Tracking Deer into the Future

[tippit]

I had to crow and couldn't resist posting pictures of my dogs litter.  Tilly (our smooth coat wirehair Dachshund) was bred to the Jeanneney's main tracking wirehaired Dachshund Billy...of Born to Track and Tracking Wounded Deer.  Every pup in the litter has been sold to bow hunting families with three of the six pups going to Trad Gang families.  The pups were tracking deer blood & deer hides at 5 weeks of age.

I know this might get pulled...but I keep reading posts of not finding wounded deer or giving up too early!  It is amazing what a good tracking dog can do to follow a trail that literally has blood spots every 10 to 50 yards apart.  Tilly has done a few 1/2 to 1 mile tracks that would boggle your mind let alone your tracking ability.

Anyway I'm very pleased to be able to follow the progress of this crew...yes we are keeping one too!

Doc


Tilly and the six pups


   

Billy the father

   

   

   

   

[Mudd]

Too cute! Thanks for sharing.
God bless,Mudd

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Good post, Doc.  I'm glad your pups are placed and will be used for tracking!

Our teckel pup is getting to be quite a handful at 16 wks.  He's now the dominant dog with a 13 yr old male basset, a 6 yr old female beagle, and a 9 yr old feisty rat terrier.  He LOVES deer legs, especially the tarsal glands of rutty bucks - perfect to roll in!

Keep us updated on your tracking exploits (with pictures, of course) - I think dogs are still very underappreciated for deer recovery. We'll be advertising in western IN / eastern IL next year for tracking services.

Ryan

[4runr]

The last pup in the pics above is now residing in Ohio. He has been here since Friday night and has adjusted well with our Border Collie and BC/ Aussie mix.

I tried to give him his first tracking job this evening when I had a buck and doe in the pasture behind the house just before dark. Fickle winds were the end of my stalk and the buck blew and took the doe off to safety.

Tanner will get his chances as I have alot of hunting friends in the area. Not Trad hunters for the most part, but Tanner doesn't know the difference.

[LAR43]

Gotta love 'em Doc! Doing what they were born & bred to do!!    
Not to mention they're beautiful!!!!

Larry

[Shaun]

Great looking hunds Doc!

[Larry Surtees]

           

[VTer]

Do you need a dog tracking liscense in MA to bloodtrail wounded deer? We do here in VT. A guy at work has the liscense and that's the breed of dog he has. His dad was one of the first in the state to get certified.

[Hattrick]

Lets hear more! When track is on leash or off?

[leatherneck]

Hell Doc, I wish I'd had known. A color blind guy like me could use a dog like this. I have really been thinking about one of those. Nice looking litter.

[Pinecone]

Oh my God...they are adorable!!  Thanks for sharing, Jeff!

Claudia

[tippit]

You aren't allowed to hunt deer in Mass with a dog.  However you can go for a walk in the woods with your dog on lease.  You want to track on a long slick climbing rope about 20 feet that they pull behind them.  When Tilly is really on a hot trail, she'll be pulling pretty good.  I'm constantly dropping the rope to get around dead falls etc.  The length gives you time to hurry around to the other side and step on the rope.  At night when I do most of my tracking (seems like most deer are hit near dark), I attach a clip on LED to Tilly's collar.  

My wife and I tracked a buck last week around 10pm.  This was the first time Molly has ever been in the woods with me.  She loved it even in the DARK!  I guess the puppies made her curious as to what the big deal was to tramp around in the dark woods     She was amazed how quickly Tilly followed the trail.  Tilly even figured out a spot where the buck back tracked his own trail and jumped off to the side.

I always thought I was a good tracker being that my cousin & I were the only ones in our family that were NOT color blind.  But Tilly can track ten times further than I can.  The beauty in a good tracking dog really shines when you DON'T recover an animal!  Because they follow it so far, you can determine the extent of the injury, know how strong they are, see if they even lay down, and most important know that you didn't give up too early...Doc

[BobCo 1965]

Very cool!!!

[hunt it]

Just need to train em to follow hogs and we'd be all set Jeff!  

[Bmac]

Cute pups!  I have a weimaraner that I trained for tracking.  She loves it!  Their ability to smell is way beyond what any human can see.

[joekeith]

Those are some good lookin' dogs.  

[xtrema312]

This is a great post.  I love dogs.  I put my last lab down a couple years ago.  The kids want a dog bad.  I don't feel like training another retriever or bird dog right now, and I am doing more deer hunting than bird hunting these days.  I don't want another large dog under foot.  A small dog would be great for around the house, and for my young kids to handle.  However, I just can't have a lap/house dog that is no good for anything in the field.  A small, friendly, in the house, deer tracker would be perfect.  I have even been thinking about a post to see what the best choices are for a small deer tracking dog.

[tippit]

Tilly & Billy have great kid friendly personalities plus Billy is the Jeanneney's top tracking dog now...that's why I bred this litter.  Tilly also goes back to an earlier line of the Jeanneneys.

I am a Strict Disciplinarian!  Tilly only sleeps under the covers     They are great house/people friendly dogs...Doc

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

I had no idea those dogs were hunters (besides ground hogs and the like)...

What other types of dogs are good blood trackers?

[Whip]

If I would have had my way one of those cuties would have a Wisconsin address.  But I tried to talk Irene into it shortly after spending a month away from home and it didn't take her long to figure out who would be taking care of the dog, so I got shot down.  :(  
Nice litter