i almost watched my dog drowned..

it was a rough out saturday morning.

not to many ducks flying, a few but kinda dead.
i had a group of 5 mallards come in, dropped 3 drakes and 1 hen went sailing off to the frozen pond that i absolutly wont hunt when it's frozen.

well after a couple outstanding retrieves we went to take a look for the sailed hen.---

now i will say my yellow lab , copper, might possibly be the best hand signal dog to ever walk this earth[ o.k. i'm a little biased......]

but we went to the pond and there was no duck. i start with the hand signals and send him probably , a total of 500 yrds AROUND the pond. when i figured he was in the general area i gave the "dead bird" command. [ we do this all the time, when i say "dead bird- the nose hits the ground!] well he sniffed out the hen but she got up and flew out to the middle of the frozen pond.



now i dont really know about this part, because on one hand my dog absolutly would not quit untill he was able to retieve that bird, on the other hand i know that that is no place to send him and i absolutly could not call him off that bird for nothing.

i put a shock coller on him, 90% of the time it's dead, but this time it wasn't and i was hitting him and trying to get him off the bird[ remember, i'm 200 yrds across a pond.

so i watch him fall through the ice and absolutly cannot get back out. i honestly dont know what was going to happen and really think that i'm going to watch my best hunting buddy drown right in front of me.

i ran around the pond as fast as i could, lost sight of copper and finally got to the edge of the pond. i wasn't wearing my waders that morning, but it didn't matter. i dropped my gun and was into the pond up to my chest and grabbed my buddy and pulled him to the bank.

i dont know what would would have happened. i'm talking about a dog who has well over 1500 duck retrieves to his name, been in the ice many times, but this one was different. i think had i not gone in, i would have watched him drown.


i hate to say it, and dont know if i should, but i left that hen on the ice.

i figured if i was going to get a ticket thats fine. i, know that it almost cost me my dogs life trying to get it. and there is no way i would let him try again. in fact i had to put a leash on him to take him away from the bird on the ice.

i'll tell you what, today i'm glad duck season is over and i will have copper for another year.........
7,691
killerbee
but when it was time for pictures, he'd never let you know how close we were............
14
ABert
I was trying to picture myself in your situation and what I would have done. I was thinking I would have jumped in to save any of my dogs before I got to the part where you said you did. And I have no problem with you leaving the hen on the ice. These things tend to happen now and then and it is not worth the risk to your dog or yourself.

Kudos for going in after your dog =D>
12
sneekeepete
Scary sittuation there Killer. I am happy to hear you were able to make it to Copper and you both made it out.
I see no problem with leaving that one hen. Enough was done to try and retrieve it. It isn't worth you are your dogs life.
Glad to hear everything turned out well again.
12
Default Avatar
Killer-Don't even think twice about leaving that bird on the ice. You did the right thing by saving your best friend. I almost lost my lab about 8 years ago in a very similar situation. He had gone in the river to retrieve a double of Canadas that I had shot. The first bird was a cripple and it pulled him under the ice on the side of the river. I had to use the butt of my gun to bust the ice so I could grab his collar. He wasn't under too long, so I made the decision to send him in after the 2nd bird, mainly because I wanted to get him back in the water ASAP so he wouldn't hesitate going back in the water. After he was in with the 2nd bird, I put him right in my truck with the heat on and ended the hunt.
12
waynedevore
Killer I been through the same experience.
Lots of wounded ducks fly off and die and go to hawks and whatever.
Glad you 2 got home safe.
12
NONYA
The same thing happened here 4 weeks ago,the hunter drowned and the dog got himself out....
http://www.kxlh.com/news/drowning-victim-south-of-great-falls-identified-as-garry-wallace/
http://www.billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/gazoutdoors/article_653602f4-ff15-11de-9e20-001cc4c002e0.html

Yes we love em but im not going to kill myself to save one whent they usually dont need saving,this scenario happens EVERY YEAR and 99% of thetime the dog survives.
12
killerbee
"NONYA" wrote:The same thing happened here 4 weeks ago,the hunter drowned and the dog got himself out....
http://www.kxlh.com/news/drowning-victim-south-of-great-falls-identified-as-garry-wallace/
http://www.billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/gazoutdoors/article_653602f4-ff15-11de-9e20-001cc4c002e0.html

Yes we love em but im not going to kill myself to save one whent they usually dont need saving,this scenario happens EVERY YEAR and 99% of thetime the dog survives.
funny you mention that, i read that article a few weeks ago. since the close call i've probably thought of that same article 10,000 times. i agree- more than likely it would have worked out fine, but i hunt with him pretty much every weekend plus a number of extra days. i've watched him retrieve close to 1500 birds , of which 95%+ are on the water.

to me, there was something different about this one, i haven't ever once thought of him to be in trouble. but this one- as soon as he fell through i thought "oh $hI!"

and on another hand [ which i wont try and say i thought this through this much] but i do throw decoys in this pond all year untill it freezes. i know that in that area it usually goes to the top of my waders. but i did know i should be able to touch the bottom.

it's hard to say really, the first thing my mom said was " please tell me you wouldn't have risked YOUR life, to save your dogs". sure it probably would have worked out, but if not, AND IT DOES HAPPEN, i dont know if i could live with that, for sure i dont think the old shotgun would have ever killed another duck. they are like kids really, and most people dont know the effort that it takes to have a truely great hunting dog.

all i can say is , im glad we made a showing for the pictures! and next time, i will be more cautious on what i send him on, a crippled duck can be a nightmare!
12
camodup
Thats a crazy story, major kudos to you for going in after your dog. Its good to hear your both alright.

Its sounds like you have a great hunting buddy, glad you could manage to get him out alive!
12
NONYA
Knowing you could walk out there is a whole different situation,next time bring your waders! #-o We hunt the river,me and BIG R were about 1/2 mile upstream the day this guy drowned,we saw the warden come ripping into the launch with siren blazing and I knew somone was dead.That stretch of the river runs STRONG,if you go through the ice your a gonner. [-o<
12
WinMag
Killer, I know how you feel. A few years back my dog slipped into some open water in the middle of a river. My heart sank when I saw him in the water! Luckily he held on to the ice long enough for me to crawl out there and grab him by the collar and pull him up on the ice. His time was up and I had to put him down last month, that's a very hard thing to do. Nothing better than a good dog. There's a reason they call them mans best friend. Glad to hear you and your hunting partner have many more hunts ahead of you.
12