Deer dog course

[ksb]

I was talking with the basc about the dog for deer course that they ran in northern Ireland but they don't have any plans to run another in the near future. As I am new to the idea of dogs for deer I would be keen to start off in the right dirction (excuse the pun). A few other guys I have been talking to are keen on learning the right way to train a dog for deer. I would consider organising a course myself for a few people if someone reputable would consider taking it. Who would be the best person to approach bearing in mind the venue would be n Ireland

Regards
Keith

 

[Claret_Dabbler]

Keith, it depends on what you need for the venue, if it is just a piece of land to use for a day or two, that should be easy to come by. If you need land with deer on it for a course, then you are going to be limited to one of the estates, Colebrook and Baronscourt come to mind. Every one is so paranoid about protecting their permissions here (me included) that I doubt anyone will offer to host this on their patch.

Anyway, if you get this off the ground, I will be interested in attending.

 

[ksb]

my goals for the course at this stage would be around the tracking for follow up, with this in mind i believe we can overcome the venue issue ( i agree 100% with regard to permissions). Depending on the interest which at this stage is not very much then we can look at more than just tracking. i would be more than happy to bring someone over that is not affiliated to any association or body but has a prooven track record in the field as the people i have spoken to are starting out like myself.

If we where able to get the course arranged what would you be keen to get out of the day, this question is open to anyone regardless of thinking of attending or not.

keith

 

[Claret_Dabbler]

Regarding what I would like to learn or gain from a day, a good solid overview of the methods of training a tracking dog, and the basic standards the dog needs to achieve. I would also like a dog to accompany me stalking, indicate deer etc, so I would want to hear about that.

I think an important thing for novice handlers is to learn to "read" the dog or understand the dog's body language. I have never stalked with a dog, but I have shot over HPR's most of my adult life and "reading" the dog is a large part of the sport.

 

[luder]

I to have chatted to both the BDS and BASC one of the problems highlighted wsa the lack of number of serious "Takers" lots of interest initially then a fast drop of. Last year i chap in the south tried to arrange a HPR training session with the same sad story. If a course were to be arranged id be very interested.

Last season was my first season stalking with a dog, a young gwp both of us stumbling around the country, it was only at the close of the season i was starting to get to grips reading her. It was a great feeling when it came together, but id like to know how to get to grips with the tracking, after all a picture does paint a thousand words.