Thread: My wirehair hunting with me today.

We had a nice time trying to get a vid of deer.

You will see that when she is hot onto something she sits. Right at the end, in the last clip, 2 stags walked through but somehow I missed them in the screen. You can see that she was a bit perplexed about me not shooting.

For those who haven't hunted with a dog, or are considering one, it will give you an idea of how they work. Or at least my one any way.

Hi Tahr

Nice Video, enjoyed that. Great looking hound.

Can I ask is the sit something you trained or just a natural thing she does?

I also have a wirehair and struggling to get her first deer, she has made a lot of progress the last 2 trips out, had her in the Blue mountains yesterday, close but no cigar.

Good fun trying though, love hunting with her and reckon we close to cracking it!

Cheers

Dino

Nice dog Thar, Looks really solid at your side.
Man that bush looks bloody noisy.

Awsome!,I love how shes constantly scenting and seams to know exactly were there at dose he make any noise at all?.towards the end she's like shootem?????.were they in that sunny patch? warming up?.Thats just fuelled the fire for me to get one now!
Thanks for posting Tahr.

Dino, I think she does that when we are close because when she was younger (she's 4 now) I always made her sit if we were close. She sits to a very quiet hiss or hand signal. And its become habit for her. If she comes onto them suddenly she will lock up without sitting.

Neckshot, they were up to left of the sun a bit. In the pic you can see that she is looking slightly left, and then her head flicked to the right as the first one moved across her sight. I think thats when she gave me that funny look It looks pretty cool, but we are not quite there yet. I'm still needing to sit on her. That's maybe because we fringe shoot a lot, and are only in the bush hunting like that maybe once a month.

You asked if she's noisy, no not really. Certainly quieter than me. No huffing or breathing, and she's mostly very close. Some people let them range 10 yards or so, but I like her close in like having a compass in my hand.

Another interesting thing is that she is a lot stronger on Sika than other deer.

Wow... so different to my dog. I have many hours of training to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Twoshotkill

Wow... so different to my dog. I have many hours of training to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nah. You will be right. Once you have got the basics on them for deer like stopping, sitting, keeping in the rest comes down to the dog getting experience. Its better to have no brakes than no motor, its just about getting the discipline balanced.

A good command to get on them is "steady". That settles them when they are in close and encourages them to stalk forward quietly. Any break after the steady, and she gets a sharp "ah" command. It can all be whispered. I taught it by soothing and stroking when she was in high stress situations like having spotted a cat, and pointing rabbits. Best taught on a rope. Another command she has is "wait" if she gets ahead, then she will slow and maintain about the same distance.

The other thing is they need to know when to range and when to not. "Go on" means she can range and hunt for rabbits and birds. In the bush I tell her to get in, and then have to use a few "steadies" and the odd "ah" until she settles. She quickly gets the hang of it.

Lastly, don't be afraid of making a bit of noise to discipline your dog. Its better than letting them get away with something. Especially ranging. If she doesn't listen and ranges in the bush I sit her, go and get her, and drag her back to where I was. Then we start again. Its constant work, but the rewards are great.

There are plenty of far better dogs than my one. She's just an example.

do you keep her kennelled during the day?? all the trainers I have spoken to say that it is critical to keep them in a kennel when your not around. yet I think it seems a bit overkill.

I have to agree with your comment on your dog being better on sika than other deer. my boy is a totally different dog on sika. its amazing how much calmer, controllable and determined he is when they are near by. yet they don't smell as much as the reds in my mind.

Originally Posted by Twoshotkill

do you keep her kennelled during the day?? all the trainers I have spoken to say that it is critical to keep them in a kennel when your not around. yet I think it seems a bit overkill.

I have to agree with your comment on your dog being better on sika than other deer. my boy is a totally different dog on sika. its amazing how much calmer, controllable and determined he is when they are near by. yet they don't smell as much as the reds in my mind.

She is loose in a small secure back yard during the day. She's chained to her kennel every night when I feed her. Haven't let her off yet this morning 'cos its raining and I haven't heard a peep. I will go and let her off in a minute for a pee. She's never allowed inside, but that might change when she gets older.

She's got some wheels too...turned out I had missed the thing (rabbit)...on the way home from yesterday.

She didnt look that keen till the last 30's secs of the vid or as you said when she sits. Shes looking good. My dog would hackle up and a give off very slight growl but would sort of point as well.