If you wing a bird

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
Or in another situation, lets say your shot is a little off and Rudy takes a few pellets but still has wheels. To make this hypothetical more straightforward, let's assume your hunting CRP grass. Does the bird typically run uphill or downhill? I suppose what I'm asking, is there any rhyme or reason to where he goes? I always let the dog get in there and do their work, but supposing they don't find him I'm wondering what direction to go from there. Yes my buddy did wing one last weekend and he got away. It was during the prairie hurricane.
 
Sometimes you lose birds. I think we've all experienced it at some point or another. Goose looses them more than the average bear.

Perhaps the super dry conditions are playing a role. If the dog can't find any fresh scent trail, the chances of stumbling exactly upon it are minimal in a field of grass.
 
I have self retrieved 95% of the birds I have ever shot so speaking as a two-legged birddog, I find them headed on foot in the same direction they were flying off to when flushed. It doesn't seem like birds wait until they get airborne to survey the situation and decide which way to fly. They know where heavier cover is at (when available) and were likely going that direction when they sensed you coming up on them. They keep going in that direction in the air and then on the ground once downed to get to the cover. Once they hit the heavy cover they start getting clever and double-back, head left/right. So I haul fat-ass on the run to where I marked the spot I dropped them and keep going straight until I hit heavier cover and then start circling.

Sound familiar? If AKC would just expand the classes a little, I'm sure I'd be FC by now despite my lack of papers and questionable line.
 
I agree with Pete's comment above, however, when talking about self retrieval success rate, I am no where near 95% if a dog isn't present.
If I see the birds head is still up and makes a "somewhat controlled landing", this is normally bad news.... with or without a dog. Hunting in Kansas doesn't provide the bird much opportunity to run up or down any hills :), but they often heads downward towards a draw because of the heavy cover if present.
If the landscape and cover remains the same through the whole field (corn, milo or even thin CRP grass) we have recovered many birds at the end of that field as they continue straight until they run out of concealment. It is always a nice surprise when a dog comes up with the bird when everyone thought had got away, and this seems to always be on the same path as the original flush flight path.
 
Well not sure the answer to this particular question, but I will say it is amazing what an injured animal can and will do to survive or evade its predator ( us specifically). Pheasants, waterfowl, deer. How deep they can burrow themselves, etc. I have witnessed some big injured bucks escape when it seems impossible . Anyways. Tis frustrating.
 
I had to re
Carguy2Banker said:
I agree with Pete's comment above, however, when talking about self retrieval success rate, I am no where near 95% if a dog isn't present.
If I see the birds head is still up and makes a "somewhat controlled landing", this is normally bad news.... with or without a dog. Hunting in Kansas doesn't provide the bird much opportunity to run up or down any hills :), but they often heads downward towards a draw because of the heavy cover if present.
If the landscape and cover remains the same through the whole field (corn, milo or even thin CRP grass) we have recovered many birds at the end of that field as they continue straight until they run out of concealment. It is always a nice surprise when a dog comes up with the bird when everyone thought had got away, and this seems to always be on the same path as the original flush flight path.
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i had to reread his comment. He didn’t say he retrieved 95% of birds shot but that 95% of the birds he retrieved himself. If hunting without a dog there is no way you do better than 9/10 in any cover much less heavy cover. I have always had good/great retrievers and would say in good conditions I may be 9/10. Some days may be less. It really depends on how the bird is shot and what the level of cover. The lighter the cover the more distance the bird may travel. I have thought a bird was smoked only to never recover it. I had one last year in heavy CRP the dog brought back very much alive only ten feet from where it dropped. If it is thick enough I don’t think they travel as far as we think.
 
carptom1 said:
If hunting without a dog there is no way you do better than 9/10 in any cover much less heavy cover.
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Generally speaking, if you are hunting without a dog, you aren't hunting heavy cover anyways.

I hunted without a dog for years before I could have one and I had to focus on specific types of habitat - mostly tree lines, thin fencelines, isolated patches, etc that were surrounded by open field. So that when a bird dropped it would land in the open field and I could get it.

Cattails and other thick cover were completely out of the question.

I know some will say hunting without a dog isn't really hunting. To that I say not everyone has the personal means of having a dog. I'll bet I still did better than some hunters with a dog too because I had permission to hunt really productive private land. I had a license and a shotgun and a place to hunt, so I hunted.

Also...I've hunted over some terrible hunting dogs that ruined the hunt. In those situations, we would have been much better without a dog.
 
Two personal observations.

I wing shot a pheasant and I was convinced that it holed up in a tumble weed patch that was fairly extensive. My dog kept wanting to go up hill. After a few minutes, I finally did what I should have done to begin with (trust my dog). She went up this sagebrush hill, over 1/4 mile and out of sight and a few minutes later she brought that bird back.

Another time we were driving down this dirt road and a covey of quail crossed the road in front of us and holed up in a patch of cover within 50 yards of the road. We let out a person and a dog. He jumped the birds and killed one outright and winged another. His dog retrieved the dead bird and then he kept working that spot that the winged quail went down at, meanwhile I watched that quail run at least 2 hundred yards and onto another property. Lesson for me once again.......Trust your dog.....always trust your dog....even if you think you know better, always trust your dog.
 
I honestly don't think there is a good answer. I can think of times when the bird went downhill, just as often they go uphill. Sometimes they'll run in the direction they fell, other times they go 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Sometimes they'll beeline for the heavy cover, other times they'll hoof it into the grass.

Two things I feel confident in saying are that wounded birds will employ any and all evasive tactics to escape. I also believe that the numerous twists and turns they take can be attributed to disorientation more than an educated escape. Imagine being shot from the sky, hitting the ground and tumbling head over heels into vegetation that is way above your head. You'd likely take off in the direction you stood up facing after such a fall. Just my $0.02

EDIT: The only time I've seen a crippled bird do anything consistent is when they are knocked down in the plowing or harvested field and then hoof it back into whatever habitat they flushed from.
 
I have to agree with Golden. I think they have no pre plan direction of escape. Once they shake those cobwebs out all they know is to run the opposite direction of the noise (be it dogs or hunters) that is coming after them again. I’ve seen a rooster hide in the smallest clumps of grass, critter holes, culverts and holes in the ground.
 
PeteRevvv said:
I have self retrieved 95% of the birds I have ever shot so speaking as a two-legged birddog, I find them headed on foot in the same direction they were flying off to when flushed. It doesn't seem like birds wait until they get airborne to survey the situation and decide which way to fly. They know where heavier cover is at (when available) and were likely going that direction when they sensed you coming up on them. They keep going in that direction in the air and then on the ground once downed to get to the cover. Once they hit the heavy cover they start getting clever and double-back, head left/right. So I haul fat-ass on the run to where I marked the spot I dropped them and keep going straight until I hit heavier cover and then start circling.

Sound familiar? If AKC would just expand the classes a little, I'm sure I'd be FC by now despite my lack of papers and questionable line.
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No human is going to find a wounded pheasant, so I'm calling bs.
 
gimruis said:
Generally speaking, if you are hunting without a dog, you aren't hunting heavy cover anyways.

I hunted without a dog for years before I could have one and I had to focus on specific types of habitat - mostly tree lines, thin fencelines, isolated patches, etc that were surrounded by open field. So that when a bird dropped it would land in the open field and I could get it.

Cattails and other thick cover were completely out of the question.

I know some will say hunting without a dog isn't really hunting. To that I say not everyone has the personal means of having a dog. I'll bet I still did better than some hunters with a dog too because I had permission to hunt really productive private land. I had a license and a shotgun and a place to hunt, so I hunted.

Also...I've hunted over some terrible hunting dogs that ruined the hunt. In those situations, we would have been much better without a
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