Labrador tracking training

[S&L7x57]

I am sure that this has been done to death but I just can't find the right search terms to get a result:
I have a sweet little, 6 yoa black lab who has picked up for me since about her second season. In honesty, she is a bit rubbish in her delivery but very keen and has a great nose. Her training as a gundog has been compromised as she suffers from the usual lab problem of acute starvation (!) so any food training is a disaster as she spits out/ignores what she is meant to be doing to beg for the reward! Which she doesn't get but it changes nothing! To be honest she is more of a hunter than a retriever, more spaniel than lab!
However, she will go great distances to eat ANYTHING and has several times set off on air scent to then chew on bits of deer, hares etc that have been discarded by foxes, badgers etc. Today she tracked down the relatively fresh lower leg of a RTA roe follower and stood over it looking back to me. Okay this was air scent, not foot scent (!) but she was certainly interested in reporting her find.
This looks like promising deer tracking behaviour to my uneducated eye.
Given a tracking harness and long leash, is it merely a case of laying a blood trail with a reward at the end to encourage focus or am I being way too simplistic. If blood is not available can one use a suspension of liquidised deer lung or heart which is?
I would love to go on a course but all those I have enquired about were an impossible distance away. I live in west Suffolk.
I love my stalking, having come to it late in life, and have relatively few opportunities without paying to be guided so the chance to be involved with my dog as a tracker, even if that doesn't involve stalking as such, would be a real treat.

 

[willowbank]

Have available a paperback by Guy Wallace on Training Dogs For Woodland Deer Tracking, might be handy.

Willowbank.

 

[Uncle Norm]

We have some members of SD who are expert on this topic. When I wanted to train my Labrador puppy, I received excellent advice, which I followed to the letter.
As a result I have a dog who will find my (and others) deer. She is also a wonderful stalking companion who almost talks to me when she has the scent of deer.
It really is not complicated to get a good start and you don't need much kit either. What you do need is access to fresh deer parts eg. skin, chopped up heart, muntjac head or similar. Do not use stuff that has gone off. I used to freeze small bits for keeping fresh.

Hopefully someone who knows a whole lot more than I will be along as one lives not far from you.

You are welcome to pm me for a basic outline of the method I used. Be assured that it can be a most enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Finding your first lost deer is quite unforgettable. Even today after finding a lost deer, I raise a glass to my tutor . He knows who he is.

 

[S&L7x57]

Have available a paperback by Guy Wallace on Training Dogs For Woodland Deer Tracking, might be handy.

Willowbank.

Although an avid reader and collector of sporting literature, I have found over my not inconsiderable years that I learn better from doing, rather than reading. However, if there is any simple primer that anybody would recommend, I will certainly seek it out. My fear is that anything written by someone who is experienced enough is going to be promoting practise on numbers of shot deer to track which simply is not going to happen. Everybody I know seems to be able to shoot remarkably straight! Or have their own dog....is there a connection here?!

 

[Wolverine]

Uncle Norm,glad you have a dog you can be proud of.
Listening and putting into practice what one has been taught is a skill in itself.
As we spoke about the beauty is that now you know exactly what’s needed.
All the best
George
PS Merry Xmas and have a dram by the fire

 

[S&L7x57]

We have some members of SD who are expert on this topic. When I wanted to train my Labrador puppy, I received excellent advice, which I followed to the letter.
As a result I have a dog who will find my (and others) deer. She is also a wonderful stalking companion who almost talks to me when she has the scent of deer.
It really is not complicated to get a good start and you don't need much kit either. What you do need is access to fresh deer parts eg. skin, chopped up heart, muntjac head or similar. Do not use stuff that has gone off. I used to freeze small bits for keeping fresh.

Hopefully someone who knows a whole lot more than I will be along as one lives not far from you.

You are welcome to pm me for a basic outline of the method I used. Be assured that it can be a most enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Finding your first lost deer is quite unforgettable. Even today after finding a lost deer, I raise a glass to my tutor . He knows who he is.

Thank you, that makes me feel much more positive in my plans. Fresh deer parts should be easy, just need to rely on friends with lots of stalking to call me to collect while still fresh! I didn't really fancy using some ancient rotting body parts!

 

[Uncle Norm]

Thank you, that makes me feel much more positive in my plans. Fresh deer parts should be easy, just need to rely on friends with lots of stalking to call me to collect while still fresh! I didn't really fancy using some ancient rotting body parts!

Never use anything that has even slightly gone 'off' or you would be training your dog to find carrion.
If you use a Muntjac skin you could cut it up into at least four pieces and freeze them. Thaw one out for each session.
The item to lay the trail and the 'find' doesn't need to be very big. Two or three small pieces of fresh, chopped heart on top of the 'find' works wonders for keenness with a Labrador.
Blood goes 'off' very quickly but the good thing is you really don't need much (if any) at all. Freeze it in small containers.
As you progress you will be amazed at what your dog can smell out, once she gets used to the job in hand.
When Ruby has her tracking collar and long lead attached, she sometimes starts dribbling in anticipation. She always gets some heart from the gralloch if possible.

 

[Uncle Norm]

I was delighted to receive a call from Wolverine this morning. It has been several years since we last chatted.
George and his colleagues take tracking to what I would term 'Olympian' standards, whilst I am still in the senior school 100 yards race
Despite his level of expertise, don't be shy in asking George for advice. He is willing to help all comers.
BUT be aware that George will tell it as it is .
One of my favourite memories is when I was having a wibble about laying a 400 metre track with four turns, leaving it for several hours, then taking my 9 month old puppy to do it.
George, in his inimitable way said ''Just f***ingwell do it !! then ring me tonight and tell me how well she did.''
Sure enough, she did it easily and I made that call, only to get my ear 'bent' for doubting my dog.
Priceless

 

[Uncle Norm]

Although an avid reader and collector of sporting literature, I have found over my not inconsiderable years that I learn better from doing, rather than reading. However, if there is any simple primer that anybody would recommend, I will certainly seek it out. My fear is that anything written by someone who is experienced enough is going to be promoting practise on numbers of shot deer to track which simply is not going to happen. Everybody I know seems to be able to shoot remarkably straight! Or have their own dog....is there a connection here?!

You have hit the nail on the head. Everyone screws up at some point and will usually try their hardest to deal with the consequences as quickly as practicable. I screwed up a few weeks ago on a fallow and needed to finish it with a neck shot from about 40 yards. Nothing wrong with the kit, simple pilot error. Checked zero on a target... no problem.
In most cases the stalker's own dog will sort matters. However, if you get a real runner its time to send for the 'A' team. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to do so if/when it happens.