Winged bird

I agree not all excellent, the ones that do almost seem to enjoy the cripple hunt more than the initial find. The good trackers almost seem obsessed, putting out extreme effort.
I think it is because they know there will be a fight at the end of it, with their mouths on a live bird. I know my dog is disappointed with a bird that hits the ground dead.
 
I would never tell anyone not to train their dog. That said Skye never was trained for hunting. One day early on I hit one on the edge of a slough, and he was coming back to earth with his landing gear down. She was zipping up to that bird. I ran up and dog/ bird were gone. I watched as the cattails rustled lickety split. She eventually returned "empty handed." So I began plowing through cattails myself to look. 20 yards in I found every tail feather 🪶 the bird had laying on the ground. Skye had grabbed him by the butt and he escaped. She never forgot because ever since that day if she gets her canines on one it's over. Last year she caught 3 cripples from other people on public ground.
 
Goose I think he needs to have some success. You’re going to have to do a better job of marking them for him. Hunt him more downwind and stop short and let him do his job. Lay off the shots he has no chance of making a recovery on.
What’s Jones range goose? The other thing is if he’s never farther than 10 yds or 30 feet away from you he’s not going to search for a downed bird any farther away from you than that. In good scenting conditions get him out and let him run-range even it costs you some shots at birds.
 
Goose, leave the 28 at home 🏡. Don't shoot any birds in that x-tra heavy cover you have in Montana where the dog can't even get in there without a mountain lion attack. Do some push-ups and carry the 12 gauge remington loaded with high-brass magnums. And for Pete's sake, stop playing grab-ass with your cousin and put Bobby Jones in a hunting scenario where he can gain some confidence. I don't care if you have to bribe a farmer with 3 cases of pbr or play dumb and sneak onto a private ranch. Don't wear orange if you do that.
 
I do all I can to find them.U shoot magnum loads.i don't shoot 30 dollar a box because I shoot a lot.
Seems like every year, you struggle finding birds. Obviously, you need to change something. Your dog isn't finding birds but you're not killing them. It starts with you in both shooting and being willing to follow a training program. Your philosophy of dogs training themselves has been proven wrong by your results. Your philosophy of shooting cheap ammo doesn't work either. Even expensive shells are cheap in the big realm of things. I bought a new case of Kent Fastlead 1 3/8 6 shoot for $209 a few weeks ago. That's pretty inexpensive. It is the equivalent to 3 tanks of gas or taking your wife out to eat a few times. Hell a good bag of dog food is $100. The Fiocchi Golden Pheasant and Winchester Super Pheasant is the same price. And they ship free. Those are good loads. You need to pick a training program and follow with your dog. Training helps build that bond between the hunter and dog and also lays down the foundation for success for hunting.
 
I would never tell anyone not to train their dog.

Agreed, its also very difficult to tell someone that their dog is not trained properly and ruining the hunt. That is a tough conversation to have with someone you know, and I've had to do it more than once. People don't like hearing that their dog is a failure because its a reflection on them.

But, for the sake of not ruining a bird hunt, sometimes you gotta shoot a hostage. No dog is better than a bad one.
 
I heard if you only hunt pen raised birds your dog won't learn to point.
They can be conditioned to getting too close to the birds, since pen raised birds hold tighter. I suppose, if they are really lousy birds, that are easy to catch, then it could make a pointer go over to the dark side and become a flusher. ;)
 
Seems like every year, you struggle finding birds. Obviously, you need to change something. Your dog isn't finding birds but you're not killing them. It starts with you in both shooting and being willing to follow a training program. Your philosophy of dogs training themselves has been proven wrong by your results. Your philosophy of shooting cheap ammo doesn't work either. Even expensive shells are cheap in the big realm of things. I bought a new case of Kent Fastlead 1 3/8 6 shoot for $209 a few weeks ago. That's pretty inexpensive. It is the equivalent to 3 tanks of gas or taking your wife out to eat a few times. Hell a good bag of dog food is $100. The Fiocchi Golden Pheasant and Winchester Super Pheasant is the same price. And they ship free. Those are good loads. You need to pick a training program and follow with your dog. Training helps build that bond between the hunter and dog and also lays down the foundation for success for hunting.
Yep,I'm going to buy a case of good amo.Ive been burning up old amo for 3 years.I always shoot 1 1/4 oz lead, usually Remington or federal.All labs retrieve,but I need to work with him in winged birds!
 
I think it is because they know there will be a fight at the end of it, with their mouths on a live bird. I know my dog is disappointed with a bird that hits the ground dead.
Jones hasn't been hunting much because of that foot,but he did find a wounded bird the other day,with a lot of help from me.He was in it in talk grass,then lost it, and luckily it crossed a slough,and I put a long shot in it,and it disappeared in the trees.I had to go over there,and he found it hiding under a tree,and grabbed it.
 
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