Hi so the family are wanting a dog, what breeds work well as deer dogs and what training tips do you have?
Cheers
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Hi so the family are wanting a dog, what breeds work well as deer dogs and what training tips do you have?
Cheers
Get a lab and do the deer dog blueprint.
Pick the calmest pup of the litter, which ever breed you choose. Avoid pointers/vizlas unless you have good dog training experience.
Crossed with heading dog types with strong eye traits are good.
Agree with Stug. I've got a GWP and GSP and they have great drive, but when it comes staying in range they struggle naturally where as a lab tends to be focussed a lot more on you, but most of it will come down to training. However a couple of things to consider:
1. Will you crate the dog? This is a key part of the DDBP (Deer Dog Blue Print) and if not crating him I think you need to make sure you have a bloody good obedience foundation and one that the family is across. I really like this part as it makes them great family pets and you can take them everywhere. I used Best Mate Dog Training which aligns well with the DDBP as its not treat based.
2. It's not just the breed, but the nature of the dog. The DDBP has a video on how to choose a pup. i.e. Looking for a softer calmer natured dog, the pup that's a bit more unsure in the pack and will look to you for direction, rather than the boisterous one.
3. It takes a lot of time and consistency. If you've never trained one and you know anyone that has trained a deer dog, spending time with them to teach you will get you light years ahead.
4. Getting a pup or an older dog? The DDBP is defs more applicable to a pup and if you get an older dog you defs need to work on bonding and obedience first.
Read all of this with a caveat as I'm still trying to get my dogs to be deer dogs, but these are the things I learned so far. Stay tuned as they are getting better and better.
My current dog is a Lab. A beautiful dog to have around home. Hunting line bred and very wired into hunting and water. Winds deer and very good at tracking. My training approach is solid basic discipline, then lots of exposure to hunting, and praise and repetition.
Here she is tracking at 12 months on a lead (as it should be done). Not set up; a genuine shoot and find: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jBT4Ffx7vwM?app=desktop
Here she is with me last weekend (20 months now), just letting her go to find a downed Fallow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9a5wpDAFAs
Exposure to target species is often underestimated. Its really crucial.
I aim for a dog that is good company/easy to have around ( but not a robot) in first instance and with exposure to as much target species as you can consistently.
I have two labs and they do everything from family dog, duck shooting to deer. Awesome and versatile. Their biggest weakness for me is dedicated bush stalking. Noisy bastards when I want to go full stealth mode. One of them I just won’t bush hunt with anymore, he’s too noisy and it drives me nuts. Cracker on the ducks though. Nature plays a big role because the other one who is more chilled out goes better in the bush but she can still be a bit noisy. If I was getting a dog that’s purely deer, no retrieving etc then a nice heading dog would be awesome. Always wanted a GSP or a Vizsla too but I don’t think I can give the time that they need everyday during my life schedule with kids and work etc. Very high strung dogs. Few thoughts for you.
Training tips, if you know nothing (plenty of people think they know something and often they don’t) invest in the deer dog blueprint. Solid basic fundamentals underly everything though at the end of the day. A rock solid sit, heel and recall to a looong way by themselves.
Don't rule out a little dog like a foxy. Light, not puffy, and unbelievable prey drive. easy to transport and sit on your lap in a helicopter and don't take up much room tucked under the corner of your sleeping bag
Took the wife's designer spoodle cavoodle for his first ever solo walk in the bush the other day out at clements. compared to the Labrador he is dead silent. little guy has an incredible nose on him and has the making of a very good indicator dog. He comes out duck shooting with the real dogs too. Fly fishing and mountain biking as well. As a trail dog dog out mountain biking he is tireless and faster than me. The lab doesn't last long behind the mountain bike. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...901dc579cc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e708de4f6a.jpg
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Dont ask me :P
How is your whirlwind going?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibo
OK, still trying to nail the basics, its like he wont listen sometimes unless I really mean it :D Other times amazingQuote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
Do not get an Irish terrier!
Saw a great bumper sticker the other day "Life's too short to have an ugly hunting dog...."
All joking aside, have a look at the Hunting Dogs sub-forum at the range of dogs used to hunt deer. I've got a viszla/gsp cross which is 99.9% of the time a much loved part of the family, the rest of the time he is my best hunting buddy - who is always keen, never lets me down and has far more ability than I will ever have. We've always had pointers, they require exercise and room to move while hunting, but then so do I, so it works well.
I used the Blueprint which provided an excellent starting point for both me (for dog I've trained for hunting) and the dog. The BP is not exactly young family friendly, so I'd suggest apply the principles, be consistent with your dog, but be flexible with the family. If you can, read through Jimmy Bissell's 4 part series in NZ Hunter magazine on training dogs. If you've done the training there comes a point where you really do need to trust the dog and give him or her room to move. Pointers were bred, for example, to circle 80-100y in front to put up game like deer or birds. That helped me to understand my dog needed to move further ahead (say 20-30 yards in the open), and I could trust him. Sure enough he would slow up, till game time and he's locked up with a deer 10m in front. Train them up then trust the dog!
My son has recently acquired a 1yr old male foxy. Been dragging a skin around his property. Took his dog into the Kaimamawas last week end . The dog put him onto 6 deer. My son was so focused on the dog he kept missing the deer. Pete Lister a well known DOC culler in the Kawekas had a Foxy named Tui.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackfern
I run a jack russell and we hunt for a living, so don’t discount the small dogs
I had a curly coat retriever bitch [easer to train than a CCR dog in my opinion ] and she was great on any game , but I would never use her on pigs .
I eventually crossed her with a wire hair pointer and kept a bitch pup that was outstanding on all game and very easy to train . I can remember
stalking up on a deer that my CCR HAD WINDED one day in open country with the kids along . As I was on my bely crawling along I started to here the kids
laughing in hushed tones , anyway got the deer and required an explanation from the kids as they where usually pretty good wee hunters . It turned out
that as I was crawling along good old Karly my CCR was mimicking my every move , if I went on my belly she would crawl on hers , if I went on hands and knees
she would as well , she was a dog that new my every move and I new hers . If we had been hunting for the day in thick bush all I had to say was , way home , and she would take me to the truck every time . A dearly loved dog that could never be replaced . But hours of training pays off both in the bush and in the local parks .
One reason the humble lab is so good as a duck dog for the common man is often not considered. It's eggzachary the same with deer dog. They go hunting X amount of days a year. If we really keen and have understanding partner/wife/kids/boss/ bank balance we MIGHT get out four days a month...which leaves 26ish days NOT hunting..labs happy to lay on the couch shedding hair and eyeing up food. A good mate around the home,who just happy to be around is gold. When they get to go hunting it's awesome for them and you but the other 26 plus days matter just as much. I don't have time to run pig dogs every week around other commitments,so don't have them. My two lounge lizards come after ducks or deer and do ok. I don't need a deer finding machine,I don't have time to create one and frankly would be wasted once freezer was full.
Alot of good feedback already posted But I'll echo @Tahr and @stagstalker Labs are an excellent dual purpose option if you do deer and waterfowl. I wouldn't rule them out as a sole deer dog either, they're very easy to train, eager to please and low maintenance. They can be noisy at times due their panting and sometimes being bulldozers through foliage.
If nothing else, a solid recall, sit/stay and heel will see you right, followed by getting range sorted and scent tracking following that. Blueprint well worth a look.
pretty hard to go past a lab, I have had four over my time hunting for deer and game birds, easy natured, great with kids and I took every pup to dog obedience and even ended up being an instuctor,
this is invaluable for a young dog because socialising is so important for a dogs confidence. then take them hunting, all my dogs could wind and track.
you will get used to the dogs body language when its winding,, they will let you know, one dog named boss would always bump my leg with his muzzle just to make sure I was watching. he was superb on deer, ducks and quail.
cheers everyone
Ray
Doing it again id pick a lighter breed, my gsp/lab cross is a big boy and is starting to suffer a bit at only 6 years old
Something with heading dog in it.
Seems like everything is right that's been commented.
Really the issue is trainablilty vs madness vs prey drive.
If you made the classic triangle system you generally see they are interlinked. More prey drive more crazy. Easier trainablity/calmness less drive.
My old man is a dog trialist. They cast off alot of eye dogs. The prey drive has to be top level. Unfortunately this means alot of dogs have some full on crazy brains. Find the ones that are calm and with drive and you train a champ.
Mixing an eye dog with a gsp then having the around home 26 days a month is not going to be easy unless you're a champ at training.
I've tried a gsp crossed with a calm as pig dog this time. He's pretty good and reasonably calm. Definately lost some of the point though. Basically I got myself a fit slow maturing lab.
I've never owned a lab but if you don't need a great point and want a calmer pet then that'd be my bet.
Either way. You do you then train the shit out of it. I used the deer dog BP to get started this time and I think it wa sworth it. My previous goats dogs were not as good even though they did it full time. Go figure.
An advantage of a smaller dog is less food to carry in on overnighter.
Your not wrong. Same as a thicker coat dog is often happier when it's a bit nasty. I've seen a few thick coated eye dogs trialling that would be top notch deer dogs. Unfortunately they're worth 10grand or more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chur Bay
Attachment 260053
This is my brothers Vizsla, trained with the Blueprint and a fantastic dog to have around , very quiet in the bush and finds lots of deer. I have watched my brother sneak in on a roaring stag to 10 mtrs and dog was rock solid sitting beside him. Probably helps being on a farm so he can spend lots of time with his dog and shes not tied up for long periods.
Here's Bella the Lab at 12 mnths indicating a deer about 100 yards below us. We moved to a better position to see and I shot it.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M0drX-BKJxA
She is a real hard case. Great you reading her so well.Tilly would approve.
