Using dogs for tracking
 

What are your thoughts on using a dog to track wounded deer?

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

If legal in your state and you have control of the dog,It could only help recover more deer.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

it is the way to go. I have two cold nose blood trail beagles,(I realy have seven but only two to work on a rope).they can smell what you can't see.I have hunters from all around my area call me to come help find deer.I would say I find 98% of what I look for.the other 2% are bad hits and the animal doesn't die or it is the next day.
it gives yiu a good feeling to find one no one else can.


I am not a hunter I am a whitetail population reduction specialest

remember keep your back to the sun, your knife sharp, and your powder dry.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I don't use a dog to track, but I believe it is legal here although you can't use a dog to run the deer. I think that if it helps to find wounded deer, then it is a good thing.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I see nothing wrong with using a dog. I had rather do that than walk up on a dead deer after it had spoiled where someone lost it.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I dont know if it is legal here, but I think it should be legal everywhere, it would help recover a lot of deer.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I think it's a great idea.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I wish I had a tracking dog. I have been on several unsuccessful deer tracking trips with some friends and family members. Everytime I said "If only we had a tracking dog." I don't know if it is legal here or not, but I don't know if it would really matter to me. The ethical thing to do is find the wounded or dead deer.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I think it would be great I'm just not sure what the GW would think.

[Deleted]
 

[Deleted by Admins]

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

It's an excellent practice and a responsible hunter should use any means necessary to recover wounded game. In some parts of europe it's illegal to hunt without a tracking dog at immediate disposal to retrieve wounded game. Using a tracking dog is the most ethical thing to do in the case of wounded game.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

If it is legal in your state, go for it. A dog on a leash can unravel a blood trail in a fraction of the time it takes you to do it.
I don't mean you hit a deer and then bring in the dog, but on a particularly difficult trail after you have exhausted other means of recovery then by all means use the dog. It could very well mean the difference in recovering a deer and one being wasted. I had a situation last fall where I had hit one (poorly, it turns out he survived) and spent about four hours following the blood trail and only made it 4 or 5 hundred yards in those four hours, mostly on hands and knees. When I finally lost the blood trail in a Laurel thicket I went to the house and brought out my dog. I put him on the trail about a hundred yards from where I had lost all sign and even though he is not trained in any way and is not of a trailing breed, it only took him about 5 minutes to trail to the spot where I had lost the blood sign. While he too lost the trail there, it was not an unsuccessful attempt. We moved around the are in circles for a good quarter mile without finding another trace before I gave up. Several more trips into that area over the next week failed to find the deer and I am convinced he was not seriously hit. A word of advice, when choosing your dog, try a smaller one than mine. He is about 75 lbs. and a dog that size, on a lead, in thick cover, guarantees you end up with scratches and bruises in places you didn't think it was possible to get scratches and bruises.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

Boltman you said it all!

The Tazman

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I would not have found my deer near as fast if it was not for a dog we put on a chain and walked right to the deer. The deer went into the woods at on angle and as soon as he got into the woods he went the other direction. I was going down a deer path and woundering why I was n ot seeing any blood. The dog even sent sown the wrong trsck the first time and then we got straight and found the deer.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

A guy in S. Alabama had a miniture daschund that was one bad deer finding fool a couple of years ago. We are going to try to get a little dog in our club before next year just for this.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I have a little Boykin Spaniel named Peanut and we have not lost a deer at our camp since I've had her. Great breed for tracking deer. Love kids and still holds all of the hunting qualities. I just take her to the blood, and she does the rest. Check it out, Boykin Spaniel.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I feel the same way everybody else does.

Most of the time, when somebody shoots a deer, and no dog is used to track, a weapon is carried, in case of a put-down shot.

But, do you still carry your weapon while tracking with a dog? and if so, is this considered 'running'

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

If Taft would of had a dog to find his great deer there wouldn't be a controversy.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I'm going to get a tracking dog, but I can't decide on which breed. Any suggestions?

It's legal to use a dog to track a deer in Missouri.
____________________

Freedom Isn't Free....

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

How do you go about training a tracking dog to pick up the scent of blood and wounded game ant at the same time no run after every unwounded deer that you jump up. I'd love to have a good tracking dog.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

Txcowboy usually you keep a dog on a lead when tracking.

The Tazman

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

i would use a dog, but my mom and brother are allergic <img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

bwizard91, there was a post simliar to this on bowhunting.com a couple weeks ago. Some said it was illegal in there areas and would do it anyway others would not. I live in an area where its illegal. After seeing the post I spoke to our local game warden to get his opinion. He said as long as he was notified and the dog was leashed he wouldnt have a problem with it after all hes a hunter too and wouldnt want to see the animal suffer or go to waste. So for you guys who would do it anyway in the name if ethics a phone call could potentially get you out of trouble.........1B

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

1Buck, good advice. Taz I understand that the dog is normally on a lead or a leash but I didn't word my qestion very well. What I meant was, how do you keep the dog from picking up on the fresh trail of the unwounded deer and start trailing it, instead of the wounded one? See what I mean? Basically I guess my question is how do you train the dog to trail wounded deer only. Thanks for the info!

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

I think you should do everything you can to recover wounded deer. In MD. it is ok to track a wounded deer with a tracking dog. But first you have to call the gamewarden and tell them what you are doing. The dog handler and the hunter can carry whatever weapon is in season gun or bow. But the dog has to be on a leash. And you can only kill the deer during legal shooting hours not after dark and no sunday hunting in my state.

RE: Using dogs for tracking
 

It's legal in my state and I have a friend of mine that has a Poodle trained to do it.Looks funny but she's good at it.