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Longest blind retrieve ever??

5K views 17 replies 15 participants last post by  swliszka 
#1 ·
Working pretty hard on extending my dogs pattern blinds out to what I would consider way further than I would ever need to send him (+250 yds) preparing and ramping up to start cold blinds in the next couple of weeks when I got to thinking, what is the furthest anybody has ever successfully sent a dog on a cold blind/blind retrieve?
 
#3 ·
Ha, I remember Pete having someone hiding in bush half way out to a long ass blind so dog could hear the bloody whistle. He still handled though.
 
#6 ·
There are two obvious components, can you see the dog and can the dog hear the whistle. There are many variables so there is no singular answer. With appropriate terrain and wind 500+ yards is doable but on flat ground with an unfavorable wind 250 yards might not be doable.
 
#8 ·
When I trained at a abandoned runway, Bong Recreational, Kenosha, Wisconsin used to toss bumpers out the window of my truck and run them back at upwards of 1/6 to 1/8th of a mile. At the time thought doing marks and blinds at that distance was "cool" training. Then couldn't figure out why my dog didn't take angle backs and overran every short mark she ever ran and wanted to go long. The dog I did that with is long deceased, still train at Bong, though, but, don't do those silly blinds anymore. Length of blinds? conventional wisdom! Oh I know of one very prominent Pro used to station folks to run the dogs as they went and jump out as the dogs went by. True story,don't think he trains that way anymore.
 
#9 ·
In training 1/4 mile is about the longest I have done. Pretty much a "pattern blind" for my older dogs, from a mound on the front my 40 acres, to a crooked diseased black poplar tree on the back fence line.

Hunting was just shy of 3/4 of a mile. From the top of the highest hill outside Leeds ND on a spring Snow Goose hunt, bird sailed to a ditch on the "correction line" as it was called by the locals, we were on the 1st fence line into the section which was 1/4 mile in. Course this was hunting so we let him fade with the wind and he ended up 50 or 75 yards down wind and hunted it in from there. One of those times where you would have done ANYTHING to get that on film, but trust me it is BURNED into my mind.
 
#10 ·
Cool ! Thanks for sharing.. I can picture that ... !
 
#12 ·
We have gone on a few spring snow goose hunts. The field we hunt in is about 800 acres of tilled black dirt around the hunt area. We have done some that were maybe 1000 yds. Usually get them going that diriction and after about 400 yds they cant hear any more and keep truckin. Then they see the big white goose on the black dirt. These were all age dogs in great shape and we would only do 2 or so a day because they are wore out. Its cool to have 5 or 10 hunters all looking thru binocs at a blind retrieve and all cheers and high 5 when the dog picks the bird up.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Longest blind retrieve ever?? About 25 minutes, I thought he'd caught the bus home. Moonflighting duck on the Severn; the old boy knew I'd hit it (I wasn't sure) and it went out of view over the Wyre forest which comes right down to the river at that spot.

The best blind retrieve that any dog of mine ever made was the same fellow but only about 40-ish yards. That was another night time job, a running woodcock in a Christmas tree plantation that was as black as pitch. He was 200 yards away in the car when the bird was shot, but I cast him off from where the Gun stood. Five or six minutes and he'd got it. And no, he wasn't a Labrador. ;)

Eug
 
#18 ·
My best dog I did one drill 600 yds straight and re-run , stop at 300 yds and cast 100 yds into the wind either left or right , and finish w.no wind. I also had another drill where he got to a big rock @ 200 yds and had to jump the rock about 4 feet high and 8 feet deep . He was non-collar. You train harder than the trial. Not bragging just telling. Do I have an NFC ? No. I will keep going until I die or run out of money. Hardcore amateur but not too proud to pay a pro (1st tier only) when my brain/experience is not enough. Good luck.
 
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