I used to have a tracking dog but had to get rid of him because he played way to rough with my then one year old son.

I haven't had a lease in a few years but recently got on a place long term. I've started working with my bloodhound/catahoula and she looks like she might come around quickly.

I was curious though. How many of you have a trailing dog? Also, for those of you who do, how many times have you had a friend need a dog and not call you?

It's happened to me several times and just makes me sick to know that they probably could have found their deer had they just backed out and called in a dog.

I have a full blood Cat that's 5 mo. old & have been working w/her since 8 wks. She's gonna be a good one once she calms down a bit. I got her cuz' I decided to start bow hunting & didn't want to lose a single deer.

My lab's got the nose for ducks and dove, but I haven't tried to put him on the trail of a deer. I can see how having one could come in handy though - as much as we all hate thinking about having to resort to one.

My lab did a great job finding deer. No training at all it just came natural.

My brother-n-law uses a lab for trailing and the dog is awesome.

I use lacy-catahoula crosses. My brother uses a BMC. They work well for us. The good ones don't need much training the just work naturally. I've had people tell me they wished they would of called me after they lost a deer, it's really disappointing.

I do not but wish I had one

bet my weiner would be good at this. hes older, and lazy. only gets interested if he smells stuff. most of the time he lazys around. oh, and hes mean at finding squirrels too.

I tried with my weim at a young age...early training went well and he showed good interest but as he got older his attention span got smaller

Now he will easily pick up the scent and has an awesome nose but just cant stay pinned to the trail. If I absolutely was dire I think I could keep him hot enough to recover a mortally hit animal

ac

I use my Labrador. She's found every deer I put her on.

same here but a he

I've heard some good things about Labs trailing deer. LFD (and anyone else who might have attention span issues) a bit of advice that you may already know. I've found that it's really much more effective if you work the dog when they are hungry and put a little piece of deer meat or two at the end of the trail.

They'll learn to really care about finding the end of the trail.

Hope everyone has a good season.

I do exactly that.

I have a dog that I think will be a good tracker, do ya"ll have any suggestions as to how to try and train her or see if she will take to it? Could I thaw some deer meat and make a blood trail and leave some meat at the end and see if she will follow the blood to the meat?

Yea, just a do a little drag and leave the meat at the end of the trail for her. That's what I did with my Lacy. Now I just leave a drop or so every 10-15 yards and I have hide, liver, or a deer tail at the end so she can chew on it and "kill it". Also, on nights when I don't have time to lay a track I have a bag of her favorite treats that are soaked in deer blood and we go out back and I throw them around and tell her to hunt them up.

I like to use a water bottle with a squirt top. At the very first I will drag a bloody hide and use the water bottle to squirt some blood out. then after they get the idea i just use the squirt bottle. i like the bottle because its seems more realistic, deer dont typically drag themselves along the ground. be sure to were ruber boots and spray them with sent killer or your dog will just trail u when they begin to have trouble.

I think its kinda foolish to hunt with a gun or bow without having or knowing someone who has a decent dog. I have probably used dogs on more gun shot deer then bow and arrow.

Do not have mine yet, will be here the second week of December. I am getting a Jagdterrier. This is an awesome breed for trailing. Will be training him on deer, hogs and exotics. Hope to be able to use him to help as many people as possible find that animal they are looking for.

Viagra! might get him up a little quicker.

I have a plott hound she is a natural. I have been working with her on blood trails. She has never been used to find a deer. I have some blood and deer tails from previous seasons in the freezer. I will lay a trail and she works the trail awesome. I really want to opportunity for her to find a deer for our work to pay off.

I've got a south African jack Russell. She is bad to the bone! Her line was originally bred for lions. Her grandma is still there. The best dog I've ever had, and I love my labs

Looks like we're gonna have some unused doe tags to fill toward the end of the season. I'm gonna take my Bloodhound/Catahoula out and gun shoot a couple through the lungs with the .22.250 for her to practice on.

I've heard that if they are really young you should soak a line in some blood and set it out. It gives them a visual as well. Also, lay a few little pieces of meat along the way.

Then progress to heavy blood trails and thin them out as they get better.

I've even thought of tying a blood soaked piece of hide to a fishing line, walking a couple hundred yards in a big arc and reeling it in trying to make it jump as far as possible along the way. That way they can't trail your boot steps.

I'll tell you from experience though. Try to get them on as many easy real live trails as you can at first. You don't want your first attempt to be on a leg shot deer. Your dog will not be likely to succeed.

I use my lab. She's awesome with ducks and dove and I recently started puttin here on deer and she's found every one of them.