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Anyone use gundogs for fur hunting

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Anyone use gundogs for fur hunting

Old 05-15-2017, 02:53 PM
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Spike
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Default Anyone use gundogs for fur hunting

I saw that a lot of the German pointers were breed for brids and fur both was wondering if anyone still uses then for furs if so did you trained them like you would a hound
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Old 05-15-2017, 03:22 PM
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Hello kyboy. Good to see you again.
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Old 05-15-2017, 03:48 PM
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Hey man how goes it
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Old 05-15-2017, 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Kyboy88
I saw that a lot of the German pointers were breed for brids and fur both was wondering if anyone still uses then for furs if so did you trained them like you would a hound
People say Pointers, but pure pointers, bird only, are rare here. I prefer to use the term gun dogs. German short hair, German Wire Hair, Weimaraner (short and long hair) and others are all around hunting dogs, point, retrieve, flush and track. IMO a whole lot easier to train than hounds (sight hounds or scent hounds). Many of the hounds get on a scent or chase and all you can do is try to keep up. Pointers or gun dogs work closer with their handlers and are less prone to get out of control.

When an animal tries to hide they often point, then creep and flush. Unless they are in a scent heavy area, then they work that spot and flush.

I've used mine for Birds, Ducks, Hare, Rabbit, Hogs, Fox and more. They may not be as good as some of the specialists, but do most things well.

Here when a hunter wants a dog to work scent (or a blood trail) they put him on a long leash called a long line. It doesn't take the dog long to figure out what you want, training to a long line is easier than free training. Like walking a dog on a leash, the dog gets feedback from the long line. The down side is the long line tends to get tangled in brush or what not, it takes some technique.


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Old 05-16-2017, 07:46 AM
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Cool man I was trying to say when you have a pup and no older dogs to work it with do you use training luyers or the skins of the animals you want them to go after to give them a idea of what they are supposed to be looking for I know when I was growing up if we had a coon or rabbit pup all we had to do was make sure it knew it name and to come when we called it I have seen the long line used on TV for founding shot game but do they use it for finding fox rabbits and hogs before the shot is so that would be very interesting to know how that would go about being done
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Old 05-16-2017, 09:11 AM
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Some of it they are born with, some dogs, even dogs of the same breed, have stronger drives for some game than others, different talents. Hey I'm flexible, if the dog wants to hunt Hare, I'll hunt Hare.

I've used a long leash hunting Boars in the late morning. Depends on the time of year, when the squeakers are young the Sows run the Boars off. People say Boars will eat squeakers, older Sows are far from stupid. Well anyway, the Boar often trail behind the sounder and may bed down well short of the favorite bedding area. I sometimes trail a sounder late morning after it starts to heat up a bit and have come across Boar bedding in some brush. Right where the brush ends and the grass begins, often in ditches or low spots.

My dogs grew up chewing on Hog ears. Born hating Fox, took me awhile to discourage my Weimaranar from tearing Fox to pieces. The gun dogs are usually natural pointers. Had one that was a natural retriever, another was a really good tracker. Funny about that one that was an iffy retriever, he once dove under water going after a wounded Goose and stayed down there so long I thought he had drown, came back with the Goose. I think his retrieving flaws were mine and not his.

You can see it in this picture, holding that Fox and not tearing it to bits did not make the dog happy.



I usually take the pups where the game is I want to hunt, if they have any prey drive at all they will get excited and chase. True hunters don't take a whole lot of encouragement. A whole lot easier if you can take the pup out with an older dog. But taking them out with an older dog has it's disadvantages, it may teach the young one it's bad habits.

My daughters German Shorthair mix was a born bird dog, but would take out after Hogs. A good retriever. Like I said I tend to go with the flow, I hunt what they hunt. He was also very very fast. I really wanted to work him as a Lurcher or Hound but was always afraid I might ruin him.

Your job is to figure out a way to communicate to the dog what you want and/or adapt to it's quirks. Sometimes you get paired up with that magic dog and it just clicks, you can teach then anything.

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Old 05-16-2017, 09:38 AM
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Ok I think I understand did your dog open on the boare or did you pick it up from body language did you ever use the long line when you were hunting fox or did you let them run free it would be a cool way if they could be hunted with one would take care of the biggest problem with hounds going on to someone's land we don't have permission for
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Old 05-16-2017, 10:07 AM
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Originally Posted by Kyboy88
Ok I think I understand did your dog open on the boare or did you pick it up from body language did you ever use the long line when you were hunting fox or did you let them run free it would be a cool way if they could be hunted with one would take care of the biggest problem with hounds going on to someone's land we don't have permission for
Most of the time it was wasted time tracking Boar, their scent is so overpowering to a dog they don't often know how close they are. I've gotten to within ten feet of a few sleeping hogs. The trouble is they go from a sound asleep to 35 MPH in an instant, most times through the brush and not out into the open.

I usually flush Fox, many have the habit of hiding and they are good at it. The ones that want to flee usually do it way before you get close enough for a shot, quarter of a mile. It is usually shotgun work.

You have to appreciate a dogs nose, I once wounded a Fox, let the dog loose to track it. Dog picked up the blood trail and went nuts, following at a full run. I later went back and looked at the trail, a very tiny spot of blood every fifteen feet or so. I really should have kept him on the long line.

A dog gets into an area with game and it is like sniffing out one turd in a cesspool. A good dog can do it, but don't expect miracles.

I was lucky, my last lease was huge, I could hunt in the middle with little fear of my dog bothering anybody. It was actually four leases we pooled and jointly hunted.

Sending Hounds after Hogs can be iffy for numerous reasons. One is the dogs get a little nuts and Hogs tend to head for thick cover. Hogs are basically Tanks. A real possibility your dog could loose an eye. My daughters German Short hair mix had a four inch stick removed form his chest.

IMO best to keep your dog under control.

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Old 05-16-2017, 12:45 PM
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Ok so when they were on a fox track did they open up on one or just flush it when you were going out to hunt fox how far would you let them work seems like I read somewhere that people would use a whistle to call the dog back.if it got to far away and I was wondering two do you see many Weimaraners used over there for all around work seems like every time you here about them over here it is said to be one of the breads that the show crowd destroyed for hunting
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Old 05-16-2017, 03:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Kyboy88
Ok so when they were on a fox track did they open up on one or just flush it when you were going out to hunt fox how far would you let them work seems like I read somewhere that people would use a whistle to call the dog back.if it got to far away and I was wondering two do you see many Weimaraners used over there for all around work seems like every time you here about them over here it is said to be one of the breads that the show crowd destroyed for hunting
Not going to do you much good if your dog and the Fox are out of shotgun range. We often hunted with multiple hunters and multiple dogs. Fox often end up going to ground (into a Den or even a drainage pipe) if they are being chased, they are rarely farther than 500 yards from a den. They are also sneaky and really good at hiding.

Or I find a den and send an earth dog down to flush the Fox out. One way to find a den is to trail (scent dog) a Fox back to it. Contrary to popular belief, Fox use Dens year round, for rearing young and for warmth in the cold months.

A favorite place for Fox is in the large round Hay Bails the farmers leave out. Fox scat and urine around, Dogs pick up on the location easy. Send a Terrier in to flush the Fox. The farmers are really happy to get the Fox out of there, Cattle won't eat Fox urine soaked silage.

I actually got the majority of my Fox by having the Dog find a well used path or Den and setting up an ambush and leaving the dog in the truck.

Around here by far the most popular hunting dog is the German wire hair, second is the short hair, third (lately) has been long hair Pointer or long hair Weimaraner. You also see a few Stichelhaar, kind of a local breed, but an old breed.
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