Part hunter, part lab....

J

jaydog

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Surrounded by the Pacific.
Out yesterday morning for my daily goose hunt and got skunked as usual. Upside was I managed to belly crawl up on some ringneck ducks and jumpshoot one! Downside was it fell in the pond. I quickly busted out my new 'newfie duck retriever' that my hunting buddy had recommended me building (imagine an umbrella with no fabric and the handle is made out of wood so it floats on a rope to throw) and spent the next 20 minutes throwing the damn thing until my arm was sore with no luck. Thanks man- mine sinks AND the duck was 51 feet from shore with a 50 foot rope! After using my rope to measure the shortest distance from shore I did what any resonable hunter would do in -2C weather... stripped down and swam for it! I'd already broke the skiff of ice on the pond with my retriever but that didn't make the water any warmer. The last two seconds of the video pretty much says it all.....
NOTE: The video makes it look like the duck was close to the far shore, but it was 47 feet one way and 51 feet the other way based on my non-floating duck retrieving device. Also- the newfie part of the name comes from the fact that the design was shared to me by a real live newfie. (just keeping the peace.)

Here is my pretty ringneck hen beside the XCS and my bare footprint.
Pic011.jpg
 
good job getting the bird, many would have left it.

However a properly trained retreiver would have come back in a straight line!:)
 
Had to do that a few times myself.
When my young pup was in training and did not see the birds fall. Lucky I marked them well and showed the dog how it should be done.:confused:
Darn near died doing it but was worth it.:D

You are among the few who would do that Jaydog, Good for you.!!
 
7mmlefty said:
.....Darn near died doing it but was worth it.:D You are among the few who would do that Jaydog, Good for you.!!
Click to expand...

I agree, it is dangerous. None of those three times I had my dogs with me and I regretted taking the ducks immediately after entering the water. :D
Seriously, I've learned my lesson. I don't shoot ducks over the water anymore unless I have a dog with me or if a boat is close by.
 
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Friggin halarious! I remember doing that once when I was a kid living in NW Ontario. Only two black ducks I ever shot were on a beaver pond near Thunder Bay. I stripped down buck naked as didn't want to get my threads wet!
 
Trust me - swimming was NOT the original plan but I have a major hate for losing birds (or any other game) so I didn't see much option. I've fallen though the ice before fishing and gutted a moose in thigh deep water in November back home (by Thunder Bay) but was honestly surprised at how quickly the cold water killed my ability to swim. Short of it is I doubt I could have done another 100 feet without being a statistic. Guage your duck retrieving foolishness accordingly......;)
 
Someone posted a "fishing" rod that they used for retrievals like that. A floating weight (block of wood) and some big jeesly hooks wired up to it... cast past the bird, maneuver the line across bird, draw up the weight to the bird, set hook, retrieve.

Looked like it would work OK, as long as the bird was not still a little bit motivated.

Cheers
Trev
 
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