# Any advice on training a deer dog?



## kyhunter

I've got a 10 1/2 month black female lab.  I have always wanted a deer dog and now that I have a dog I want to train her to trail shot deer.  She is a pet although I have been working with her for months now and she exceeded my greatest expectations the other day on her first dove hunt.  Does anyone have any real expertise with training a deer dog and some advice to go with it.


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## bobman

Basically when you gut or hang a deer try to recover blood from it and freeze it, if you have some buddies that will help get them to recover as much blood as possible everytime you or they kill a deer. 

Now freeze it, film canisters or small tupperware type containers work well. 

Next the training, 

Put a harness on the dog this will teach the dog to associate the harness with the tracking job at hand. Use this harness for tracking and nothing else. 
Now the rest is simple take the frozen containers of blood and mix them with a gallon of well water ( dont use chlorinated water) then lay a trail with a gallon milk jug with holes punched in it so the water/blood mixture drips steadily on the trail. one film canister or small cantainer of this size per gallon will work well. wear rubber boots to conceal your scent you want the dog to track the deer blood not you. 

First trails should be straight and maybe 25 feet get the dog to track them, and have a reward on the end, hot dogs or any dog treat the dog likes will work. do this once each day for a few days so the dog learns that there is something real good for him at the end of the short track. 

Next gradually make them a little harder first longer in a straight line the start to make right angle turns so the dog learns to backtrack and pick the trail back up. 

Dogs pick this up real quick, little dogs like dachounds and small mutts work well because they are close to the ground and naturally ground trail, but labs and shorthairs learn it quick also. The nice thing about little dogs is they wont jerk your arm out of the socket trailing, a big dog like your lab in a harness can pull like you cannot believe. 

DO NOT DRAG A DEER HIDE!! 

The reason you are going to the trouble of collecting the blood is to teach the dog to track blood trails not deer, anywhere you kill a deer there will be lots more of them, you want the dog to track blood trails only. 

When you actaully do this in the field wear orange and have some assistants that hang back if possible wearing orange also. have one of them bring a 22 pistol if legal, in case you need to dispatch one( check regs). 

You can place deer road kills at the end of trails when you get to the advanced part of the training, then really praise the dog when he finds it and give him his treat. 

thats about it. 

Key points 
1)no deer hide drags, just blood 
2)dog always on lead while wearing tracking harness , otherwise the dog will leave you behind and is in danger of being shot during gun season, never use this harness for anything else but tracking. 

3) you take the week or two it takes to train this and you will never lose another deer 
4) let other deer hunters in your area know you can do this to give the dog ample practice each season 
5) love your dog


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## kyhunter

Thank you for the input it sounds like you know your stuff I was about to mess up.  I have a bloody chunk of hide that I was planning on using, sounds like a need to go get a doe.


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## bobman

get a harness also before you start training, use it for tracking and nothing else ever.

the harness will become the cue she is supposed to track, its an important part of this


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## Davexx1

I have trained a few wounded deer trail dogs in my day.  I have a slightly different perspective and method.

Not every shot/wounded deer bleeds alot and/or they may stop bleeding somewhere along the trail.  If your dog only trails blood, he/she may be hindered where the blood trail stops.

All animals that are shot/wounded give off a certain scent/odor or pherenome that is detectable by trained dogs, predators, etc.  That is how a skilled experienced trail dog can follow the same wounded deer thru a maze of fresher live deer trails and scents.

I trained my trail dogs by taking the dog and putting him/her on as many "shot" deer trails as was possible, allowing and encouraging the dog to trail right to the downed animal, then praised the dog and let him know he did good.  If you are in a hunt club, ask others to call you everytime they shoot a deer so you can work the dog on that dead deer trail and do that as often as you can during the deer seasons.

Another method that worked well for training and finding downed deer was taking the dog well down wind of a dead deer in the woods and walking the dog back and forth across the wind current coming from the deer until you could tell the dog could smell the downed deer, then I turned the dog lose.  Repeat several times from greater distances.  This helps the dog smell and zero in on a downed deer from the wind currents only and not a scent trail oon the ground.

I train hog dogs the same way but use a live hobbled hog hidden in the weeds, woods, overgrown fields etc.  Those good Cur dogs catch on quick.

I trained my deer trail dogs to trail slowly on a leash, not bark, taking me to the downed animal.  Like was mentioned, dogs associated you coming with the leash in hand as they were going hunting and they loved the experience.  Labs are great dogs and should train well.  Some are OK trailing off the leash, that is alot easier, but you don't want the dog to charge ahead and jump/chase an animal that is still alive.  That is why I preferred to keep dog on a leash, trail along very quietly without talking, etc.

If the dog loses the trail, mark the spot of last detectable scent, and start making large circles into the wind.  If the deer is laying out there and the dog is downwind of the deer, he should smell and want to go to it.

Good luck.

Dave1


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## Eroc33

do you have to use deer blood or will cow blood work


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## kyhunter

Davexx1 said:


> I have trained a few wounded deer trail dogs in my day.  I have a slightly different perspective and method.
> 
> Not every shot/wounded deer bleeds alot and/or they may stop bleeding somewhere along the trail.  If your dog only trails blood, he/she may be hindered where the blood trail stops.
> 
> All animals that are shot/wounded give off a certain scent/odor or pherenome that is detectable by trained dogs, predators, etc.  That is how a skilled experienced trail dog can follow the same wounded deer thru a maze of fresher live deer trails and scents.
> 
> I trained my trail dogs by taking the dog and putting him/her on as many "shot" deer trails as was possible, allowing and encouraging the dog to trail right to the downed animal, then praised the dog and let him know he did good.  If you are in a hunt club, ask others to call you everytime they shoot a deer so you can work the dog on that dead deer trail and do that as often as you can during the deer seasons.
> 
> Another method that worked well for training and finding downed deer was taking the dog well down wind of a dead deer in the woods and walking the dog back and forth across the wind current coming from the deer until you could tell the dog could smell the downed deer, then I turned the dog lose.  Repeat several times from greater distances.  This helps the dog smell and zero in on a downed deer from the wind currents only and not a scent trail oon the ground.
> 
> I train hog dogs the same way but use a live hobbled hog hidden in the weeds, woods, overgrown fields etc.  Those good Cur dogs catch on quick.
> 
> I trained my deer trail dogs to trail slowly on a leash, not bark, taking me to the downed animal.  Like was mentioned, dogs associated you coming with the leash in hand as they were going hunting and they loved the experience.  Labs are great dogs and should train well.  Some are OK trailing off the leash, that is alot easier, but you don't want the dog to charge ahead and jump/chase an animal that is still alive.  That is why I preferred to keep dog on a leash, trail along very quietly without talking, etc.
> 
> If the dog loses the trail, mark the spot of last detectable scent, and start making large circles into the wind.  If the deer is laying out there and the dog is downwind of the deer, he should smell and want to go to it.
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> Dave1



I just learned a lesson with that.  I shot a deer that doubled back after going about 1000yrds in one direction.
The dog wanted to go into the north after trailing for about 100yrds which is where the wind was blowing from.  We called the dog back 3 times trying to get him back on the blood we were on.  Long story short we lost blood 1000yrds into the trail and were completly lost as to were to go.  3 days later we found the deer because off buzzards in the same area the dog kept wanting to go.  We didn't trust the dog because we were on blood that was going in a different direction.  I wish we would of trusted him, now I have to find a cape for the deer.


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## Davexx1

I learned that lesson also.  After following the same dog around trailing shot/wounded deer for a couple of hunting seasons, you will learn to recognize what the dog is thinking and smelling.  There were times I thought the dog was wrong and I knew better where the deer went but the dog proved me wrong about 99% of the time.  With time and experience I learned to trust the experienced dog.

Young inexperienced dogs can/will make mistakes but they will eventually learn and get better as they gain more experience.  That is why I urge anyone training a young trail dog to get them on as many shot/wounded or dead deer as is possible and also doing the training exercises such as winding a downed deer from downwind.

Dave1


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## Luke0927

Bob do you do this on any of your bird dogs that you hunt with...i have a good shorthair that is not registered so i can't trail or hunt test him but he is a good bird dog....he is about 4 i have thought about trying to get him to trail blood...think i could do it on an older dog?


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## bobman

Luke I pretty much quit hunting deer about 4-5 years ago.

Prior to that every GSP and lab I've ever owned in the last 35 years, was trained this way. Thats a lot of dogs by the way. Your 4 year old dog would learn this in two to three weeks, use deer blood and a harness like I recommended. The point about trusting the dogs made above is a good one of course, if you loose the trail and the dog wants to go in a direction let him, often deer will stop bleeding but still die nearby.


As a aside....
I used to hunt deer with my GSP's all the time in the 70's and 80's. I usaully hunt deer with a drilling which is a side by side shotgun with a rifle barrel underneath it, 12x12x3006 and my shorthairs would point deer and flush them on command. Killed lots of them that way. This is what GSP's were developed to do and they take to it like a duck to water.  

Theres been lots of times I've killed quail deer and woodcock all pointed by the same dog in the same afternoon. Then sat at a pond and killed a couple wood ducks.

You hunt a clearcut with a GSP trained this way and you will be astonished how many deer lie down and let you walk right by them while they hide in some little briar patch.

Nowadays there are too many dog shooting fools in the woods so I hunt out west. If someone shot one of my dogs I would shoot him right out of his deer stand so I don't hunt Georgia anymore, some situations are best for me to avoid.

I've never tried it with one of my EP's but I think any dog would take to it, game is game to dogs, we put the artificial part to it. Dogs will hunt wahtever you want them to, they just have to figure out what "that" is.

If I wasn't worried they would get hurt I would kind of like to train them to bay hogs, shorthairs would be good at that. The breed is used almost exclusively for that in Germany, thats why you will see the DK's are much larger  slower and fur sharp dogs than the Americanized lines of GSP dogs. My DK is probably 85-90 lbs my FT bred shorthairs are 45-65 lbs and much faster lighter dogs.
The dog in my avatar on gundog forum is my DK.


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## Luke0927

Thanks bob i would love to do have on dog to hunt the way you said....but like you said your dog will probably end up shot now a days....would be a bad situation not sure how i would react in that one....that is the nice thing about the GSP they can be used or a lot of things.


Sorry for the hijack KYhunter


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## LLove

we'll be training our dog this season too, so this thread has been really helpful!!


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## Daddy Rabbit Kennels

*``````````````````````````Rabbit Tracks Ever where```````````````>*

The best one we ever had was a Jack Russell, and I use a collar with  A Small Bell we always put the collar with the bell on just as we go into the woods. 

Bell serves as two or three purposes, one he could relate it was time to go track a deer, and two we did not use a lease, just listen for the bell and at night it sure helps to know where he was at all time!

Three, the bell ringing will keep any coyotes away from the little tracking dog.

Good Luck
D.R.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>


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## bigox911

Good to hear Jack Russells will do this...I've got one and have been wondering how to get him trained up.


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## bubdog

*Book*

Buy the book "Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer" on this site. 

http://unitedbloodtrackersstore.org/Default_MN1.asp

It covers the traditional European training techniques and it is a very good read.


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## wildlands

Bubdog, thanks for posting about John's book. How is Red coming along?  I highly recomend John's book also. One of the best written resources for anyone interested in training a tracking dog.  

A few web sites that have good information about tracking dogs are.
www.unitedbloodtrackers.org
www.deersearch.org
www.born-to-track.com
and my web site www.hillockkennels.com

I use a 30' lead and a special collar made just for tracking. I only use them when we are tracking and only put it on her when we get to the spot where the animal was shot.
I do not like to let her track free for fear that she will get to far out in front of me or go onto property that we do not have permission to track on. 

I start all pups out on liver drags and then switch over to blood trails either put down by dabbing or driping. If you want to get deep into training you can also get a pair of scent shoes to train with. This way the dog learns to track and individual deer even without blood. What every style of training you use make it fun. 

I also tell my puppy buyers to expect 2 years of work to get a dog they can trust. 2 summers of practice tracks and the first hunting season to get them on as many tracks of deer that their location is known for training. This way you train on real tracks and know if the dog is getting off the trail and correct it. Real tracks have so many different smells and much more scent than the tracks you lay for practice. The dog will learn to track and individual deer through the inerdigital scent glands even without blood. The dog will also learn about  backs track and learn how to work a check where the deer just walks around in circles before going  off in a set direction.  Do not forget to practice at night and in pastures with livestock around. You do not want the first time the dog is exposed to these situations be during a real track. By the second tracking season you will have a dog that will work well on real tracks but still make some mistakes just becasue it is young. It will take about 30 tracks to get a dog that really understands its job and can be trusted in all situations.

I know there are those that will read this and say my dog worked faster than that and I did not have to put all that training in. What I have posted above is a very quick intro into what we do and is how I have my puppy buyers train their dogs. So far that has worked and the dogs have turned out to be top quality and know how to get the job done.

Happy tracking all.
Ken


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## bobman

Wildlands good post, my short and dirty description is all I felt like writing on here. I agree in fact even my bird dogs take two to three years to really come into it.


What breed of dogs do you use?


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## molly

Ken....you hit the nail on the head, thats why I got a new dog "puppy"  last Feb. cause it will take two tracking seasons plus two off seasons to get him trained.  Most of the time the blood stops and a dog will have to track the deer tracks that goes with the blood.


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## The Arrow Guru

*This is just what I have been looking for......*

I have a guy giving me a 6 month old beagle. She is going to be my deer tracking dog. I'm looking forward to it. Any more info you guys want to post here will be awsome. Do you think beagles are a good tracking dog?


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## doe shooter

I have a beagle that i have used for three seasons now. He has only tracked blood trails. I started him off feeding him some ground venison as a treat, then within a couple of weeks, started a short blood trail in the back yard with the ground venison at the end of the trail. Within three weeks, he was tracking blood lines several hundred yards long. He has found deer we couldn't track and has ignored hogs and live deer he has come across following the wounded deer. I wish i could put him on more deer but my job keeps me on the road too much.


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## creekbender

Daddy Rabbit Kennels said:


> The best one we ever had was a Jack Russell, and I use a collar with  A Small Bell we always put the collar with the bell on just as we go into the woods.
> 
> Bell serves as two or three purposes, one he could relate it was time to go track a deer, and two we did not use a lease, just listen for the bell and at night it sure helps to know where he was at all time!
> 
> Three, the bell ringing will keep any coyotes away from the little tracking dog.
> 
> Good Luck
> D.R.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>



d.r, i know this is right , ya'll have taught me well , ol baxter goes absolute crazy when i break out his collar with the bell on it ,he know's what is fixin to happen as a  matter of fact we had to use him this morning , he's still going strong finding em when he needs to.


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## Bkeepr

My old dog Rooster would whimper and get really excited sometimes, I came to learn that he did that when the deer was still alive and fleeing.  When he was calm but still pulling steady the deer was dead.  He got good at air scenting and I would just trust him to lead me to the deer.


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