dog catches a pheasant

Most of the time it will be a hen, in the cattails. I usually see it a few times each season.
 
I had a lab catch two hens one morning, in guymon Oklahoma.That particular lab also caught a rooster in South Dakota. Snow was on the ground both times. Had just snowed the night before.
 
My brother’s first lab caught 3 live quail before the guns were loaded one morning. Picked them out of a covey on a frigid morning.
 
My dog usually catches one or two a year. As far as I know they are wild birds as I usually hunt just public land here in SD.
 
Depends on the nature of the dog. I've owned 3 springers in my life, each of which were/are fabulous pheasant finders & flushers. But different "meanness" levels. My first dog caught MANY wild, previously uninjured birds - mostly hens, but a couple roosters. My 2nd dog only caught a few in his short, 7-season career. My current little doofus caught 2 hens last season & he was only 8 months old. So I suspect he'll be one that catches quite a few throughout the years.
 
Happens to me & the folks who come out to hunt with us once or twice a season. Usually it's a tight sitting hen, but every now & then a rooster makes the same mistake. two years back my nephews old kennel queen Jillie nabbed a rooster sitting tight in heavy cover and delivered him to Joe's hand alive and kicking. Wasn't an injury or pellet wound on him. My best ever lab Josie was well known for grabbing a couple tight sitters a season, particularly when hunting frozen sloughs in late season. If she disappeared under the snow, it was a good bet she would come back out with a live bird...
 
Every golden I've had has caught the occasional bird. My wife has one now that has a taken it to an art. He noticed that my wife would let the hens go and praise the crap out of him for bringing back a rooster Sooo... last season he nailed 3 roosters and no hens. Didn't matter if there was snow or not he was on them.
 
My pointing lab caught 3 birds last season. One was a rooster with a broken wing.

She caught two hens that she was pointing. They sat very tight after the snow arrived
 
Several years ago, we were hunting the last weekend of S.D season, there was fresh snow and the birds were packed in the tree lines. I had one dog that is a master at catching birds, she caught 8 birds in one tree belt !!!!! 4 hens, 4 roosters, that was a memorable day !!!! Side note, all the hens were released and flew away, super soft mouth.
 
My first bird of the 2019 SD pheasant season was a bird caught by my dog. It had snowed for the resident opener. My black Lab female went under the snow and grass after getting a nose full of bird scent. She came up with a young of the year rooster. Ended up with three roosters on two shots fired that first day.

Caught birds are much more common in the late season when birds sit tight because of tough weather conditions. Smart energy expenditure keeps birds alive in the winter and they prefer to sit tight if they think you will walk past them.
 
None of my pointing Labs have caught one yet, but they have come close a few times. My friend's Weim has caught a few. I still chuckle when I remember what he told his dog after releasing a hen he caught, "Tank, go find the pretty ones!" 😏
 
Season before last, one of my labs caught 3 in the same trip (2 on the same day). It was bitterly cold with lots of snow on the ground. All of the catches the birds were tucked under tall grass that had been laid over by the wind and snow. 2 were roosters and 1 hen.
 
Seems to happen to me once or twice a year. Also, seems like it's always a hen, and usually on super cold days. Fortunately, my setter has a soft mouth so I'm usually able to get them out of his mouth and they fly off.
 
My first GWP caught a rooster in springtime in an off-leash dog park on the north edge of the twin cities. It was raining and I had not seen one there before. It was a surprise. There was also a hen while I was hunting and one rooster that was just nicked in the wingtip. Evidence may have been eaten.

She was quite the dog when it came to that stuff. There was about 6 cats, a woodchuck, a mink, a rabbit or two, skunk encounters, plus porcupine encounters through her life. There was also the duck at the boat ramp that cost me a ticket for not having here on a leash.
 
When you say caught a bird I don't consider a cripple a real caught. Years ago circumstances had me get to MT on late afternoon of opening day. I never usually hunt opening weekend, but work got in the way and that was the time we had. Crowds all over, but I found a place to park next to some mediocre crp and let the dog out. She put up a rooster which I got with one shot, than she found a broken wing rooster which she brought back. We turned around and headed for the car and she found another broke wing rooster. Almost back to the car and she found another broke wing rooster. So I had 4 birds with one shot. We called it a day and my wife never got out of the car.
 
Poodle or Poodle was known about 400 years ago in Europe, until the 18th century they became "pets" of families with small appearance, lovely and extremely easy to care for.

"Poodle" is the name of the German word "Pudel" meaning "diver" or "dog fetch water". This dog is famous for its excellent swimming ability, they can swim in cold water to hunt birds, hunt ducks and catch fish on the lake.
 
Alaskan swamp collies said:
When you say caught a bird I don't consider a cripple a real caught. Years ago circumstances had me get to MT on late afternoon of opening day. I never usually hunt opening weekend, but work got in the way and that was the time we had. Crowds all over, but I found a place to park next to some mediocre crp and let the dog out. She put up a rooster which I got with one shot, than she found a broken wing rooster which she brought back. We turned around and headed for the car and she found another broke wing rooster. Almost back to the car and she found another broke wing rooster. So I had 4 birds with one shot. We called it a day and my wife never got out of the car.
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Sounds like opening weekend in Montana. Lots of people out! Good dog work.Coyotes and fox end up getting those eventually. Farm cats also get them.
 
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