ANYONE WHO HAS spent a fair amount of time hunting with gun dogs knows “the look.”
It’s a little tough to describe in print, but it’s that immediately recognizable expression on your dog’s face, equal parts disgust and disappointment, that says you just screwed up, big time.
In many cases, maybe most, it’s caused by a missed shot, usually a “gimme” that the dog knows you should have made. Of course your miss might be due to some—ahem—extenuating circumstances, but your dog probably isn’t interested in your excuses. To wit:
Many years ago I was hunting with Molly, my Irish setter at that time, on the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, Iowa. Neal Smith NWR is a huge compound, nearly 6,000 acres, on which a lot of…
