cracker shot buddy is not going to miss so there should be a bird out there to retrieve.

    The other thing is her speed coming back with the bird. She gets out there lickity split but she takes what seems like a long time getting the bird back to the blind,,,,and it's not like she isn't taking a straight line. When she retrieves bumpers and dockers she gets them back much quicker.

    Maybe it's the weight of the birds slowing her down but at 48 pounds she seems strong enough to me. I guess I should be happy that she's getting them all back to me. I doubt that we lost more than a couple cripples this entire season,,,,birds that ended up going down a country mile away from us in thick marsh grass.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    4,368

    Re: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!

    Sounds like both our pups are experiencing the same things. I need to work on Jessie's steadiness as well. She was doing awesome, but then I hunted out of my layout and when I popped up, she would break. So I stopped hunting out of the layout and she is now again pretty steady, but needs work. Im going to continue on her steadiness this year and include some layout blind setups. I have built 3 remote control wingers so I can replicate some realistic setups.

    Jess also flies out to the bird, but seems to take her time coming back. Im not that concerned about that, unless I am missing something. Im more concerned that she returns the bird to hand then how fast she gets it done. But again like Sako, she is allot faster when training then hunting.

    Was my first year hunting with a dog and the only birds I lost were from eagles taking advantage of an easy meal.

    I am super happy with Jessies patience in the blind. Sits for long periods and scans the sky , picks up birds coming in and very eager.
    Last edited by Ron.C; 01-27-2020 at 10:47 AM.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    875

    Re: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!

    Quote Originally Posted by mastercaster View Post
    We still have work to do, Ron. I know i don't have to worry about the recovery part because I took the time to force fetch her so she know it's her job to find and bring the birds back. Still have to work on steadiness in the blind because there's the odd time she'll but out before being sent. She knows my cracker shot buddy is not going to miss so there should be a bird out there to retrieve.

    The other thing is her speed coming back with the bird. She gets out there lickity split but she takes what seems like a long time getting the bird back to the blind,,,,and it's not like she isn't taking a straight line. When she retrieves bumpers and dockers she gets them back much quicker.

    Maybe it's the weight of the birds slowing her down but at 48 pounds she seems strong enough to me. I guess I should be happy that she's getting them all back to me. I doubt that we lost more than a couple cripples this entire season,,,,birds that ended up going down a country mile away from us in thick marsh grass.
    I know you didn’t ask but......

    If she’s been collar conditioned to “ here” it’s an easy fix. If she hasn’t been, then maybe it’s time to complete basics.

    A slow return is often the precursor to stickiness on birds and other bad habits like possessiveness and hard mouth. Once those habits get ingrained it’s a whole other, more difficult, issue to deal with.

    If she’s farting around on the return (without seeing the dog) I’d be 99.9% certain there’s a hole it two in her basic training.

    Don’t feel bad. Most people gloss over fundamentals and it usually comes back to bite them. There are roughly 52 separate stages in a dogs development to have a solid foundation as a gun dog /retriever.......before you actually start hunting.

    Again, sorry for the hijack. I know you didn’t ask but maybe others will get something useful out of this.

    PS. If your interested let me know and I’ll shoot you my phone number. Much easier to discuss these issues that way than back and forth via public forum or texting.
    Last edited by labguy; 01-27-2020 at 11:00 AM.
    "Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donel fat"

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    1,247

    Re: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!

    ^^^ Thanks, LG,,,,I'll shoot you a PM. Sako definitely does not keep birds away from me or has a hard mouth and doesn't take detours. She's just tardy, especially when coming back in cold, unswimmable water that's about a foot deep. Sako is collar conditioned so maybe i'll have to stim her when she's slow getting the bird back and also to keep her steady after the shot.

    Who knows? Maybe the next time I go visit my kids in Kelowna I'll take a run up your way. Got another grand child on the way in February. Might be a good time. I like killing two birds with one stone!

    Cheers~
    Last edited by mastercaster; 01-27-2020 at 12:31 PM.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    North Island
    Posts
    131

    Re: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!

    Dog work will help with the DT's of withdrawal. No dog right now so it is going to be re-painting duck decoys and working on my calling. October is a long ways away.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    990

    Re: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!

    I never stop working on the lab and breaking and he's had 3 years of field trials before I got him.It is in their DNA and he's good most of the time but still have to keep the remind button on.Great year for Yankee this year only lost 2 that I was sure on so that is a plus and there were some great moments in there as well.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    1,247

    Re: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!


  8. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Agassiz
    Posts
    467

    Re: Let the Withdrawal Begin,,,,,duck season is at an end!

    Quote Originally Posted by mastercaster View Post
    What kind of sausage do you have made?

    One of the guys I hunt with does the roast duck dinner quite often. To be honest I haven't done it since I've only gotten back into waterfowl hunting since I got my griff (2 seasons worth) and thought I'd go the sausage route since I rarely turn any of the deer or moose I get into sausage since I shoot for table quality as opposed to size.

    Plucked the odd pheasant back in the 80s but even then all I usually do with all the birds I've harvest in the past is just breast them out. Wish all the game birds were as easy as grouse where you just need to step on the wings and pull. Haha
    We make pepperoni, smokies, some farmer sausage , and tried some salami this year. It hasn't been hanging long enough to try yet.

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