Tag Archives: Duck Hunting Dogs

duck hunting

The Joy of Duck Hunting

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Duck hunting is one of the most popular hunting sports in the world. It is as much a social calling as it is a hunt, in fact, representing a whole set of cultural standards and etiquette rules that many people do not even consider. It has a whole culture all its own, from a proper dress code to duck hunting dogs and assistants. The world of duck hunting is ripe with cultural significance, but is also has a dark side and represents a less than desirable aspect of human nature. Regardless of the point of view, there is something to be learned about duck hunting that may shed some light on either side of the ethical quandary.

Duck hunting is mainly a sporting activity around the world now, as commercial duck hunting has since been banned in most of the developed countries. Duck hunting is, in fact, as old as time itself. There are early indications that ducks and geese were somehow hunted during the Ice Age. Cave drawings indicate that duck hunting was a sound practice early on in human existence, giving way to ducks and swans appearing on cave paintings in Ice Age Europe. There is also evidence of duck hunting in Egypt, as a mural on the tomb of Khum-Hotpe displays a man capturing ducks in a stream. Ducks were also likely hunted by early man in the Americas, as early Peruvian art indicates.

With this international history, duck hunting enjoys a popularity that spreads around the world. It is especially popular in North America, where the largest number of localized ducks can be located. Most ducks use the Mississippi River as a migratory guide, so many duck hunts take place along the river to use it as a guide for finding ducks. Arkansas is a major hotbed of duck hunting, with Stuttgart being considered the “duck hunting capital of the world”.

Duck hunting is often considered popular because of its simplicity. The tools of the trade are simplistic enough, from a decoy set to a shotgun and duck call. The essence of duck hunting is based around the trickery of using the decoy and the duck call in tandem to lure the ducks out and into the air towards the decoy. After this takes place, the ducks are in open range for the hunt and the firing begins. These hunts take place around rivers, streams, lakes and any other bodies of water where ducks can be found.

There are many aspects that stand in contrast to duck hunting, of course. Most waterfowl conservation experts agree that the hunting of any type of waterfowl does little to help any situation. In fact, most marsh and wetland areas are shrinking at tremendous rates, giving rise the the criticism that duck hunting effectively diminishes an already diminishing habitat. There are several organizations that constantly spar with duck hunters over this reality.

One organization is the popular Ducks Unlimited. Ducks Unlimited is an international organization that stands as the leader in non-profit marshland protection and the protection of waterfowl. Ducks Unlimited sometimes works with hunters to protect the marshlands and protect the hunter’s way of life. The main goal of Ducks Unlimited is the conservation of localized habitats where ducks can be found, enabling hunters to continue protected and logical hunts of ducks and enabling the survival of more ducks by creating better places for them to live.

Still, some hunters ignore this philosophy and have no interest in any protection of habitats. They, instead, pillage the duck areas and hunt ducks that should not be hunted. Duck hunting remains a controversial sport because of this aspect, unfortunately, and will continue to have a dark side as long as hunters remain blissfully ignorant as to the realities of organizations such as Ducks Unlimited. Without the cooperation of hunters and marshland protectors, duck hunts may be a thing of the past.

duck hunting

Great Duck Hunting Dogs are worth Their Weight in Gold

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Waterfowl hunting, also referred to as goose hunting and duck hunting, is an outdoor sporting activity enjoyed by people all over the world. Many hunters use duck hunting dogs to retrieve their downed ducks. Duck hunting dogs not only retrieve dead ducks from cold water and difficult terrain, where a hunter could possible be injured but duck hunting dogs also search for and recover wounded ducks. These wounded ducks could escape or die a slow, painful death. Because of their keen sense of smell, well-trained duck hunting dogs usually have no problem finding and retrieving ducks shot by the hunter.

Small game hunters using shotguns normally have gun dogs or duck hunting dogs, which primarily hunt waterfowl and small game. The three classes of gun dogs are pointing breeds, flushing spaniels, and retrievers, which are all good duck hunting dogs. They train pointers to locate their prey and stand motionless, pointing at the bird or small game. These duck hunting dogs point or freeze to keep from flushing the game until the hunter gets into position. Most pointing dogs will retrieve downed birds. Pointers are loyal, affectionate dogs that make wonderful pets and love to hunt. English pointers, German shorthair pointers, Irish setters, English setters and German wirehaired pointers are great duck hunting dogs.

Flushing spaniels or flushing dogs are duck hunting dogs that hunters have used for several hundred years. Hunters train them to stay close, usually within thirty-five or forty yards. Flushing spaniels work close, so the hunter gets great shots at the fast flying ducks the dog flushes out. English Springer spaniels are great flushing duck hunting dogs and make a great housedog. These dogs are loyal, compassionate, and extremely intelligent, with natural hunting abilities. English springer spaniel flushing duck hunting dogs work hard, are good tempered and love hunting.

Retrievers are duck hunting dogs that recover the ducks or other waterfowl without damage to the game, because of their soft mouths. They are quick to learn, easy to train, enjoy hunting, and love to please. A well-trained retriever can mark, follow hand signals, retrieve to hand and knows many more commands. The hunter commands his or her retriever to mark and the dog looks up for a falling bird. There are times when it is necessary for a retriever to follow hand signals. Hunters must be able to direct their dogs remotely, in some situations, so hand signals are extremely important. The “retrieve to hand” command is where a retriever puts the waterfowl directly into the hunter’s hand. Great duck hunting dogs are worth their weight in gold to a hunter.

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Duck Hunting Dogs

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Duck hunting dogs belong to a wide group of hunting dogs referred to as AKC’s Group One, the group of Sporting Dogs, also referred to as the waterfowl hunting dogs. It is from this group the duck hunting dogs have developed and gained their reputation. Today duck hunting is considered to be an outdoor sporting activity, and the duck hunting dogs are now part of a huge world of hunting, where commercial waterfowl hunting is not as popular as in the past. But for those who do hunt for a variety of other reasons, the water dogs or waterfowl hunting dogs can spot and remember perfectly the exact location of the downed bird.

Birds such as ducks and geese are part of the same habitat, and have the same hunting seasons or at least they will overlap while using the same hunting methods. In the early days, waterfowl was hunted for food, their down and feathers. Today, considered more of a sporting event, the bird dog or the duck hunting dogs consist of breeds such as the Clumber spaniels, American cocker spaniel, English Springer spaniels, German Wirehairs, Irish Water Spaniels, and Nova Scotia Duck Trollers.

It is no accident that the duck hunting dogs eventually became located in the United States in the early settler days, as the Europeans and early settlers brought hunting dogs with them when with they first came over to North America. The most prominent early imported hunting dogs were the imported Mountain Curs and the American coonhounds, with early diaries of Hernando de Soto having the first written word of the hounds in America. This diary said their hunting dogs were not used for hunting gamebirds or small game, but used for hunting Indians, unfortunately.

In the late 1800s, bird dogs became the thing for “sporting gentlemen” with the quail hunting preserves developing, and then onto more duck hunting dogs and small game bird hunting dogs, in a variety of hunting events. Titles, contests, and money became the thing to do by highly bred gentlemen with highly bred bird hunting dogs that were trained to win by the best. It was at this time that events brought in breeds such as the duck hunting dogs to participate in the first annual National Championship Field Trial in Massachusetts, sponsored by Hobart Ames. Eventually, this became a 25,000-acre hunting reserve by the country. Today, bird dog clubs hold annual events that eventually lead into the national contest, with the duck hunting dogs participating. This area near Grand Junction is the home of the original National Bird Dog Museum honoring 40 breeds of those first hunting days.