[Tobias]

There are reasons for stickmen.
If you want your dog to be comfortable/confident marking a bird at 300 yd (that 'sailer'), then stick men will come in very handy ---
BUT, I generally agree with Steve on this, not absolutely necessary and possibly counterproductive for a hunting dog, if they learn to depend on them...... I use stickmen about half the time when I train, when I am working on concepts or running FT distance marks. The rest of the time, I hide my wingers in/behind brush or grass, or a blind, if needed, but I prefer natural cover if at all possible. The get the shot/sound for location purposes. Unless I am getting ready to run HRC, which does not use attn getting sounds in the field, then I go silent throws from hidden stations for the week before the test.

 

[Tobias]

Opinions on what is "absolutely necessary" for a hunting dog vary a great deal.
Stick men used in training retrievers for field trials, hunt tests or hunting are not counterproductive but training methods frequently are.
A dog becoming dependent on stick men would be one possible result of poor training.

DP....I think we could name you the spindoctor of rtf. 😂 you are really great at taking someone's words and reorganizing them for a different meaning....

I mean, I could recommend giving beer to the gunners at a training session and you would find a way to make it seem like they were all alcoholics. LOL!!!!!

 

[Tobias]

no one said they 'are' counterproductive...

whatever happened to reading comprehension.......

 

[Tobias]

DP I wasn't offended - that is one thing RTF has taught me. But I did want to make myself understood more clearly. People pick keywords that stick out to them and focus on those

And yes, I do believe you are very good at spinning things. No offense meant.