railey

Does anyone use their dog to track/hunting deer? I have a GSP and was wondering what success anyone had with deer hunting and how to train your dog for that specific task...

Champlain Islander

I think it is done in the south and see you are from Louisiana. Around here a dog chasing a deer is frowned upon and is often shot. I think where it is practiced it is a cultural thing but most places I have hunted the use of dogs for deer other than dead game locating is illegal. Legal to use dogs for bear, coons and rabbits here and it is exciting to go through the chase. Good luck.

vapahunter

Several states here in the south use dogs to hunt deer. Some do not like it but that is their problem. No difference than using them for bear, coons, rabbits or even squirrels. Each state has its own methods and traditions. Always hunt according to the laws in the state you are hunting in.

mrbb

well I am NOT against using dogs where legally allowed(so please don;t take this as a bash against doing so)

as I get its tradition to many still and so be it, but to say that using a dog to hunt deer is NO different than to use a DOG to hunt rabbits, squirrels and even bears and so on , this is NOT true at all
a DOG many breeds, can out run a deer to to the point they can kill the deer from exhaustion alone the deer will NOT be able to recover from being chased, whether you HUNT and kill "X" deer or not!
dogs many breeds just have higher endurance levels than whitetail deer do, so they can kill just by the chase and not need the hunter to cause its death!
and your NOT going to see that happen using a dog to hunt rabbits, squirrels, or bears or any other species I know of for that matter!
MAYBE coyotes that have less endurance and cannot climb a tree to get away!? ??(and yes some coyotes can climb tree's just as some dogs can too, but its not there strong point!

and this see why it IS LEGAL to shoot dogs in so many states chasing deer.
yet not for chasing other things!

and sorry to OP for getting off topic here too with above!

so, back on topic to the OP
whether or not you can use a GSP to hunt dogs, again first off comes down to if legal in your hunting area
next will be the age of the dog in question and its desires and YOUR skill sets, and or who ever you wish so TRAIN the dog to hunt deer
the species I gather is NOT the normal breed for deer hunting, but it is a hunting dog breed, so, if blood lines and its drive and desire to do so, and you put forth the right amount and skills of training I am sure you can teach the dog to hunt deer
I will caution, that doing so, might also, cause you to not be able to use the dog to hunt upland game or waterfowl, as most dogs trained to hunt deer Have known of, were never able to switch back and forth between upland/waterfowl and deer!
so again, time patience and drive in the dog is what will really come down to, on if your dog can be made to hunt deer or not!(and if legal of course)

MudderChuck

For me, it is largely a practical matter. GPS locators are refined to the point that completely losing the dog (and Deer) is unlikely. Without some sort of transportation, it is unlikely you will be able to keep up with a Dog or a Deer. Especially young Deer ( two-three years old) they can cover a couple of miles pretty quickly, a mile every 3 minutes, half a mile in a minute, Older Deer are often a little slower (marginally).
Here it is unlikely to run a couple of miles in any direction without crossing a road.
Dogs get stupid during the heat of the chase and injure themselves often. Run right through a barbed wire fence, right into a sharp stick, off a drop, in front of a speeding truck.
Most dogs just don't have the condition to chase a Deer. I've seen many who get little exercise run out of gas after a quarter of a mile and run in what looks like slow motion. I'd run my gun dog between 3-5 miles six days a week on my bicycle and I doubt he could catch a Deer.
The Dog has no idea whether it is hunting season or not, whether it is a Buck. Doe or yearling. If I see a Dog running my Doe I get upset, not only is it running a breeder, most likely it is killing a fawn, the Doe will lead a predator away from a fawn and may or may not be able to find it again before it gets weak from hunger, even joggers sometimes cause the same issue. I've never shot a Dog to kill, but did clip ones tail once.
Also when they get to running Deer they are just as likely to run livestock. With a Dog it is all about the thrill of the chase, it is what they do, ingrained deeply in their genes. It can be a real chore calling a Dog off of a chase or to return during or after a hot chase.

Near the end of the year we do mass hunts, sometimes there are thirty dogs together on a hunt, I've often seen them break there training (to not run Deer) and take off after a Deer. I know what I'm talking about from numerous personal observations.
IMO Dogs running Deer has very little upside and numerous downsides.
Personally I don't prefer my Deer meat infused with adrenalin and lactic acid, I prefer mine to die as quickly as possible, DRT.
I share in the thrill of the chase with my Dogs, but IMO there are better alternatives to running Deer.
How many thousands of years of evolution has refined a Deer to escape predators and usually the Deer that fall prey are the old or very young. Not many domesticated Dogs are going to be able to catch a Deer. They may overheat and go into convulsions. Or the toxins in their blood overwhelm the kidneys ability to deal with it and they go into convulsions. Or they just up and have a heart attack, which happened to one of my chase dogs while exercising. Like I said IMO it is a practical matter, Vet bills aren't cheap, positive results are unlikely.

Wingbone

In WI it's illegal to hunt deer with dogs. However, it is legal to track wounded deer with them. I used my dog to find a poorly hit doe several years ago. It's a fairly common practice.

Oldtimr

I would not hunt deer over dogs, however where it is done is generally in the south where they are hunting in swamps and thickets so thick people have a very hard time even getting through it and visibility is very poor. Tracking wounded deer is another story and is a way to recover deer that could not be found so it is actually a conservation method. In PA tracking dogs on leashed may be used to recover deer, they may not free range.

mrbb

I have personally seen and had deer get chased to the point of no recovery and they were not old deer nor sick or injured deer, and the dog that was on its tail at the time was not a BIG dog nor a young dog, but was a older looking beagle?
I witnessed the dog chasing the deer for over 3 hours ina an area I was deer hunting on a hunt in Missouri, the week I was there I witnessed several STRAY dogs running loose and chasing deer all over!
I reported things to local warden, they TOLD me if I wished to SHOOT the dogs seen doing this
I however , just didn;t want to shoot a dog, being a dog owner, I sort of felt bad to do that to what maybe was someone pet?
on day 3-or 4 I forget exact time, but, I had this small beagle chasing deer all day by me, and one smaller younger 8 point bucks,
it dogged that deer for hours, the deer eventually ended up under my tree stand, huffing and puffing, and laying on its side, unable to go on any more, and that dog kepts bitting at its legs and rear end
the deer several times TRIED to get up and move, but would fall over when it tired standing!

I ended up shooting that deer(over the dog)
dog ran off at the,
contacted warden again,
he took deer and gave me a new tag to continue hunting and TOLD me to shoot the dogs from there on!
I however seen them but never got a shot at them due to they never stopped, just running wild after deer or just running looking for one! too fast and thick for a shot!

several others I talked to in this area I was in, told me a local neighbor just lets his dogs run free and didn;t care what happened to deer or his dogs!
warden knew of things as well, but apparently there was no leash lw there or likes to stop him from allowing them to run freely as they were!

SO, again, when a dog is after a deer, be it a young deer, older deer or injured or not! makes no difference
they can still do un repairable damage to the deer involved in the chase! , and many times deer run in groups, so the dog might be on the tail of ONE Deer, but its also making all the others with it run as well
so, even IF you shoot the one its on its heels on
the other deer can have negative side effects from the being chased!, or un recoverable damages to them!

this again, is why, its NOT legal in many places, and typically is only allowed legally in places tradition still has a very strong hold making it legal!
I am not bashing things here just saying facts I know of!

MOST dog owners i think got thru many efforts to train there dogs NOT to chase deer(I know most all upland and waterfowl guys do)
more for safety reasons and not loosing there dog!

but again, most dogs can be trained to do most things if you make the effort and have the skills to do so and desire and patience!

Oldtimr

What these idiots that allow their dogs to run loose and chase deer is that dogs are build to run for the long haul, deer are built to be sprinters, they run very fast for short distances, since dogs follow their noses as much as their eyes they just stay on the scent til they run the deer down. I actually has some idjit tell me she moved to the country so she could let her dogs run and do what dogs do. After I issued her a citation I told her that the next time her dog will be shot. And you are absolutely correct, a small dog can run a deer to death. If you ever came upon a scene where dogs killed a deer there is deer hair an a huge circle and blood all over the place. Man years ago we had a pack of coon hounds running deer in the southern end of our county near MD that was running deer inside a huge piece of fenced in property at the Muddy Run pump storage generating plant. The dogs were followed home and citations were issued by my neighboring officer on more than one occasion but the guy just woud not learn. One day my neighboring officer called me and a few other officers and ask us to help him hunt down and shoot the hounds that were at that time chasing a herd of deer inside the fence. We went to the area and you could hear the dogs baying as they chased the deer and er could see where the deer had crashed into the 10 foot high chain link fence. That day less dogs went back home than left home in the morning and the problem stopped. I love dogs and the last thing I wanted to do was shoot one, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. BTW none of the dogs had collars on, PA law requires that the collars be returned to the owners if they are licensed, at that time citations are issued. These clowns learned that they can be cited if it can't be proven the dog belonged to them so there was no doubt it act was intentional.

flags

Not sure if the OP is talking about hunting with dogs or training a dog to blood trail a wounded deer. Two completely different things. I believe the GSP may be a reference to German Shorthair Pointer rather than Global Positioning System. Not sure where you would go to train a dog to blood trail but I know people do train dogs to do it. Hunting deer with dogs doesn't require any training normally they just toss a new dog into a pack and let them self train.

Now for the subject of hunting deer with dogs. I spent a lot of time in the south when I was active duty and in a lot of those places they did dog hunting. I for one DO NOT like it. I understand the cultural aspect of it, but I want no part of it. My experience, admittedly very limited, was that dog hunters simply do not care about any other hunter or property owners. Many of them believe that if their dogs get on a deer then they have the right to go wherever they want to chase the deer and if they ruin your hunt, so be it.

Here is an example: I used to hunt a public hunting wildlife management area in VA that was right on the VA/NC line. In this WMA it was illegal to hunt with dogs or to shoot a deer or bear that was being run with dogs. This was a quota hunt area so if you drew a permit you had a week to hunt. Lots of deer in the area so it was a good place to hunt especially since it was less than an hour from the base. One year when I was hunting it I had set up a ghost blind on an old logging type road that had a big corner that went almost to the state line. I set up on the corner so I had a clear shooting lane of about 200 yards in 2 directions. I had hunted it before and had taken deer there. However on this day I watched a bunch of guys in NC drive up the road that was the border between the 2 states (this was about 150 yards from me across a little clearing) and get out to turn their dogs loose. The actually brought the dogs across the road into VA and the WMA and turned them loose there to run deer from VA into NC. This immediately ended my hunt because it was illegal to shoot a deer under those conditions whether the dogs were mine or not. These yahoos simply did not care that they ruined my hunt. How do I know that? Because I walked over to "chat" with them and they simply laughed and said "dogs run where dogs run." Of course there was no game warden around to handle it.

Not a fan of hunting deer with dogs. Too much wounding because deer are shot on the dead run. Too many other hunters impacted and to much lack of caring on the part of the dog hunters.