Tracking in the dark

[barongcw]

I was away for a week stalking so did not join the fun in the now suspended discussion about yellow collars and such like.

I go even further.

My hound has an elastic Bodoband with her name, address and a phone number. As she is now 7+ I quite often track with her without a lead. By putting on this band she knows there is tracking to be done.
In the late evening I add not only a collar that lights up because I could not see that if the grass/corn is too high but I clipp onto that a small strobe light.
This enables me to see the hound when she is 100 yards in front of me in tall grass.
It does not detract the hound in any way from her job.
Once she has found the deer I put the strobe light on top of it thus making it very easy for anybody to know where it is for collection.
What do other people do?

 

[stone]

I don't track off a leash if I can help it as the dog was trained to track on a leash , working off a leash slows her down
but once we find it ,then I drag it.... I get all the good jobs

 

[Wolverine]

Up here in thick sitka I sometimes have to give the dogs their own head,otherwise you get completely tangled up in allsorts,hawk bells are handy as is a flashing collar,no fun on hands and knees thru sitka
All my dogs return to whistle,the youngest lab has taken to barking at dead deer,so very handy,the other 2 will on wounded ones,normally use halving method as it has always worked for me too

 

[barongcw]

I don't track off a leash if I can help it as the dog was trained to track on a leash , working off a leash slows her down
but once we find it ,then I drag it.... I get all the good jobs

May be you ought to get one of those sledges the swedes and the USA uses to get their deer out. You can then train your hound to pull it. Might be a bit heavy for a BS but a HS should do it.

Fear the VH will get apoplexy if they ever hear about this.

 

[sikamalc]

Todd has always worn a red harness with luminous white flashes and works off the lead. Its impossible in dense forestry to work on a lead most times. I have trained him to respond to the whistle and he returns to me when called. If he bays a deer he will bark continously and hold it until I get there. If its dead he will report once or twice and then return and take me to it.

Probably not trained the way some would train a BMH but it works for me over the past 5 years and he will also take me straight onto live deer whenever I am stalking with him.

I do my own dragging usually with him hanging onto it for a while

 

[glyn]

i use a wide leather collar for work similar to a grey hound collar with Gray reflective bands on that pick any torch light up very well through the trees !,i dont use sika on a leash as most of my stalking is in sitka spruce and any track end up on hands a knees ! as with malc's he comes back to a whistle ,and if dead he will keep coming back and take me to it . malc,s comment of doing his own dragging and the dog hanging on is very familiar here as well

 

[barongcw]

Todd has always worn a red harness with luminous white flashes and works off the lead. Its impossible in dense forestry to work on a lead most times. I have trained him to respond to the whistle and he returns to me when called. If he bays a deer he will bark continously and hold it until I get there. If its dead he will report once or twice and then return and take me to it.

Probably not trained the way some would train a BMH but it works for me over the past 5 years and he will also take me straight onto live deer whenever I am stalking with him.

I do my own dragging usually with him hanging onto it for a while

Sounds pretty good to me.