Most memorable retrieve

[welshboy454 3]

What is your dog's most memorable retrieve for you ?

 

I will start with mine - The dog was a rescue 3 years old never been hunting until I had him. Only been out a few times shooting and one day after woodcock a friend (no 8's in) shot a surprise pheasant hit hard twice but was able to continue flying poorly. The bird was losing height but as we were on a hill the bird was going downhill with the terrain - I had shouted fetch and he was off. The bird kept going and the dog running it finally crossed the river about 150/200 yards away into some cover that side. We waited while the dog had disappeared. Now after a while I got worried as there was no sign of him.

So we walked down to the river to find him paddling steadily with the pheasant in his mouth but trapped through inexperience against the high bank which he had jumped down but couldn't climb. I called him down river to a low point and out he came with a cocky swagger.

Although not a completed unaided retrieve it has been my most memorable.

I put it down to inexperience as he was initially baffled with fences etc but now brilliant.

[michelle 0]

I cant forget it tbh - standing behind a bunch of guns as you do waiting, a couple of dead pheasants dropped from the sky behind the guns, left them and picked up a few winged ones. after the whistle and collect a few close ones a gun yells over for me - have you picked that dead bird behind me, no i replied. well its gone he says. i shrug my shoulders and send Scott in for a nose. Now given that this was only Scotts second time out i expected him to be a little crazy. as they do these inexperienced dogs, he took off to the left ran about 60yards, cleared a four foot fence and disappeared. i only yelled at him once and I apologised to the gun for Scotts behaviour explaining it was only his 2nd time out. We both carried on looking through the heavy vegeatation for this apparent 'dead in the air' bird. Another gun bellowed from his vehicle that there was an enormous black lab tearing down the hill with a pheasant in his mouth, he ran back acroos the field cleared the fence again and brought the bird straight to me. We thought he must have pegged a bird but when the gun checked the bird it had def been shot and all he could say was, dont ever sell that dog and if you do I will buy him. We worked out this bird was an early shot on the drive and it must have been running for at least 10 mins inbetween ducking and hiding but a gun had seen Scott clear two other fences and run up a hill for at least one hundred yds. The gun had thought it was just some bloody uncontrollable lab, and hadnt thought much of it only to mention it to the head beater.

Scott has never let me down ever - the best dog I have ever owned.

[lewismac1 1]

There's been a few

 

One of the best was with one of my lab bitch's, we were on a walked up moor for woodcock.

Sure enough a woodcock got up but was behind the line, and crossed over and went away from us.

It took 2 shot's from a 12 and you could of filled a pillow with the amount of feather's out the poor thing

Anyhoo everyone watched as the bird flew further away and struggled in the air, and eventually the head dipped and it died in the air,

a some 300 odd yard's away because all the other dog's were springer's i had to send my lab.

sent her out with two back's she was on the scent and followed it for another 20 yard's and came trotting back with it

 

After that we all had bacon and egg's on the moor with a side of woodcock

[welshboy454 3]

There's been a few

 

 

Sure enough a woodcock got up but was behind the line, and crossed over and went away from us.

It took 2 shot's from a 12 and you could of filled a pillow with the amount of feather's out the poor thing

I can relate with a smile to both the above comments - the woodcock flying on after a cloud of feathers reminds me of one I shot but never got. Hit with the first shot I thought I would make sure and gave it the second choke barrel - a cloud of feathers and carried on flying into a big wood 300 yards away.

 

Another retrieve- my dog is ESS

On a shoot where I do some beating no picking up is allowed on the top of a valley after a drive as that part of the valley is the next drive and all the beaters enjoy some picking up after this drive as they are now in position.

One day at the end of this drive my dog put up a bird watched it go screaming over the guns about 120 yards away - a second barrel shot dead in the air but as they do landed well behind the guns. My dog looked at me expectantly and I just give him a signal to sit which he did. My patch of beating had finished and shortly after the horn went for the end of the drive.

That is the signal for the beaters to carry on and do some picking up after the precious drive. I told him to hunt on and then said go fetch boy expecting him to hunt the area just in front- Off he went for bird he had marked like a rocket and not long later back he came with it proud as punch.

 

As you say lewismac1 there are quite a few good memories.

[j davies 8]

mine wa i went out with my 4 year old cocker dog and i shot 3 rabbits with my airgun he had to work to fetch them back on the 4th one i shot he went and got it fetched it out the bushes droped it as if to say come on i got 3 and worked hard for them you can come and get this one he sat there with it and i had to go and get it after that he has been ok

[mushroom 12,878]

my staffie when she got a 10 score on the water retrieve in a BASC gundog scurry that was a proud moment.

 

working though one comes to mind, same dog. I shot a rabbit but only pricked it, predictably it made straight for a copse of brambles in the middle of the field. this is where the fun starts i sent the staff in from where she was waiting bout 50 - 60 yards away "get on girl" off she went like greased lightning straight to the copse bout yards from me. fair amount of rustle and bustle then out thundered little mo with one very alive but injured rabbit in her mouth straight back to me sat and waited for me to take it. The good thing was the owner of the land who'd been a bit dubious about letting a staffie gundog loose on his land saw the whole thing and said that was best thing he'd ever seen never have any worries about that anymore

[Duckman 0]

my best one was me and a cousin out shooting ducks one evening it was just starting to get dark a high drake flew over i fired one at it and could tel it had been hit and was loosing height slowly so i sent ben my 2 year old black lab after himand he and had been missing sum time we had picked up all the birds and wer on d way back to the jeep 15 to 20 minets now and we had packed up and wer standing by the jeep when we could make out ben running up to ous with the drake mallard with the bear tip off one of his wings.