Although I only hunt small game with my two squirrel dogs, all I ask of any fellow sportsman is that IF for some crazy reason one or both of my dogs winds up somewhere they shouldn't (and, yes, I've lost contact a time or two with both of my dogs before with my Garmin tracking system, I assume due to terrain) please, please give me a chance to retrieve them or call them back without blowing them away. I don't blame a person for getting ticked over a reoccurring situation or a blatant abuse, but a one-time deal, in my mind, would be hard to get too mad over for most level-headed folks.

Me and my boy were squirrel hunting at Coosa WMA after Christmas. While we were hunting, a cur came to my two dogs while we were treed and dealing with a squirrel. My dogs were really in good voice that day, so we let them tree for several minutes, figuring that the other hunter would come get his dog. The dog had a tracking collar that was 'on' and a name and number plate on the regular collar, but I'd not heard a single peep out of other dogs or folks in the area. After 15 minutes, I didn't know exactly what to do. I figured the dog hadn't been abandoned, since there were collars on him, so we released them to hunt, and the other dog followed us as we made out quick loop and headed back to the truck. The other dog looked young and was hunting, but wasn't really doing a whole lot... I figured that he was mostly still in a training phase. We were on our last tree, close to the truck when the guy pulled up on the woods road near us. He apologized for the inconvenience, and told me he was right at a quarter-mile past out farthest point of the loop. He said when my dogs treed, his dog went straight to them. The dog's collar was only a tracker (no electricity) so he couldn't turn him back.

No harm, no foul, but in a situation like that, the other guy did everything right, and still his dog got out of pocket. There are situations where well meaning folks TRY to do the right thing, and a dog may still get out of place. Just don't let that one-time, low odds scenario put an end to a good dog.