Rich, good for you. Glad you had a great time on your hunts. Hope you never have a bad one. I as well have been to some very exclusive hunting lodges and so called Orvis endorsed lodge of the year operations that were high end as well. Have also been to the mid range and budget locations where you just flat out kick the birds to fly or they just hop type operations. So yes I know the difference. Not even trying to compare the experiences. Its like watching a college football game where two teams are evenly matched top 4 teams and you don't know the outcome vs a Top 10 team in the SEC/ACC playing New Mexico State and biggest challenge is picking the score. Different experiences and each have different appreciation or purposes.
I grew up with and still firmly believe that hunting dogs should be hunting partners and part of the family. That only happens if you build a bond with that dog. I have trained bird dogs and labs and it would destroy me to no end to have one of my dogs shot so I get your point and agree with you. This point runs deeper in me than you will ever know because I have seen a bird dog shot. I also say this while my springer spaniel is curled up at my feet. I can count the days in my life when I was only temporarily out of some type of dog ownership.
My intended point and what pisses me off because I have also been to those so called high end lodges that have about 50 dog kennels and the guides don't hardly know the dogs. They then put out 3 or 4 on the ground yell here dog. Most of the time dogs are only functioning in rawest form and they know how to find and chase and jump at pen raised birds on the flush and that's about it. Those are the ones that get shot on accident and I don't blame the dogs, they are just doing what they have been allowed and practically trained to do, which is whatever they want and little guidance. BTW I don't go back or recommend those locations to people that I know. But I also don't list them openly because my experience and appreciation level maybe different than others. What I find distasteful others may not care or can't get enough of it. To each their own.
Personally I also think flushing dogs are a good thought bad idea if you ever really want to develop a good pointing bird dog into a true hunting partner. I think half the bad habits these plantation dogs get are because of these flushing dogs. One of my favorite books and movies is about Seabiscuit and how that trainer knew by looking at that horse in the eye what its potential was. I also appreciated how he was able to figure out how the horse in its early development was trained to lose and how it pissed Seabiscuit off and almost made him dangerous and contempt. I think flushing dogs can do the same thing and a lot dogs never reach their potential possibly due to flushing dogs.
It wasn't until about 15 years ago when I started seeing and going to some commercial plantation hunts that I ever saw flushing dogs. I too was enamored at novelty but I started watching the bird dogs reactions after flushing dogs came in. You could almost see the dejected body language in the spirited older dogs every time after a flush, its almost like someone kicked them and they would slink off and maybe hunt for dead birds or maybe not. Others it just aggravated them and they would break with the flushing dog.
I have already harvested my fair share of birds, I am more interested in seeing good dog work, a fair chase, a well placed clean ethical shot and then a handsome retrieve with a proud dog bringing the game to hand and satisfied that it knows whats its doing what its supposed to do and can't get enough of it. More times than not I get to see this in the quality operations or I get to participate with people that have their own dogs and I enjoy seeing them work their dogs. Like I said the some of these operations regardless of how much they cost will run out any old dog they got and call it a hunting dog as long as it looks like a pointing dog and it may point at something. To me that just isn't hunting. If it was all like that then I would sell my bird guns and quit it all together, but thankfully its not.
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