Of all three dogs, Freighter always seems to have the worst luck when he is out waterfowl hunting.  Many times he has gone out, only to have nothing to retrieve.  As a result, he has the least experience retrieving in a hunting situation.  Sure he trains and runs retriever hunt tests, but that is not exactly the same thing as hunting.

Last weekend hubby and Freighter set out to hopefully get him a bird to retrieve.  They headed down to the river for some wood duck hunting.  The area they hunt is a very short drive from the cabin, but they have to walk through the pitch black forest with their gear to get to the river.

Once there, they set out a few decoys.

There was a mist rising from the water but little wind.  Wind can help the decoys to move in a more realistic way, but this day it was calm.

There is a lot of cover on both banks of the river.

Hubby and Freighter waited and waited.  Most of the birds just kept flying past.  Wood ducks fly way too fast to try for a shot as they are zooming by.  Hubby was hoping Freighter would not get skunked again.

Finally a nice drake wood duck in full plumage showed up and hubby took the shot.  Freighter was nice and steady just like he has been practicing in his hunt test training.  (If you are a regular reader, you know Freighter has had a problem breaking at tests.  Hubby spent the summer working on Freighter’s steadiness so it was nice that he waited to be sent.)  Hubby released him but he must not have seen where the bird fell so hubby lined him up and sent him on a “back” command also like he has been practicing in his hunt test training.

If you are wondering whether hunt test training helps with hunting, this is a perfect example of how training can help in an actual hunting situation.  Once he was lined up and sent, Freighter knew exactly what he was supposed to do so he headed out in the direction he was sent and he held the line fairly well.

The duck must not have been dead because it made it to the cover across the river.  Freighter crossed the river and his nose kicked in and then the hunt was on.  In addition to the cover, there was a bunch of branches and downed trees on that side of the river.

Freighter got a bit hung up on the debris but he stayed in the hunt and eventually got his bird.  Hubby was thankful to have a dog to retrieve this bird.  Without a dog he would have had to wade across and there is no telling if he would have been able to find that bird.

With wood duck hunting, they fly through in the morning and once they are done, they are done for the day, so one duck was it.  But it was a nice duck.

The bird was a bit frozen so I propped it up to get a photo of the colors and plumage.

Freighter was a proud doggie and hubby was very pleased with him.  Hopefully Freighter will get a chance for more waterfowl retrieves this season.

Tomorrow–Storm’s adventure.