Method of tracking?

Cut+Squirt

Well-Known Member
Up until recently I always worked my GWP on a long line whilst training and tracking, but of late i'm of a mind to let her have her head and work her free running....

Long lead v Free running ?

How do you work your deer dog and whats your rationale for your preferred method?

Regards,

CADEX
 
Cadex i love working mine free and would do it every time i go out. But i do a lot of work near busy roads and while my dogs should be under control the fact they will chase a wounded deer on to a road is not what i want so i do both. I did find it a bit hard at first but nor now. Not BMH i dont want her near foxes yet lol.

 
You should really keep the dog on a leash,the dog then can be better controlled whilst training/tracking,they then learn to track slowly and methodically which is what you want
The dog should track the beast along the actual track and not off to either side of the track,the difference between a tracking dog and a trailing dog
What you run the risk of by letting your dog free run is it will start to air scent,ie run completely off track and go downwind of the beast and find it using air scent,ok if it's dead but if it's a few hundred yards away wounded you've no chance of finding it
On leash is the best way,the dog will use the easiest way it can to find a beast,if you let it free run you can undo a lot of work you've put into it and not do the dog justice IMO
Saying that sometimes you need to give them their head and let them figure it out theirselves
 
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I hope you not back tracking there George :rofl: I will take my wee bitch out this morning and see if i cant teach her to suck eggs. For me its lead work first but you need a dog that will wind a beast every now and then. Its amazing how you can loose a deer that falls dead 120 mtr infront of you to a neck shot in the summer long grass.
 
I use the lead near roads and if I am trailing wih just the terrier as he doesn't make any noise when he gets to the deer, he just gets stuck in. If I use the two or just the big dog then he is free running and he makes a hell of a lot of noise when he is trailing the reason I trail him off the lead is because I don't have any problems with recall if he gets too far I can whistle and he'll come back and pick up the trail from where I am. I always think If you trail a wounded deer and it gets up then you let the dog off the lead anyway so why have it on the lead in the first place? I can see your point Wolverine about keeping him on the trail but like I said my big dog works close to me anyway so I don't feel it's a problem. Also in thicket the lead is a pain in the backside.
 
Me back tracking Davy,nah never;)
In thicket a leash can be a hinderance but your dog is still better on a leash so when it comes to tracking a wounded beast the dog can convey a lot to you,ie you learn a lot by being there with the dog,when they free run they can invariably go too fast for their own noses and you can end up with an unruly dog as well
Saying all this,if it works for you,the most important thing is getting the beast
I personally prefer on leash,thicket or not
 
Basically I’m with Wolverine. For the first few (dozens???) tracks, I won’t free the dog until I’m pretty sure the way it tracks, the way we interconnect while tracking, which I think it’s crucial for the purpose of finding wounded deer. Releasing when the animal is dead could be an option and even an advantage, but what if it is just wounded? Would the dog alone stop the deer? But what if even with a dead deer, the dog finds it and comes back without willing to get to the deer again.

Each track is different, and depending on your dog, type of deer, terrain, type of wound, etc. releasing is an option. But as a general rule I will not let the dog run free while tracking. I have a friend who almost always lets his BMH track free, 90% of their tracking is Ibex, and his dog carries a GPS collar. Ibex is kind of different as will climb onto inaccessible places while wounded, letting the tracker arrive and shoot. I’d consider using a GPS collar if unleading is usual.

I’d never release while tracking boar, female or male, with a courageous dog. Some less courageous ones could be released if you know that your dog will stay a few meters away of the boar. But you have to know very well your dog’s reaction in such circumstances, so again I rather track on a leash first.
 
I hope you not back tracking there George :rofl: I will take my wee bitch out this morning and see if i cant teach her to suck eggs. For me its lead work first but you need a dog that will wind a beast every now and then. Its amazing how you can loose a deer that falls dead 120 mtr infront of you to a neck shot in the summer long grass.

Surely before the deer fell dead in the summer long grass it made a trail from where you shot it to where it dropped. By working out that trail on a lead you get to the deer without any problem.
 
Basically I’m with Wolverine.
Releasing when the animal is dead could be an option and even an advantage, but what if it is just wounded?

That is where the breeding comes in. Dogs should be so selected that they are not too shy nor too agressive. That is why pedigrees are so important, an expert, certainly not me, can see at a glance what he is looking for.

Would the dog alone stop the deer?

Yes, when it is properly bred and trained.

But what if even with a dead deer, the dog finds it and comes back without willing to get to the deer again.


Training, Training and training.

I have a friend who almost always lets his BMH track free, 90% of their tracking is Ibex, and his dog carries a GPS collar. Ibex is kind of different as will climb onto inaccessible places while wounded, letting the tracker arrive and shoot. I’d consider using a GPS collar if unleading is usual.

BMH were specifically bred to work off the lead in the Alps where the work was regarded as too dangerous for the heavier HS. Delighted to see your friend picking up that tradition again.

I’d never release while tracking boar, female or male, with a courageous dog. Some less courageous ones could be released if you know that your dog will stay a few meters away of the boar. But you have to know very well your dog’s reaction in such circumstances, so again I rather track on a leash first.

As above, training will show you. A few people in Germany and the Flemish Tracking Society have a tame boar to teach their hounds. Wonder if a Jamon Iberico pig would be more attractive for a dog? I certainly like the smell.


Hope that answers your queries
 
Baron mate i could go over quite a few scenarios were there would be no blood trail at all and the deer would be lost.
Last year i shot a very large buck in a well up barley field this was only 90 mtr away. But totally out of site after the shot i was made aware of a couple walking up the path with there own dog.So i made a quick get away from the area. I did not return for some 20 minute after watching the couple leave the area. Finding the deer with a dog that would only blood trail would have been impossible. But you need to be in some of these situations i feel. Sometimes its not about finding the deer trail its about finding the blood deer in the first place.
Ps are you coming north to meet us all in may we have 10 confirmed dog men and 6 hounds amongst them.
 
Baron mate i could go over quite a few scenarios were there would be no blood trail at all and the deer would be lost.
Last year i shot a very large buck in a well up barley field this was only 90 mtr away. But totally out of site after the shot i was made aware of a couple walking up the path with there own dog.So i made a quick get away from the area. I did not return for some 20 minute after watching the couple leave the area. Finding the deer with a dog that would only blood trail would have been impossible. But you need to be in some of these situations i feel. Sometimes its not about finding the deer trail its about finding the blood deer in the first place.
Ps are you coming north to meet us all in may we have 10 confirmed dog men and 6 hounds amongst them.

To find a wounded/dead deer with a properly trained scenthound you do not need a blood trail at all, only roughly the place where is was shot. The dog will do the rest.

No, I am not coming North for the training day given by the BMHS. I am one of their members but have nothing to do with the board.

But Jamross 65 has kindly asked me up in Sept/Oct and I have suggested to get a few people then to work at some really complicated trails as well as Whiskey, Jamross's HS, doing his "Vorprufung", first test at 12 months old.

The BMHS training day could act as an entry exam for this, Jamross to decide.

Hope to meet you then.
 
Baron mate i could go over quite a few scenarios were there would be no blood trail at all and the deer would be lost.
Last year i shot a very large buck in a well up barley field this was only 90 mtr away. But totally out of site after the shot i was made aware of a couple walking up the path with there own dog.So i made a quick get away from the area. I did not return for some 20 minute after watching the couple leave the area. Finding the deer with a dog that would only blood trail would have been impossible. But you need to be in some of these situations i feel. Sometimes its not about finding the deer trail its about finding the blood deer in the first place.
Ps are you coming north to meet us all in may we have 10 confirmed dog men and 6 hounds amongst them.

Hi Davie
Have to a confirmed date yet.

Regards

DavieH
 
Do you really think that a tracking dog only focuses on blood? It's only one biological component of what makes a 'scent' trail - and a short lived one at that.

Spend a few quid on Amazon and get Syrotuk's book 'Scent & the Scenting Dog': http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scent-Scent...9420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328617976&sr=8-1
Brilliant book and Orion is correct,blood isn't always the be all and end all,my dogs will track with no blood present,as every tracking dog should be able to
 
I know blood is not the only thing a dog uses to track a deer but if the deer drops on the spot then there is nothing to follow. The a real deer dog comes into his own and takes charge menouvering him self round the wind casting out wide to pick up the air sent needed to find a deer that has not run but is still lost.
;)
 
If it drops on the spot and the person who took the shot doesn't have a reasonably good idea of where it will be, then I think there might be more need of first educating the shooter than getting the dog out.

Noting/marking the point where the shooter was standing, the proximity of features and alignment/angle from the deer to them and mentally marking them are all basic requirements for establishing where the animal was standing when struck. Doesn't matter if it dropped or ran off, you are going to have to establish the point of impact so that you can evaluate what has happened to the animal from what you find at the scene and act accordingly. If it's remained there, then so much the better.
 
Orion you are correct mate there is no excuse for any ever not to know exactly were the deer fell and even in the deepest barly you should be able to walk to the end over the field up the correct train track and locate the strike site. I feel humbled mate because after 30years i still loose the spot at times but its great that i have a well trained Deer Dog if i only had a traking dog i would have gave up year ago.:rofl:
 
Orion you are correct mate there is no excuse for any ever not to know exactly were the deer fell and even in the deepest barly you should be able to walk to the end over the field up the correct train track and locate the strike site. I feel humbled mate because after 30years i still loose the spot at times but its great that i have a well trained Deer Dog if i only had a traking dog i would have gave up year ago.:rofl:

Like your sense of humour. In the situation you describe I would walk in a line downwind from the supposed spot with the dog on a lead. As "scentdogs" have as good a nose as "deerdogs" they will have no difficulty in pointing out where the deer is.

Depending on the dogs age I would then probably do a scentshoe excercise a few days later to keep it on its toes.
 
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