duck hunting with no dog

[Kasomor]

What do you say to duck hunters who hunt with no dog?

Field hunting in a corn patch; great they can walk it down. But on a slough, beside a river or bush the number of ducks just left because they can't find then disgusts me.

Kasomor

[Kirby]

I duck hunt without a dog.

I have a canoe, hip waders, and I recover my ducks. I think this year I lost one that might have been recovered with a dog.

What about un-trained dogs? Or dogs out of control? I've seen both, I'd rather have no dog than a dog that's un-reliable.

Kirby

[Marc]

Being a duck hunter takes more then just having a dog, and ducks still get lost over dogs.

There are hunters out there that shoot and retrieve more ducks then hunters with dogs. Painting all shooters with the same brush on a hunting forum wouldn't be advisable.

Owning a dog doesn't excuse poor shooting, and owning a dog doesn't justify taking low average shots either. A well trained dog does increase the odds of retrieving crippled birds but we as hunters have to learn to only take high average shots even when hunting over dogs.

[Kasomor]

I duck hunt without a dog.

I have a canoe, hip waders, and I recover my ducks. I think this year I lost one that might have been recovered with a dog.

What about un-trained dogs? Or dogs out of control? I've seen both, I'd rather have no dog than a dog that's un-reliable.

Kirby

What's your phone number? I'll give it to them so you can tell them how to retrieve ducks with out a dog. Mind you, I don't think you can wade across the Vedder River at the moment and I don't know how a canoe would do on it either.

My friends fluffy got 8 ducks after they left. :(

You're right an untrained, out of control dog is a pain in the a**.

That's why I hunt with a TRAINED retreiver....dog gets all the ducks and I stay in the blind. :wink:

[Kasomor]

There are hunters out there that shoot and retrieve more ducks then hunters with dogs. Painting all shooters with the same brush on a hunting forum wouldn't be advisable.

Owning a dog doesn't excuse poor shooting, and owning a dog doesn't justify taking low average shots either. A well trained dog does increase the odds of retrieving crippled birds but we as hunters have to learn to only take high average shots even when hunting over dogs.

Your right Marc. I know there are tons of duck hunters who hunt without dogs and I'm not painting them all with the same brush.

It really chokes me though that these particular guys KNEW they could not retrieve the birds. They only carried out two, said they had killed more but couldn't get at them.

What do you say to that? :?

I won't shoot a deer down a gully if I know I can't get it out. I have never come across a deer that has been shot and left to die in the bush.

Every season I do with ducks. Ducks just seem to have less value to them. :icon_frow

Kasomor

[300win]

Its like shooting any game animal don't take the shot if you can't retrieve it!! With a well trained dog retrieval is much easier, but hunting ducks and geese without your 4 legged buddy just means you have too work a little harder.

[Kirby]

I don't think you can wade across the Vedder River at the moment and I don't know how a canoe would do on it either.

That's why I hunt with a TRAINED retreiver....dog gets all the ducks and I stay in the blind. :wink:

Your right, so I pick my stands, I pick my spots. I don't hunt fast rivers, I don't hunt spots I can't pack my canoe into, I also pick my stands and my shots. I watched two guys throw steel at everything coming by, dog going ballistic and wouldn't follow commands, watched them knock ducks down and fail to recover, so should I question every guy who owns a dog?

Congrats on the trained retreiver, I am currently working with a lab puppy, however being a University student and renting tends to make owning a dog hard or impossible.

Kirby

[Kirby]

\
It really chokes me though that these particular guys KNEW they could not retrieve the birds. They only carried out two, said they had killed more but couldn't get at them.

What do you say to that? :?

Say nothing, observer, record, report. Guys like that give all hunters a bad name.

Kirby

[darrin6109]

What's your phone number? I'll give it to them so you can tell them how to retrieve ducks with out a dog. Mind you, I don't think you can wade across the Vedder River at the moment and I don't know how a canoe would do on it either.

My friends fluffy got 8 ducks after they left. :(

You're right an untrained, out of control dog is a pain in the a**.

That's why I hunt with a TRAINED retreiver....dog gets all the ducks and I stay in the blind. :wink:


Kirby is right. i have hunted with a dog and without a dog, it all depends on where you hunt,how you hunt and who you hunt with. dog or not.
i have lost the same number of birds with or without a dog.

[porcupine]

I hunted ducks for over 15 years before I got my first duck dog. Back them we were shooting lead and I don't remember many cripples. Of course, I made sure that all ducks and geese were in range. I had a canoe and waders and learned to figure out where the birds would go. Usually not too far if you shot them right.

[huntwriter]

What do you say to duck hunters who hunt with no dog?

Field hunting in a corn patch; great they can walk it down. But on a slough, beside a river or bush the number of ducks just left because they can't find then disgusts me.

Kasomor

I have hunted ducks with and without dogs and have been in camps where they had dogs and others that dind't had dogs. The loss of birds is about the same.

[darrin6109]

What's your phone number? I'll give it to them so you can tell them how to retrieve ducks with out a dog. Mind you, I don't think you can wade across the Vedder River at the moment and I don't know how a canoe would do on it either.

My friends fluffy got 8 ducks after they left. :(

You're right an untrained, out of control dog is a pain in the a**.

That's why I hunt with a TRAINED retreiver....dog gets all the ducks and I stay in the blind. :wink:


I have hunted ducks with and without dogs and have been in camps where they had dogs and others that dind't had dogs. The loss of birds is about the same.
.........................yep

[Deer Sausage]

Boy this is a bit of a confession...but we've been hunting without a dog. We set up at our spot over the most open water and definately pick our shots so they fall in the water...that means passing on quite a few shots...we look long and hard for our birds and sometimes... its long and hard..and sometimes we still can't find some of them...its just a fact that a small brown bird falling in neck high cattails can be very very hard to find...crawling around in the mud trying to follow a feather trail or hoping and working a grid is no way to spend any given sunday. we have a boat and we do all we can but its still probably a quarter that we can't find when youre getting the odd sailer and the odd cripple into the deep grass. Well I eventually got a dog! She's seven months old now and she'll be old enough and trained by next fall. All that being said getting a dog isn't like getting new waders..its a chunk of change, its a big commitment and its a lifestyle option not everyone has open to them. I won't even tell you what a time i had convincing my wife! Dogs are the best way and a dog is a real treat to have aside from your waterfowling..... but if you can't get a dog do your level best to look for your birds and at least you know I feel your pain!

[303Brit]

A dog is not in the mix for me right now, I tend to keep to field and sheet hunting. As oppose to being in the chuck, but I try to keep to high percentage shots. I also try to avoid nocking and moving to the next bird until I'm sure I folded the first(more for when I'm by myself) But I don't like spending my time looking for birds, which is two fold.
1. Seems like everytime I move or am out of my blind 200 birds decide they like my spread
2. I go Waterfowling, not hunting for ducks. I do not enjoy searching for a bird that went into the tall grass or fluttered to the slough

just my 303 cents

[dutchie]

I used a belly boat at Brunswick point ONE time... NEVER AGAIN!

Mind you it was in a slow moving side cannal but it was a stupid amount of work, and I thought I was going to drift out to sea... Then we used a canoe on the same spot!

it was a good work out!

Dutchie

[Spy]

The point been that if you cant retrieve what you have shot you shouldn't have shot it.
Having a dog increases you chances of retrieving downed birds land or water fowl.
Im not the police but if I see a guy shooting birds & not retrieving them, I will speak to him or her to see what the problem is!

[porcupine]

I found that if I let my old toller Cajun out of the blind, he would often go out and find and retrieve a duck that thad been shot and lost by some one else and that we never even knew was around. I used to think that there should be an additional bird added to the limit for each dog in the hunting party to account for these unexpected pick ups.
________
grow medical marijuana (http://growingmedicalmarijuana.org)

[Dutch]

`As I have been hunting with a dog most of my life except when I lost my old Retreiver (on my avatar ) for a few months and I have seen both sides. My record at the Marsh was 16 cripples picked up after opening day. Did the guys have dogs I'm sure that some did.I have also on my way out of a certain place been called over by some fellows who had a dog but it wasn't able to find most of the birds that they had shot, we did.I have had some great dogs and some average ones( now working on #4) but the dog expereince for me goes hand and hand with the hunting one.You will always lose birds dog or not and the guys that hunt without one have to be a little more sure of their shots but must be able to enjoy the sport as well.I sometimes wonder after the puppy stage and the wifes roses have been chewed down to stalks if it is all worth it, then comes that spectacular across the river retrieve and yes it makes the bad images fade away.:):)

[835]

What do you say to duck hunters who hunt with no dog?

Field hunting in a corn patch; great they can walk it down. But on a slough, beside a river or bush the number of ducks just left because they can't find then disgusts me.

Kasomor


i dont know but that is a pretty wide brush if you ask me.
maby you should have said what do you say to duck killers who dont retrieve their birds because they shoot them in places that make recovery impossible.
pretty harsh post kasmor i like to think your better than that.
what you say is " are you going to get all thoes cripples"

i hunt with a guy who shot a goose in a field, it jumped into a river and went. Larry (i kid you not) stripped down naked and swam after it in the first two weeks of october. Because he didnt have a dog and the bird didnt do as planned

[Dirty]

What do you say to duck hunters who hunt with no dog?

Field hunting in a corn patch; great they can walk it down. But on a slough, beside a river or bush the number of ducks just left because they can't find then disgusts me.

Kasomor

That is an assumption. You have a very bold opinion and it is apparent in the comments you make. However, just because somebody can't have a dog or doesn't have a dog doesn't mean there are "sickening" amounts of ducks left behind. Do you have credible evidence to support that hunters without dogs lose more ducks than hunters with dogs? Probably not, I rest my case. What about fat slobs and road hunters? How much game do they wound and not recover. Lets jump to all sorts of irrational conclusions. Screw your head on straight.

[Kasomor]

That is an assumption. You have a very bold opinion and it is apparent in the comments you make. However, just because somebody can't have a dog or doesn't have a dog doesn't mean there are "sickening" amounts of ducks left behind. Do you have credible evidence to support that hunters without dogs lose more ducks than hunters with dogs? Probably not, I rest my case. What about fat slobs and road hunters? How much game do they wound and not recover. Lets jump to all sorts of irrational conclusions. Screw your head on straight.

I think you only read the first message Dirty. Go back and read them all but #4 explains what went on a bit further.

"Your right Marc. I know there are tons of duck hunters who hunt without dogs and I'm not painting them all with the same brush.

It really chokes me though that these particular guys KNEW they could not retrieve the birds. They only carried out two, said they had killed more but couldn't get at them."

I have been further enlighten and educated by the folks who responded. Thank you.

My New Years Resolution is to "screw my head on straight." :mrgreen:

Cheers Kasomor

[Dirty]

Kasomor,

It looks like you are venting about a specific incident. Why didn't you observe, record, and report. Obviously these guys are not going to every possible effort to retrieve downed game. You should report them, at least a talk from the CO might put their ethics in check.

[Cdn-Redneck]

I haven't hunted ducks for about 25 years. I would love to start again but only with a dog. I remember hunting with our little english springer and be walking along a dyke in Surrey and out he would come with a duck somebody couldn't find the night before. My golden is getting up in years and never retrieved anything. We got her at 14 months old and she was never interested in it. My kids are grown up and it will be time for another dog in a couple years for hunting and fishing and hanging out with.

[nano]

First off I do not have a dog, so when I get ready to shoot my ducks I make sure I can retrieve them. Some times birds will fall into sloughts which is out of my control. So for that I have a fishing rod with a large spoon and 2 large hooks. I have only lost 2 birds in my 5 years of duck hunting.So what I am trying to say is that you dont need a dog you just need to think and have a plan.

Nano

[835]

a weight at the botom and a bunch of big trebles tied in tandom worked for me befor i got my pooch. same idea as you nano.

[Busterbrown]

i dont know but that is a pretty wide brush if you ask me.
maby you should have said what do you say to duck killers who dont retrieve their birds because they shoot them in places that make recovery impossible.
pretty harsh post kasmor i like to think your better than that.
what you say is " are you going to get all thoes cripples"

i hunt with a guy who shot a goose in a field, it jumped into a river and went. Larry (i kid you not) stripped down naked and swam after it in the first two weeks of october. Because he didnt have a dog and the bird didnt do as planned

Kasomor


Iam with him. Your first posts sounds EXACTLY like you are painting all with the same brush. You then backtrcked and tried to change your position. You claimed people who hunt with-out a dog discusted you. You may not realise that not all have a dog but still like to hunt. The proper thing to do was report the incident to the CO instead of preaching behind your computor screen

[Theo722]

I'm hunting with no dog and have no problems.
I pick my shots, my spots and wear chest waders.
I've hunted with dog owners before and I had to stand over the downed ducks before the dog spotted it, and with others that would not do a thing other than bolt at top speed in every and all directions at all times with the owner screaming his name constantly during the entire day. Left me impressed. Having a dog along does not make him trained by default. It's just another effective piece of gear if properly conditioned and used. I could say the same about anybody shooting without waders or decoys or calls, or whatever...
How about we just try to educate skybusters instead since most of their kills are not even evident till a couple of days later. Plus they flare birds all around when they start to uncork anywere on the marsh which pisses me off a tad, or "pass shooters" that set up 40 yards away and shoot the birds you're calling in and decoying, or dog owners leaving their bagged droppings all along the dykes and have the nerve to judge hunters, or ....
It's endless, bitching and gripping is easy and unproductive. If someone want's to be a hero, help us shmucks without dogs or access out and invite us along instead of getting high and mighty about how much more supperior their technique or prowess is.

[sparkes3]

pick your shots ,still ended up swimming for a few

[RambleOn]

I went out today and didn't pull the trigger. Oh, many a time. Didn't pull. Could have, but didnt want to take the chance. They will live to fly another day. Hopefully tomorrow. Sucks, but I wasn't sure that I could retrieve. So, I go out tomorrow with my little 7.5 foot camo rowboat. And if possible, I will do both.:-D