Which rates higher, the shot vs. the work of the dog

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duppy

New member
Which is more important to you, shooting the pheasant or the work the dog does? I know for me it's not even close, the shot is a very distant second. In my 50+ years of hunting I have never shot a bird that my dog has not worked. I've received some very strange looks when I have passed up some very easy shots flushed by another dog, and even more confused looks when they get my answer as to why I didn't shoot. My reply is always , my dog didn't work that bird. Where do you fit in? I know there is no right or wrong here, just interested.
 
duppy said:
Which is more important to you, shooting the pheasant or the work the dog does? I know for me it's not even close, the shot is a very distant second. In my 50+ years of hunting I have never shot a bird that my dog has not worked. I've received some very strange looks when I have passed up some very easy shots flushed by another dog, and even more confused looks when they get my answer as to why I didn't shoot. My reply is always , my dog didn't work that bird. Where do you fit in? I know there is no right or wrong here, just interested.
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Interesting topic. I guess for me in theory I would want to hunt with the same mindset as you, but I am new to pheasant hunting and have been shut out the last couple times I have been hunting( not having a dog sucks, but I have rectified that this year) so I have never taken a wild pheasant YET so at this point I think I would take a shot at one even if it was flushed by the sound of a self inflicted accidental gun shot!
 
I can't imagine that most would not pick the dog work answer....kind of expected on these boards.
Especially if the word "important" is asked.
The shot is simply a portion of the entire event and any importance to me relates most to a second by second measurement and encompassing all involved.
Importance continually shifts, in other words.

So, while I would not shoot a self-flushed woodcock for obvious reasons, I see little reason to not shoot a self-flushed pheasant any time(providing a nearby dog has not misstepped and a shot would be an incorrect reward of sorts)...or a ruffed grouse when they are found under most conditions present today.
I don't find that relates at all to any lowered personal opinion of or giving less value toward any dog's work so implicit in the question.
Limiting shots to points only is more a way of lessening hunter impact on a strained bird population than indicating importance, to me.
And were I to shoot only a bird my dog pointed then my friends dogs may well feel slighted.
In fact, a friend's dog pointed a ruffed grouse a few days ago in the U.P. and I had no shot at the flush. The look Amber gave me was priceless...so, I reckon if a friend's dog points or a rooster jukes the wrong way and arises cackling, I'll shoot at it.
It is a plan that has worked reasonably well for many years.
 
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I feel that if the dog works that hard to hunt a bird and flush or pin it down...then it is very important that I reward them with a clean kill. I LOVE the look of a bird in mouth and a happy dog in full retrieve is awsome... You can just tell how happy and proud they are to bring you the bird!

Maybe thats why we can olny shot Roosters unlike other bird hunting???




:cheers:
 
OldDublin said:
I can't imagine that most would not pick the dog work answer....kind of expected on these boards.
Especially if the word "important" is asked.
The shot is simply a portion of the entire event and any importance to me relates most to a second by second measurement and encompassing all involved.
Importance continually shifts, in other words.

So, while I would not shoot a self-flushed woodcock for obvious reasons, I see little reason to not shoot a self-flushed pheasant any time(providing a nearby dog has not misstepped and a shot would be an incorrect reward of sorts)...or a ruffed grouse when they are found under most conditions present today.
I don't find that relates at all to any lowered personal opinion of or giving less value toward any dog's work so implicit in the question.
Limiting shots to points only is more a way of lessening hunter impact on a strained bird population than indicating importance, to me.
And were I to shoot only a bird my dog pointed then my friends dogs may well feel slighted.
In fact, a friend's dog pointed a ruffed grouse a few days ago in the U.P. and I had no shot at the flush. The look Amber gave me was priceless...so, I reckon if a friend's dog points or a rooster jukes the wrong way and arises cackling, I'll shoot at it.
It is a plan that has worked reasonably well for many years.
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What He said!
 
I bet if we asked the dogs they would say the shot. I love watching my dogs work so much that I feel I've let them down without a good shot to seal the deal.
 
The dog work is the most important to me. A wiley running rooster worked well by the dog may very well result in a point or flush that may have traversed a line of hunters before the pressure to hold or flush results. If a buddy's dog works a bird nicely that ends up in front of another, or if my dog does the same...said dog should be rewarded with the shot and retrieve he/she has worked so hard to create. By not shooting a bird produced by another's good dog work, you are simply removing the reward the dog has earned.

My .02...
 
I believe you will find many great responses to this "age old question" through-out this forum when you ask one what they remember most in upland hunting...it's ALL about the dog work! You will enjoy ones like those written by Old Dublin, Kismet,1pheas4, posts on "What Do You Remember Most, Misses Or Hits" Don't worry, you won't have to sort through too many, these in particular are in the first 5 posts.:thumbsup:
 
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jsdriggs said:
I think they go hand in hand at times. Each bird I strike becomes a hunt. Some hunts by the dog are just incredible. To anchor that bird for the dog is equally important to me as the dog work itself.

Sometimes you dont anchor them either. I will always remember a December hunt in Wyoming when Grace and I struck a large group of wiley, late season birds. They were getting up wild all over. We, she, was tracking a bird during this mayhem. We lost that bird, and found it again five times, over the course of maybe a third of a mile. Finally she looks at me like "where did he go?" I hustle up and that rooster came up ten feet behind me. She over ran it. As I turn around, this old rooster is lit up like a fire by the late afternoon sunset which is at my back. What a sight to behold! That was a beautiful shot picture. And I proceeded to miss with both barrels and watch him fly away. The hunt, and the shot were equal in that instance.
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That sounds like a couple of my experiences. For those of us with flusher/retrievers, sometimes without the shot you don't have the dog work. Like Driggs said, if I get into a pot of birds, sometimes the dog work begins when he tracks down a runner. I will shoot when birds are flushed by dog, man, or me. Then let the good dog work begin.
 
what puts the bird in the doesn't matter to me. if it's a safe shot i'll take it. yes watching the dog work is fun but a surprise flush that startles the crap out both of you is fun aswell. if i connect as the shooter the dogs enjoy the tracking down and returning to me with the bird. it's all enjoyable for me! :cheers:
 
Different side of the same coin the bird hunters coin. It's all part of the cycle of the hunt.

Besides pointing or flushing the bird a big part of dog work is running down and bringing to the bag wounded birds. The shot fits right into the middle.
 
I enjoy shooting a bird over somebody else's dog and then bragging up how well their dog did. You can see their chest fill up with pride.

I also enjoy letting friends shoot birds over my dogs, and it is a source of pride for me as well when my dogs do a good job. It's a lot like showing off my kids.

Dogs are just 4-legged family, so obviously they are more important than getting a limit. But I have shot plenty of self-flushed birds over the years and they taste fine.:D
 
I love being afield with my dog. I want him to have the best possible time for all the work he does, so knocking down birds is for him too. Not sure I have seen him happier than when he holds high a freshly retrieved bird.
 
For me it isn't even a question - The Dog Work!

I've shot plenty of birds in my life and will shoot plenty more - God and wife willing - but the thrill for me is the chase. It's the dogs getting on scent, of pinning down a bird and setting up on a perfect point. That never gets old for me.

As I get older I pass on far more shots both close and far than I ever did as a younger man. I think I do it because I'm hoping to maybe get on that same bird again sometime. That bird will be smarter so my dogs will have to be better.
 
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