Eric Haynes wrote:I hunt with a lot of dogs that break before the first shot is even fired. Gotta suck for the dogs ears.
Sucks worse when a load of shot catches them in the ear. Perhaps ironically, most shot dog incidents I'm aware of saw the owner clipping his own dog when it jumped in front of his gun. Probably happens a lot more often in areas like ours, where dogs are commonly hunted beside pit blinds, than others.
But good blind manners go well beyond safety by contributing to opportunity. A dog that minds its manners affords more gunning than one that doesn't, at least down here. Mine are taught from puppyhood to lay quietly by pits in the face of distractions like calling and released pigeons and are pretty good about it.
Usually... Here's a quote from one of my logs:
Dog(s) and Dog Work: The coyote stood up on one pair when he thought we would shoot (low, low but behind the blind), then dove for cover when he realized his error, but too late. And I told him so in no uncertain terms. "Interesting" part was that our guests had just complimented his manners, and I'd told them, "He doesn't run anything off." The dog you brag on...
Followed by:
Photo Ops: Thoroughly contrite offender:
