Finding a cripple - buried!

J

jonnyB

Well-known member
Last week a bird was downed and not immediately found by the dog.

We searched the area (two dogs) no bird. Finally, Pat's 10-yr. Lab was sniffing and digging the crusted 8" snow, about 25' away. My Golden joined the dig.

Soon we could see the birds head, his feet were in front of the head and kicking. He did not want to be removed! The dog pulled out the reluctant rooster.

This bird had tunneled under the snow to avoid being captured. What a challenge for these two dogs!
 
If you get a wounded bird in a crick bed, or a ditch, make sure you stand right next to it, because that will be the obvious escape route.
 
Several times I have had wounded birds fly up into the air and dive hard into snow covered scrub or brush areas and bury themselves. The dog almost literally has to dog them out.
 
Have encountered this situation on numerous occasions, and always surprised by their ability to escape, or hold true to staying hunkered deep after theyve been wounded without the temptation to run or fly. Have stepped on roosters while looking before and they dont move, come to have the dog sniffing the bird out right underneath me. Also have watched many slither through the grass running away. Within seconds they have created 50 yards of distance after just being on top of it. Best way to combat cripples (especially in late season) is shooting them dead :thumbsup:
 
A few weeks ago my dog retrieved and brought a rooster back to me. As I grab the bird but he broke free from my hands. I watched him hit the ground and immediately start working his head and body like a snake in order to get under the grass. In a mater of a second or two he was gone. Gone gone gone. My dog pulled him out again but I couldn't believe how fast that bird turned into a ghost.:eek:
 
I have watched live birds dive into snow drifts from 20 feet in the air.

I have found a cripple 20 feet into a drainage tile. Can't believe we got it to actually come out.

I had a cripple run 200yds then down the 20 foot deep bank of a river, find some sort of animal den and duck into it and hide. Eventually dog found it but it was so steep that the dog could barely get at it without falling into the water. How if the heck that bird found that spot or knew it was there is amazing to me years later.

Too many other escape artist cripples to know where to begin. Amazing birds that disappear when they want to.
 
bird killed or so i thought

I was on a drive with jonny on this post, a rooster flushed from the hedge, my shot, then a broken wing, the bird dropped and was off running.. I didn't have a dog at the time so I doused the rooster at app. 35 yards with a load of 5's... never saw it leave the little ditch of snow, it was in, after hit... went back to the hunt, walked up the 35 or so yards , to it ... still alive , head up, but hadn't moved at all in 5 minutes.. touched it, and it flew!!!!! so flummoxed, couldn't get gun off safe to shoot!!!!
only flew 50 yards and dropped running, yelled at Kurt kill that bird ,and it ended that episode.
 
Always handy to have a backup shooter around...or a dog. The dog in this case was Captain Kirk!
 
I shot an incoming rooster while blocking at the end of a tree row last year. It landed nearly at my feet. Landed hard and didn't move an inch when it hit. The dogs were on point so I didn't pick the bird up. After a few shots at some quail I see out of the corner of my eye the rooster move. Before I knew it he was deep in a small culvert under the road. The culvert was too small for the dogs to go in so we were unable to retrieve the rooster.

Definitely a learning experience for me.
 
We were hunting a quail ditch the other day and a rooster busted out. I "crushed" it with a 7 1/2 and folded it up. Next thing I see are my buddy's dogs running up ahead as I have the bird marked. He is trying to get them called back to my dead bird only to find out they were in hot pursuit of my "dead" bird. We have "pulled feathers" out of birds and got a direction on them. Find about lot of them unable to fly and buried in deep grass. Good dogs are worth their weight in gold.
 
Parker and Brady looking for a buried rooster but found Santa instead. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
 
And this is why I personally believe in the importance of having a dog when pheasant hunting! I almost feel it is borderline unethical to hunt an animal, shoot it and know your chances of finding it are slim to non but thats just my opinion lol
 
Doc has found one bird each of the last two days that were crippled and attempted to bury themselves in clumps of goldenrod. The birds have been holding tight lately and if they are hit they have been tunneling underneath the grass. It has been fun to watch the dog do her work.
 
Unless a person has seen it, it's hard to believe how they literally dive into cover and can just absolutely bury themselves. I have a video of that I'll post if I can find it. I was running my pup last season (@ 9-10 months old) when we came across a cripple in some over grown pasture. He ran probably 50 yards and then dove into the grass. I knew that was trouble but figured we'd still get him. My pup was like where the heck did he go??? Gone... never found him. He likely tunneled under and went who knows where... but they're clever. Here's a video of a good find this year. Notice when she drags him out that he's pretty much lifeless but somehow he had managed to bury himself really well.

https://youtu.be/gBRMmDqQdyc
 
Great bird work by the two gun dogs. I am not sure we give our dogs enough credit for great finds like that. Hopefully they had extra dog treats for the great effort!
 
I had one in the early start of the season this year that burried himself in a swampy area under a thick mat of grass along the edge of some cattails. My lab just starting digging in the grass, mud and muck, after several minutes I just assumed that there was nothing there. Then I looked real close and notice a couple of feathers laying in the area, and started stomping around a bit. Up goes a rooster, and out goes 3 missed shots from my barrel.
 
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