Dogs for Tracking

[Labs4me]

Guys...

My belief is that there is no one "best" dog. Clearly some breed would lend themselves to TRACKING better than others, but really, don't sell your dog short. You'd be amazed at what MOST dogs are capable of. I think we can all agree on the notion that ALL dogs are more capable of tracking BY SCENT than we are. Besides, once you've put your best effort into locating a downed deer without success- once the blood trail has run dry- what would it hurt to bring your "other hunting buddy" out to give it a whirl.

Here in Michigan where the winters can be long and brutal once the bow season comes to an end, there's nothing that I enjoy more than getting home from work (that's the part I like best!), grabbing my Lab, my bow and my back quiver and chasing bunnies for an hour behind the house. It would be misleading to say that I take a lot of rabbits with my archery tackle, but I do get my shots and LOTS of exercise and quality time with my dog.

To me the highlight of this thread has been seeing pictures of everyone's dog. NICE PICTURES gang! Aside from traditional archery, one of my other passions is DOGS and in my view there is no such thing as a bad dog.

Labs

[Bonebuster]

Bart, the Basset Hound.

He was a farting, food stealing, digging up the yard, girl chasing, pick-up seat trashing, window smearing, shoe eating, tracking machine.

Out of desperation, he was called out to see what he could do on a lost deer hit with a .243.
The buck of a lifetime, for a seventy yr old lady
who had a PERFECT record of never hitting and not recovering an animal.

He was my rabbit dog, and I was worried it would ruin him for rabbits. But we had to try.

Long story short, with only her word that she was sure her bullet connected, we found her double beamed 20 inch 11 point, two hundred yards from where he was hit. No blood sign or hair whatsoever. Gut shot.

He just figured out what we were up to and did it.
From that point on, he went on all the blood trails I could get involved in. He recovered at least a dozen deer that would have been tough if not impossible to find. It taught me that severely wounded deer WILL NOT travel more than 250 yds, before laying down, and if you back out and give them time, and not push them, that is where you will find them. It also taught me that if a deer is pushed from its first bed, there is no telling how far it will travel before stopping.

He was always restrained with a harness, and when he trailed, he would not sound out loud, only wimpers and groans. Sometimes he could "sense" a deers location, and often look to the direction of the deer before we got to it, as he was tracking. Often he would stop, twenty to thirty feet away, and go no further. Especially if the deer was still alive.

For some reason, good dogs don`t seem to live long.

I can see the benefit, of smaller dogs as trackers. I have a daschound, who will be old enough next yr to start, and see what she will do.

[DRR324]

Well, I have 3 dogs at home: a yellow lab, english setter (bird dog only) and a cavalier king charles spaniel- my wifes lap dog.  Was going to start training the lab to be a tracking dog, but the little spaniel has showed some decent skill in finding morsels I throw into the snow.  Not real sure my wife will be hip on using her $1000 lap dog to find a blood trail and blood covered deer, but I sure would like to see how the little fellow does.  

[Terry Green]

I cleaned this one up....no problem with tracking dog threads, long as they are civil.

Carry on......

[Shawn Leonard]

Labs, you do realize these dogs do not track fur? They are blood trailing dogs as if they tracked deer well they would go nots jumping one after another. I agree with ya though that any dog can and will work but some breeds are just better or more suited to it, just like your labs for ducks, yes they do it all but their specialty is ducks. Shawn

[Bill Kissner]

Thanks for bringing this back up Terry.

You fellas and ladies that live in states that do not allow dogs for tracking deer can get involved in persuading your state officials to consider this. There is information on the deer search and united bloodtracker sites to help with this. Illinois gave the okay a few years ago.

Getting back to the breeds....the wirehaired daschund is probably the ultimate bloodtrailer because of their superior scenting ability. That and being small makes them number one in my book. One that has the right breeding can track lines exceeding 48 hours.

Most of us can get by with a dog with somewhat less scenting prowess as we won't be taking many 48 hour tracks. I settled on a jagdterrier for a couple reasons. Field bred daschunds are nonexistant in my area and I didn't want to be put on a waiting list. I was lucky enough to find a new litter of jagds and took advantage. The other reason is Cheryl and Matt at Shiloh have used a jagd for tracking hogs with great success.

[ckruse]

This thread could use some comic relief... Here's a shot of my little German co-pilot.


 

[ckruse]

Blood trailing is serious business.. which leads to serious naptimes!!

 

CKruse

[ckruse]

The end result is a team that works..
 

[ckruse]

Missouri added a statute this year allowing the use of leashed tracking dogs. It was allowed administratively in the past on an individual case basis by the applicable Conservation Agent. Just to echo a few thoughts here, I believe everyone should read John Jeanneny's book whether you intend to train a dog or not. If you are considering it, get the book by all means. A lot of facts and misnomers regarding breed selection, training, and the place of the dog in the family are discussed. Keep in mind this gentleman has spent the bigger part of a lifetime focusing on this specialized area of training. John and Jolanta were extremely helpful to me, and this is coming from a guy who did not buy a dog from them. (Not that I would hesitate to.)  They have done more to further this cause than anyone else, and have the primary and major bloodline of hunting dachshunds in the United States. I hope you enjoyed the pictures of my 1 year old Fred and his bald headed owner! CKruse

[wapiti792]

Well my 4 legged owner brought me something odd today. I pulled up into the yard and saw what I thought was a ribcage. Thinking she had drug up something dead I was amazed to find a shed...a fresh shed. I'll post a pic later if I can. All I can think of is a stressed deer or EHD deer that recovered but lost it's horns. I've seen pics of their hooves and joints that looked swollen and cracked. It would have scored in the 150s with a 18 inch spread! I'm going to call the game biology guy tomorrow to see what he thinks. Heck it would have been in my top 3. I've never seen this deer and I know Katie doesn't leave the property more than an acre or 2.

That dog of mine continues to amaze me. She recovered 5 deer this year for the family: all of which I would have found anyway, but you never know when that shot may not be right and you're going to need a nosy dog! Besides, I think I've found my new shed hunting partner.

[Tbilisi]

I do like the breeds mentioned but is there anyone using a beagle for this purpose.  Being a keen nose and Hound I would have thought there would be more individuals using beagles.  Any input?

[killinstuff]

Tim, my GSP's track blood not fur. Not one ever chased a deer but they sure have pointed a ton of Grouse, Woodcock and Pheasents and found a bunch of deer freinds and I have shot. I could care less about Grouse trials because I hunt for fun not ego. My dogs do what I want them to do and that's the bottom line. So to the person that wants a pointing dog and wants it to track shot deer, don't worry about, the dogs not going to because a cold blooded deer and sheep killers.

[Labs4me]

Yep- what Shawn said...

[Tim Schoenborn]

Originally posted by killinstuff:
Tim, my GSP's track blood not fur. Not one ever chased a deer but they sure have pointed a ton of Grouse, Woodcock and Pheasents and found a bunch of deer freinds and I have shot. I could care less about Grouse trials because I hunt for fun not ego. My dogs do what I want them to do and that's the bottom line. So to the person that wants a pointing dog and wants it to track shot deer, don't worry about, the dogs not going to because a cold blooded deer and sheep killers.

Thats awesome!!!!      "killinstuff"

[Izzy]

Im no bird hunting fool, so a dog for me would be primarily a family pet.My old sheperd Honey(RIP) was a tremendous deer tracker finding several lost deer but had to be kept on a leash or she would run live deer when they were sighted on a track.I shot bunnies and woodcock over my pitbull Nina whos still kickin at 15 but she was never put on a bloodtrail of a wounded deer although Im sure shed succeed since she always manages to find every dead beast within a mile of her and unfortunately likes to bathe in them.So I get the feeling that any dog can multi task even if they cant show or compete.

[bearhair]

There was recently a young bloodhound mix at the local shelter.  I was really htinking hard about it.  Anyone have experience with bloodhounds for tracking a downed deer?

[Tbilisi]

I have a friend that has a bloodhound.  Most incrediable nose on this dog.  Never seen anything lik it.

[laddy]

My dog is  cocker, he is cute, aggressive, points pheasants, and tries to retrieve them but the arrow always thwarts his attempt if it is still in the pheasant.  He will also drive you nuts when butchering, cooking, or handing out venison jerky.  He's got a real taste for venison.  He also has a nasty habit of finding every dead deer in the woods when we go rabbit hunting after the deer seasons close.
   One point, a dog that flushes and retrieves rabbits will need a flee bath after the hunt. An important consideration for a dog that insists on sleeping in the same bed you do.

[Labs4me]

Laddy:

Your last point should not be discounted. Here in Michigan, we've already had temps down into the teens and significant snow accumulation on several occassions, yet the rabbits still have a few fleas on them. For this reason, I do not allow my Lab near a shot rabbit. When used as a bunny dog, he serves as a flusher only. I handle the retireves! This is where the commands, "Sit and STAY!" come in handy.

As an extra precaution I always cleaned my rabbits at a makeshift cleaning station several hundred feet from the house and typically leave my outer hunting clothes on a fence post for several hours and then shake them out before bringing them into the garage. This has been my system for over a decade and (knock on wood) fleas have never been an issue.