Chessie Tough

rich scheffer

rich scheffer

Well-known member
My friend Jim is a retired Air force guy, chessie owner, breeder, shower, hunt test competitor , and at one time a duck hunter. Jim and I have been talking for years about getting together to hunt, and possibly take his chessie boy Jack on a real hunt instead of the hunt tests he is used to. Well after five or six years of talk, we finally got together last Saturday. Jim met me at Okee Tantee park, on the north end of Lake Okeechobee. All was well, perfect weather, boat ran fine , Jim and myself were just as youthful as ever, even though neither of us has needed to buy a Florida hunting or fishing license for a few years now. Jims chessie Jack was the only one that seemed older, almost 13 to be exact. Boy how time flies! We rode out to one of my favorite afternoon spots, and lo and behold jumped up about two or three hundred ringers. It was much earlier than I had hoped to hunt, but I couldn't resist setting out my decoys. We parked the boat on the east side of a big patch of cat tails and brushed it up with our traditional Florida duck blind material, Palm Fronds. After about a half hour in comes a drake ringer, as I shot, Jims boy Jack went out the back of the boat and into about two acres of cat tails. We called, whistled, pleaded and begged, all to no avail. I let down the blind and tried to run my boat into the reeds to find Jack, and got real stuck about fifty feet in. Jim and I had to get out and push the boat out, the push poles didn't work. We circled the area, whistled, called, I even got into the water again to wade back into the reeds until almost dark, with no response from Jack. Despondently we decided to go home. We figured we needed an airboat to get into the reeds to find Jack. Saturday night Jim made arrangements to charter an airboat to continue our search on Sunday morning. I met Jim and his son and law at the ramp and they in the airboat followed me out to my spot. Same routine only this time the airboat criss crossed back and forth through the big cat tail patch, while I circled around it, in hopes that the noisy airboat would scare Jack out. Two hours of this produced no results. Jim hired an airboat to go out again on Monday, I am sure by now to at least find Jacks remains, no Jack! Tuesday morning after his morning hunt my pal John Van Houten scoured the spot, with no results. Wednesday morning John motored over to the same spot, for one last look, and there was a guy and his wife hunting our spot in waders [airboaters] John asked them if they had seen a lost dog? their reply was "Yes he is in our airboat and he ate a dozen of our doughnuts!" Folks this is four nights in three feet of sixty degree water. After a cellphone call Jim and his wife were high balling it to lake O to pick up their boy. Jack was dehydrated, in shock, his temperature was down to 94 degrees, and his blood sugar was way down. Two nights with Doc Harvey, who put Jack on heating pads, an IV and whatever else a good vet does, and Jack was on his way home with his loving family. Amazing that a dog jacks age has the fortitude and will to live, to spend four nights in this water, remember the nearest land is at least two miles away. John said Jack was no more than a hundred yards away form the spot we hunted in years past. Is Jack one tough dog? Emphatically Yes! Chessie Tough! Rich
 
Wow, I could not read the post without putting myself in that place, what a horrible feeling that had to be, so glad it had a positive ending
 
Glad the whole situation turned out OK, but reading the account of how Jack took off at the shot and wouldn't respond to any sort of "come in" call reinforces my belief that the last place for any dog who is out of control is in a duckboat or blind.


Your friend might have wanted his dog to experience a "real hunt," but it seems the dog was in no way ready to be in that situation.
 
Guys, I would have stayed out all night. The owner was distraught almost in tears, it was his decision to go back to regroup for the next morning. we are both much closer to 70 than 60. There is a time when you just have to put the value of human life and health ahead of your dog. I will say this, I will be very cautious about another persons dog in my boat in the future, no matter how well the person thinks his dog is trained. We both agreed that Jack should never have been off leash. My Diesel dog is pro trained, has two hunt titles, two AKC show titles, is my everyday work companion, my hunter, and is the most obedient dog I have ever owned, but still there are times when I leash him in the boat. One of my buddies recently looked around in his duck boat and realized that his Boykin was not in the boat. My friend turned around and about a mile back is his dog paddling along, could have been tragic, our trails thru the marsh are where the gators hang. My buddy now leashes his Boykin while traveling, Rich
 
That's a story I can relate to. Amazing he had the fortitude to keep going that long. Glad there was a happy ending.

While in my pre-teens my dad bought and trained a lab all summer. On our first hunt the dog spotted a deer and was off. We searched all day with no luck in finding the pup. I was heart broke but it was getting dark and my dad said we'd come back in the morning and continue the search. My dad left his hunting coat in the blind that night. The next morning as we entered the blind there was Copper laying on dads coat. Copper never ran after a deer after that.

Many years later as an adult living in Arkansas a friend from work had a big beautiful black lab that I was told was a great retriever and had never been on a hunt. He asked if he could bring his dog for a hunt sometime. After a lot of thought of the normal stuff like will he be gun shy, how about 15' long lines as I had on my decoys and how is he with behavioral commands. I said sure we'll try it. The day came and Joe, his dog Max and I loaded up the boat and went to the duck hole which was a 15' deep cove on Beaver lake in Northwest Arkansas. The first bird in was a coot. Joe asked if I was going to shoot it. The coot swam around the decoys a long time and I could see Joe was handling Max well. After thinking I'd breast this for my fist coot to see how they taste I raised up and shot as the coot spooked. Max took of and came back with the nearest decoy. After a couple of false starts Max retrieved the coot. Good dog! The next was a Mallard drake. Max was held in position until I got out of the blind to give him a line to the duck past the decoys. Perfect retrieve to hand. For the next two years Joe and Max were my blind buddies until the company we worked for was sold and closed. Joe never took a gun or even shot a bird. He couldn't bring himself to do it but watching his dog work the retrieves on ducks was enough for him. Max was a natural with no hunt training at all. We lost touch as we had found employment in other states. I still think about Joe and Max every time Dani post pics of her Black dog. That is Max dead out.
 
Rich,

Glad to hear in the end everything came out as good as could be expected!!!

Always easy to judge others actions when you are NOT in the situation. Seen very well dogs do some very strange & unexpected things hunting. Instead of criticizing or condemning Rich, learn from this experience.
 
Phil, I asked My friend how Jack would be when we shot, he said Jack had been shot over countless times both during his training and during his many hunt test competitions. When I shot, Jack didn't break and go after the bird, he went the opposite direction, back into the reeds behind us. Rich
 
In Akc hunt tests all shot are away from the dog and not directly over the dog. That and the new experience of being in the close confines of boat could have caused the issue. Shame that it happened, probably could have been avoided, but now that it has happened I would not repeat the experience.
 
Just so everyone knows it was not my Boykin that was left behind as Rich has mentioned.
Since my dog was posted in pics on here and my name. But I'm very good friends with Rich.
 
Sorry about that John. That was definitely not John's boykin Bruno! This guy was running along, obviously his dog saw something she wanted and dove off the back at speed. Good thing she did not become long tail prop burger, or worse gator burger. Rich
 
A few years ago when my Chessie Diesel was fresh out of training, I brought a friend out to hunt with me. We had a ton of teal that year and it was lots of fun to hunt them. My Diesel dog always claims the bow deck as his spot so he can see whats going on. My pal swung on a couple of teal and almost took Diesels head off, or at least severely rung his bell with the muzzel blast. Diesel had a serious attitude change about hunting after that. I could barely get him in the boat. One pitch black morning I launched at an out of the way, unlit ramp. I got about a mile or two down the channel, and just by chance turned my headlamp on, only to see that Diesel was not in the boat. I turned around and ran back to the ramp, and there he was, and so was the commercial catfisherman who backed down the ramp as I was leaving a few minutes ago. I got Diesel in the boat and leashed him to my grab bar. Later that morning, after my hunt I ran into John Van Houten, he asked " did you leave your dog at the ramp this morning?" I said yes, he must have jumped ashore as I was leaving. John said that the catfisherman told him that the dog wouldnt let him out of his truck!, and he was thinking of shooting him! whether he was serious or not, I dont know but the leash is a good thing in a traveling boat. By the way, a pocket full of treats cured Diesel's reluctance to hunt and retrieve, Then he became over zealous and broke out every time I moved my gun, even before I shot. Diesel always was a treat hound, nothing a little training couldnt fix, Rich
 
A few years ago when my Chessie Diesel was fresh out of training, I brought a friend out to hunt with me. We had a ton of teal that year and it was lots of fun to hunt them. My Diesel dog always claims the bow deck as his spot so he can see whats going on. My pal swung on a couple of teal and almost took Diesels head off, or at least severely rung his bell with the muzzel blast. Diesel had a serious attitude change about hunting after that. I could barely get him in the boat. One pitch black morning I launched at an out of the way, unlit ramp. I got about a mile or two down the channel, and just by chance turned my headlamp on, only to see that Diesel was not in the boat. I turned around and ran back to the ramp, and there he was, and so was the commercial catfisherman who backed down the ramp as I was leaving a few minutes ago. I got Diesel in the boat and leashed him to my grab bar. Later that morning, after my hunt I ran into John Van Houten, he asked " did you leave your dog at the ramp this morning?" I said yes, he must have jumped ashore as I was leaving. John said that the catfisherman told him that the dog wouldnt let him out of his truck!, and he was thinking of shooting him! whether he was serious or not, I dont know but the leash is a good thing in a traveling boat. By the way, a pocket full of treats cured Diesel's reluctance to hunt and retrieve, Then he became over zealous and broke out every time I moved my gun, even before I shot. Diesel always was a treat hound, nothing a little training couldnt fix, Rich
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Now those are the type of chessie stories that warm my heart. :).


Edited to add a :).
 
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