Trust the Nose: Lessons in Recovering Downed Birds
With Pacific CoordinatHer Ashley Hisey
I want to share two memorable hunts in which my Braque Français, Peaks, recovered shot birds that I thought were surely lost to the landscape. I hope you can take away a few lessons from my mistakes and successes the next time you’re hunting with your own bird dog.
On a cool fall day in the rugged mountains of Nevada, I shot what must have been a young chukar over a very nice point by Peaks. The bird was more out in the open and had not yet flushed with the rest of the group. However, it was obvious by the way it fluttered to the ground that I had merely winged it.
Peaks promptly beelined to the area of the fall, but my prized bird was nowhere to be found.
I remember going back and forth through that draw, up and down the sides, searching and searching with Peaks while repeating his “find it” command. After what must have been at least 20 minutes, I started to become frustrated and wanted to move on with the hunt. We had searched a hundred yards in every direction from where I saw the bird fall.
Just as I was about to pull Peaks out of his dead-bird search mode, I noticed he was digging rather frantically underneath a large, thick bush. I thought he had become distracted by some furred creature and tried to recall him off the bush.
Shame on me for not trusting his nose.
As I angrily approached him, I noticed a mouthful of gray feathers as he pulled back from the narrow space beneath the bush. I dropped to my knees and immediately began clearing away the hard-packed dirt to help him move more freely underneath it.
A few feverish minutes later, out popped my dog with a very alive young chukar!
I nearly cried and cursed at myself for almost correcting Peaks off the search.
You would think I’d have learned my lesson after that memorable hunt in Nevada, but no. My memory is short sometimes.
On a beautiful September day in North Dakota, Peaks and I were making our way through the native grasslands we had read about and seen so many times in upland hunting content. We got into a nice covey of Hungarian partridge, which were quickly becoming a favorite bird of mine to hunt.
Peaks snapped on point at the top of a low hill, and I was able to shoot the Hun with my second shell.
As good boy Peaks was making his way back with the bird in his mouth, I stupidly and greedily shot another bird that got up wild just as he was closing in on me.
We had never practiced this scenario in training.
Peaks quickly dropped the lively, winged bird he had picked up and went to retrieve the second bird. In doing so, we somehow lost the first bird to the landscape. The second bird he retrieved was, luckily, completely dead.
I cannot describe how stupid I felt in those moments.
We set about searching the area where he had dropped the first bird, just like our search in Nevada. Up and down and across the hillside we went for at least 30 minutes.
Again, just as I was about to give up and move on, Peaks started tracking like a pro, nose all the way to the ground. He got onto the first bird, which had buried itself deep in the thick ground juniper.
What a dog, Peaks!
Lessons Learned
A few important lessons have stuck with me from these two saved-bird memories.
First, do not shoot another bird while your dog is making a retrieve unless you have trained for that exact scenario during the off-season. If you do practice this scenario, make sure your dog has a complete and finished formal retrieve before introducing diversion birds.
Second, mark the location. Drop a pin where you were standing when you took the shot and another where you marked the bird’s fall. It is surprisingly easy to lose your bearings once you start moving through cover looking for a downed bird.
I am a big believer in committing to a long, thorough search to recover game. However, I have also been told that sometimes it can be beneficial to return to the area of the fall a little later, giving additional scent a chance to collect around the bird.
Third, practice dead-bird and winged-bird search-and-retrieve exercises during the off-season. Work in a variety of cover types and scent conditions. This can be a relatively simple and fun drill to practice on your own with minimal equipment. Wing-locked pigeons can be used to simulate a winged bird that is still on the move. Again, your dog should have a finished retrieve before beginning this type of exercise.
Most importantly, trust your bird dog.
Both of these hunts taught me that lesson, even if apparently I needed to learn it twice. Peaks knew far more about what was happening beneath those bushes and in that thick cover than I did. My job was to give him the opportunity to work it out.
I hope these stories and tips serve as a reminder to trust your dog, stay committed to the search, and make every reasonable effort to recover the birds you shoot this season.
Happy hunting!