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.
Hopefully the birds haven't been decaying there for a few days.
As long as its cold out that probably wouldn't be too much of an issue. Sometimes I don't get the breasts off my ducks until 5 days later when I'm being lazy and they're just fine. Don't think I'd want to gut them, though, that many days later.
Your bag limit is 8 regardless if you kill them or simply recover someone's lost birds. I have put your question to a couple of different COs and they all say if you are over your bag limit you are over your bag limit no matter how you got them. I have taken a limit of pheasants without firing a shot on wet days my Spaniels have "trapped" more birds than I have shot. They still fall in your bag limit
"BORN TO HUNT"
Foxton's Cuervo Gold "KEELA" Oct. 2004-June 2017. Always in my blind and my heart.
Your bag limit is 8 regardless if you kill them or simply recover someone's lost birds. I have put your question to a couple of different COs and they all say if you are over your bag limit you are over your bag limit no matter how you got them. I have taken a limit of pheasants without firing a shot on wet days my Spaniels have "trapped" more birds than I have shot. They still fall in your bag limit
Well, that's exactly what we figured so as soon as we had 24 birds we packed up. Didn't like the fact that a couple were birds we likely wouldn't have ever shot at since there a good number of green heads flying into the decoys but you hate to see any animal/bird's life go to waste.
yea that's what I understood. I didn't want to "claim" the swan and the cormorant that I found out in the swamp this month either. I just left them and mentioned it to the last wildlife officer who checked me.