Most memorable retrieve

[SpringerGuy]

What is the most memorable and remarkable retrieve that you ever saw?

I have two, both by an English springer belonging to my best friend. The dogs name is Max. He is now 13 years old and retired, has arthritis bad and has lost his hearing. It's sad to see him this way after all the time spent hunting behind this remarkable dog.

The 1st one happened on the pheasant opener in Iowa a while ago. We dropped a rooster across a wide creek and a 5 high bared wire fence. He took off after the bird, across the creek then he climbed the fence, found the bird, came back to the fence with a wing slapping him in the face, climbed the fence again, swam the creek and brought the rooster back to us.

The 2nd time was on the last day of a MN season, I was out alone with Max walking a creek bank. It had a steep slope to the water with a lot of trees. Max got up a rooster and it flew down hill only 2 feet off the ground with Max right behind it. The bird flew across the creek and landed in a thick bunch of weeds and tall grass. Well Max swam the creek and started looking for the bird. After a long search I called him back, even though he did not want to give up. About half way across the creek he got a whiff of the bird turned around and stuck his nose into a small bunch of grass and pulled out the rooster. Brought it back to me alive. Now the worst part about this is now the dog is up on me 1 bird to nothing. Now that's pressure. Well we did get my bird on the way back to the truck, so Max and I tied that day.

[woody1975]

I brought my brothers dog out to ND with us one trip.

Dog is a pheasant dog, but was just a pup at this time (Trying to get him some filed experience. We had a flock of mallards come into the slough we were hunting. They were cutting right into the deeks and then veered. We took a couple of shots and they all flew off. I watched as they kept flying to the other end of the slough (I would guess 400 yards away. All of a sudden one of the greenheads folds up like a dinner napkin and drops in the reeds on the other end of the slough. I looked at the dog and he followed that bird all the way to the ground. I sent him after it and that dog ran 1/2 way around the slough and then jumped into the water and swam about 150 yards and dove into the reeds. This dog went right into where I saw it fall and came out not even 2 seconds later with that bird in its mouth. I still haven't seen a dog mark a fall that far away and pick it up that quick. Bear in mind that these cattails were the ankle breakers, all tangled up.

That was fun to watch.

DL

[Bushwacker]

My male lab, Frank, had his first hunting season last fall. We were in a field in ND hunting Canada geese and we had two dogs in two blinds out with us because we were out of state and didn't have anyplace to keep a dog, besides with us. On top of that it was Frank's first goose hunt so we weren't real sure on how he would do. The other dog, Tyler, is a male lab that has retrieve literally hundreds of geese. The plan was to take turns on geese with Tyler being the backup for everyone. The first flock flew in to the spread and we know two down, so Tyler broke on a glider and hit a standing cornfield after it. I let Franky out and he retrieved the short one that landed in the spread. He did perfect and I was pumped. Tyler still was looking for the glider. Ten minutes later he was still looking with no luck, so I sent Frank and he was off. It was a normally windy day in ND so as soon as he hit the corn I couldn't hear him and he couldn't hear me. Tyler finally gave up and came back, it was getting a little long and I was getting a little worried hoping Franky didn't get turned around and lost in the corn. All of a sudden on the hill 1/2 mile away this little yellow (Contact Us Please) came running out of the corn with wings flapping. So far away that I had to look through binocs to see it was Franky coming with a very much alive 13lb goose in his mouth. From that moment we all knew Franky was something special and continued to impress his whole rookies season. Really gets me excited for fall just thinking about it.

[Blaze]

Great stories, guys. I love it.

I've also got 2 for ya:

1. On the last day of MN season in 2001, my old GSP, Sadie, gave me one of the best retrieves of her career. We had a bunch of snow early December, and the cover we hunted was getting a bit deep, but crusty on top. I was crossing a barb-wire fence when Sadie locked up on point. The rooster busted while I had one leg stuck on the wire. I shot and winged him, and he helicoptered to the crusty snow and the race was on. She plowed snow like a Clydesdale as she disappeared into the cattails and came out about 200 yards down with the rooster in her mouth, kickin' and scratchin' the whole way back. She was scratched up and bloody around her mouth and neck, but she could've cared less. I was pretty dang proud of that non-force fetched mutt.

2. Last fall, my Drahthaar pup, Jake, pulled a good one during one of his breed tests. Being he's VDD registered, we were going through the "intermediate level" breed test (HZP) out in SD. I sent him out on a 15-20 acre pond for a blind search on a duck. They had tossed out a mallard about 10 minutes before and let it swim off to hide in the weeds. After about 15 minutes of him crossing back and forth, working the wind, he took a hard right and made a bee-line to the cattails about 100 yds across the pond. We heard him crashing in the cattails for another couple minutes, yipping and barking, and out he came with a perfectly live (and very scared) mallard in his mouth. He came straight back to me, sat at my feet, and delivered the duck like we do this every day. It was awesome. He's a retrieving machine.

[Mr. B]

My 5 year old Lab Maggie's most impressive retrieve was on a rooster that my brother shot. The rooster had gotten up as my brother stepped on it. He winged it on the third shot as it sailed over a cattail swamp. After seeing it drop on the far side I looked at my brother asking him how he was going to get that one. (Since I thought Maggie had no idea were the bird was since she was hunting in front of my father at the time).

As he started to prepare himself to wade in to the cattail a black blur went flying past him in to the cattails. He was actually laughing since he did not think much of Maggie's hunting skills at the time. She was only a year and half at the time. After about fifteen minutes here came Maggie with the winger rooster. I do not know how she found it because I know she never saw it fall.

Since that day my brother will hunt with Maggie anytime. She has turned in to a pheasant machine.

[No_Net]

I have 2 memorable retrieves from my spring baxter.

THe first was a rooster. When we got to the end of the cover

9 birds got up all rooster but 1. This was when I couldn't hit anything. The birds got up in 1 and 2s. I ended up dropping the first and the last bird. They were getting up slow enough so by time I droped The last bird He had the first one back. The last one landed in the ditch. When baxter got there the bird got up and flow over a hill. I just let him run after it after about 10min he can back with a live bird.

2. Was a opening weekend of duck hunting. We cripped one

that swam across the slough I got to the other side we found the ducks and as we were walking back baxter found two other ducks.

Two other groups hunt the same slough

[Walleye Guy]

I was hunting in Iowa with my pointing lab Rebel. We were working a road ditch. It was extremely dry with poor scenting conditions. Rebel got birdy and then got a funny look on his face after prusing the bird for 100+ yards. The bird had given Rebel the slip. Rebel backtracked and we ended up going about 200 yards back in the ditch. The rooster stopped in a small patch of cover and Rebel locked up solid on him. I sent Rebel in, the rooster got up and I managed to wing it on the third shot. (pretty bad shooting when the rooster got up 6 yards from me) Bordering the ditch was a picked bean field. The rooster landed 80 yards out in the bean field. Rebel needed to get through a fence so the rooster had a large head start. Rebel chased the rooster about 400 yards before he caught up. All I saw was a huge cloud of dust and a rooster that kept jumping in the air. After what looked like an All-Star wrestling match I saw Rebel emerge out of the dust cloud with the rooster in his mouth. Rebel basically came back strutting. I think he realized how difficult of a point/flush and retrieve it was. I am not sure who was more proud of the retrieve, me or him. The rooster was either a 1.5 or 2.5 year old wiley bird.

[BLACKJACK]

Two retrieves that happened over 20 years ago with my folks lab Baron.

1) I dropped a rooster into some thick cover and Baron disapeared after him. Ten minutes later I was still looking and calling for him when he comes around the edge of the field 80 yards away with the rooster in his mouth. I learned then to trust your dog, you may think ITS RIGHT HERE but the dogs nose know better.

2) I shot/sailed a duck into a big slough/small lake, it was very windy out but I sent Baron after it. After a long chase he still hadn't caught it, I was trying to call him back, he was intent on catching that $%#@^ duck and finally did, but then he had couple of hundred yard swim back against a heavy wind, I was never so glad to get my dog back!!! I learned a lesson on shot selection and NOT sending a dog after cripple if the weather conditions are bad. I still remember it to this day, I thought I was going to lose him!

[2 DA GILLS]

I have different type of retrieve that I still remember. My boys were playing with balloons outside, when one of balloons got away from them and was floating out into the lake. My griffon about a year and half old at the time, decided he better get it. To my surprise he grabbed the balloon and brought it back without popping the balloon. I was amazed.