Not necessarily on topic, but dove is one of the hardest retrieves for a dog. First, it's 100 degrees out or close usually during early season, and dogs are panting not smelling. Second, doves carry the least amount of scent and don't bleed much. Third, depending on flight patterns, it may be a slow day and your dog gets frustrated just like you do which results in less attention span.

I can't find every bird every dove season but I give it the effort. I'd say the same for most dogs -- they usually miss one here or there but they try and usually have better luck than us humans.

makes sense...i knew there had to be a reason.

I'm not saying I'm some incredible bird finder but in most instances I saw where the dove fell....dog didn't, he got close, but didn't find it. Nothing magic or special about the scenario. In the grand scheme of things it does not amount to a ton of birds lost with or without the dog....we are talking maybe 1 out of 15 or 20 in most instances at most...keep in mind this is dove hunting not upland like quail or pheasant.

I posted this on their Facebook page:

I agree that it is unethical to hunt out of season and to exceed the bag limit. Not mentioned in your post is that it would be unethical to use inappropriate shot size or to take long shots outside of your shotgun's effective range as that will result in wounded birds. There is no doubt that, for many people, seeing the dog work and doing what it was bred to do is half (or more) of the enjoyment. I'm sure we have all heard of old timers who have hung up their shotguns when their faithful gundog has passed on as they cannot fathom going wingshooting without him/her. And, of course, a dog increases your chances of finding birds in the first place. However, I do not agree with your statement that wingshooting without a trained dog is unethical. By this yardstick, you label all wingshooters who shoot without dogs, or those whose dogs don't conform to your definition of "trained" as unethical wingshooters. You have labelled a lot of wingshooters as unethical. By extension, do you also label rifle hunters who hunt furred game without a dog as unethical? Is it also "highly unethical and cruel" to shoot and wound a buck, "then leave it suffering because you cannot find it"? There is no doubt that a trained tracking dog increases your chances of finding a wounded buck but not all farms and very few hunters have tracking dogs. Does that make those farms and those hunters unethical? I think not. Of course we should do what we need to do to avoid wounding as far as possible. And in the unfortunate situation where we have wounded a buck/bird, of course we should make every effort to find the animal and put it out of it's misery - whether we have a dog or not. I have owned English and German Shorthaired Pointers and, although they were good bird dogs they could not always find downed birds. I have hunted behind well trained top bloodline English and German Shorthaired Pointers and they did not always find downed birds. The presence of a good bird dog increases your likelihood of finding downed birds but does not guarantee it. We should all be concerned about ethics and the image we portray as hunters. But we should not label our fellow wingshooters as "unethical" based on the fact that they don't have trained dogs to shoot over - either by choice or circumstance.

A good dog will not lose birds and is not required to mark them down. To each his own but the fellow that bird hunts without a dog misses out on the best part of bird hunting. He is also badly fooling himself if he thinks he will find as many as a trained retriever.

hello Dimitri. Thank you for your comment. A very good point about shot size and taking long shots. However, we stand by our definition of unethical wing shooting. Game hunting may differ, as wounded large mammals may be easier to track, even without a dog. It is probably almost impossible to find a downed or wounded bird as a human, without a properly trained dog. In which case, why shoot it? Of course, there may be instances where dogs fail to find a downed bird, but as you say, every effort must be made to find it. That cannot be done properly without a dog, or with a dog that does not know how to search for a downed bird (ie is not properly trained). If someone enjoys wing shooting but doesn’t want to (or can’t) own a dog, we would recommend they find friends with trained dogs to shoot over.

Just do like me and miss most of the birds. That way, even if you lose 20% of the ones you hit it doesn't amount to very many.

No disrespect intended vern1 but I fall into the category of a good hunter.
Happy hunting to you Vern and all the other bird hunters, with or without a dog, looking forward to season’s opening back up again.

I knew we had a lot of extraordinary hunters on this forum but I never knew we had so many that could actually find dead birds better than a dog. I’m guessing most of you folks with dogs just feed and take care of them year round for show.

I knew we had a lot of extraordinary hunters on this forum but I never knew we had so many that could actually find dead birds better than a dog. I’m guessing most of you folks with dogs just feed and take care of them year round for show.

Just my experience. I shoot a chit load of birds, upland I prefer dogs but doves, IME they miss birds. Enough to notice. Maybe all the dogs I’ve hunted over sucked bit having a dog is not a fail safe against losing birds

Snobs.

"It is probably almost impossible to find a downed or wounded bird as a human, without a properly trained dog".

40 yrs of dove hunting and I've never used a dog, even in cover. Never take your eyes off of that bird or where it lands, not even for a second. Lock your eyes on that exact spot, like picking a hair on a deer you're about to shoot. Some of us learned this at an early age lol. It does get more difficult quail hunting without a dog though, that's why I prefer to feed the roads with milo and skillet shoot them.

I've never used a dog duck hunting or pheasant hunting either, never had a problem finding dead birds. Wounded ducks are a different story. They dive and swim away sending you on a journey for hundreds of yards in the mud, popping up only for a few seconds (that's when you shoot). Even a good dog isn't going to catch them most of the time. Good bird dogs are great, not badmouthing at all but.....my BIL spent thousands of dollars having each one of his labs "properly trained", and they both struggle to find birds. He'll spend most of a dove hunt with his head down working with his dogs trying to find a downed bird/trying to make them obey commands, instead of shooting birds. I'll have my limit and he'll end up with maybe half a limit or less. I don't have the patience for that, when the birds are flying I want to be shooting. I'm an avid dove hunter, not so much an avid quail or duck hunter. If I was I would probably appreciate a good bird dog. Trampling through the mud flats fetching ducks gets old.

Spot on with my experience as well.

There are other forms of bird hunting (wingshooting) other than dove........

Exactly right but in Texas you aren't going to find thousands upon thousands of hunters in the woodcock woods on opening day.