I feed my dogs in the evening all year long wether hunting or not I usually float the kibble in water mainly to slow them down from wolfing the food
Have heard that morning feeding could cause stomach problems when hunting
I occasionally hunt with a few buddies that shoot better and are quicker than me- being quicker means they would shoot all the birds. My rule is you shoot your own birds
I don’t go hunting to have someone else shoot my birds. If I don’t shoot them today the birds will be there tomorrow for...
When it gets warm enough try tying the bumper to 50 ft of 1/4 inch cord and thread it thru an eye bolt in a chunk of cement. Drop it in waist deep water and pull on the rope/ bumper to gradually get the pup in deeper and deeper water until he is swimming
Start him at the water edge...
Do your retrieving training on the edge of the water where you can over time get him into deeper water .
get your boots on and get jnto the shallow water with him and have him follow you around
Take your time and don’t rush the process
If you are just hunting with it I don’t think it will bother you It will beat on you if you shoot a box or 2 on the range
I shoot a Citori 16 with a butt plate and don’t get beat up unless I take it to the range and shoot a box+