Chuffed to bits!

salukiwhippet

Well-Known Member
Went out Wednesday evening, shot a roe doe in bramble at about 120 yrd. She bolted downhill with her neck outstretched, usually a good sign. I walked over to where she was stood and found a great gout of pins but no blood at all. I cast about but found nothing. light was fading fast so I went back to my truck and fetched my Burrell bred lurcher 'Zorro'. He's not a dedicated tracking dog by any means but has done a few easy tracks and has a better nose than me!

He hit a scent at the hit site and went off on a totally different line to the one I thought she'd taken, but having been made to look daft by dogs in the past I went with him. He stopped twice to examine bits of ground in detail, but I could see nowt. About 20 yards on, he marked a spot of blood about 1/4" across on a bramble leaf, the first bit of sign I'd seen. he hunted on for about another 20 yards, fast on a good scent and started circling a thick pathc of ash tops piled up about 5' tall. I shone the torch in and there she was, dead as a nit, shot throught the lungs but she must have been quartering towards me, putting the exit too far back, and plugged with a bit of diaphragm, hence the lack of blood.

I doubt I'd have found her without Zorro, and certainly not until daylight. The big oaf earnt his tea that night!

Probably a simple job for you BMH chaps, but for a general purpose sort of a dog I was dead chuffed !

James
 
Too right you should be chuffed. Doesn't matter with what dog or how you achieved it, the end result is a dead deer in the bag!
 
nice one mate i have only had a couple of tracking and spotting experiances with my lab buzz . but finding a deer you have shot with your dog is an amazing feeling i wont be going stalking without a dog again.
 
salukiwhippet.
Great Post, and well done, the fact that you used your dog and trusted his natural ability and instincts won the day!. May i just say that yes most BGS would have done the track, but how can they better the fact you found the doe and soon. As some on here will know i use a BGS dog and champion them and the training and their ability. Sadly some believe i am some sort of elitist but that's not so you did a great job and well done.
Most on here that have a BGS do not understand what a cold Scent hound is for. The word "cold" is the oft forgotten clue,to the supposed special attributes of this breed and they are no better than any other breed of working/ worked dog when put on a fresh shot deer.
When you know the shot was good and then don't find the deer then what ? . Again well done to you both.
​ Regards Widu.
 
I too have a lurcher but never had a need to deploy her in the field but indeed last winter I was walking her and she found a muntjac dead but fresh. Hit by a car and run 100m into small copse. Two weeks later we were back walking her in 4the inches of solid snow cover. Honey went straight to were she had found the muntjac but nothing there so she sented it in 4 inches of snow cover about 60m to were the remains of the carcass was burried under snow. She has never had any training but was very pleased with her effort.
 
Really interested in lurchers tracking, as I'm into my ferreting too, do lurchers make good tracking dogs for the recreational stalker!l


Thanks james
 
I have a greyhound/saluki bitch (sadly to old now to accompany me ) but despite being classed as a sight hound had an uncanny nose on her, she could also see and hear deer long before i could so was always with me.
Paul/sinbad
 
I used to have a whippet cross that ferreted, retrieved shot game and even though it was before I became obsessed with stalking would always air scent deer way before I saw them had lurchers for years its such a shame that the few undesirables around here with them give them all a bad name.
 
Hi James,
Well done to you and your dog for finding that doe,
dont put your dog down by thinking the a bmh is any better than yours, its all down to training and the amount of training you do with him.
any dog can do it, hot scent and cold scent its all down to training, but some dogs are better than others regards less of breed at tracking.
regards
Tony
 
I have a greyhound/saluki bitch (sadly to old now to accompany me ) but despite being classed as a sight hound had an uncanny nose on her, she could also see and hear deer long before i could so was always with me.
Paul/sinbad

Ditto for Jinks, my rescue deerhound / greyhound / and possibly something else. Any time I've doubted her she's managed to show me up. First rate nose as well as doing seeing eye dog on occasions. Also it's nice to have a dog to pat when the sika stags are auditioning for the horror movies ! Incidentally herself is 10 and showing no signs of retiring.

Ion
 
Well done!
Its all about the tracking a wounded animal, its mainly about this very intense working relationship between the dog and its handler, its definetively all about trusting the dog on the track!
Not about a special breed or highly specialized bloodhounds....
Good job the dog did and a very good feeling for you, so perfect..:thumb:
 
Its all about the tracking a wounded animal, its mainly about this very intense working relationship between the dog and its handler, its definetively all about trusting the dog on the track!
Not about a special breed or highly specialized bloodhounds....

Michael, I think your quote should be a preface to all discussions on deer dogs and tracking from now on on this forum!

Glad to see your CRAZY dog is coming on so well and now a first season coming on so well for you. Full of beans and raring to go is my memory of her and thats what you need I am sure!
 
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