I’m no retriever expert but I see the guys on television handleing their mutts dove hunting like they’re at a field trial. When I was dove hunting every day of season back in the day I had a Brittany and my roommate had a lab. The two of us killed a limit every day of season and at times had as many as 10 hunters we were guiding, we had the only dogs. We carried a cooler for the dogs to sit in under a shade tree and never said anything to them. When dove were shot they just fetched them up to hand and we’d have a big pile at the end of the day and divided them up. I don’t care for dog handleing during a dove hunt. I prefer to drink beer and just let them work. How bout y’all.

Have seen lots of dogs in my fields over the years. Most have no business here, and some need new owners.
Reeltexan and Sniper John have some really good dogs, and they know how to handle them. There are others but those two come to mind.

We had a sweet spot to hunt. Five minutes from work and we could take people to hunt on the halves with the land owner. It was a Milo Feild next to the golf course in San Angelo. The dove flew like misquotes every day coming off the milo to water at the golf course. My old roommate went back to ask permission to take his boys out there to hunt a few years back. Some guys from Dallas had leased that little piece of heaven for $4500 a year.

I think it's very hard to precisely handle dogs on dove hunts. I may handle a dog to an area but you need a dog to be able to dig birds out in thick cover using their nose.

I also think it can be detrimental to handle a young dog a lot on a dove hunt if you are trying to be successful in hunt tests or field trials. In HTs or FTs you are asked to control your dog all the way to a specific pin point location. That's just not possible on most retrieves on a dove hunt.

I like that if my dog had no idea where the dove landed I can get it to the area but once they are close I want them to hunt.

I drove by the place ast year and it was in cotton. I’ll bet it’s not near as good.

I want a steady dog that does not break and will take a line. If you are hunting within seeing distance of other hunters, an experienced dog that marks off the gun will mark their birds as well as yours. If you don't have that under control, where he only retrieves the birds you send him for, you may have a dog rodeo on your hands.... or limit with very few shots, much to the displeasure of the hunters who shot the birds.

There is only one reason to handle a dog, dove or duck, is on a blind retrieve, or a wounded bird is getting away, and you want your dog to get that bird first. If my dog marks bird, I release her with her name. If not I line her up, send her on a line with back, sit and recast only if she drifts off the line, but when she gets close I release her with "hunt-it-up" she knows she is free to go where ever to find it and use her nose. There have been many times with duck hunting, I send her to an area to "hunt-it-up", she leaves the area I sent her after a while of searching, I'm like "where is she going", and for good reason the bird swam away and is 40 yards from where it went down.

But I think dove season is a great time to let dogs work and use their nose, but dove do not have as much scent as ducks, and labs do not have a nose like upland bird dogs, so they need more help. Its team work you and your dog.

I can't stand breaking dogs. When dogs stay steady, they become better markers. And taking a straight line is greatness.

I only shoot incoming birds and use the command "catch". Birds never hit the ground. Dash has skills.

I like taking mine. If he doesn't mark it down I have to walk him toward the area, tell him to find it, direct him with my arm and he uses his nose to find it and bring it back. Have not lost a bird in 3 years with him. Going to give my female a try this year. She's coming along and really loves to please me.

For me, it is about the dog work and making quick work of the dove. I work my dogs off of a stand when in the sunflowers so they mark better. The Momarsh Final stand and Invisilab get two big thumbs up from me. Blind retrieves are rare but if they happen they are usually short (< 60 yards) and you just get the dog into the area where you think the bird fell. Heck, all those sunflowers look alike! I do usually help others find birds by having one of my dogs just quarter an area and never surprised when one of my dogs will find a day old bird when finding the one we are looking for. 4.5 months to go....

I love good dog work but I enjoy shooting just as much. I won't hunt over a dog that isn't steady and honestly don't care to be around one. Nothing ruins a hunt more than poor dog work for yourself and the people around you. If you are referring to handle as in blind retrieves, I try to keep them to a minimum in hunting situations.

My dog is a 5 year old nephew, he sees bird fall, brings back bird. Simple

I always like mine to sit in the cooler until shots fired, and then bring the doves back.

I have never bought that steady to release dogs mark better on my bird dogs either. I like my bird dogs to hold bird until the flush and then be on them when they hit the ground, but I grew up hunting blue quail. If they don’t catch a wounded one when it hits the sand they’ll run down a rat hole.