The Careful Carnivore

The changeover from bucks to ducks

Fowling season reminds columnist of judgmental dog

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Hunters are supposed to motivate dogs. But hunting dogs can also be a source of motivation for the hunter.

I was hunting with Ken, who had a well trained springer spaniel named Sunny. (All names have been changed to protect the embarrassed, except me.)

Sunny the dog had a great way of communicating with the hunters. When she got on a fresh scent, her tail started wagging.

The closer she got to the bird, the faster she wagged. When the bird was just about to fly, her tail would spin like a propeller. That morning, Sunny had already flushed and retrieved a few birds for us. It was my turn. She was on a bird and flushed it quickly. I missed. No excuses. Sunny watched the bird and it didn’t fall out of the sky as usual. She was confused. She made several quick looks from the bird to me and back to the untouched bird flying hastily away. Sunny then turned and gave me a look that informed me that I was some other material that was involved in another type of flushing.

Waterfowl season is now upon us.

Ducks + coots + scaup + geese = waterfowl

Waterfowl hunting can involve a lot of “stuff”: decoys, calls, boats, blinds, dogs….. But there are some simpler ways to try for a duck dinner.

A hunter can use a technique called “jump shooting”. This consists of sneaking up to a small (shallow, narrow) creek, ditch or beaver pond where, hopefully, some waterfowl are feeding and resting. The “jump” part of the technique is the hunter jumping up and getting the ducks to “jump” and fly. (No shooting sitting ducks, that is not sporting.) Binoculars are handy to make sure you are not stalking someone’s duck decoys. Jumping up and yelling at decoys is really embarrassing. They never fly.

Now, things get more challenging in the “shooting” part. The ducks have to be within shooting range when they fly. Next, and more difficult, the hunter needs to shoot the flying duck after making sure it will fall in a place that the hunter can easily retrieve it. The duck falling on dry ground is wonderful. In shallow water, where a short wade secures the duck, is great.

Falling into the middle of the beaver pond with a slight current that is taking dinner even further away, seems to happen fairly often. No wasting dinner. Long sticks, folding tent poles, small boats, and the contraption that starving college students concocted form a fishing pole, heavy line and a mass of floats, bobbers and hooks have all worked at some point. Just retrieve that duck.

Humm ... retrieve, retriever. Labrador retriever, golden retriever, Chesapeake Bay retriever. Now you know what those dogs were bred to do. These dogs can retrieve a duck under many conditions and have also been known to find the cell phone, in its waterproof camo case, that was dropped while sneaking up on the ducks in the beaver pond. Not that I would know.

 

Upland game birds

Grouse + quail + pheasant = upland game birds

Our trusty local hunters can also pursue grouse and quail out on the Olympic Peninsula. You have to travel a bit for pheasants. The first task is to find the game bird. That can involve a lot of walking through brush, woods and fields. Knowing the type of habitat each species prefers can help locate them, but it can be a tough hunt on your own. A hunting dog is a huge help. These dogs can find the birds and literally point you in the right direction.

Dogs used for hunting upland game birds are divided into two categories: pointers and flushers. Pointer breeds include German shorthair, wirehair and English pointers. These dogs literally find the bird and point at it. The hunter has to move past the dogs to get the bird to fly for a sporting shot. (Some game birds learn to just hunker down and run so there is no opportunity to shoot.) If the bird is taken, the dog will retrieve it.

The other type of dogs for upland game bird hunting are called flushers. These breeds are mostly spaniels such as Springer, English and Brittany spaniels. Flushing dogs find the bird and then chase it out of cover (i.e. flush it) for the hunter. These dogs also retrieve the bird. The hunter has less time to get ready for the shot but the bird is going to fly to get away from the dog.

There is still time to get out and add a little variety to your wild game menu with some bird hunting.

The main hunting season for deer has just closed, but there is the shorter late season coming up November 14 to 17. In the meantime, there are still plenty of opportunities to get out in the field and put some game on the dinner table.

Be careful and stay sharp!

(Retired U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist Beth Kennedy was a hunter education instructor for both firearm and bowhunter safety for over 20 years.)