Crippled birds

B

bts

New member
Just wondering how long it takes a young dog to start finding crippled pheasants. I have a one year old lab and we have lost 4 birds this year. Upsetting. Today was the worst. Broke a wing on a pheasant, went to the spot, dog found it in the thick grass, couldn't grab it and it ran out the other side of some grass. I saw it, he didn't. Tried to get him to work from the spot that I last saw it and he continued to go back to the original spot. We hunted dead for a good hour coming from every direction. At first I just gave him space in hopes he word work it out. Any thoughts? Any training suggestions? This is his first year, he is really birdy, and has retrieved close to 50 birds this season. Thanks
 
First thing I would say is he's a 1 year old dog. You can't expect more than you put in. Have you trained him to hunt dead? I used to train my lab to hunt dead by dragging a bird in tall grass and letting her find the scent. That's where I would start if you haven't yet...
 
I was out Saturday one of the guys hit a bird it went down but not hard. 3 guys 4 dogs we worked the area for a half hour and never found the bird. 2 of the dogs are younger but have had plenty of time on the ground to be better than most. The other 2 are both in there prime with 300+ birds under there belt. We never found the bird we even left the area and came back a few hours later and searched again nothing! It happens to everyone you did the best you can.:thumbsup:
 
My 12 1/2-year-old Lab has had a brilliant career, but twice I've seen crippled roosters run right out from under his nose and get away. It happens to them all ? those birds are quick and decisive on their feet. It's maddening as hell, but all you can do is all you can do.

Perfection just isn't attainable. Mariano Rivera was the greatest closer in baseball history, but he still blew 73 saves.
 
Sounds like you did what you could do.

In a situation like that I might try to guess where the bird went and make a big loop around it and come in from downwind. Someone else mentioned coming back later and working the area again. But those are both longshots anyway, but worth a try.
 
training with a dead bird first....then later a live pheasant with the flight feathers pulled.....some dogs are just better at it then others too but training for that WILL make a difference.
 
I have a trainer friend who ties a flag on a bird and clips the wings. Then he puts the pup on the scent and trains to hunt dead. He knows where the bird is because of the flag and he "helps" the pup learn how to trail scent. Some dogs get it earlier than others but that is a method to use that I know works, because you know where the bird is at all times.
 
A wounded rooster with wheels will run a long ways, often the scent will be mixed with more scent more pheasants.
If a dog isn't on the wounded bird right away the odds of finding it goes down rapidly, with any dog.
I like a dog that is on the bird with the shot.
 
Me too, MN, but that is not the technique that most training regimes recommend. Fortunately, I don't get graded by field judges when hunting. :)

Without making a fuss, some breeds are more inclined to hunt wounded and trail than others are. AND, some individual dogs within breeds trail hunt cripples with a maniacal intensity.

Mick, my ESS, is sometimes very good, sometimes ok on cripples. Young Bert, a GWP, apparently signed a contract with the Dog God that he would never stop until he caught the bird (in spite of my perfect training for him to return to me on command :) OK, well, almost perfect training. )

And, I swear, some pheasants have Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility.
 
It is interesting how different dogs handle cripples. When I duck hunted and trained my labs hard, they were trained to mark and retrieve on release. They were great on ducks, or a rooster that sailed a couple hundred yards before folding. As I have gravitated to more field hunting than blind hunting I have quit doing that. I want my dog to mark well then attack the retrieve. Yes my dogs would make some great retrieves before, but we seemed to lose more birds. My dog now is a tremendous marker. When the shot is fired, he aquires the bird and charges full speed, head down. He gets there quick. We still lose birds some as is hunting. As kismet said, sometimes they are like harry potter:D
 
My 12 year and blinded Golden was dynamite on cripples; obviously he doesn't hunt anymore. but in his day, not many got away.

Current 3 yr. is doing ok especially if I shoot the bird; trying to pick up scent in windy conditions seems difficult and if other have walked the area, hard to pick up the scent.

I agree with others regards the mix of scents: which one to follow?? Staying out of the immediate (downed) area seems to help...
 
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