# Best dog for tracking deer



## gratz71 (May 13, 2015)

I was wanting to get a redbone hound to train for tracking deer. I'm not sure if this is the best dog for the job or not so thought I would ask for yalls input.
Thanks in advance


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## watermedic (May 13, 2015)

I like a smaller dog for tracking deer. If you ever find yourself in a head-high briar thicket with him leashed to your wrist you will know why.


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## mschlapa (May 13, 2015)

Teckel, Bavarian  mountain hound, Hanoverian  hound, 
Deutsch-Drahthaar


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## grouper throat (May 14, 2015)

A broad question but any hound will do but the training is the most important part. A beagle would be tough to beat.


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## old florida gator (Jun 23, 2015)

beagles are the best nose, for deer , get the job done and cheaper to keep.


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## rvick (Jun 23, 2015)

if you're gonna track on lead, you will want a dog about 40#.  Big enough to get around & maybe survive snake bites, but not so big that he pulls your arm out of joint (you can train a big dog not to pull, but it ain't easy).  Beagle/Walker or a Beagle/Coonhound  cross is hard to beat.  My best on & off-lead dogs are 40# Kemmer Stock Mountain Curs...nose,smarts & grit.  Very important that the dog doesn't run healthy deer.  How to get a good tracking dog? Go thru 40 bad ones!


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## Jeff Phillips (Jun 23, 2015)

Best I have ever seen was a Redbone.

Have seen labs to dachshund get the job done.


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## watermedic (Jun 24, 2015)

rvick said:


> if you're gonna track on lead, you will want a dog about 40#.  Big enough to get around & maybe survive snake bites, but not so big that he pulls your arm out of joint (you can train a big dog not to pull, but it ain't easy).  Beagle/Walker or a Beagle/Coonhound  cross is hard to beat.  My best on & off-lead dogs are 40# Kemmer Stock Mountain Curs...nose,smarts & grit.  Very important that the dog doesn't run healthy deer.  How to get a good tracking dog? Go thru 40 bad ones!



I have a Mountain Fiest that is awesome!







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## NastyBruises11B (Oct 7, 2015)

Anybody ever hunt with a Weimaraner? From what I understand, they were bread to run deer in Germany. I only ask because I've always owned Weimaraners, and would like to maybe get into running deer with a dog. We used dogs for bear and hog in SC, but now that I'm in GA.......


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## kmckinnie (Oct 7, 2015)

Best I ever had was half beagle have germanshephard.


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## RaisinBlueLacyDogs (Aug 16, 2016)

My vote is Blue Lacy dog about 30-40lbs. There's a reason it was voted the state dog of Texas. woof


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## MossyOak92 (Aug 17, 2016)

I love my beagle for it. Small enough he doesn't drag me around and when we come up on deer that are still alive I can stop him quick so he doesn't get hurt.


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## RaisinBlueLacyDogs (Aug 17, 2016)

I got my Lacy dog after reading _Tracking Dogs for finding Wounded Deer_ by John Jeanneney. Having been around herding dogs my entire life, you get used to the smarter breeds who sometimes end up training you! Lacy's are pretty quiet with super short hair and no hound smell to their skin.  She's wicked smart and easy to house train. The stories in the book are great.

The author owns wired-hair Dachshunds. Love the look but too dirty (hard to house-break) and there's that "hound" smell and digging.  To each their own as we all love the mutts we own, right!  The book has some great stories about the better breeds and how their character might fit with your lifestyle. I have trained with police dogs in the past and Lacy's really use their nose differently. My 8 wk old puppy would sniff the wind and puff air through her nose to get a better scent and even raise up on her back legs to get a better angle on a scent. The breed uses air, brush and ground to track. Amazing.  Breed is used quite a bit as Bayers for hog hunting.


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## Tomboy Boots (Aug 18, 2016)

I've said it before and you know I'm going to say it again... I have had awesome results with 2 totally different unrelated never met each other before female beagles. My first beagle was named Bossi. She died when she was about 7 years old. I didn't really have to train her. I just started taking her to the woods every time I shot a deer when she was about 6 months old. She never ran live deer, she only trailed blood. It got to the point if I went to the woods hunting and she heard the gun shot, she would be all hyped up and ready to go when I walked in the door because she knew what came next. I took her to the woods whether I needed her to trail the deer or not, because it gave her practice for when she would be needed. Two years after she died I got another beagle puppy and I named her Bossi too. She has lived up to the name in every sense. I didn't have to teach her either and she also does not run deer. She trails blood or a wounded deer and she is very good at it. Last year we trailed a buck a friend shot. She jumped him once bedded in palmetto's. Then we crossed the Withlacoochee river twice trailing him. The third time he crossed I made her quit because we were both exhausted and I didn't think the deer was fatally wounded at that point. One thing about both of my beagles... Each time I had only one dog, one beagle, and I got them when they were about 8 weeks old. I don't know that I would have the same results if there were other dogs for them to run off in the woods with and chase things. Both of my beagles were not locked in kennels and they still did not go in the woods and run deer. They only go to the woods when I go to the woods, and I live in these same woods that border my yard. That says a lot to me because they could have gone in the woods anytime they wanted to if they were going to run live deer that had not been shot.


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## mlandrum (Aug 19, 2016)

b   e  a  g  l  e !!!!!!


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## erhunter (Aug 21, 2016)

Not sure about the price, but I have been amazed with the Texas Blue Lacy.

Mike Lopez out of perry GA runs them.

They found our deer after 1 day old trail, despite truck  fumes, me traipsing all over the place, and another dead doe in the back of our truck.

Found the deer in under 10 minutes on neighbors property.  Just amazing dogs.

Anyone else heard or used em?


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## Twiggbuster (Aug 23, 2016)

I got an old beagle now. 14 and we just take short walks.
I never had to train her, just put her on the trail.


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## riverbank (Aug 23, 2016)

The best deer running dog I ever had was a high dollar Walker hound off of Craigslist that was a guaranteed coon treeing machine.


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## BowanaLee (Aug 28, 2016)

Twiggbuster said:


> I got an old beagle now. 14 and we just take short walks.
> I never had to train her, just put her on the trail.




I second that. No training required.


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## james243 (Aug 31, 2016)

I had a mutt that was part corgi and probably cocker spaniel that did real well tracking for me. I would mostly walk him off the leash and I would usually hide from him when he would fall too far behind or get too far ahead, so he was used to being in trailing mode. Never had a problem locating me. He could also find arrows for me when out stump shooting. He liked to use his nose. I think any dog that likes to sniff can be useful for finding a deer. Sadly I had to put mine down in February at age five due to a spinal injury/defect. So I'm on my own tracking this year.


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## rvick (Sep 1, 2016)

Sorry about your dog. I found a mutt puppy starving beside a country road 2 years ago. He appears to be part Staffordshire terrier and  something else with wire hair and a long tight curl tail. Black & white. With little training took him with us tracking last year and except for being afraid to swim big creeks and little rivers, he did a pretty good job and recovered 5 deer on his own. He has trouble stopping and baying a wounded deer by himself. Weighs 34 lbs. We have been working on his weak points this summer.


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## Dennis (Sep 1, 2016)

I've got a walker dog that will blood trail but she would do better if I could find a way to slow her down any body got any ideas


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## rvick (Sep 1, 2016)

Dennis said:


> I've got a walker dog that will blood trail but she would do better if I could find a way to slow her down any body got any ideas



 We always wrapped the tracking  lead around  their loins in a half hitch when training a dog that wanted to pull hard or was too fast. The dog needs to be taught "whoa" or "easy" anyway. Sometimes running the lead under the dog and pulling it's nose into the the ground helps. I'm guessing this is a running Walker instead of a treeing Walker. May have your hands full on slowing it down, but it can be done. I have a Drahthaar that needs to run out about 20 minutes worth of energy before she will settle in on a track. Good luck.


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## muzzy17is (Sep 5, 2016)

If I was gonna have a tracking dog I would like to try a beagle/cur mix. Preferably a Catahoula cur/beagle mix, short legged, medium to hot nose and not super gritty but smart.


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## Dennis (Sep 5, 2016)

It is a treeing walker and it too needs to run around first then she will settle down and track but she gets excited and over runs the trail but she has as always found the deer it's just not pretty or quick


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## king killer delete (Sep 5, 2016)

My lab and my beagle will do it


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## EthanJ (Sep 7, 2016)

My bloodhound is awesome.  I never really trained him.  Just got him to find me when he was a puppy.  His first blood trail was a deer shot in the shoulder with a .223.  Very little blood.  Trail was about a mile and a half (checked with fitbit) .  He stayed on the trail great, never left it.  I started to doubt him one time after 30 minutes of no blood but then we found a tiny drop.  He has since tracked quite a few deer and done flawlessly.  Only problem I've had is he wants to run wide open and can drag you a little when  he hits a really strong, fresh blood trail.


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## Dennis (Sep 12, 2016)

Mine is waiting on me to shoot something


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## Tadpole23 (Oct 30, 2016)

I run a blue pit that's about 105 pounds. Got a heck of a nose on him never tracked anything older than 18 hours but he found that deer no problem. Problem with alot of dog is they won't stop the deer if it breaks out of the bed.  A good dog can stop him within a few hundred yards most of the time. If dog just keeps pushing deer it makes for along track. 84% of deer we track are alive when we find them dog does a great job of keeping deer in one spot until we can finish the job.


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