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Your dog's best retrieves for 2005

2K views 16 replies 15 participants last post by  WI_Trapper 
#1 ·
So what was your dog's average distance for retrieves and best retrieves this last fall.

I know we have guys that can compensate for the curvature of the earth when shooting ducks and most likely some golfers and fishermen / women who are equally upstanding. Lets try to keep this honest. :smile: :thumbsup:

My partner's avg distance for retrieves - about 80 birds total - approx 30 to 50 yds for over 80% of birds. Very few over 60 yds.

Blind - Cold water blind - dog just came back from a land fall in grass and sent him on a 100yd water blind in choppy water with a cross wind. Bird was really drifting away and was tough to see.

Scent Tracking - brought her out after a goose shoot and did a walk out about 1 / 2 mile for a glider that went down behind a hill. Picked up the scent and found the bird was alive and still running.

Best - transition land / water / land on a wounded goose. About 80 yds water and 40 land through cattails & swamp grass.
 
#2 ·
I would say that the majority were within 30 to 50yrds.

I hunted a bunch of open water this year, about 1' to 3' deep. The best retrieve was on a Diving Blue bill. The blind that i was in didn't allow ace to see the fall. It was a blind all the way. The bird was swimming at about 80yrds. ACE got on him pretty well after a couple of handles. Then the bird kept diving. At this point i am watching through bino's and giving ace a handle if he didn't see the bird. I would wistle and signal.

The bird went out about 150yrds and then to then angled back towards the blind and right of it. It went another 100yrds all the while ace is chasing it and trying to find it in the water. Finally he stuffs his head under then comes up with it.

ACE had several retrieves like this this season, but not at that distance. He doesn't have any quit in him and i love it. he will stay in the area of the dive and search the water.

One time this year he stayed out fighting a widgeon for about 10 minutes, about 60yrds from the blind. I shot two spoons while he was out there. He finished off the widg and came back. Then i sent him for the two bootlips.
 
#3 ·
I would have to say that this year my pups best retrieve was her very first one. My roomates and I were sitting out on a mud flat when a flock of bluewings swung by and my one roomate winged one that landed about 75yds away. Thank god my pup was watching it the entire way. This was the first cripple she had ever seen and she handled it like a champion just stayed and circled the area till it resurfaced. Then on her way back from the retrieve there was a flock of gadwell that swung over and since they were close and my pup was only about 15 yds from the blind so i told the boys to take the gadwell. As my pup was coming back she turned around to watch the falls and backed up all the way back to heel her eyes locked on the only fall. It was really really cool to she her act so mature when she was just over a year old. (To bad she didn't act like that all year.)
 
#5 ·
Her average retrieve is 20 - 40 yards.

This year was her second year and she made two memorable retrieves. In October we shot some woodies on a small river and she had trouble finding 1 of the birds. I marked the birds fall in an eddy on the other side of the river, the dog also marked it but seemed confused when she went to retrieve it. She looked back at me for help and I thought she was right where it fell, confussed I waded across the river to help her and as soon as I got over to her she took off in the woods and was gone for about a minute and then came back to me with the woody in her mouth.

The other retrieve was on a Hooded Merganser in November. A flock buzzed my decoys and I unloaded on a nice drake. The flock kept flying and I could not believe I missed, then a bird just dropped out of the flock about 125 yards from the blind. The water had some chop on it and she didn't see the bird fall so I sent her on a blind retrieve. I only needed to handle her twice and while she was about halfway to the bird a bluebill flew 5 feet over her head, she flinched but continued in the direction I told her and she found the bird. When she got back to the blind I was beeming with pride in my dog and Pi$$ed at my poor shooting, I dropped a hen.
 
#6 ·
This year was the first year for my dog Trouble to hunt.
Most of the retrieves were anywhere from about 10-60 yards. The best one BY FAR was the widgeon we shot. It buzzed over the trees from behind and we all emptied our guns on it. We could tell it was hit but it didnt want to go down. Finally after flying about 30 seconds it slowly crash landed about 300 yards away from us. We didnt think she would get it so it wasnt until she nearly killed herself trying to tear after it that we let her go. As she was dashin out there we saw a bird pick up and fly off, we thought that was probably the bird so we tried to call her back. At that distance I dont think she heard us. We could see her getting off on the bank on the far side that is an easy 350 yards. We watched for a while even though we couldnt tell what was going on, after about 1 minute we hear her splashing back towards us. Thinking that she had given up on it we look over and there she is with a live widgeon that had barely been hit!!!! I was SO proud!!!! :yes: :thumbsup: We were all sitting there like :eek: It was amazing. That was just her 2nd hunt of her entire life!!!!!! Oh and FYI that is NOT an exaggeration on the distances. She got praise for that one for about a week.
 
#7 ·
These are some of the best post to reply on . If I colud ever figure out how to post pic's on this site ! We where hunting woodies in a small creek with heavy and I mean heavy vegation and trees. the woodies didn't want to come in where we were at, so we were shooting them treetop high and they were flying like jets. my friend was 80 yards north of me, As I shot I would redirect some of the birds his way. He shot a couple drakes. when the hunt was over he ask me if i would get his birds for him. (He didn't have waders) so both birds were blind retrieves, she was up to the task. That tough's on a dog when neither you or the dog knows where the birds are. :yes: She got both birds. You couldn't tell me squat that day.

Avg ret. 25-30 yards :thumbsup:
 
#9 ·
Most of her retrieves were anywhere from 20-40 yards with the exception of a couple more distant downed birds.

Nothing that outstanding but I was proud none the less. The first flock of the season was a large group of greenwing teal. We shot five out of the group and she was able to find each one and bring it back to hand. A couple of them landed in some very thick cover that I'm certain we would not have found but luckily we work on just this thing, teaching her to use her nose. I'm thankful she has more talent in finding birds than I do training her.

The other was a triple involving three large geese downed right in front of us. This was her first introduction to the large birds. She sniffed around on them for a second or two then promptly delivered each to hand one after the other. She was probably thinking, "these are some funny looking ducks dad."

Like I said nothing that outstanding but every retrieve is exciting for me.
 
#12 ·
It is the main reason I hunt waterfowl, is to see my dog retrieve birds, the only thing better is seeing him retrieve my sons birds.

Most of Pete's retrieves were between 10, and 40 yards this year. On two seperate ocassions he did have two blinds in a row right at 100 yards. One day it was geese, the other ducks. With many other blinds. Had one triple this year. Was shooting very well that day.

But for the two most memrable of the year was. 1. Hunting a lake in November, dumped a green head at about thirty yards, dog could'nt see it go down and it was very windy, sent him after it, he starts out trucking right for it, and within the last ten yards veers off up wind of it. That duck he never did get? I had to fire up the boat it was cruising away to fast in the waves. All I could think was your kidding me you did'nt see that. I think he seen it, he just wanted me to get my fat butt out there and do some work for once :laughing: . that was by far the worst he has done. I can live with that.

2. My favorite one of last year was a woodie I shot on a creek about 15 feet wide in the early season. Shot him about 20 yards, drops in the creek. Then he pops back up, just a wing broke, pete goe's in after him, the duck dives, and starts swimming under water, my dog puts his head under water right behind him and follows him the whole way for about 30 feet, till he comes up with him. I stood up on the bank and had a clear view of it all, wish I had a camcorder for that one, looked like a yellow submarine going after a duck.
 
#13 ·
My ten year old lab retrieved a black duck for me that was double banded with a 100$ reward band on it.
It wasn't a hard retrieve,the bird dropped 30 feet in front of us,but since this is my first band in over twenty years it stands out as the best retrieve he has made for me.
He got a fist full of dog bisciuts for his efforts :mrgreen:
 
#14 ·
As much as my dog loves ducks, I think his best retrieve this year was on a pheasant. The bird got up behind us in some cut corn. Next to the cut corn was some standing corn in the middle of the field. The guy next to me dropped the bird and it landed right at the edge of the cut corn. My dog took a perfect line to where the bird went down. When he got there the bird was gone. He looked back to me and I cast him back. He went several rows deep and came out with the bird. The guy that shot the bird was impressed. Mostly because his dog never even saw the bird get up!
Here is a pic from that day.

 
#15 ·
Large Canada during early season - about 70 yards after it finally died and stopped swimming. That is the 10 yr old lab Ms. Libby.

Her new counterpart (5 months old) Ms. Bailey - 10 ft. - that's how far I threw the bird for her to go and retrieve. She grabbed it by the foot and dragged it to the boat - Libby was as impressed as I was.

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#16 ·
So, there we were, sitting in the blind, just Boomer and I.( Boomer is my 7 mo. old Yellow Lab at the time) Here comes a lone Drake Woodie.........Mark........Bang............$hit,,,,,,, its a glider. He's down about 125 yds. out. Boomer watched the whole thing, but he'd never retrieved anything over 50 or 60 yds. He looked eager and willing to go so I sent him.(Against my better judgment) but I'll be danged if he didnt come back with that Woodie in his mouth. It took a while, but he got it.
 
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