Dog catches hen. Now what?

moellermd

moellermd

Super Moderator
So what do you do when your dog catches a hen? Assuming the hen is dead.
 
depends ... if i was right by the house or staying with friends that live close by.. id tuck it away in the toolbox and leave it with them(only because id hate to just leave it laying in the field) but if i had a ways to drive, i wouldnt take the chance, just leave it there.
 
I agree with KCB11, That is what I have always done........Bob
 
Meats meat and a mans gota eat. Especialy when Obama is pres.:D However, that would be assuming it is dead. Most likely, I would let it fly away, since my dogs don't make habbits of crunching birds. It would have to be right by the house, I don't think I would risk a ticket and gun, hunting rights etc, for one bird.
 
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OK, I have a confession to make.... This year a hen went up and seemed to bounce off a few tree trunks. Then she went down hard and the dog was ON her. There was a scuffle, and the hen was suffering badly when brought to me. I put it out of it's misery, but they didn't know what to do. Fairly decent drive back home, and just didn't want to risk it. But still, what a waste! I could see shot holes in it's legs, so someone had obviously taken a poke at it in the past. Anyhow, I went deeper into the cover out of sight and pulled the skin apart, yanked off the breast plate. then took my license booklet out of the ziplock bag that I carry it in with my compass and cell phone, stowed that stuff in a pocket. then put the breast plate into the ziplock bag. Then................. here comes the embarrassing part - tucked that down the front of my pants and gingerly walked up to the car....:eek:
Left it there all the way home, just to be safe. Figured if I got pulled over by a female CO she might want to frisk my just to find out what that huge bulge was in my pants! hah! Predictably, when I got home and pulled it out, the wife assured me that there was NO WAY she was eating that one (insert any jokes you want here about "meat" or cock pheasants.....).
HAH - never told anyone that one before - the anonymity of the internet I guess....
-Croc
 
It goes against the dog's bag limit. He caught it he cleans it.

The chances of being near my house in Houston when this might happen are somewhat remote so the bird will be left in the field for something else to enjoy.

The possible penalty is not worth the risk.

I am sure the warden will understand when you tell him/her that your dog ate it. It did not work on third grade teachers and I doubt it would work on game wardens.
 
My dog catches birds 3-4 times every season. Generally they are hens...not too often a rooster holds tight enough to get caught. If they aren't dead, they are generally pretty well crippled. If that's the case, I put them out of their misery.

There have only been a few times I've been able to release them to live another day.

I always - ALWAYS - leave them in the field. It kills me, but I'm not willing to risk the consequences.
 
Every time your dog catches a hen, THINK of all the hens Mr. Yote gets.

Oh Yeah:eek::eek: I forgot:rolleyes: Coyotes don't kill pheasants.
 
Normally with a good, staunch pointing dog you don't have to worry about the dog catching birds. I've had birds hold so tight I stepped on them, or saw them hunkered down and had to actually kick them to flush.

One of my brothers has a friend who owns a field trial springer. They guy asked him to hunt at a hunt club a couple times. The dog caught almost every bird planted and then the guy wanted my brother to pay for his share of the birds, most of which no one got a chance to shoot. My brother doesn't go with that guy any more.

On one hunt in SD we were waiting for local friends to show up to hunt with them on their property. Across the road was a big hunt club property. A SUV loaded with guys pulls up to hunt the road and ended up walking a big corner of the hunt club land, flushing dozens of birds out of there while trespassing. One hen hit a power line, snapping it's neck in the process and the guys lab retrieves it to him. We were wishing for a warden to pull up about then. Would have served them right to get pinched for possession of a hen.
 
tOlzon said:
My dog catches birds 3-4 times every season. Generally they are hens...not too often a rooster holds tight enough to get caught. If they aren't dead, they are generally pretty well crippled. If that's the case, I put them out of their misery.

There have only been a few times I've been able to release them to live another day.

I always - ALWAYS - leave them in the field. It kills me, but I'm not willing to risk the consequences.
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What would the CO tell you to do? Drop it! I am with TO on this one and always leave them behind because it ain't worth the risk and frankly that is fair chase. I am a meat hunter but I learned from guy that I have come to respect that I hunted with as a kid in Iowa and he followed the letter of the law to a T.

I guess if I had been hunting for 2 days and got no birds then things might look a little different;):D

We're all hypocrites:p
 
If I were close to a "safe-haven" I'd just eat it. My dogs don't catch birds so I don't have to worry much about it. I was at my uncle's house when a hen flew into the side of the house. He went out, cleaned it and brought it in to eat it....I'm still of the mentality that I should not let it go to waste. Now, like others have stated, if I'm out in the open, I'd just leave it b/c I don't wanna get caught either.
 
So what did you do md? Assuming you were across the state line and next to some of your kin's house and niceshot was nowhere to be seen. I would say you took out your Alaskan steel knife, field dressed the bird, crazy glued rooster feet onto it, (as you always just happen to carry an extra set of rooster feet) put the bird on ice, and quietly slipped back across the Big Sioux River at 5:35 with your supposedly 3 bird limit.
 
What hen? My dog didn't catch a hen. I don't know what you're talking about. In other words, leave it for the yotes.
 
I leave them lay. I hate to but do not want to get into a conversation with a CO on how my dogs grabbed them. Last Wed it was a bad day and the dogs grabbed 4 of them. We were hunting real heavy cattails and they just kept coming back with them. Normally they get maybe 4-6 a year.
 
I had wardens tell me to bring them home they don't find shoot in them it's just the right thing to do (until they see you have one:D). I never will do that not going to take the chance. I personally don't think they should tell people that because it's only going to have a bad ending for you with the right warden. May dog only catches roosters:D
 
I'm camping, cooking up my own meals. Pups will catch a hen once in a while.
Usually not many people around where at.
 
Just talked with SD GFP they said it is up to the local CO with what they want you to do. My local guy said it happens, leave them in the field.
 
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