How to train a dog to find deer?

[possumtrapper 46]

Hello all, I've got myself a wee russell pup and I'm keen to train him to find deer, as I do abit of hunting in the bush for reds, fallow and the occasional sika. Any advice on a method of training and at what age to start? My lurcher goes fine, but is a bit on the greyhoundy-side to really find them using his nose. I've thought about dragging a deer skin around and see if the pup follows the scent and maybe a good feed of venison might get his hunting juices flowing. Also, barking might be a problem, especially from a terrier, any advice would be appreciated, cheers.

[uru 341]

Sorry I can't be of help,but I have a friend that uses his patterdale to bloodtrail the deer,and another that uses his with his hawks to flush out rabbit.He was worried that the couldn't do it together,but he raised them up no nonsense and it works,good luck

uru

[waidmann 105]

are you looking to promote flushing to the gun? following of live trails or following up after the shot?

 

if flushing to the gun it would be better if the dog hunts loud(giving toungue) this he will pick up when allowed to range around you while walking/beating with other dogs.

 

if you want the dog to follow live trails then follow them with him on a long lead, he will soon pick up the jist of what you want.

 

blood tailing starts off more or less the same,takes alot of dedication and practice is the key.your knowledge is just as important as the dogs nose. if i can help in anyway feel free to pm me( its very long winded...

 

i have never fed a dog the quarry to get him hot( especially a trailing dog,he will be left alone for some time with fresh kill......) his prey drive will make him want to find....its a game.

 

even a good dog will not be great if he does not get enough practice in the field( a jagd terrier breeder i know is out 3 times a week with each dog!!!!!!! the logistics of this are incredible.)

 

try to get cattle or deer blood never use pigs,start off small( 10ft) and move up getting more complicated as you go. either dabbing/dripping or just using trail shoes( flat shoes with real hooves on the back).

 

good luck.

[runforyourlife 361]

Basically the guy above is saying simply, "get out with your dog as much as can"....

 

Let it pick its own scent up, then the dog will do the rest...

 

And if it is from good working background and clever enough, with a good prey drive it will do the rest....

 

Nothing more can be done, you cant teach a dog(lurcher or terrier) to bush, it comes naturally...

 

You can how ever teach them to retrieve, which in turn may help you with your quest. As you can hide its fetching dumby in the area it is working... this in turn will make your terrier work hard in the knowledge that something is hidden in the bush, wether it be dead or alive....

[david2363 42]

My Bedlington dog will find them whenever they are around, problem is, I'm not interested in Deer, and listening to his howling in the distance ain't funny.

Some dogs are mad for them, some not so bothered.

[william slater mcgregor 2]

dragging a dead deer wont help your dog as dead scent isnt the same as live or wounded scent,a lot of hound men feed there hounds on deer meat but they wont chase deer because of the difference in the scent,if it did work they would be chasing sheep,cattle or whatever they were fed,your dog will without a doubt naturaly find them

[runforyourlife 361]

Are we all parrots on here. lol.

[jackard 36]

nice looking russel pup tho mate

 

i was told once that to learn a dog to track blood trails its better to use the liver of the animal you want to track

 

good luck with getting him going atb jackard

[Dawn B 212]

I use one of my Borders to find Deer, thats live Deer and dead Deer. He will track blood trails and scent trails, he has an excellent nose. I trained him as a youngster by using an artificial lure containing Deer blood, much like drag hunting, the live Deer was taught first through sight, and similarly through seeing them then wanting to find them. ALL work done on a long line.

[awen 29]

dragging a dead deer wont help your dog as dead scent isnt the same as live or wounded scent,a lot of hound men feed there hounds on deer meat but they wont chase deer because of the difference in the scent,if it did work they would be chasing sheep,cattle or whatever they were fed,your dog will without a doubt naturaly find them

 

 

sorry pal but i disagree, i use my 2 russels and a pat to flush deer, start him as soon as you get him firstly on the hooves, let him play with em and get familiarised, take him out as much as possible (where theres deer) and if possible with dogs that are doing the job, if hes had access to the hooves then he will soon be able to pick up the familiar scent and relate it to play, as he grows and matures the play will turn into the real thing. if you have access to whole carcasses skin head and all then all the better, its worked for me and my pals real well. good luck withy the training

[possumtrapper 46]

Cheers lads for all the helpful advice, I half expected most of ya to tell me to get rid of the russell and get a pointer or something. Anyway, me being british and raised using lurchers and ferrets, its got to be a good terrier or nothing. Since moving to New Zealand many moons ago and flying my trusty bedlington lurcher over, I've diluted my dogs with far too much greyhound blood, so I'm going to start again with the russell pup. Most of my hunting is in thick bush chasing possums and if the opportunity arises, the odd deer. Basically, I come across alot of well used deer tracks with old and new pellets, what I'm after from my russell is to trail the fresh tracks to within shooting distance, while not hogging all the room in my sleeping bag back at camp.

[awen 29]

Cheers lads for all the helpful advice, I half expected most of ya to tell me to get rid of the russell and get a pointer or something. Anyway, me being british and raised using lurchers and ferrets, its got to be a good terrier or nothing. Since moving to New Zealand many moons ago and flying my trusty bedlington lurcher over, I've diluted my dogs with far too much greyhound blood, so I'm going to start again with the russell pup. Most of my hunting is in thick bush chasing possums and if the opportunity arises, the odd deer. Basically, I come across alot of well used deer tracks with old and new pellets, what I'm after from my russell is to trail the fresh tracks to within shooting distance, while not hogging all the room in my sleeping bag back at camp.

 

the trick is to get him working with you, if im walking a track ill have one working deep in cover 20/30 yards away one on the track and one inbetween the two and all parralell with me, my new russel bitch works deep but shes a bitch for following a scent away from us which is useless, what ive been doing is working cover for rabbits along a river bank,wall, fence that sort of thing to train her to work along with me, this is also good trainig for the lurcher working with her as they get far more runs and if one dont get the other will, which makes it more fun for them and keener everytime

[waidmann 105]

thats what they are good at.( tracking and nicking the comfy spots)

if that is the goal then i would work very hard on obiedience(hand signals) and stay( at the rucksack,to start with tie him to it go of for a couple of min. lots of praise. extend this untill you can leave him as long as it takes for the final stalk and he is quiet).

 

get yourself a ten meter long lead and broad collar,preferably with a metal core( schweiss halsung),i would spend more time training on blood trailing( not dragging a carcass,this is an insult to the dogs nose. he does not even need blood,just the damage caused by the hooves and the stress hormones released by the scent glands is enough).

i have always dripped the trail( 500ml drinks bottle with blood. starting at 5- 10 meters for the pup extending as you go on. always have something at the end out of sight. a fresh deer carcass/skin with a food bowl under it etc).

 

start off small and easy and build up slowly as the dog progresses putting in dogs legs,wound beds( where you change direction) water,live trails crossing.when you feel you know the dog( when someone else can lay the trail for you over 300m and you can get to the end)

the opportunity arises try him on a real trail( don't despair they are much harder for the dog )

its good fun but hard work.

[SHOTGUNSNIPER 47]

My Jack Russle is now 20 months old and I take her/Duce out about twice a week - When ever I get a chance I will nick a jackrabbit through the hind legs so it runs off this gives the dog a fresh trail.... We are permitted to take jackrabbitts all year. I have shot many Jack rabbits for her like this ... She has no trouble on a blood trail for deer she has blood trailed 4 deer and two elk this past season and had no trouble- two of the trails were over 12 hours old and the other four were 1 to 3 hours old the longest was about 1/2 mile and was a 15 hour old trail she found this deer in about 20 min's.....

It has been easy training the little dog as I just brought her with me on all of my outings and shot jackrabbits over her. She has also blood trailed several fox and a bobcat, this was when she was 5 or six months old... We started bringing her along on calling trips when she was 3 months and shot a fox on her first trip out...

Now at 20 months she has a huge prey drive - If I put a rifle or shotgun in the jeep she will jump in and wait for hours to go into the field . . . I have had two call's from bowhunters who couldn't find their deer and "little dog" found them both in quick order...... The word is out and I expect more calls before the winter bow season is over.... That is a fine looking pup you have there possumtrapper. I am a big fan of the "little dog". I think the biggest mistake to make is to leave a dog at home to become a couch potatoe.. There are vary few people that use their Jack Russll's to hunt over here in Arizona all of the Jacks that I know of locally just sit in the yard and bark. Most people think I am bullshiting when I tell them that Duce is a hunting dog and roll their eye's when I tell them about her hunt's. The few close friends and the bowhunters who called me , saw her work and have been amazed... thanks SGS

[georgehare 0]

When i was at college, we done alot of work with/about deer. We had a danish fella come over and done a course for us on dogs for deer. Although i never wanted to work with deer, it was bloody interesting to lean about training dogs for tracking deer.

 

Anyways, i think the bloke has now written a book which would be well worth getting as he certainly knows his stuff. His name is Neils Sondergaard. Hope this helps.