Icetrey

Well guys I dont have any hunting dogs. I have chest waders and if I cant walk out far enough I have a itty bitty fishing pole which I try to squeeze in. Do any of you hunt without dogs?

rbduck

I duck/goose hunted for years without a dog. I used a good pair of chestwaders for starters. I even used an old "Pocket Fisherman" if I had a long "retreive"(pinched the barbs on the treblehooks on a big DareDevle). I walked the marsh all day this way. You can still carry half a doz dekes too. Set up in a little bay with the wind angling towards you so the shotbirds are washed ashore on your side.
I`m sure some other ideas will soon be showing up.

Ron

Tyrus21

What would you use the fishing pole for? I'm lost... My lab died and since then I've just went without dogs. But never heard of a fishing pole.

Scrapdawg

On long retrieves where you can not walk outor you do not have a boat. You use a treble hook with the barbs pinched down to get your DEAD fowl via casting liking fishing. Do not snare live birds.

superstrutter

No dog. I retrieve my own birds. I'm a pretty good retriever. Have lost only one cripple this year.

Sureisaniceskimask

This is what me and my friends have pretty much always done. While it would be much easier to have a dog none of us do so we just us a treble hook and throw past the duck and try to get the line to land on the dead duck's body. Then slowly real in until the treble hook is at the duck and pull it to us. Anything under 30 yards is automatic, anything longer than that presents quite the problem, but there has never been a duck that we couldn't get using the fishing pole method...

SwampCollie

I used to hunt without..just had to go unhide the boat and go after them...lots of work. I have found that hunting with a dog is more enjoyable than without....heck...without the dog I might not even go!

MinnFinn

SwapCollie - I agree. I didn't have a dog when I was a "youngster". I was tough. Not just getting birds that "sailed" a ways before dropping, but also, if I'd hunt around cattails. It's really tough to find even stone cold ducks that fall into cats or even sometimes wire grass and such. That nose of my "Molly" Yellow Lab is a wonder to see work. And she has a heart to go out and get birds like you can't imagine, unless you have one, too.
I know there are circumstance when it's not easy or possible to have a good retriever yourself. But if you can have a good dog between a couple of you who hunt together, it'll open a whole other dimension to bird hunting for you. I guarantee! :-)

losthwy

Before I got a dog I hunted pheasants, ducks and geese. There were many times I could not find the duck and wished I had a dog. After getting a dog I can say I get quite a few morebirds each season than I would without one. I have walked past brush with my dog he'll pick up scententerthe brush and emerge with a cripple. That happens every many times each season.

dkhunter8383

No dogs for me, wish I had one but Im only in high school and we already have 2 basset hounds and a black lab(not trained for hunting) but a good pair of waders and our canoe (the SS Cooter) have worked for me for all 3 seasons i have hunted