# Training deer dogs from puppies



## StikR

How soon do you start training deer dogs and what are some of the methods to get them started?


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## StikR

Any info appreciated guys.  I've got some pups that will around 10 mos old when deer season opens and want to get them started right.  I am going to run them with an older dog or two this season, but what about before deer season?  Should I run them in a puppy pen on rabbits?  Should I do deer drags around the house?


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## Lil D

If you start them on rabbits more than likely thats what they will run when you turn them out but they could run a deer to. Take them to a fox pen with a older or slower dog and get them started like that. Another way to do it is to take them to a fox pen and pay someone to train them, thats a good way because the trainer can show them a deer and let them sight chase it. When they lose sight of the deer they will be forced to use there nose. Option 3 is if you hve a few acres away from a highway walk them through the woods and find a hot deer or a bedding area and let them run it. Option 4 is get a deer cape, let them smell it, then drag it and let them trail it. Once you get a hound hooked on deer that's it, you have a deerdog. That's just my 2 cents but you do what best fits you.


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## StikR

At what age do I need to start training them?  Do fox pens have deer in them?  Where is the closest good pen near Augusta?


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## grouper throat

Lil D said:


> If you start them on rabbits more than likely thats what they will run when you turn them out but they could run a deer to. Take them to a fox pen with a older or slower dog and get them started like that. Another way to do it is to take them to a fox pen and pay someone to train them, thats a good way because the trainer can show them a deer and let them sight chase it. When they lose sight of the deer they will be forced to use there nose. Option 3 is if you hve a few acres away from a highway walk them through the woods and find a hot deer or a bedding area and let them run it. Option 4 is get a deer cape, let them smell it, then drag it and let them trail it. Once you get a hound hooked on deer that's it, you have a deerdog. That's just my 2 cents but you do what best fits you.



Run them in a rabbit pen unless you're sure they can run a deer in there(I personally can't stand a dog trashing on fox or coyotes). I have had over a dozen deer dogs started in a rabbit pen before and never had one jump or run a rabbit in the woods. After the rabbit pen take them and put them on a hot track with or without a older dog. I usually start them without an older dog though unless they need help running it. I have never had one out of the rabbit pen that wouldn't run a deer the first time I put them on a hot track, it works miracles to start them in one IMO.


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## StikR

at what age should I put them in a rabbit pen?


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## RSmith

This is like any other kind of hunting, there are a lot of ways and opinions, I personally have always trained my hounds on rabbits and have never had a problem switching them over to deer, however there are not many rabbits where I run deer. The number one thing I can say is expose them to the woods and to game, if they have it in them they will make dogs if they have a good enough chance. I don't like to buy fox pen dogs but I know quite a few folks who run their deer dogs in pens.
 If you have a choice I would not wait until hunting season to start these dogs but I also think that it is not too late then. I take mine to rabbit pen's at four months and at least get them to know to go to another dog that is working a track. The key with any hunting dog is practice, some start sooner than others and some are not ever worth a nickel no matter how much effort you put in. Hope you get a couple of good ones out of a litter and remember that once in a lifetime dog is hard to find.


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## grouper throat

StikR said:


> at what age should I put them in a rabbit pen?


4 months is when I carry mine. At 5 months I have them in the woods with older dogs.


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## simpleman30

when i finally got back into having deer dogs last season, i bought 3 running beagles and 3 6-month old beagle puppies, sometime around thanksgiving.  i turned the puppies out 2 or 3 times a weekend w/ the running dogs.  by christmas, the puppies were running, and by the end of the season, 2 of the 3 puppies had jumped and ran their own deer on a few different occasions.  i was so proud to have jumped and killed the first deer ahead of them and they were ecstatic tasting fresh blood for the first time.  i will turn them out on deer ,or in the fox pen, once a month from now until deer season comes back in, just to keep them in shape.  as long as you're not running them in a fox pen every weekend, you should be ok.  they'll pick up bad habits if you run them often in the pen, especially if they're running with dogs that only run in the pen.  i wouldn't start them on rabbits.  if you do, you could just end up being a well meaning deer hunter w/ a pack of rabbit dogs!


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## StikR

there seems to be mixed opinions on whether to start deer dogs on rabbits, or not


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## ylhatch

wat breed of dogs are they?


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## Gentle Ben 15

i own and run alot of beagles for deer... MOST of them I start in a rabbit pen. Once in a blue moon I get one that will not run a deer because of starting them on rabbit but for the most part they do extremely well. Besides, if you do have one that runs a rabbit well and refuses to run a deer a rabbit hunter will pay big bucks for it.. I have found out by starting them on rabbits they make smarter dogs. A rabbit dodges and darts alot more than a deer and from my experience a dog that can run a rabbit well will do a great job on a deer...  I also cross birddog/beagle and have had the same kind of luck starting them on rabbits. Personally, I do not like to run in fox pen... Just my two cents but I have never messed one up starting on rabbits..  again, the age I start mine is about 4 or 5 mths. I have had some that would not go that young and also have started some as young as 3 mths..


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## grouper throat

Gentle Ben 15 said:


> *i own and run alot of beagles for deer... MOST of them I start in a rabbit pen. Once in a blue moon I get one that will not run a deer because of starting them on rabbit but for the most part they do extremely well.* Besides, if you do have one that runs a rabbit well and refuses to run a deer a rabbit hunter will pay big bucks for it.. I have found out by starting them on rabbits they make smarter dogs. A rabbit dodges and darts alot more than a deer and from my experience a dog that can run a rabbit well will do a great job on a deer...  I also cross birddog/beagle and have had the same kind of luck starting them on rabbits. Personally, I do not like to run in fox pen... Just my two cents but I have never messed one up starting on rabbits..  again, the age I start mine is about 4 or 5 mths. I have had some that would not go that young and also have started some as young as 3 mths..




Honestly, that's the first time i have ever heard that (in bold). Although I don't know anyone who run deer beagles either, just walker and walker crosses. I use the rabbit pen to assess the pups for the first time. Most of the rabbit pens I start them in here you can get on an elevated platform and watch them hunt and run.


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## Randy8216

i always start mine in the woods going with my big dogs running deer only if mine run anything other than deer at any time they don't come home


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## StikR

man, that's a little harsh


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## Gentle Ben 15

StikR said:


> man, that's a little harsh




what i was thinking....  i raised my first litter of pups 38 yrs ago and if i was to CULL every pup that has run off game i would have never had one that reached 2 yrs old...


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## grouper throat

Gentle Ben 15 said:


> what i was thinking....  i raised my first litter of pups 38 yrs ago and if i was to CULL every pup that has run off game i would have never had one that reached 2 yrs old...



The best dog I ever owned (by far) was one that was a little trashy. He would cold trail circles around alot of other trail dogs and run a deer to catch him everytime his feet hit the dirt. I had him run a hog and coyote in one season when I casted him several times. If you casted him in a block he would trail and run the first deer, coyote, or hog scent he could smell. From then on I realize he should only be put on deer tracks from the road and never casted. My pack now isn't trashy at all but I wouldn't mind a yote/hog race every now and then to have that old dog back

I wouldn't put up with a trashy  dog now unless they were as good as him.


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## wadehand

Everyone has their own methods of training deer dogs.  I have a rabbit pen that has proved to be very effective for some hunters.  Some dogs start early as 4 months. Once a puppy starts opening up on his own, its time to put him on a hot deer.  If a dog can run a  rabbit, he should be able to run a deer.  Deer seem to be alot easier to run.  Once he has deer on the brain he will probably forget what a rabbit was.  Keep in mind that you want your pup to start running on rabbits,  when you feel like he has it put him on deer and nothing else.


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## Scott Cain

just act like your trying to train them on any thing else; hog,bear,coon,and they will run a deer just fine. It has always worked for me!


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