Thread: Need some advice for older GSP, deer stalking

I have a 4 and a half year old 3/4gsp 1/4lab which i take deer stalking. I have shot 20ish animals with him but none he has actively taken me into to shoot ,90% of them he probably didnt even know were there. He will wind but wont lead me into an animal unless ive already shot it. Will walk alongside me and stop when told but im still doing all the work. If i let him out front he can be a noisey prick sniffing everything and for the most part doesnt stalk or work any sort of logical trail. And then some days he will wind and point animals on a slip 300m away.

If i skin drag and then hang it in a tree he will ground scent and then wind scent into it no worries at all but get him jnto the bush and he is lost. The only thing i can think to do is to blindly follow him around until he gets onto something fresh and see if he slows down and works towards it but thats never worked so far. Any ideas? Or will he forever be at heel and used to find a poorly shot animal?

@matto1234 sounds like he has the right idea but perhaps not the motivation?. Do you give him a bit of heart meat from recovered deer as a reward. The 1/4 Lab will be very food driven. If he associates deer with food he may become more focused on trying to find one. Try the same with a dragged skin. When he finds it give him a treat. Assuming he's not a bit gunshy?. I see you use a suppressor . A friend of mine has a gwp which stops working as soon as he chamber 's a round as he associates it with the upcoming Boom. Your dog may be doing the same thing with fresh scent?. My own dog struggles with ground scenting and prefers to air scent. He doesn't point but "indicates " when deer are in close proximity. Which tells me I need to slow down and keep me eyes open. You may be expecting to much from your mate to "lead" you into a deer and might just have to be happy that he let's you know they are close?. Personally I think it's better to have a dog that sticks by you than one that pushes too hard and bumps animals before you get in range.Thats my 2 cents worth, good luck with your hound.

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You have shot 20 deer with him. That's a pretty good Talley. Maybe has just a tag a long hunting buddy..still enjoyable to spend time in the hills with. And if he's not ruining your stalk, then carry on doing what your doing.
He probably is indicating the animals but it could be a very subtle "tell" maybe just lift his nose to the wind a bit? If he shows some interest in a particular wind direction then wonder in that direction.
Not all dogs do the classic point and lifted leg thing. And if the wind is swirling around then if can be hard for them. Personally don't want a dog that ground scents. I want to know where they are now not where they walked 8 hours ago.

Definitely food driven, he gets very excited after a shot and wants to go to the animal. Doesnt give a shit about noise and knows what it means when the rifle comes out of the safe. I guess ill carry on and try follow his signals more if i notice them

Originally Posted by matto1234

Definitely food driven, he gets very excited after a shot and wants to go to the animal. Doesnt give a shit about noise and knows what it means when the rifle comes out of the safe. I guess ill carry on and try follow his signals more if i notice them

As I said, mine dog doesn't "point" as such. When there us an animal close his ears lift and he gets wrinkles on his forehead. Like previously mentioned, if he's not stuffing things up maybe look at him as a more of a hunting buddy than a tool?

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MATE...... stop re-read what you have typed...stop..think about it

youve shot 20 animals with dog
dog will find dead animal
dog will walk at heel

MAAATE you have already got what so many fellas would give thier left nut AND youngest child to have

the dog WILL ALREADY be giving you signals,your just not picking them up YET.....

as dumb as it sounds,you have already seen and know what you needed to do 19 deer ago...follow the dog and see where/what it wants to show you...you can always say,no leave it if its non target animal and carry on...personally I would be stoked to have dog doing what you already have
TRY watching dog a bit more,especially if in hot sign
you might find dog is giving you wee signals,looking interested in a certain area,you just havent picked up on it.but if youve shot 20 animals thats 4 a year with dog so your freezer is full and you doing well,give yourself and dog a break,you doing OK.
finding them after the shot can be a right bastard of a job,even with dog,so if yours is onto that part of the job...AWESOME...food drive or not its a hell of a good tool to have.

hi trust your dog! he/she may not always do clasical point be look closely at dog you will read him soon 4x i didn't trust her 4deer gone because i let my dog down great at finding downed/wouned game

ok...its been bugging me...
the why first
misty was 1/2 lab 1/2 gsp
Buttons was 1/2 gsp 1/2 huntaway
Willy was supposed to be half lab...but we went back to his home later and saw obvious dad across the road

your dog looks way more a lab than a GSP....if you said 3/4 lab 1/4 gsp I would say..yip looks about right but hat head is pure boof head lab
granted my 2 crosses were bitches but both had the slim face of the GSP

the relavence....SOME labs point,some not so much....go with the food drive to help find dead deer and hope you learn to read dog better so they help find "not yet dead/able to be chewed on ones"

Oh he points alright, everything but bloody deer that stag was with 2 other animals 20m away and he was oblivious until i let off a shot

Originally Posted by matto1234

I have a 4 and a half year old 3/4gsp 1/4lab which i take deer stalking. I have shot 20ish animals with him but none he has actively taken me into to shoot ,90% of them he probably didnt even know were there.
He will wind but wont lead me into an animal
. If i let him out front he can be a noisey prick sniffing everything
work any sort of logical trail. And then some days he will wind and point animals on a slip 300m away.

If i skin drag and then hang it in a tree he will ground scent and................ then wind scent into it ?

right Ive broken that up to hopefully point out something obvious I missed the first couple of times around


dog WONT follow any sort of logical trail..Meg doesnt either,the brain of them isnt wired that way..but give her a steady breaze and BINGO follow the nose,its following the breaze back upwind to deer..frustrating as hell at times but the only player still in the game if its raining.
TRY changing how you hunt...work the faces so the breaze is coming up to you and as soon as that big black wet sniffer goes up..FOLLOW it down taking note of wind direction so if dog looses scent you cant help by moving along till pick it up again...
its a wonderous thing when it comes together and frustrating as hell when it doesnt..at least yours doesnt bark at deer or whinge n whine when they close..by golly that tests a mans patience.

sometimes Meg will lead me 2-300 yards onto a fresh pile of poohs LOL.... cant fault that,not ideal but it is what it is,my fault cause we not out enough.

Good thought, thanks for that. He has shown me plenty to prove he has the ability i just need to figure out how to use it. Ill give a report after the next hunt. Cheers

It's an interesting read this. It's very hard to make an informed observation without actually seeing the mutt in action, but.....

I'm wondering if the dog is giving some sort of indication and it's just very very subtle. Even just a cock of the ear, or looking in one direction for a period of time?? just winding into the breeze? lots of deep sniffing?? (hoovering I call it) getting the scent past the nose senses?

I doubt he lacks prey drive as most labs think with their stomach first. And as you say he's had a few shot over him, so he should have the idea of what he's supposed to be doing by now.

I was lucky with my dog he had a huge prey drive and when he was onto something it was very obvious. If he does have more lab than GSP they do tend to be a bit more 'loud' in the bush.

Im watching with interest. Nice looking dog though.

Originally Posted by matto1234

Oh he points alright, everything but bloody deer that stag was with 2 other animals 20m away and he was oblivious until i let off a shot

which way was the wind going?? just because you could see them doesnt mean he could.