Jump-Shooting with a Retriever

Nearly all of us who rely on public-land waterfowl hunting count jump-shooting among the strategies we employ. In some places, it’s floating rivers or streams in a canoe or kayak. At others, it’s belly crawling on geese or mallards in picked cornfields. In still others, it’s stealthily wading the marsh or backwaters. Sneaking small ponds or stock dams works great at times, too.

But when you switch from hunting over decoys to going “rogue mobile,” where does your duck dog fit into the equation?

Actually, your retriever is no less important to jump-shooting success than he is to pass shooting or hunting over decoys. There’s every chance the birds could still come down in thick cover, glide out of sight before dropping, or fall dead in water too deep to wade. Whether your hunting strategy brings ducks to you or you go to them, a well-trained duck dog will bring birds to the bag that would have otherwise gotten away.

So what does your dog need to do to be a good jump-shooting companion?

In some situations, it might be the best choice to leave the dog kenneled in the truck or UTV until after the shooting is done, and then you bring him out to hoover up the birds you’ve carefully marked down. Dogs actually love this — the hoovering part, not the sitting in the kennel part. For a dog used to waiting patiently in the blind to take a direct line to fallen birds, freely quartering through the cover, working into the wind and picking up a feathered treasure here and there has to be the ultimate hunting gig. The only retriever who has it nearly as good might be the one that rides on the wagon while quail hunting. It gets to mop up after the pointers have done their work.

But great hunting seldom happens that closely to a vehicle. Jump-shooting a series of honey holes or floating/wading winding creeks can take you miles from the truck. Even if you had the energy and enough daylight to go back and get the dog, the chances of marking the birds well enough to give the dog a shot to retrieve them are slim to none. To be a great jump-shooting companion, your dog needs the skills to go wherever you go.

At the very least, these skills include unfailingly heeling off lead (even in the water), remote sit/stay, rock-solid steadiness, working from whispered commands and working from hand signals. Some avid jump-shooters take it to the next level and even teach their duck dogs to crawl. Let’s look at what’s required in various jump-shooting situations.

Small-Craft Steadiness

While steadiness boosts retrieving efficiency, in the case of small watercraft, it’s even more about safety. An unsteady dog in a canoe or kayak is a huge liability. It will make the hunt far less productive and a whole lot less enjoyable. Silently floating a creek while anticipating what’s around the corner — perhaps with the gabble of feeding ducks reaching your ears — can be as exciting as hunting gets for you and your dog. Still, your dog must overcome the anticipation by sitting still until you determine it’s safe for your retriever to leave the boat.

This level of steadiness is equal to any demanded in a blind, and might be even more important in a small craft. How you establish the fundamentals is the same as on land — you just need to practice it even more, and in controlled situations that replicate this style of hunting.

Wade for It

When you’re wading while jump-shooting, there will be times when the best position for the dog is close at your side. Other times, it might be best for the dog to travel in the shallows, on the bank or in thick cover.

Heeling in the water is a skill that must be trained like any other. Again, it goes to creating training scenarios that duplicate what you’ll actually face in the field. To train heel while swimming, you need to get in the water and wade. And to prepare for current, you need to practice in the current.

When the jump-shooting dog is not at your side, he needs to reliably respond remotely and quietly. Finished dogs are taught to take hand signals that lead them to blind retrieves, but how many are trained to sit or come to heel on a hand signal? The same holds true for responding to whispered commands. How much shooting will you get if you give a tweet on the whistle or shout “sit!” as you approach that beaver pond?

Sneak Attacks

There are two ways to approach sneaking fields or ponds. You can either sit the dog some distance away to watch you and then respond when you give the command to come in, or you can elect to have the dog at your side right through the moment of truth.

The first option requires a combination of the skills already mentioned: super steadiness, response to silent, remote commands and perhaps the willingness to take whispered commands. The second also requires the perfect heel in all cover types, and perhaps one more: Some serious sneak-shooters actually train their dogs to belly crawl.

This is obviously advanced training after the dog has mastered flawless heeling and a silent “down.” YouTube is full of videos that show you how to teach a dog to crawl, but all of them seem to do it with treats. You can do it that way if you want, but serious training of hunting dogs doesn’t rely on food treats. The reward for your dog behaving the way you ask is getting to make a retrieve. Bumpers and birds are the treats.

So instead of kibble, use a bumper to lure the dog forward in a belly crawl, and then, after a few feet, say “OK” and let the dog fetch the bumper. Foot by foot, yard by yard, lengthen this until your dog will crawl as far as you want.

Once the dog masters crawling, give your dog the “down” command, put the bumper in plain sight on the grass a distance ahead, then go back to the dog and go prone in the “heel” position. Give the dog whatever “heel crawl” command you wish, and then crawl with your dog toward the enticing bumper.

Hey, nobody said this was going to be easy.

But once you’ve got it down, think about the excitement that you’ll find together in every moment of waterfowl hunting, whether you’re in the blind or on the move. --Bill Miller