# Retriever = conservation?



## fishspook (Sep 21, 2007)

I enjoy reading your posts, but almost never comment (you guys can be tough on newbies). Against my better judgement, I'm going to stick my neck out there and start a thread. 
I have a 2 1/2 year old lab named Sully. He is the world's best family dog, and also makes a pretty good fishing buddy. He has flushed up and retrieved several pheasants, chukars, and a couple of huns. I'm hoping that he and I can learn duck hunting together this year. The truth is that I'm not much of a hunter; I love the dog and he's the one that loves hunting. 
My question is about a dog's role in conservation. I've heard several times that a well trained dog can be a valuable conservation tool. I'm curious as to how that happens, and what I can do in Sully's training to be mindful of conservation. I appreciate any thoughts.


----------



## Bret (Sep 7, 2007)

A good dog recovers dead and crippled game that would be lost without him. To me that is how they are an ethical conservation tool. I cant imagine hunting without one.


----------



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I think that is said almost like a marketing line...not sure of any real application


----------



## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

The real application is for those who only count birds recovered against their bag limit. Hypothetically, I shoot 18 ducks, but only find three of those. So I keep shooting until I find four more of the additional 12 that I kill. I only have 7 ducks in my possession, therefor I am legal.


----------



## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

Ethically, you should have a good dog in most area's duck hunting. I don't care if someone is counting birds they crippled and lost, to me it's unacceptable to leave birds out there crippled. True it's going to happen every once in a while, but a good dog will make your lost bird count close to 0, and that should be the goal.


----------



## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

I agree with what has been said. My dogs make retrieves every year on birds that would have been utterly lost and gone without the dogs. Ethical sportsmen make every effort to retrieve and use all downed game. A good retrieving dog is the best tool a bird hunter can have.


----------



## redleg (Dec 5, 2007)

My old GSP retrieved several grouse I thought I had missed.
Now I don't have a good retriver. As far as I know I havn't wonded any birds but I guess I'm not sure.


----------



## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Bret said:


> A good dog recovers dead and crippled game that would be lost without him. To me that is how they are an ethical conservation tool. I cant imagine hunting without one.


Echo what Bret just said. Bird hunting without a dog to me is just a waist of time and very unethical. If you want to conserve game, both birds AND big game, hunt with a well trained dog! Ducks are by far the best example of a bird that just screams to be hunted with the use of a dog. Deep water, thick cover, and tricky wounded birds that dive and hide are just a few of the reasons dogs and ducks go hand in hand. Recovering big game with a good tracking dog that's been trained to do so is a very valuable asset. They just passed a law that makes it legal to use leashed dogs to recover big game last year, and it was about time!


----------



## fishspook (Sep 21, 2007)

Thanks for your comments! This was a successful post for me (I got a few comments and didn’t get ridiculed). 
I hadn’t considered the connection between effective retrieval and conservation, but it makes sense that if wounded or dead birds are not left in the field, they are properly counted in a hunter’s limit. 
Come to think of it, I actually had an example of this happen to me even in my very limited hunting experience. On New Year’s Day this year, my dog Sully and I along with my brother and my dad decided to take advantage of the day off work and try to scare up some huns that we’d seen previously near dad’s home in northern Utah. Dad was holding to the lingering skepticism that was born out of some consecutive unfilled tags years ago, that caused him to give up hunting before I was old enough to learn. Seeing Sully’s excitement, and the lack of anything else to do, got dad moving and we headed out. We hiked quite a ways through snow and sage brush, but just when the doubt started to creep in my mind (Sully never doubted), Sully caught a scent. Everything happened very fast. I noticed Sully acting “birdy”, there was an explosion of birds, and despite the skepticism (that is at this point was manifesting itself as sore feet, cold hands, heavy breathing, and guns slung over shoulders) both dad and brother get off shots. After a moment, I was able to call Sully back to me (he doesn’t sit when the birds flush). Both dad and brother claimed to have “got one”, but in the excitement and surprise of the moment, neither of them know where the birds fell. Now the hunt is on for two dead birds in snow and sage brush that seem to have been born for hiding in snow and sage brush. Never fear, we have a poorly trained, but very excited retriever. It took him a few minutes, but Sully found both birds and returned them right to my hand.
One of the coolest moments of my life (besides marriage and the birth of my own children, of course); man I was proud of that dog. Despite my lacking as a trainer, he did just as he as was supposed to, mostly. I don’t know if we restored dad’s faith in the possibility of successful hunting, but I am hooked, and I can’t wait to hunt with my boys, when they are old enough, and our dog of course.


----------



## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)




----------

