Anyone give up hunting other species after getting your dog?

[Keep'er Movin]

Since I got my first pointer, I've been bird hunting all fall and only made it out deer hunting with the bow once. This is very unlike me...I live for the rut and bowhunting. But this year was different. I didn't have the urge to go and wanted to spend as much time with my Griff as possible. I'm just wondering if any of you gave up deer hunting, fishing, other big game hunting once you got your dog or do you seem to balance your time equally? What percent of the season do you dedicate to your dog and chasing birds for those that have dogs? Maybe this is the beginning of the end of my bowhunting career? I just can't seem to wait to start walking fields with shotgun in hand and my dog by my side.

 

[jejack26]

I've gone back and forth for over 40 years. Seems like first couple years with new dog i get focused on training and polishing the dog. Then get some balance back. Still love big game but a dog only lives for a short time.

 

[Nick87]

When I got serious enough about duck hunting to get a dog, I was a bird hunting nut. All but threw deer season to the side for a handful of years. Dog is getting some miles on her now and I'm back to where everything is in moderation. If the weather is best for bowhunting that's what I'm doing and vice versa. It's nice here.

 

[Flynarrow]

At 81 yo, I have definitely decided that quail, phez, huns and chukars are a lot more fun to pack back to the truck than an elk.

 

[Steelsearchin]

Most definitely. Pre-dog days I'd bowhunt 5 nights a week. Then it was shoot the first deer or two that came into bow range so I could get back to bird chasing. This year I sat three times all bow season. I wish that meant the new pup is turning into a rockstar, but that's not the case. Great dog, but he needs more quality bird contacts, and we have plenty of time.

Hell, I've got a buddy that gave up his first wife to spend more time with his bird dog.

 

[JLS]

Bought one dog, hung up my bow. Five years later, I bought another dog and sold my bow.

 

[Birdbander]

I gave up deer hunting just over 20 years ago after getting my first bird dog. I tried staying with bow hunting the following fall but all I could think about was how much time I was missing while sitting in a tree stand.

There's so much more freedom being a bird hunter. I'm not restricted to a few private ground parcels, always considering the wind, rut stages, food sources, other people, etc.

Plus interacting with the dogs every day regardless if it's hunting season or not

I can't say its cheaper though

 

[Nick87]

can't say its cheaper though

Ain't that the truth.

 

[Matthew57]

I shot the first legal buck I saw so I could get right to bird hunting with my dog. It’s my favorite thing to do these days. Won’t completely give up big game by any means but definitely scaled back.

 

[F250]

There was about a 15 year period in my life when I didn’t do any big game hunting. It was all Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and waterfowl.

 

[SilentBirdHunter]

When I moved from Alaska to Montana, I gave up big game hunting. 30 years of big game hunting in Alaska was enough for me. Now I get to bird hunt most mornings from Sept to mid January. Retired and living the dream. Photo from this morning's hunt. Wet dog and wet rooster.

 

[Jnasa]

I have debated getting a bird dog multiple times the last couple of years. I haven’t been able to do it because work is busy in the fall and I also like big game hunting. I’m worried either I wouldn’t do the dog justice or I would give up more of my big game.

 

[crock239]

Nice to know I'm not the only one that feels this way...

 

[Jnasa]

Then someone posts a picture of a lab retrieving and I start second guessing myself. Thanks SilentBirdHunter. Nice looking dog.

 

[Flynarrow]

Although I took my longbow out long enough to put a couple of deer in the freezer, I also have been out bird hunting(huns, phez and chukars) with the GSP 40 days so far and soon headed south for another 40 days of quail. Both the dog and I benefit from the exercise.

 

[Moserkr]

Loved hunting behind my dog when he was around. Occasionally he would go after a deer though and Id know it cause he would disappear from our bird hunt, then a minute later a big buck would crash out of the corn or brush (sodak).

Fast forward to moving back behind enemy lines (CA), and the regs state we can hunt deer with dogs (but not bear or cats). Ok... so I load up a shotgun with slugs and go "deer hunting". Was actually a lot of fun flushing deer with a dog. Got close to getting a shot on a buck. They held like a rooster in the snow, busting out at the last second. But bird hunting with a well trained dog that you are in sync with is impossible to beat.

 

[Clarq]

I did the reverse. After my dad's last dog got too old to hunt, I more or less gave up on upland bird hunting and have since gotten much more into big game hunting. She was a chocolate lab, and a pheasant's worst nightmare. I got spoiled. Now I just can't get excited about hunting most upland game species without a good dog.