Deer hunting and Ridgebacks????

[Hank]

Ironically, a lot of the regulations regarding deer hunting are becoming more lax due to the over population of deer in the north east. I mostly hunt deer in upstate ny. Perhaps they will see the light and alllow us to run deer with hounds there as well.

[Margaret]

The key is VERSATILE


Imagine a dog (or dogs if you're really good!) that could hunt birds, hunt rabbits, retrieve, stalk deer, blood track.......talk about a hunting partner!!

It can be done....from what I understand, in Germany they ALSO train them in protection!

I don't know how they would know whether to hunt birds or deer? It has been suggested that your whole hunting behaviour might let them know: clothes, gun, method of hunting, area that you hunt??

Have you found this one yet?

http://www.trader.co.nz/versatiledogs/a ... ivtest.htm

[Bigshrimp]

This is exactly what I'm talking about!!!!

So many people make big claims about their dogs....prove it!! NAVHDA is one way...ZKUŠEBNÍ RÁD PRO ZKOUŠKY OHARU is definitely another!!

[Hunter]

I have trained all my pups on fur from the get go. This is necessary if you want to do well in the VDD, which use fur to test their pups. I never ran into any problems when out hunting. Of course, I don't mind shooting a rabbit when I am out "bird" hunting. If you keep the pups training in balance you won't have any problems. After a good rabbit chase in training, I like to do a planted bird exercise just to re-enforce pointing.

[hicntry]

Calif allows one dog per hunter for deer. The most common way is a deer drive with several shooters placed at the head of a draw. I also believe it was W. Virginia where my brother killed a deer being run by someone elses dogs. One way I have flushed a lot of deer was to hiss the dogs straight down off the top of a ridge. After going 30 or 40 yards down, they figure out there was nothing there and usually cut straight across the hillside. In the mornings, after the sun breaks the horizon the air currents will be moving up the hill and since deer usually lay just below the ridge, they don't smell the deer but the deer sure smell them. Once the dogs have passed, they will get up and sneak, not run, to the other side of the ridge and leave the area. They will sneak right up to where you can touch them many times because they are looking back towards the dogs to be sure they were not detected. It is an interesting way to observe deer but the top of a ridge here during deer season can easily top 100degrees.

[Margaret]

http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/Deerstu ... 708920.stm


I sent away for this booklet and in fact it is just what you need Bigshrimp.
The description is a misnomer obviously there to ward off the anti hunters.

It will tell you about training your dog for pointing, tracking, and baying over the kill. It is very English to read, but also German in the system.

Bye all

[Bigshrimp]

That's interesting bc I even emailed them to find out if it had info on hunting as well as blood tracking....their reply was that it only contained info on blood tracking!?!?

I definitely believe you...and since it's not expensive I think I'll send away for it

It's crazy that they have to be so secretive about what their doing....it's like they're smuggling drugs or something

Those damn Antis

[Margaret]

That's interesting bc I even emailed them to find out if it had info on hunting as well as blood tracking....their reply was that it only contained info on blood tracking!?!?

I definitely believe you...and since it's not expensive I think I'll send away for it

It's crazy that they have to be so secretive about what their doing....it's like they're smuggling drugs or something

Those damn Antis

Well....it is a booklet on tracking wounded deer, but it also has chapter on pointing deer. Tells you how to train dog to do just what is done here in NZ for deer stalking, but written in a very English way if you understand what I mean. It will give you a good basis

With the fox hunting fiasco I expect they are twitchy.

[AdamT]

Bigshrimp, My wife and I adopted a 4 yr old Ridgeback last fall. I took her out on the last day of grouse season here in Mn. I figured she is a scent hound and I really didn't expect to find any grouse anyway. Turns out she can't find grouse for nothing, I managed to kick up a couple though. She did try and take off on every deer track she came across. Out of curiosity I let her follow one and lo and behold she brought me within 20 yards downwind of 2 very nice deer. I probably could have gotten closer, but it was vey rough going with 10 inches of snow and I was making a lot of noise. If deer hunting with a dog were legal here I would never go without her.
As far as noise goes, these aren't a typical hound. This dog is queiter than my 11 yr old basenji. She always walks with her head and tail down and her attitude and expression never change. She gives almost no indication that she is on to something other than going off the trail and tacking into the wind.Come to think of it she kept trying to stay behind me, only running ahead if I made her or she found a scent.
She actually comes off as very timid, but she isn't gunshy or fearfull of anything she can smell. She is afraid of the dark though.
Sometimes I think she is the most useless dog ever, but truth be told, most of the time you wouldn't know she was there and if anyone ever tried to harm us I don't think she would give them any warning or mercy.

Adam

[hicntry]

Actually Adam, both the Rhodesian and the Basenji are sighthounds.

[Bigshrimp]

Thanks Waarheid.

Didn't realize there was such an established and formal organization for hunting ridgebacks.....very cool

I did like the few paragraphs about hunting with ridgebacks in Wikipedia.

Got any pics?

[Bigshrimp]

Cool


I would imagine, though, that their real strength is in big dangerous game work? Similar to your avatar: bear, cougar, hogs, maybe moose?

Tracking and then baying/treeing?? ...similar to coon hound work.

Would this be a working ridgeback's strength?...or would you not want to choose any particular type of hunting and say their strength is in their versatility (i.e. big game, bird flushing, blood tracking, retrieving??)?