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I am writing this after leaving the game warden in the field of South Dakota and having driven 24 hours + straight to get our Sadie girl home to be taken care of. Please parden any typos and grammar as the pain, guilt and anger I am feeling is overwhelming and I am Hoping that this will help. Sadie was a great dog and was a eager hunter in the field. She was a true hunting partner and found great joy in working birds. We were on a trip booked through a group that has parties hunt private leased land that the landowner shows you a d indicates where to hunt. We were hunting an area the landowner indicated held birds but nothing else. I was working one corner of the field and was going to block while my father and friend worked to that end. It was there that Sadie encountered an illegally set a 12” (330 or larger) Conibear trap on the edge of the prairie grass. I saw it happen, heard her and ran to her as she struggled. I tried to open the trap with all my might using my leg muscles and arms but was not able to save my dog. It was the most horrible thing. I prayed while trying to save here, screamed for help till my lungs hurt. I worked to exhausted to get her free finally using a metal bar that just barely move the pinkey sized bars and to allow her head to be pushed out. After screaming some more to God, firing off six rounds in the air in quick succession and finally getting enough cell signal to get our friend so they could come quickly. I collapsed, cryed and waited until my father got there. I carried my girl to the truck in tears and but her in her kennel and while my father collected my gun and coat.
After leaving the field we went to the landowner who “said” he didn’t know anyone was trapping there but offered no remorse ( and this is someone that is was said to be a minister) and simply closed the door on my father and friend. Next came a the most difficult phone call I have ever made to my wife, telling her Sadie was gone and that I couldn’t save her. We went back to our lodging packed and decided to drive straight home. As we left something told me to check the regulations book and it was there that a I saw that a trap that size could not be set on land. I called fish and game and we met a game warden within ten minutes as her was in the town we were in. He looked at Sadie and he expressed his condolences and asked that I take him to where it happened and show him the trap. He said he couldn’t make any promises but wanted to look. He followed us to where this senseless tragedy occurred. After looking at the trap and location he told us that it was set illegally as I thought. I asked him if he could show me how to open the trap and he said it takes a very strong man to set thi large a trap and that they use a special tool. He tried positioning it between his legs to open it and was unable to open it. He said that he believed it was one of the “Colony guys” trap and that he would begin his investigation after he took some pictures and dug up the trap. He took my information and and said that we could get started home and that he would contact me and have me send a written statement. I pray that he is successful in his investigation and that whoever is responsible for taking our dog from us is held responsible.
This event was extremely traumatic for me, I won’t go into detail about how gruesome but suffice it to say I can’t imagine a worse way to die. I am having difficulty not seeing the images in my mind and believe I have some type of PTSD going on. I found this link on how to save a dog from a Conibear trap but I can tell I did not have the strength to compress this size trap’s springs.
https://scottlindenoutdoors.com/wing...conibear-trap/
If even sharing this link helps save someone else from having to experience this then I will be happy that some small positive will come from this trauma.
I am left with several decisions now. The most important being how best to honor my Sadie. I pray that she forgives me for not having the strength or skill to save her. My wife, family and friends have told me that it is not my fault but it is hard not feel some guilt. I am angry at the person who by negligence or design set the stage for this tragedy. The worst part is right now I am questioning whether I want to hunt again as the joy of it feels as if it was stolen from me. There aren’t enough birds in the world to make this experience worth it. I do know that God willing I will have another Brittany. I do feel that Sadie would be any me to hunt again but I am sure it may only be on a preserve where I can have some sense of safety for my dog because of the controlled environment. I did not not even remotely intend this to be this long but as I finish this through tears I believe it helped. Please take a moment to hug your dog and tell them the love you have for them as you never know when that last time might be.