Years ago, I ran my only 2 dogs before the season opened about 25 miles from my house. Just before dark I saw them running down a hedge row. They must have chased a deer because when it came time to go home they didn’t come to the truck. I called and called but they didn’t come in. One of these dogs was young but they usually came right in. I stayed until well after dark but I had to go home without my dogs. I had heard that if you leave something they will be lying on it when you come back. It was a warm day and the only thing I had was the shirt I was wearing. I placed it on the other side of the fence near where I parked the truck.
The next morning I had some things to do so it was about 10:00 am before I could go get my dogs. I was expecting to find the dogs lying on the shirt. When I got there I could tell that they had been there but they were no where to be seen.
Before I left the day before I had talked to the farmer in the closest house so I talked to him again. He said they were lying on the shirt early that morning and he was surprised that they weren’t still there. I started driving, stopping and calling for them. I stopped to talk and left my phone number with anyone close. At the end of the day I still hadn’t found them.
The next day I had to work at the fire station. I paced the floor, worried about the dogs until about 2:00 pm and I talked the Assistant Chief into giving me a few hours off to look for my dogs.
I stopped to talk to the farmer and he said they were still around. They had been near the shirt early that morning and they had come into his yard later but they wouldn’t come to him. Again I stayed until after dark but went home without my dogs.
Early the next morning I got a call from the farmer, he said the dogs had come into his yard again and he put some dog food in a pen and had shut the gate on them when they came in to eat. I may have driven faster than the law allowed getting to his house.
Years later I had a pup of about 6 months old with me on a hunting trip. We had hunted a couple of places when I decided to hunt a large CRP field. This farm was 3/4 of a mile deep by a mile wide with really thick grass and weeds. As we got to the back and started to the east I noticed the pup lying down then following along. Then he would go run with the other dogs. When I got back to the truck he was not with us. When I got there I had pulled in on a dead end road to park. I walked back out looking and calling for him with no luck. This time I had a hunting vest that I left near where I had parked the truck.
The next morning I got up really early and arrived at the dead end road before daylight. When I pulled up near where I had left the vest I saw the pup’s head pop up. He was all rested but he was hungry. He was really happy to find me.
This past season a friend of mine was hunting a huge public hunting area with almost no houses close when his pointer did not come in at the end of the day. He thought she had probably chased a deer. He stayed as late as he could calling for his dog but before he left he put an airline crate with a blanket in it near where he had parked his truck.
The area he was hunting was over 2 hours from his house so the next morning he got up at 2:00 am so he could be there before daylight. I know the doubts and negative thoughts going through his mind on the drive out but when he got there she was lying in the box waiting for him.
I was real young when I lost the first 2 dogs for 3 days and not so young when I lost the pup that kept lying down and when my friend lost his dog I’m old enough to have an opinion. If you lose your dog put something out with your smell on it. But its my opinion that you must be there real early to get your dog. A dog will go hunting if you are not there early and I’m not sure how long they will come back to the area they were turned loose.
On the first 2 dogs the farmer was seeing them near the shirt early in the morning. If I had been there at daylight, the first day, I would have found my dogs and they wouldn’t have gone 2 days without food. The puppy and my friends dog were found because we were there at daylight. That was my experience, your experience may be different.