For opening weekend, my husband was hunting wood ducks on the river.  The spot he hunts is an off-shoot from the main river so there is not a lot of current.

There are also beavers in the area and they have done a good job of damming it up so it is like a little pool.  According to Bird Web a strong beaver population is helpful in creating the forested wetland habitat that supports wood ducks.  That may explain why there are so many wood ducks around there.

Wood ducks are active for only the first ten or so minutes of shooting hours and then they disappear.  You have to be on your toes to bag one as they wiz past.

You also need a dog because chances are the duck is going to fall on the other side of the river and it is just too deep to wade through.

The duck hubby shot landed exactly there, on the other side of the river.  There was only one dog available to retrieve it…Freighter.

Freighter did not initially go along because the area is kind of tight and you can’t move around much.  Freighter still has a lot of puppy wiggles in him so he waited at home.  When hubby came back for Freighter, I figured I would tag along and try to get a few pictures of the retrieve.

We parked at the end of a gas line road and then had a short walk through the trees to get to the river.

Gas Line Road
The River Is Down A Hill And Through The Trees

The overnight temperatures were in the 30’s so as the sun was coming up, the fog was rolling in.  By the time we got there it was it difficult the get clear pictures, but luckily the bird landed belly up so it was visible on the other side of the river.

The Duck Freighter Needs To Retrieve

Freighter is just starting to learn handling and he has not done any blind retrieves so he was walked out to a spot in the cover where hopefully he could see the bird.  He spotted it right away and was sent to retrieve it.

In no time he was across the river and back.  I had to be quick with the camera to get a few pictures.

Freighter Off To Fetch The Duck
Closer
Almost There
He Has It
On His Way Back
This Way Freighter
Closer
Almost Back
Good Boy!

Excellent job for a 10 month old puppy.  He had no trouble blasting through the cover and brought the duck all the way back to the bank of the river.  It was a textbook retrieve just like Darrin taught him.  Thank you Darrin!  Since Thunder and Storm are out for hunting season, it looks like Freighter will have to pick up the slack.

Hold Still For A Picture

We didn’t stick around too long because that water was cold and we didn’t have a vest on Freighter.  He doesn’t have a lot of fat and he is just starting to get his winter coat, so he was shivering a bit.  We dried him off quickly because we did not want a case of cold tail his first time out.  🙂

We did try to take a couple of pictures later, but taking pictures of an excited wiggly puppy is not easy.

That Is My Duck!
Proud Puppy

17 thoughts on “Freighter Gets His Duck”

  2. Clap!Clap!Clap! Great job Freighter! Boy you must have been feeling pretty proud of him. What an excellent retrieve!

    I want to thank you for all your constant kind words and support for Freddie. Vet bills can be so costly and it sucks we don’t have assistance up here but I am going to look into everything I can. You just take care of the big guy! 🙂

  6. I have the biggest smile on my face. He did a great job and you can see how proud he is in that picture. Way to go Freighter!!

  7. Great job Freighter! Good thing your peoples have you to step up to the pond when the big dogs are on sick leave.

  9. Congrats on Freighter’s first retrieve of the season! I’m so impressed at how skillful he already is!

  10. Oh, wow, go Team Freighter! His focus on getting that duck and bringing it right back was very impressive. Especially in a dog still so young! He is definitely going to be a champion one day, there is no doubt.

  12. Great job, Freighter! It’s always fun watching pups do their “first” anything.

  16. The duck was down, no one else there to do the job!! Freighter steps up and off he goes he grabs the duck and starts back through the freezing water. Yah! Freighter and the duck have made it. Terrific job Freighter you did it just right :-))

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