How many times have you spent hours tracking a wounded deer with only a 50/50 recovery success rate? Do you remember how frustrating it was last season when you finally drew a bead on that massive buck, only to wing him and watch him go bounding away? Worse yet that he managed to slip away and disappear, leaving you with nothing more than a story to tell.
Why not teach your dog to track wounded deer? Your dog has one of the most sensitive noses on the planet, why not put it to good use by teaching him to track? Unlike a human that can easily lose track of the deer as is blood trail disappears from sight, your dog can lock onto the deer's scent and won't give up until he has tracked it down or been called off the hunt.
The task is simple, you are training your dog to track a wounded deer, presumably one that you failed to kill with the first shot. But, before you train your pup to do this, you need to make sure it is legal in your state. Some will require your dog to be on a leash while tracking, others allow you to let the dog run free. Some states let you continue tracking after dark and there are those who have a specific manner in which you can finish the kill when you catch up with the wounded animal.
The concept is that once you have wounded the deer, your dog can be taken to the spot where the deer was standing when he was shot. At this point, he should be able to pick up the scent and take off following the deer until he tracks it down, loses the scent (yes, it does happen), or is called off the hunt by you.
You can teach this skill to any dog capable of being taught to track using his nose. In most cases, it is better to start training your dog at an early age as this will make the training go far more quickly. Dogs learn quickly at a young age, but as they get older it gets harder and harder to teach them. For this, you will need a few supplies, including:
In addition to the materials above, you'll need plenty of time and patience, as well as a good location to train in, preferably a field with woods on at least one side.
Of these, time is probably one of the most important as you need to work on this training consistently over the course of several months or longer before your pup masters this particular skill. Be patient and work your pup over a number of different types of terrain including fields, light and heavy brush and, of course, out in the woods. All training methods assume your dog has already mastered the basic commands.
I would love to be able to train my blood hound to track deer for people. I have two blood hounds actually and would love them both to track.
Hello Olivia, I would begin playing games that encourage pup to use their nose (usually a line or treats and treat hiding games), and hide and seek come type games where they get used to searching for people they love who are hiding and calling them. I would also look into search and rescue training specifically. Check out this article on search and rescue. I would start pup on the "Right Track method" from that article at first. https://wagwalking.com/training/search-and-rescue Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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I am trying to get him to track deer that have been shot! And STAY seated in the car! He hopped in my lap and jerked my car to the other lane
Hello Paige, For the car seating, I would actually practice a Down-stay on the seat or floorboard. Most dogs will stay better in the Down position while riding if your car can accommodate it. Either way, start by practicing Down or Sit-Stay while the car is stationary at home. Work up to long duration Sit-Stays in that setting. Once pup is great at Sitting in the car without getting up, then recruit a second person to enforce the command while the other person drives. It's important to do this with two people so the driver can just drive. Work up to pulling in and out of the garage, driving around the neighborhood, then longer distances gradually. Try to end the training with pup doing well still each time if you can. When you don't have a second person to help train, I would use a car harness for pup, like ruffwear or kurgo car harnesses. so you can buckle pup into the set. This is safer for pup in the event of a crash and you, so pup can't get into your lap. For the tracking, I would actually start with obedience commands to get pup to the point where they are reliable off leash. You can practice games like Hide and Seek Come, treat hiding, ect...to get pup into the habit of using their nose to find things in general as a puppy. If you can get a hold of deer blood or check out local deer processor for any discarded deer parts, like organs that can be used for scent and blood, I would use the Squeeze Bottle method or Beef Liver Method (but use deer organs instead of you can get that - if you can't get those, then use beef). Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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Do I have to use raw hide or tanned hide to train in blood tracking? Not sure I want raw deer hide aging in the house. Thanks, Brian
Hello! I have heard of people having lots of success using tanned hide. So you shouldn't have any problems. The company Dog Bone Hunter sells processed and preserved deer hides that work really well.
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I just wanted to know if she would make a good tracking dog, she knows basic commands decently, but she gets distracted pretty easily as she is still somewhat of a pup!
Hello Kaci, I would see how good her scenting ability is and how interested in scent work she seems, to decide. Practice hiding treats and encouraging pup to find - show pup where they are the first few times while giving a finding command. See how pup does when they are not shown where they are (keep locations easy at first). Hide a treat under one of three to five different identical cups, and see if pup can sniff out which has the treat. Hide somewhere close by and have another person give pup a finding command and take pup to you. Practice several times until pup learns the command, then see if pup can find you on their own. Don't make these exercises too difficult at first, while pup is still learning the games - but notice whether pup tries to use their nose to locate, or only depends on other senses. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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Wanting to train one of our goldens to track deer blood. I've read that it's best to use a harness when doing this if you're gonna be using a lead, which I will. Question is if we already use a harness for walking her around the neighborhood, would using a different type of harness matter or maybe use a bell on it only when tracking?
She was the runt of the litter, about 50lbs now. Loves to retrieve and seeks approval/praise.
She has gotten extremely excited, more so than our 6 yr old 100+ lbs Male, the last few times I brought home a deer. I would let them smell, lick it. She goes bananas.
Just not sure about the harness situation. We use a harness for walking because our daughter primarily walks her and we want to make sure she doesn't wiggle out of the collar. As she gets really excited about walks...
Sorry for length but wanted to give info..
Thanks!!
Hello Robert, Because of the nature of what you are going to be teaching, you will want her to know when it's time to work and when it's not time to work, so I do suggest using different equipment than what you normally use for walks. A bell might be enough but to be safe I would probably have a different harness. Also, what type of harness do you use for walking her? If that harness is a front clip or no-pull harness, you also will want something different for tracking - such as a padded back clip harness - more like what's used in search and rescue. Don't worry about the length of your question. Detail help me give a better answer. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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