Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk AL Wingshooters Im no duck hunter

Great looking dog. I had a great black one too. Too good in fact. I want to get another but it just wouldnt be fair to the new one because anything the new one did or didnt do would be compared to her. Putting her down at 12 was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. She's buried in the backyard because I wanted her close. You could take her in a dove field and sit back to back with her looking one way and you another and as soon as birds came into the field, she wouldnt move an inch but would start whining and get increasingly louder until you acknowledged you saw the birds, same thing in a duck blind. You didnt want to miss much around her either. The look she'd give you, if you missed a layup shot, would melt ice. The good ones are special and become family, that's for sure.

Awesome story! I'm lucky to have my youngest son who's a critter whisperer. He was the one that got Jag where he is now. And like i said, he'd be better if i could put him on a bunch of birds. My cuz had a yellow lab back 10 years ago or better. He was awesome like yours. Never any official training. He just went on every dove and duck hunt there was. He was the same way about spotting birds way before you did..and he'd do the same. He'd also get pissed as all get out if you messed with him snapping the safety off

"I'm no duck hunter..."

I don't know... looks to me like your only problem was you didn't have enough to shoot at.

Haha..there were way more shoot at, i just dont shoot well. Fun time tho!

Your ducks were reduced to possession and you enjoyed hunting with your dog. That is what matters. Congratulations!!!

Since Marsh was sharing stories of the "field trial dogs", I will share a guide dog story. Called the guide to ask if I could bring a dog. Answer was "Sure but don't bring a bad dog". Showed up that morning and they had 2 dogs. Unloaded the guns at the bank of the slough and leaned them on a tree. While they set decoys in a boat both guide dogs peed on the guns. They then disappeared but by legal shooting time one had returned and the other was running on the other side of the slough. Shot into the first group of teal and both dogs broke about the time the safety clicked off. We sat back and watched the one dog fetch and eat 3 teal. They cranked and used a boat to get the long ducks and mine picked up the close birds that the other 2 dogs didn't see. I have hunted with guides that had very nice dogs but these were not.

No way in hades I’d have a dog like that. A good dog is a valuable and pleasurable part of the hunt. The place I guided for was a family owned private club and it was always the same people that would come every season. I always left my dog in the kennel if someone wanted to bring their dog. It was their hunt and I was fine with it. I would explain to them that at my blind it was “ your dog your birds”. I don’t work other people’s dogs and if the dog didn’t hunt (most didn’t) I’d go back and find the lost birds with my dog after the hunt. I’ve had guys ask to bring their dogs and their hunting partners would tell them Nope you ain’t bringing that dog on our hunt. 🤣
I did also get to hunt with some of the finest dogs money could buy and the owner new how to handle the dog. It was great to watch the show but I wasn’t there for a show. My job was to kill ducks and I didn’t have time to handle a dog. My dogs worked 95% of the time on their own and I would help them when needed. We both had jobs to do and that’s what we did. The 3 dogs I had through my guiding career, Roux, Shadow, and Cajun, all black Labs made way more money in that marsh then I ever did. I was blessed to have access to well bred true hunting dogs and they were simply amazing. However none of them intelligence wise was even close to Raven. I still kinda wish I duck hunted a lot because she loves to go hunting anything. I didn’t do her the justice she deserves. Heck I think she taught me more then I ever taught her. I spend more time with Raven then I do with my wife. Is that a bad thing? 🤣🤣
Spec had a dang fine yellow lab, Jake. He was a beautiful male dog. He was another one that went out to the blind and did his job well. There were days poor Jake would get back to the camp and he’d be black, covered in that good ole marsh mud. That was the good days.

It has been my joy and pleasure to own some really nice labs that hunted a lot. Also because of the duck club I was in, I got to hunt with a lot of highly titled dogs. You have obviously been in the same position.

Most of the highly titled dogs that made the hunt miserable, involved an owner that had no control over their dog. Saw exactly the same things you describe with several dogs. The dog would go back to the trainer and be the most well mannered, obedient dog you could want.

I compare it to buying a very nice shotgun. The $$$$ spent will not make you a good wing shooter. A dog trainer can train a dog but until the owner learns how to handle the dog, it will not reach its full potential.

I pretty much refuse to hunt over anyone's dog...... that way there is no debate or special consideration. It's just a NO.

I might be the biggest dog lover on the planet but don't like hunting over retrievers. We didn't use them coming up my Grandfather always said they were paying us to kill some ducks not watch someone F around with a dog all morning.

It has been my joy and pleasure to own some really nice labs that hunted a lot. Also because of the duck club I was in, I got to hunt with a lot of highly titled dogs. You have obviously been in the same position.

Most of the highly titled dogs that made the hunt miserable, involved an owner that had no control over their dog. Saw exactly the same things you describe with several dogs. The dog would go back to the trainer and be the most well mannered, obedient dog you could want.

I compare it to buying a very nice shotgun. The $$$$ spent will not make you a good wing shooter. A dog trainer can train a dog but until the owner learns how to handle the dog, it will not reach its full potential.

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^^^ This is spot on. Too many people pay a trainer and never learn how to handle their dog. Dogs will perform for the trainer bc they understand each other and the expectations are clear and established. It takes time to develop the trust and establish the expectations.

A well mannered retriever (trained or not) is an invaluable tool.

I would guess y'all lost a lot of ducks in heavy cover. Going duck hunting without a trained retriever is like duck hunting without decoys and a call. You can kill ducks that way but something is missing. The true experience involves a decoy spread, calling to responsive ducks and retrieving the shot birds with a dog.

Had a dog with a hurt paw on the last day of the first split. Chasing ducks in a flooded rice field sucked that day. I am too old and fat. Would leave my shotgun at home before the dog.

Sometimes my gun doesn't even come out of the case. I've got a bunch of buddies who don't have a dog though, so it works out great.

Agreed. I've not been around a lot of retrievers...cause "i'm no duck hunter" but...my buddy that got me into duck hunting back in the 90's had a couple diff labs he sent to be trained. It was no bueno. I've no doubt the dogs were trained. But they wouldn't work for him. I don't take Jag if someone else is gonna have a dog because he's still learning. He'll mind me, but i don't want him messing up another dog.

Agreed. Hunting birds without a dog is like hunting turkeys over a food plot. Yeah, you can do it... it just sucks.

I am a novice retriever trainer at best, but I have learned (and most of you probably know this) that dogs receive more information from body language than anything. More than voice commands or hand signals. One of the books I read said if you don’t believe this, wear a pair of sunglasses or a face mask the next time you work your retriever and see if you can tell a difference. I tried it and it made a huge difference. Most confused she had ever been in a training session.
Now apply that same info to the situation of sending your dog off to be trained. He has worked with that trainers body language for 3 months and now you want him to be put in a hunting situation with new body language? It’s a recipe for a bad experience. The owner gets pissed at the dog, the dog looses confidence. The other hunters have a bad experience. You got to give the dog a chance man. He has to understand and be confident in what y’all are doing.

^^^ yessir

I started training my dog the first day I took it home at 7 weeks old.

Started by teaching the dog what its name was. Said the dogs name, when it looked at me, I gave it a crumb of a treat. Did that for a cumulative 10-20 min per day for a couple weeks.

House training started day one as well. As soon as that dog even thinks about squatting, pick it up violently and take it outside to the same spot in the yard. Make a big deal out of it. If you catch them in the act of using the bathroom on the floor yell NO with some authority. Scare the dog when they do it.

In between teaching its name, I would teach it to sit its ass on the ground. I’d gently tap her butt to the ground while saying “SIT”. As soon as her butt hit the ground, gave her a piece of a treat. Eventually, you can just say sit and they’ll do it. Don’t teach stay, keep it simple and use one word. Sit means sit until you say “it’s okay” or what have you.

Do the same thing with “HERE”. Get all excited and jump around saying “HERE” when the dog comes to you, give it a treat.

Once I taught it all that, I started teaching it to retrieve. Most dogs will chase after a ball. You have to teach them to bring it back every time. Put them on a lead, toss a bird wing, and once they grab it, gently tug them back to you. You can get more in depth with this part, but by the time I got to it, the dog was 6 months old and I sent it off to school for 4 months.

Main reason I sent her off was to reinforce what I already taught her, to be force fetched, and to understand what her job is.

If you had her going get stuff and bringing it back, why did you send her to be force fetched?

To introduce the dog to pressure, and give me a good starting point for force to pile and blind retrieves work.