Thermal vs dog

[Heym SR20]

But the tail on the thermal never stops wagging.....

No what happens with all electronics is that they just stop working. By then they are out of date, out of warranty, no spare parts, company no longer in existence so they go in a draw along with digital cameras, old phones, laptops etc. this is usually after about 5 years.

Good dogs eventually fade away physically, often with the remains going in a favourite happy place, and will remain in the memory for a long long time.

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

No what happens with all electronics is that they just stop working. By then they are out of date, out of warranty, no spare parts, company no longer in existence so they go in a draw along with digital cameras, old phones, laptops etc. this is usually after about 5 years.

Good dogs eventually fade away physically, often with the remains going in a favourite happy place, and will remain in the memory for a long long time.

Indeed- I was responding to a strawman with similar levels of nonsense !

 

[Heym SR20]

Indeed- I was responding to a strawman with similar levels of nonsense !

I don’t think that Johnny Carter’s grandson will be visiting Nick Holts grandson in 50 years time to make a video on that beautiful Hik Micro thermal made in 2024.

And certainly couldn’t make a full video full of wonderful guns

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

I don’t think that Johnny Carter’s grandson will be visiting Nick Holts grandson in 50 years time to make a video on that beautiful Hik Micro thermal made in 2024.

And certainly couldn’t make a full video full of wonderful guns

How many graves from dead dogs have people visited?

I agree guns are works of art and beautiful though.

 

[Pete6.5]

Trying to get someone that loves their dog to say it's not great is like getting someone to say their child or grandchild is a idiot.

 

[Dunwaters]

Trying to get someone that loves their dog to say it's not great is like getting someone to say their child or grandchild is an idiot.

A guy will happily admit that he’s a crap shot, that his wife is ugly and unreliable in mixed company, his kids are thick and he lives in a crap house in a crap neighbourhood, but dont criticise his dog

 

[baguio]

Man with a thermal cannot even be compared to the dog . You might get lucky with the thermal and it saves a long search in fading light and having to return at break of light to try again ( for a dead deer ) Chances of tracking down a wounded deer on its legs with thermal ? Remote in the extreme .

Lots of people won’t use a dog in the dark though. We can all use a thermal in the dark. Most of the lost deer are actually dead deer anyway. My mate has dogs that are far better than I could ever train. He will wait until the morning anyway so no benefit whatsoever of buying a tracking dog.

 

[John Gryphon]

He will wait until the morning anyway so no benefit whatsoever of buying a tracking dog.

Waiting and going back in the morning has negatives.
There is the benefit of the scent factor that is strongest immediately after the shot.
In the between hours rain can come down in torrents also and lessening the above for the dog or even erasing. Cold tracking is far tougher than hot tracking.

 

[baguio]

Waiting and going back in the morning has negatives.
There is the benefit of the scent factor that is strongest immediately after the shot.
In the between hours rain can come down in torrents also and lessening the above for the dog or even erasing. Cold tracking is far tougher than hot tracking.

You don’t say….multiple times!
However, by waiting until the morning, the dog can see where it’s going and is therefore less likely to get injured. Sorry but the dog’s life is of higher importance than a deer. It’s also much easier and safer to shoot a mobile deer in daylight than in the dark.

 

[phoenix 365]

I use a thermal all the time for stalking but it is nothing to compared to my best mate and his nose.

 

[tonyshooter]

A thermal lets you down when you have dropped a beast that is obviously dead and lying flat on the ground. Unless you are above it you are stuck for a direct line of sight.

My ESS "Storm " as well as been my best pal is invaluable in these circumstances.

 

[John Gryphon]

You don’t say….multiple times!
However, by waiting until the morning, the dog can see where it’s going and is therefore less likely to get injured. Sorry but the dog’s life is of higher importance than a deer. It’s also much easier and safer to shoot a mobile deer in daylight than in the dark.

Perhaps get a dog and learn how to utilise it instead of your pulpit poop.

 

[baguio]

Perhaps get a dog and learn how to utilise it instead of your pulpit poop.

ROFL. I own two dogs thanks. I would always call my mate who's in a tracking club though. You see, dogs that are trained to track are better than those that aren't as they take it slower and are more methodical. They will also either pull the deer down or hold it at bey so that it can be shot. He uses his big gun for this as it's no longer venison but just a suffering animal. Would you like to suck any more eggs?

 

[baguio]

A thermal lets you down when you have dropped a beast that is obviously dead and lying flat on the ground. Unless you are above it you are stuck for a direct line of sight.

My ESS "Storm " as well as been my best pal is invaluable in these circumstances.

Oddly, having shot thousands of deer, I'm yet to be unable to find a dead one with only a thermal and tracking the blood trail. 80% are muntjac which lay very flat too. If I know that the shot was good I will also know that the dead deer isn't too far away so I simply search a bit until I find it. Sure, if the deer is in a ravine or in thick cover a thermal alone won't find it but almost 100% of the time it could be found without the need for a dog. It might take a bit of skill and good eyes but that's all.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

Waiting and going back in the morning has negatives.
There is the benefit of the scent factor that is strongest immediately after the shot.
In the between hours rain can come down in torrents also and lessening the above for the dog or even erasing. Cold tracking is far tougher than hot tracking.

I would agree that hot scent is easier but.........I know a lot of trackers who swear by the fact that vegetation wounding - the scent of crushed/damaged vegetation that the wounded deer has trodden on - gets stronger with time - up to a point. So for a very lightly wounded deer with no or little blood trail, the vegetation wounding might be a major factor

 

[John Gryphon]

I loved hunting over good cold scenting hounds, hounds that were given 'a mark' 12 hours old from the evening before etc then cold scenting to the deer beds then jumping them. Awesome stuff and other times walking two brace of hounds that are voicing on the leads on red hot marks is another demo of a dogs ability, just air scenting without snuffling the ground. When the deer keeps going after sundown, the hounds keep on it, good hounds do that is.
I see the eggman said some rubbish about dogs working in the dark well egg sucker needs to have seen staghounds working at night on all manner of game from foxes to boar`s to hares or what ever`s. We dropped dogs on boar`s at night, proper working dogs relish action at any time of the day or night. Its their masters that are the worriers.
A simple slow tracking exercise is sfa for a dog whether night or day.
When we shot foxes for skins in the early 80`s we always had 'old Reckless' in the back he was 50/50 greyhound/foxhound or was he 75/25 hmmm 40 years ago lol. That dog would find any fox in tussocks/fern/bush dead or alive ...he didn't care if it was dark and wasn't scared of it.
All in all a dog will outdo a device as devices have limitations, the main one is that they cant scent.

 

[nic531]

And a decent dog costs less than a thermal and probably lasts substantially longer.

not when they eat two pairs of your wife's knickers and a sock! but only throw up the sock and 2 x 1/2 knickers. Could have bought 3 thermal spotters for the cost of that operation!

 

[Tikka 270]

Oddly, having shot thousands of deer, I'm yet to be unable to find a dead one with only a thermal and tracking the blood trail. 80% are muntjac which lay very flat too. If I know that the shot was good I will also know that the dead deer isn't too far away so I simply search a bit until I find it. Sure, if the deer is in a ravine or in thick cover a thermal alone won't find it but almost 100% of the time it could be found without the need for a dog. It might take a bit of skill and good eyes but that's all.

You must have some pretty easy stalking ground....

 

[Tikka 270]

You don’t say….multiple times!
However, by waiting until the morning, the dog can see where it’s going and is therefore less likely to get injured. Sorry but the dog’s life is of higher importance than a deer. It’s also much easier and safer to shoot a mobile deer in daylight than in the dark.

If people won't allow their dog to find a deer in the dark it can't be up to much or they think of the dog as a child

 

[baguio]

If people won't allow there dog to find a deer in the dark it can't be up to much or they think of the dog as a child

You’re embarrassing yourself now I’m afraid.