BigGameHoundsmen.com

Hi there!
I have been around on lots of americans huntingsites, read, seen photos and watched lots of videos. And I always get astonished that when there is a bad shot and a wounded animal it seems that you never uses dog for tracking! How come? I´m used here from sweden to use trained trackingdogs everytime there is a bad shoot or a trafficaccident involving an animal. This is a question I have been wondered for long time , so I would bee happy for an answer.

A curios swede.

I used my border collie a few times on downed deer that we could not find. She's not trained but I was able to just show her the area and she led us right to the bodies. The ground where we hunt is mostly rock and gravel so most times you can track the blood trail by sight, if they are bleeding well.

Its against the law in most states.

Yea thats true, can't run deer here with dogs. Not real sure about the blood trailing. We do look real hard for the before we go back to get a dog since usualy its several miles both ways. I kept my dog real close and didn't let her run ahead... figured it was better that we recovered the deer rather than let it go to waste. Some of these laws are real strange...

We use our lacys for blood trails. Whitetail hunting is big business down here in West Texas. I get calls all season long and can make a dollar or two. We can run two dogs off lead as long as we have confirmed blood. Most states that I know will not let the dog off lead just check your state laws.

I think the reason why is folks don't believe it works....leash laws here in BC also apply.

horshur wrote:I think the reason why is folks don't believe it works....leash laws here in BC also apply.

It works real well I can say. The best dogs can take a track wich is 12 to 24 hours old, not even a few inches of snow or rain stop them. Tracking lenght is all between 100yards and many miles.
When tracking you put a speciel harnes on the dog attached with a long line (10- 15yards) so you never let the dog off.

snowy river black and tan wrote:Its against the law in most states.

Funny how diffrent things are!
Here it´s a law saying that you have to have a trained trackingdog on track maximum 2 hours after the shoot. Ideal is to wait at least 1 hour so that the animal can lay down an get a little "stiff" and have a little trouble to get on the run again when coming near it.

TomJr wrote:I used my border collie a few times on downed deer that we could not find. She's not trained but I was able to just show her the area and she led us right to the bodies. The ground where we hunt is mostly rock and gravel so most times you can track the blood trail by sight, if they are bleeding well.

What do you do if the deer not bleeding well and its far between the blood?

If any of you guys are interested there is a good book on the subject written by John Jeanneney. Its called Tracking Dogs for wounded deer. It is kind of the bible of blood trailing in the US. There are a lot of good web sites on the subject too. Our dog group holds a seminar once a year to help handlers and dogs get into it and it is open to any breed.

Heres a pic of one we found last year. The trail was going on 48 hours and had been trashed up by the hunters. The dry Texas archery season sure makes it tough on a dog.

lacydog
do you know Marlo Riley? she used to write a column in full cry & hold seminars on blood tracking. and judging by the pics in full cry she is one outstanding example of a Texas hottie.

Pops wrote:lacydog
do you know Marlo Riley? she used to write a column in full cry & hold seminars on blood tracking. and judging by the pics in full cry she is one outstanding example of a Texas hottie.

Pops, yes I know Marlo. She is the one that puts the seminars all together, she is quite a character. We just had the seminar a few weeks ago and had over 60 dogs

ulf.bonas wrote:

horshur wrote:I think the reason why is folks don't believe it works....leash laws here in BC also apply.

It works real well I can say. The best dogs can take a track wich is 12 to 24 hours old, not even a few inches of snow or rain stop them. Tracking lenght is all between 100yards and many miles.
When tracking you put a speciel harnes on the dog attached with a long line (10- 15yards) so you never let the dog off.

Yes I know and have used a dog a few times. I know statistics have suggested somtimes up to 2/3 of game shot is not retrieved...here is a pic of my nephews first deer that he hit centre and left a poor blood trail....saved a few tears for sure.



And here is the same dog this past winter treed on a lion

ulf.bonas wrote:

TomJr wrote:I used my border collie a few times on downed deer that we could not find. She's not trained but I was able to just show her the area and she led us right to the bodies. The ground where we hunt is mostly rock and gravel so most times you can track the blood trail by sight, if they are bleeding well.

What do you do if the deer not bleeding well and its far between the blood?

Thats when I go home and get a dog to find it for me. IF I see any blood at all I know its been hit so personaly I feel I should do everything I can to find that deer. No point in letting it go to waste... I can recall only 4 times in 25+ years of hunting where we had to go home and get a dog to find a wounded deer. My dad and I get a deer every year and back when my brothers, sister and mom hunted we would fill 6 tags every year so thats a lot of deer.

ulf.bonas wrote:Hi there!
I have been around on lots of americans huntingsites, read, seen photos and watched lots of videos. And I always get astonished that when there is a bad shot and a wounded animal it seems that you never uses dog for tracking! How come? I´m used here from sweden to use trained trackingdogs everytime there is a bad shoot or a trafficaccident involving an animal. This is a question I have been wondered for long time , so I would bee happy for an answer.

A curios swede.

well today here in time i`m reading that is being done / course most hunters of today don`t want their dogs/especially biggame dogs around that sort of thing ! However back in the very early 1960`s I knowed shorty waggnor of robens ca; he was a brother of the famed WAGGNOR trappers an waggnor line of b&T`s from kan/mo./ill areas . shorty had 17 hounds back then an was a government trapper in ca and just in his last hunten yrs. he run his dogs after dragg-trap critters an the worked-out an tracked-up critters in traps that tryed too escape .those same varmett dogs also doubled as coon dogs and biggame dogs/ an cyote dogs ! he and hans waggner and tom waggner keot the line and they seemed creditable turned loose to hunt on there own an didn`t brake track/but would be corrected an move-on from it. so i guess trappers in yhis country back in the depression used hounds or what ever/cause liquor/hides kept money in folks pockets/ also there was a need for food on the table/ya grew it in your yard as veggies and traded skills for a hog or chickens etc. and the family hound treed-or bayed-up critters for the family to eat ! back then it was just away things was/now days youd call a dog hunter pretty commen if he soilled a hound to be doing that sort of goens-on.
jack .

jack