Chucker Hunt gone wrong

[Goose74]

I don’t normally post on hunt Washington but I spend way more time than I care think about on here reading other people’s hunting stories and looking at their harvest photos.  With that said I feel that the hunt that my dog and I went on yesterday needed to be shared if nothing else for the lessons to be learned

 My dog Moses, a 12 year old Britney spaniel, and I left around 7:00 tuesday morning and headed to the l.t. Murray north of where I live.  We hunted for a couple of hours with nothing to show for except plenty of sweat and sore legs.  After a break for some water for Moses and I we headed down a ridge that separated two large draws on our way back to the truck.  As we worked down the finger Moses made several false points and I remember getting frustrated hoping one of these points would actually be for real.  We got to where the ridge we were on dropped off into where two large draws meet and Moses went on point again.  This time a covey of 20ish birds got up just out of range.  I threw out a couple hail Marie’s but no dice.  We went another 30 yards or so and another large covey got up once again just out of range.  Moving down the hill Moses went on point again and a bird got up that I missed completely   Moses started off after the bird as it sailed across the canyon and over to the next ridge   I worked my way down the hill a little ways and jumped 4 or 5 birds and managed to dump one.  I worked my way down and retrieved the bird.  After getting the bird I looked around and realized Moses was nowhere to be seen. 

From around 10am until it was too dark to see I searched up and down high and low and could not find Moses anywhere.  At about noon I texted my wife and told her I had lost Moses about an hour and a half Earlier.  She immediately searched on the internet about what to do if you lose your hunting dog.  The net said to put your shirt on the ground where you last saw your dog and he/she will be laying on it the next morning.  Unfortunately I didn’t read the text until late in the afternoon so I had to make one more trek Back to where I lost him.  I found a large sagebrush that would somewhat protect him from the wind if he did find it. 
After a long night I got up early the next morning and packed up some dog food and plenty of water and headed back up the hill fully expecting either to not find him or find crows or coyotes eating on his carcass.

You can probably guess what happens next but The feelings that came over me when I finally climbed that hill and saw that white spot laying where I left my shirt were overwhelming.  He was in pretty rough shape, shivering and sore but he was alive.  After some water and some food he started to perk up and it was time to start heading down the hill   Moses was not moving well as we started to leave so I was preparing myself to have to carry him all the way back to the truck.  Luckily after carrying him down the steep hill to the bottom of the canyon I put him down and he started running around hunting almost like nothing happened. 

I had been contemplating retiring Moses before this season started and now there is no question he is done which is unfortunate but this was way too close.  He loves to hunt and there are a lot of chucker nearby but if I want to chase them it will be without Moses. 

I know this was long but thanks for reading and I hope this helps some of my fellow bird hunters out there if they lose their bird dog.

Jason

[Shoofly09]

Glad you found your dog!    Something to be thankful for as you eat turkey tomorrow...

[Pinetar]

So glad you got Moses back, while reading I was expecting a worse ending. Good tip, Thanks for sharing and glad Moses is safe.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Wow, great ending to a sad beginning.

[Mfowl]

Good to hear things worked out! Happy Thanskiving!

[huntnfmly]

Very happy you got your dog back.
That was a long sleepless night I'm sure

[elkspert]

Great tip,  thanks for sharing.

[ghosthunter]

Yeah good story.

[boneaddict]

Amazing tip.   I’m glad your wife found it and it turned out as good as it did. 

[full choke]

Happy Thanksgiving goose74!

That is a good tip to know. Thanks for passing it along. And scruff up moses' ears one time for me, he earned it.

[bornhunter]

Really glad you got your dog back and I am really glad I read this. My little yellow female lab is so birdy she has left me a few times but so far has always returned. Now I know what to do if I have to leave her overnight. Thanks for sharing this and Happy Thanksgiving.

[Limhangerslayer]

Glad that worked out for you.  We always left a shirt out over night wherever we let our hounds loose if they got lost we would throw it out and almost always pick them up in that spot in the morning

[jackson7]

1st thought OMG. Glad it worked out. Scary for sure.

[John B]

Glad you found him. I'll have to remember that tip if I ever lose a dog. I lost my dog on his first hunt for a couple hours, found him laying under the truck

[boneaddict]

I bet the mood today around the family home is way better than it would have been.  Happy Thanksgiving!