How many birds would you lose/find without a dog?

C

cyclonenation10

Active member
This was sparked from a comment in another thread, but thought it may be worth its own thread.

Pheasants are the only thing I seriously hunt. I'll shoot a handful of bonus partridge and quail each year, but the primary focus is on pheasants.
They are tough to kill completely dead, at least for me. More often than not, it seems like the birds have enough energy to make one final push to burrow under some grass, or take off running like crazy.

I've always hunted with relatively good retrieving dogs, and I've gotten pretty lazy at marking birds down (usually the dogs are on them plenty quick).

If I didn't have a dog, I would venture to guess I would have lost ~50% of the birds I shot this past season, give or take. Obviously if you didn't have dogs you'd have to be much more selective on the cover you hunt and the shots you take, but what has been others experience who hunt without dogs? Does that 50% mark sound about right to you guys?
 
My father in-law hunted pheasants in the 60s. They all (his group) quit hunting pheasants because they lost more birds than they found. They did not have a dog.
 
There were some stats concerning waterfowl cripples recovered with and without a dog. I have never seen stats involving upland birds.
It is always about the dog.
 
Wind River said:
There were some stats concerning waterfowl cripples recovered with and without a dog. I have never seen stats involving upland birds.
It is always about the dog.
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I've read things a couple different times that say the "average experienced pheasant dog" (whatever that means) loses between 12% & 17% of downed birds. My dogs probably become more experienced than "average", but we lose far fewer than that. Obviously the type of hunting, type of cover, shot discrimination, & shooting ability come into play. I also believe a "steady" dog will lose more, at least with my type of hunting.
 
My experience was that 50% is pretty close. My 1st pheasant hunt was in 1982. Centerville Iowa, at that time it was supposedly the pheasant capital of the world. I'm not hot spotting because now you would be lucky to see one there. We were 4 young guys, strong and fit. 1 novice, the rest of us could shoot. A buddy and I had dogs, but everyone I knew who had hunted them told us that they would ruin your dog. Granted I was under gunned for long shots with a 16 and none of us exactly picked our shots. There were a lot of birds. we saw a lot on the roads but only shot a couple of them. We were hardly ever turned down to hunt and saw birds everywhere we hunted. We knocked down 32 roosters and brought home 14. We never went back without dogs. I hunted the next 21 years straight in Iowa. Hunted and area until bird #s dwindled, moved west until we found them. Repeat until it was no longer feasible.
 
When I was younger I would hunt without a dog, but only in fresh snow. I did not lose many, but with a dog I think we lost one this year, and I watched it run across a gigantic field until it was out of sight.

I might go out in the snow if i didn't have a dog but it is so much less enjoyable.
 
Lots of variables to consider, but I do believe that the loss rate would likely be over half if hunting public land or other large tracts of grass or cattails that would allow a crippled pheasant a plethora of places to run and hide.
 
I didn't lose any in Illinois this year. Lost a couple of SD. I think success depends on a couple of things. Obviously the dog is key and his/her willingness to hunt dead birds. I also think scenting conditions make a huge difference. Last year (2022) SD was soooo dry it was really hard for the dogs to find dead birds in the cattails. You literally had to mark them perfectly to find them. I always carry a water bottle in my vest and give my dogs some water if they are struggling to find a cripple. I've found this makes a huge difference. To A5's point, if I had to put a percentage on lost birds I'd say 5-7%. Definitely lower than 12-17%. Wish it was zero. I really hate losing a bird.
 
I lost 4 birds this season over my dog. 48 birds were bagged over her this year. I would probably lose 50 percent without her.

I know some hunters who, without a dog, admit that they lose more pheasants than they bring to bag.
 
Golden Hour said:
Lots of variables to consider, but I do believe that the loss rate would likely be over half if hunting public land or other large tracts of grass or cattails that would allow a crippled pheasant a plethora of places to run and hide.
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I agree with you. Cripples would never be found. It always seems like the last few wingbeats just propel them deeper under the cover making it impossible for a sight recovery. This fall my brother-in-law spoke of how he and a couple of relatives hunted and got a limit without a dog. It amazes me knowing that it is a lot of cattail hunting. The birds there are thick so getting them up early season isn't as much of a challenge. I can only imagine how many they potentially lost.
 
I tend to agree with some of the guys here, I probably wouldn't hunt without a dog. I bet it would 50% or greater on loss without a dog.
 
Without a dog ... you sure would have less shots too ... unless road-ditch hunting was your sole way of pheasant hunting.
 
I would lose a lot of birds without a dog. But here's one thing to not forget, you and the dogs are a team. One story etched into my mind was a group hunt on public land in SD. There is a THICK shelter belt, and it was 2nd week of season. Honestly I don't think anyone had hunted this spot on opener, it was in an area of the state without much publicity. The birds were everywhere. A rooster got up and was shot and dropped. Two hunters and three dogs could not find this rooster. My buddy's brother began kicking around in the tall grasses and thickets, after 5 minutes he says, "here he is." I think this guy is part bird dog. My point is, the dog is gonna find the bird the vast majority of the time, but that doesn't mean you yourself should stop looking.
 
I have never hunted with a Good bird dog….have hunted with many dogs, but not good bird dogs……dogs that get up birds 150-200 feet in front of you aren’t much help and those are the kind of dogs I have hunted with, so consequently I don’t hunt with a dog…..I envy all of you that have great bird dogs…..sure would make the hunt more easy…..but I hunt with my son or by myself and we use many tactics and still shoot some birds and it makes the day feel rewarding….move a bunch of hens while the roosters are much more of a challenge…..I don’t mind the walking without a dog…at my age it is to late for the investment!!!!!
 
Buster24 said:
I have never hunted with a Good bird dog….have hunted with many dogs, but not good bird dogs……dogs that get up birds 150-200 feet in front of you aren’t much help and those are the kind of dogs I have hunted with, so consequently I don’t hunt with a dog…..I envy all of you that have great bird dogs…..sure would make the hunt more easy…..but I hunt with my son or by myself and we use many tactics and still shoot some birds and it makes the day feel rewarding….move a bunch of hens while the roosters are much more of a challenge…..I don’t mind the walking without a dog…at my age it is to late for the investment!!!!!
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There is a big difference. Not that bird dogs have to be perfect, but I've hunted with plenty that do more harm than good. As long as the dog stays within range and doesn't require a bunch of hollering and yelling, they can't hurt, but if they don't, you are probably better off without one.
 
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