Climate change frustration

M

MN guy

New member
October 1st in Minnesota. Sunny and upper 80’s today (again). Too warm to safely get out (again)…
 
70 degrees and no wind with humidity, stay home. Better days ahead. Maybe OK, but why? One Million birds = my dog, not a chance.
Dogs only sweat thru their pads. It is only a bird, go for a swim instead or hunt doves near a pond.
 
I would factor in humidity too but 70 +/- and I might do a 45 min hunt tops. High 70's or over 80 and I'll probably drive around and get myself an ice cream cone.
 
Definitely 70 is the max. I would say when temps are in the upper 60s ... morning and last hour or two of the day. Direct sun is a factor too!

I limit my dogs hunting time afield to about an hour when temps are around 64. Hunt a spot for 40 - 60 minutes take a break ... water ... cool down ... drive around a bit and scout ... when dog is no longer panting ... start moving to next spot. Majority of my spots (woods or fields) are walks of about an hour or less.
 
I am likely not going out if it is over 50 to start the hunt...not usually an issue with Iowa's opener the last Saturday in October. I have quit early when temps get close to 70. I run a GSP and my new one is black, which I think he will heat-up even faster than my last one. I

It was 94 here yesterday, record high Friday, Saturday (yesterday) and maybe today. In a week they say the temps will be 30 degrees cooler.
 
MN guy said:
October 1st in Minnesota. Sunny and upper 80’s today (again). Too warm to safely get out (again)…
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I'm guessing you haven't been hunting long. Early October has been a be a bitch many times. Climate change or not 80's can easily be hunted safely with a little common sense.
 
I hunted last night. It was 94 degrees at 5:45 when we started and 88 at 7:17 sundown. I d rather hunt an evening when it’s that warm the suns a little lower and there’s usually a little bit of haze. And the temp is dropping. This morning we quit at about 80 and the dogs were definitely feeling it. Either way there is short spurts of activity combined with mostly walking and breaks for water about every 1/2 an hour. If you can find a pond even better
 
Dogs have an inefficient cooling system to begin with and heat stroke is unpredictable with any dog. You combine those two and your dog could be in a life threatening condition with just a little activity. So why take a chance in hot, humid weather?? For a bird?? If you ever witnessed heat stroke, it is a tragic death.
 
When I started hunting South Dakota some years ago, the state's wildlife authority described the part of the state west of the Missouri R. as the prime pheasant habitat. Now the prime habitat is east of the Missouri. Climate change in action.
 
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Gatzby said:
I'm guessing you haven't been hunting long. Early October has been a be a bitch many times. Climate change or not 80's can easily be hunted safely with a little common sense.
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Been at it for nearly 50 years. In my opinion, early season conditions have been trending warmer overall. I agree with most commenters these warmer temps (over 70 degrees) are simply not worth the risk to our dogs.
 
I will share that running a flushing dog vs. a wider-ranging pointing dog ... there is very often a big difference. I have watched many a retriever (lab, golden, etc) in the field. Many moving about 20 yards in front of their owner at a more leisurely pace. I am saying this in general terms because I am sure there are many upland-specific retrievers (owned by some posting on this site) that hunt at a much higher pace. Do I dare call it a Springer pace ? If your flusher is a high energy intense dog - I would be very careful. Dark colored and long hair breeds are extremely vulnerable to mid-day sunshine too.

My Brittanys run hard if it is 64F or 4F. The amount of land they cover left, right, in front, and behind me is incredible. Morning hunts until about 10:30 right now are certainly doable. I have seen (Astro) they cover 4X the land that I do in a 45 - 60 minute walk.

I agree with comments above ... it seems like every autumn there is a stretch in October of upper 70s and 80s. I either just run the dogs early or hunt close to home in the AM. Longer overnight trips are pushed out to better days.

Evening runs in the 80s ... not in this house ...
 
Sunlight (both time of day and sky condition), wind, and humidity are factors. The coat and condition of the dog is also a huge factor. My vizslas are in decent good shape and have typically short hair, but my friend's Griff had a coat typical for that breed and does not get the exercise mine do.

It was probably 70 when we started chicken hunting yesterday at about 8-8:15. The humidity was moderate, the sky was clear, and there was a medium-strong south wind. There were plenty of small ponds on the pasture we hunted and I do watch for algae. It probably mid 80s when we decided to head back to the truck at about 10:15. We were at one of the ponds at that point, and my friend's Griff laid down in the water for a bit. Per OnX, our route back to the truck was about 1.5 miles. Part way back there was a drainage to cross with both shade and water, we took about a 5 minute break there. I would have waited longer, but the dogs acted like they were ready to move on. It was another 200 yards to the last pond and then a solid 1/2 mile to the truck. Garmin showed about 12 miles for my dogs and about 8 for the Griff.

I was thinking about the risk on and off, and I'm comfortable with what we did. I had water for the dogs but didn't use it because of the ponds. But that was pretty much my limit. That's just the way early chicken hunting in Kansas can be: 3 hours of windshield time for 2.5 hours on the ground. You have to pick your spot carefully because you're only going to hunt one. Forecasted highs for this weekend are 69 and 77. Maybe I'll get to hunt two spots. 🤞
 
Overheating is real and hopefully it doesn’t cost you a dog to figure it out. I live in Eastern Kansas and it is not uncommon to have high heat and humidity all summer. I was mowing my few acres one evening and had left the dogs out as I often did. It was about 7pm and really soupy outside. I had a bowl of water out and the sun was getting low. I had a black lab that was extremely fit. He liked to run alongside the mower because he thought I was going to go somewhere without him. I knew he was getting hot, but figured he would go lay down on the porch with the other one when he got tired. After about twenty or so minutes of running at the pace of the mower ( 8-10 mph) he went and laid under a tree. Fifteen minutes later I became worried, as I walked to him I realized he could barely stand and walked as if he was drunk. Luckily I remembered something I had seen once and through some barely cool water and slowly cooling him down with wet towels and minimal drinking, in an hour or so he was fine. I felt incredibly stupid that I had put him in that situation. Dogs with high drive will work themselves to death. Never again.
 
I’ve been running dogs evenings all summer. Like I said when the day time temps have been way up I’d rather hunt an hour and a half in the evening than 3 hrs in the morning any day. The same temp when you pull them out of the field either way. Evenings the suns lower the humidity’s less in this part of the country and the winds higher. It’s not the first time they have hunted chickens in the heat and won’t be the last. Shoot I’ve seen 70 even 80 degrees in Dec, and even Jan. Those are the days I worry about, when a dogs in coat. Kansas we don’t have the luxury of cool weather. But when we do get some watch out you’d think that peake was half Brittany. Save the lecture you guys do you.
 
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BrownDogsCan2 said:
I’ve been running dogs evenings all summer. Like I said when the day time temps have been way up I’d rather hunt an hour and a half in the evening than 3 hrs in the morning any day. The same temp when you pull them out of the field either way. Evenings the suns lower the humidity’s less in this part of the country and the winds higher. It’s not the first time they have hunted chickens in the heat and won’t be the last. Shoot I’ve seen 70 even 80 degrees in Dec, and even Jan. Those are the days I worry about, when a dogs in coat. Kansas we don’t have the luxury of cool weather. But when we do get some watch out you’d think that peake was half Brittany. Save the lecture you guys do you.
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My post certainly wasn’t directed at you, I know firsthand that you care for your dogs better than most. I was simply relating an experience I have had
 
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