How many cripples did you lose this year.
And was it with or without a dog


With dog lost 2 cripples all year.

didn't lose any this year, had a dog.

We hunt with a dog and lost one to a hawk.

this is gonna get good

been there done that.

We lost one this year, didn't have the dog with us, watched it sail into the woods. I hate steel!

Had a hawk take off with a my spoonie the other day when I was in the water picking up my decoys. I think I lost one redhead in the bay this year. The it got too far away and into deep water and I wasn't comfortable with my dog swimming that far

So the hawk can't id birds?

Lost a pintail opening day no dog . Mid season lost a GWT no dog. Yesterday lost a greenhead and a can(kinda) with a dog(kinda). Until yesterday the only time we lost birds was the 2 times the dog didn't go. Blaze did an amazing for a pup.

We lost 5 today with a dog, all swimmers and hit inside 30 yards. Just winged in thick weeds and thigh high water. It was terrible.

Joel907,
Are you considering getting another dog to reduce your cripple losses?
. . or is there a sermon coming?

Sounds like you already have an excellent dog with only 2 lost birds.

My dog is old and I won't hunt without a dog both
Birds I lost where hunting big water cripples
That hit the water 100+ yards out so the time
Cooter got on them they where 200 - 250 years out not
The first time I have sent him on long water retrieves this
Year but the two I lost when Cooter got to them they
Dove down and never came back up. What a waste all that
Good dog work 250 yard water blind and the bird dives and grabs a
Weed killing himself. I even sent him on a 200 + yard water blind on a crippled
Speck talk about a proud daddy when he delivered that
Retrieve to hand. What blows my mind is how many people
Have looked at this post and so few have left replies. Where are all
The no dog guys not picking on any one or looking down
My nose. I have trained a bunch of dogs and I will be the first
To say I will help anyone with dog training. Ducks and dogs go hand and
Hand.

Cooter





Cricket Thanks she's a LAB.

I lost about 10 cripples this year. I dont hunt with a dog.

Sooo, the answer was sermon. (no problem, it is Sunday after all!)

Those are some great looking dogs you have. Does Crickett (a GSP ?) do water retrieves ? I had a pointer that was so afraid of water I had to carry him over small creeks.

I dont have a dog. I am single and work 60+ hrs a week. I feel it is not ehtical to have a dog that I can not spend time with and that would need to be in the 100+ degree heat all summer while I'm at work.

I only lost three birds this year. I made every effort to retrieve them without endangering my own life. I have no remorse, guilt, or ethical concerns.

I hope someday to be in a situation that allows me to have a retriever. Until then I will continue to duck hunt.

Lost none because I didnt get to go waterfowl hunting this year.

GSP and loves the water not a dog for every hunter
They are very high power dogs. She takes a striat line
And run a blind out to about 300 yards.

I have lost about 7 this year. I am the dog so its tough. Lost several on big water. Once the land either too far out or start swimming fast there is just no way to get them. I try hard to get another shell in them fast if I can. Several wounded but no enough so they took a soft landing somewhere in the woods as we watch them slowly land. No way to track them down being 200+ yards in the brush. One day soon I will get a dog.

Don't have a dog, would like to just not in the cards right now. I made the mistake of telling a high and mighty dog owner that we lost 2 birds one day. I guarantee you, NO dog would have got them.

But I still like dogs, a lot

Every year there is a lake I hunt and the dog and I
Will go work the bank after there has been a few groups of
Hunters in the hole the same morn and I will send the dog down
The wind blown bank which is thick brush and reg we
Will find a limit of cripples. Kind of cool for me I
Get a limit of birds and never fire a shot plus I get good dog work in. Only do this on days i get off at 7am from work. I'm not trying to be one of them mighty dog people
Or step on toes just fig this would be a good topic.

I was also wondering how close HSUS was
In there reporting saying duck hunters have a 45%
cripple loss.

Wow!! That is a high number!! Those numbers are typically skewed and data is inserted to fit their cause. The thought of everyone having a 100% recovery rate would be nearly impossible due to the conditions we often hunt in, but 45%.......I very seriously doubt it is anywhere close to that number.

I don’t think a dog helps much with cripples. A dog helps when bird goes down where man can’t go in waders. If you have a wounded diving bird, you can talk all you want how great your dog is and I will call . Super duck dog will chase wounded diving duck all morning long and fail. I don’t even send my dog after bird in these type situations, just watch the duck, where it goes, it will go to shore, 3 feet off bank, after 5 minutes or longer, it will feel safe there, and you or dog can just go right to it and pick it up.

When wounded bird goes down, I watch. Bird floundering, going in circles, etc… I send dog… Bird head up, alert, swimming away, don’t send dog waste of time. Put another shell in bird if you can, otherwise watch and see where bird goes.

Didn't have any cripples either because I didn't get to hunt as well, but I will be scouting for hogs later on here on the Barney......unfortunately everytime I have gone scouting along the lake and below the dam I find the remains of cripples. Last season I cut way back on the number of birds I was letting get away by not shooting unless I could get them coming in with their feet down and wings locked, which also brought most of my shots in under 20 yards. That in turn also lowers the shot to kill ratio down to 1:1 with every shot being instantly fatal. I realize you can't always do this but if the birds are willing its worth the effort.....

Shooting steel shot it's going to happen, your going to lose birds if you hunt a lot with or without a dog. I can not imagine hunting without a dog, just not the same to me. I lost one yesterday as well and two friday in very heavy flooded cover.
IT can be hard for a dog to mark 3-4 birds falling in heavy cover.
It happens.