Let's share some of our Favorite Dog Stories:

[AncientHistory]

When I was growing up, my Dad, popaw and uncle all had bird dogs. They always let me name them. Dad's English Setter was Rascal, Popaw had Irish setters named Red, Ruffy and Copper. The best was Dad's Brittney, Samantha who we nicknamed Sowbelly. I hunted with them from the late 80s when I was little through the early 2000s when about all the grouse disappeared from here in Southwest Virginia.

 

[just_jon]

Moving story. She needed good man to step in and it seems like she found a first rate one at that. BTW, your wife knew she was coming home the second you left your driveway. My springers are both hard running field dogs, but they call the house home. It's been that way since the first one in 1977. I only use my runs when I'm away from home for more than a couple of hours.

 

[tima1]

The first dog i ever hunted over was a Brittany male named trip owned by my good friend Steve. Me and my father would get to hunting just at light Steve would show up later well one day we were late we come over a little hill and we see Steve and trip working an area in front of us well at the time Steve still smoked. Trip puts up a roaster Steve didn't shoot at the bird he was worried about burning the stock with his cigarette well Trip looks at Steve like WTH. And ends up walking over to me and my father like if your not going to shoot the birds i put up Im going to hunt with these guys we all had a good laugh that dog love to hunt towards the end i thinking the last two years of his life Trip went almost total blind and he would still hunt and hunt good sadly Trip had to be put down. Steve has gotten new dogs the first one is Ivy a female Brittany the only thing Ivy thinks about is hunting during Ivy's first or second season a pheasant was about 7 feet up a pine sapling well she circles the tree a few times and then looks up and point at the bird i had a good laugh i shack the tree to give the dog more experience. ( it didn't feel right to shoot a bird i could knockout with the end of my barrel ) Steve's newest dog is a female German short haired pointer named Pepper she is little bit of a goof ball but she loves to hunt good dog don't having any funny hunting stories yet. This is a picture of my new hunting partner stoddard on the left with pepper that's me on the right with Ivy.

 

[just_jon]

My first springer (Pluto) failed to see a duck go down. I threw a big stick to within 5 feet of the duck on the far bank and watched proudly as he swam out and retrieved the stick. My two buddies are cracking up as I cross a waist deep creek in hip boots. Nothing like dogs and best friends to put your ego in check.

 

[Country Bumpkin]

I've posted about him a Lot, because he's such an important part of our family.
This is our Pudelpointer Atlas. He's 3, a hunting machine, so much natural ability. I taught him the typical list of whoa, sit, down, come, etc. we are working on casting, but his nose and instinct are so good, even when a bird goes down that he doesn't see, he doesn't need much help from me.
First photo is of his first ever outing, at 7 months old, incredibly windy in an area I'd never been. He was phenomenal (3 chukkars).
We currently hunt over 4 Pudlepointers, and I'm due to pick up one more in 3 weeks!!! We are pumped, haven't been able to meet him yet because of COVID, but soon.

 

[Country Bumpkin]

I've posted about him a Lot, because he's such an important part of our family.
This is our Pudelpointer Atlas. He's 3, a hunting machine, so much natural ability. I taught him the typical list of whoa, sit, down, come, etc. we are working on casting, but his nose and instinct are so good, even when a bird goes down that he doesn't see, he doesn't need much help from me.
First photo is of his first ever outing, at 7 months old, incredibly windy in an area I'd never been. He was phenomenal (3 chukkars).
We currently hunt over 4 Pudlepointers, and I'm due to pick up one more in 3 weeks!!! We are pumped, haven't been able to meet him yet because of COVID, but soon.

View attachment 204115View attachment 204116View attachment 204117View attachment 204118View attachment 204119View attachment 204120View attachment 204121

Well, here's junior, we named him Arrow. No awesome stories about him yet, but he's got something in his eyes that I've never seen before. I feel like he can reach into my soul, just something about him. we've had him for 3 nights now. He's been asking for the door every two hours and has only had one accident thus far (he's a smart little bugger). He's also incredibly bold! he was the biggest of the litter and has no hesitation whatsoever, he leaps into and over things he can't see through, walks boldly up to these strange running hissing chew toys (cats), and runs full speed in the dark of our yard while the elk are mewing up a chorus of strange sounds. I think this little guy is going to HUNT!!

 

[DarryH]

These stories are about hunting dogs, but not hunting. My boss raised Springer Spaniels, and had some impressive blood lines. He wanted to rent out one as a stud, but the potential client wanted a sperm test first. Living in town, it only takes a few minutes for the vet comes over to the house. My boss and the vet are in the front yard, doing their best to "excite" the dog to get the required sample. Pretty soon they notice the cars slowing down as they passed. Getting very red-faced, they decided to finish the job in the BACK yard!

Same boss, trying to use his shorter male to breed his taller female, and it wasn't working. He goes to the store we both worked at, returning with a couple wood pop crates to stand the male on so he can do his job. I found this very funny.

Different boss, had new German Shorthair which he just got back from a professional trainer. We go pheasant hunting and the dog is having troubles. First he manages to find the only burrs on the property. We finally get them off, and soon he goes under a fence and cuts his side on some barbed wire. Med kit comes out, and the wound is taken care of. Dog does NOT want to quit. The story gets worse. No birds, but the dog ferreted out multiple field mice. I got a very dirty look from my boss when I commented on the quality of his new "mouse" dog.

When I was in Junior High, I had a dog given to me. Living on a farm. I loved having a dog and had not had one for about four years. This dog was part Beagle, and part Black & Tan coon hound. He had longer legs and big feet. I saw him repeatedly run rabbits in circles, and several times saw him run them down. My classmates called me a liar, but I knew the truth. One winter day, about two feet of fresh snow on the ground, my sister and I had walked down to the end of the lane so the school bus could pick us up. Of course my dog followed.
As the bus came to a stop, a rabbit jumped up from the ditch. My dog had him in about eight strides. I was proud and vindicated at the same time.

 

[Montana'eer]

It was October 2014- I remember because that was right after the first wave of riots in Ferguson. I had Schnitzel my big boy and Double Dutch with me at my buddies place in NE Montana. About 5-6 of us always trek 8 hours during pheasant opener up there to his families ranch.. We hunted a couple three days and one of my friends kept claiming he's seeing 3 black roosters roaming together, and every time he tries to pin one down they manage to escape. We all thought he was full of ****, so we teased him mercilessly..

Anyway on like day 2 it was nasty, a cold rain and high winds- super nasty. Everyone stayed at the ranch house and I took my big boy Schnitzel out. He was being a jerk- busting point and wild flushing birds 60-80 yards out from me. Well one of the birds he flushed was the biggest rooster I had ever seen. It flew high right over my head and the tail stood out like nothing I had ever seen. Big bodied rooster. He flew right into a slough filled with tall grass at my buddy's place. I put Schnitzel on a short lead and made him heel as we made the long walk on the upwind side of the slough where the bird flew in. I had NO expectation to bag that bird. Those big roosters get running in that stuff and make the slip on single hunters. As we're working the slough Schnitzel gets away from me. I can't see him so I'm yelling "HERE HERE!!" Sure enough as soon as I said that he flushed that big bastard 60 yards from me. I snapped that shotgun up so fast and pulled off the shot while he was on the rise and bagged that bird! Schnitzel was high jumping through the grass trying to find it like a pogo stick and I was laughing my *** off and yelling at the same time to find that damned rooster.

He finds it and the bastard mauled his head, I had to whack him to let go- but I got it. That one is going to the taxidermist, albeit with another birds head, lol.

So two days later- everybody else packs it up and leaves. I decide to stay back and hunt one more evening, but fix some fence during the morning thru lunch. I've got Schnitzel in the farm truck and I popped out to start mending. I noticed Schnitzel went on alert and was staring down the front pasture- I turn to look and sure as ****- 3 black roosters! Maybe 50 yards from me- just standing in cut hay. I move back to the truck to grab the shotgun and the took off, across the road and into some WPA land. I told Schnitzel- "Go get 'em! Hunt 'em up!" He takes off, I'm jogging behind him. I cross the fence and he goes on point. I take one step in front of the dog and all three came up- I aimed on one and dumped him.

Great! Another one for the taxidermist, lol.

Anyway- it was an awesome season with meathead. He's a big 95lb GSP and is like owning a Ferrari- temperamental and can get away from you quick. Best thing about that dog is how much of a great, devoted family dog he's been.

IIRC 36 bars on his tail and he has a knot on one leg- from fox or yote bite or a pellet. My daughter was in middle school and water colored Schnitzel.

He was less than a year in this picture- he was born loyal to my daughter.

He can also drive my duck boat, lol. Good dog.

 

[Country Bumpkin]

Well, here's junior, we named him Arrow. No awesome stories about him yet, but he's got something in his eyes that I've never seen before. I feel like he can reach into my soul, just something about him. we've had him for 3 nights now. He's been asking for the door every two hours and has only had one accident thus far (he's a smart little bugger). He's also incredibly bold! he was the biggest of the litter and has no hesitation whatsoever, he leaps into and over things he can't see through, walks boldly up to these strange running hissing chew toys (cats), and runs full speed in the dark of our yard while the elk are mewing up a chorus of strange sounds. I think this little guy is going to HUNT!!View attachment 206362View attachment 206363View attachment 206364View attachment 206365View attachment 206366

Figured it's time for an update. We took this little guy on our very first family backpacking trip less than a week after we got him. We had planned to let him walk for the first half mile or so and then we were going to carry him in a baby swaddle. Well, I severely underestimated his "Go" and drive. He REFUSED to be carried and ran those tiny legs the entire 4.5 miles into the wilderness mountain lake. He's a little beast.
his older brother (Atlas, Aldo a pudlepounter), is an amazing versatile hunter, upland and waterfowl, not to mention being an integral part of our family. This little guy (Arrow) has a prey drive like nothing I've seen before. When we go on hikes his nose is to the ground and he remains fearless in his pursuit for birds.

 

[Ricky C]

I'm currently sitting on a plane, my Brittany Lib and I are heading to MI to meet my cousins. Then we will head to N D for a week of bird hunting. Should be a good time!!

 

[DSheetz]

It should be a good time . It's supposed to get colder but windy this week with some moisture . Good luck and enjoy !!

 

[just_jon]

I took my then one year old springer (pictured) along with me to check trail cameras and refill deer feeders on my property. Truck was in the shop, so I took the brand new SUV. After filling the lady feeder, she was nowhere to be found. I was calling her at the top of my lungs when I noticed two white eyes staring at me from a muddy spring seep where she had fully buried herself. I approached and tried to grab her collar so I could drag her back to camp and a hose, but she jumped into the open SUV hatchback and shook off the mud while standing on the center console. By the time we got back to camp, we both needed the hose.

 

[gator378]

Ice kills a lot of hunting dogs. Lucky pup.

I had to pull Lucy from the pond when the ice gave way. I had to crawl on the ice to her and grab her collar and pull her out. She tried to shake herself dry and turned into a popsicle. Fortunately we were close to the house and she warmed up and dried out. Did not slow her down. She wanted back out. Never happened again

 

[Montana'eer]

Took 2 of mine out for a week. Got back yesterday (in the snow).

Got a good number of ditch pigeons, sharpies and a couple a huns.