Vanishing Cripples

[h2ofowlr]

Lost my first canvasback when it dove after hitting the water, I'm sure, as a diver, it swam a looong ways away.  My lab would not quit looking and I had to actually go after him in the ice lined water to get him to give up.

This is when a shock collar or a well trained retriever comes into play as I have witnessed two different dogs over the years drown.  It's something you will never forget.

[Oldguy]

I don't know how they do it, but they can swim completely underwater with just the tip of their bill above the surface. The bill just leaves a small "V" wake like a submarine periscope. If there is any ripple on the water, you won't see it.

[Special T]

 
I have seen that lots of times... A good dog will always recover more birds... BUT the birds will do what ever they can to get away... Had my last chessy chase a diving  widgon for 1.5 hrs before...

[ghosthunter]

Yeah I hunt some shallow ponds and they dive and sub under the surface. They can run a dog ragged. I sometimes help the dog by forcing the duk to the bank . Once on the ground they are no match for the dog.

[Roperfive88]

Last weekend my buddy shot a mallard and put it in the brush. It came back to life and got back in to the pond we were hunting. I dove under the water and was gone. 30 minutes late the duck comes up and trys to fly off and my buddy shots it again andi dives under again. Two minutes later the duck comes up again 30 yards and around a corner from where it dove under and we get it. I was impressed with how far that wounded duck swam under the water. So maybe the duck swam a ways from where it hit.

[270Shooter]

I shot one pretty far the other day, broke a wing and he went down on the ice. I broke ice all the way to him, he walked over and got in the water around some short cattails. I chased him around in circles for 5 minutes because i didnt want to shoot him being so close. Finally he got tired and dove. I lost him for a minute or two but i saw his green head barely above the water. He dove again  but the water wasnt deep and i just reached down and grabbed him by the butt. Never been so happy to ring a ducks neck in my life. I was almost late to work because of him haha.

[Kola16]

I shot one pretty far the other day, broke a wing and he went down on the ice. I broke ice all the way to him, he walked over and got in the water around some short cattails. I chased him around in circles for 5 minutes because i didnt want to shoot him being so close. Finally he got tired and dove. I lost him for a minute or two but i saw his green head barely above the water. He dove again  but the water wasnt deep and i just reached down and grabbed him by the butt. Never been so happy to ring a ducks neck in my life. I was almost late to work because of him haha.

Aim for the head  You would be surprised at how easy it is to just blow the head right of at 15 yards and not out holes through any of the other meat 

[PaulM]

Saw this in Montana. The guy I bought my second dog from. He shot a mallard and it hit the pond. Sent his dog out for 4 retrieves and came back empty 4 times. Fifth time sent him back and dog circled pond again. Nosing the cattails this dog knew the bird was down there. She( Coco) dove down and got the bird.  I was very impressed. The dog was a shorthair that had just recovered from having my dog's litter. She threw some great pups as well. Call me Snowdog.

[sakoshooter]

I cannot believe any animal or bird would commit suicide. Everything I've ever witnessed in the wild tells me that ALL wildlife fights for its life untill its last breath. Ducks and geese are no different.

That being said, they can swim a lot further underwater than most folks give them credit for.
Something else waterfowl have seem to adapted to over my tenure of duck/goose hunting is that many of these cripples surface only high enough for their eyes and nose to be above water. I have witnessed this more and more in later years. The reason we do not see them and wonder what happened to them is because they dive, surface just enough to breathe and dive again. Most of the time we're concentrating our vision on the "spot" they were last seen so we miss their tiny lil heads surfacing a few times on the way to a brush line or cut bank etc. I've witnessed this many times and many other times have inspected the cut banks around Nisqually, Skagitt and similar places on the Columbia and most times my dogs have found these birds.
The two current yellow labs I have both dive under the water themselves after a cripple has dove a couple of times. It looks as though they get mad so they go under themselves and have always come up with the duck even after some distance sometimes. Makes me laugh.
Look further from the 'spot' at likely cover. It's natural for any animal to hide in thick cover especially one that's wounded.

[muzbuster]

on the fence as far as holding on to vegitation goes. would an air breathing creature intentionally drown itself? i do know that a crip can swim under water for great distances & with great speed. easily distancing a dog only pop up 50 yds down river with nothing but a head bump above water.
when i was dogless i found my self chasing a crip or two with my boat only to have them dive. most times if i just stood in the boat with my binos id see em if the water was calm enough.

Yes, they will drown themselves.  Basically lock onto vegetation and die more from the shot than drowning I imagine.  Either way they are still locked onto the vegetation.  Sometimes when I kicked them up they are alive other times dead.