I big fan of having a tracking dog. I have had multiple dachshunds, a lab, and a beagle that were all just lazy household pets that my stepfather and I trained to track deer. It's really easy to train them and has helped us recover a handful of wounded deer.
Just watched a show that gut shot a 6.5 year old deer.... dogs jumped the deer while they left the stand.. the guy was at a loss... he called a dog/blood tracker... after 1.5 miles after an all night wait, they recovered the deer that would have been otherwise lost... if your state allows it, use it. :-)
Virginia just made it legal last year. Anyway, I'm kinda thinking about posting an ad on Craigslist offering my dog up for tracking. Now, I haven't worked with her much but she has found two deer that had nearly impossible trails to follow (for a human or me anyway). I'd say she's decent at it. The only things I wonder about are this. I don't want to use a lot of "MY" hunting time finding other peoples' deer. Also, would you charge people for this? Gas money or something extra? I know she's not a "pro" but she's gotten me out of a couple jams and could maybe do the same for someone else.
I got lucky and managed to get my hands on a yellow lab (inside house dog) for my family and she ended up being my tail dog she now finds the deer sits next to it barks and waits for me to arrive!!!
It varies state to state, most guys/gals do it for free, just love to run and train their dogs.. check out the UBP website and find your nearest trackers and inquire.
Anyone know if its legal in WI? My 13yo son hit his first deer ever with an arrow last night. It was a giant 10 from our hitlist. Unfortunately he appears to have hit it a little lower than he'd have liked. Search resumes this morning. I hear neighbor's beagle barking in background as I write this from my treestand. Not real optimistic but we did recover arrow & found some hair & a little blood...
Yes it's legal in WI... Find a Tracker - United Blood Trackers | Trained Tracking Dogs In The Ethical Recovery Of Big Game
Not legal in Colorado. Now if the Colorado Parks and Wildlife could find a way to make money from it, they might consider it.
In NY it's illegal to hunt deer with dogs. A few years ago I shot a big buck at dusk. There was no way I was going to find him in the dark. So I went home and put all my hunting stuff away and put my 13 inch Beagle in the truck and went back. Boo's hound took me right to him in under 5 minutes. Beagles like venison to. I could be skirting the Law in NY. You can't hunt deer with a dog here, but it's is really vague on tracking them. So how I play the game is to have no hunting equipment with me or in my vehicle and everything is in my house locked up. At that point I'm no longer hunting and just walking my Beagle on a leash, who is really good at tracking deer! He's an awesome hound.
My friends pit bull tracked down one for me last year. he smelled the arrow then went looking. Then he came back up and got another smell and led me right to it. It was cool watching the dog work like that Im not sure if it was legal or not.
I have a 4 year old Czech German Shepherd that we have been training for tracking, trailing and cadaver. Ive takenher out to quail hunt and she will track just about anything you put in front of her nose. I may take a deer foot and some blood and see what she can do. I love little Dapples!
He is in the state of GA but will travel and has the best tracking dogs in the country bar none... He has two blood hounds that are just plain awesome.... NICK SKINNER...678-618-5162
IMO hunting and tracking a deer with a dog are two different things. Hunting with dogs I believe is running the dogs to actively chase deer for a hunter to shoot. Tracking an animal already shot with a deer is no longer active hunting but recovery. I doubt any moral game warden would press charges for tracking a animal that you've already shot. That being said I shot by biggest buck ever and had to call my friend to bring his dog over and find my deer. I would regret NOT doing it.
