The Great Trainer

[AverageGuy]

Last three trips have been runs to Kansas looking to get Tess on some Bobwhites. Nothing beats them for training a puppy. Honest birds for the most part. Singles will let a puppy get right in on them.

Spud wrecked his foot in his kennel one night a few weeks back and it is a mystery how. He might have stuck his foot out and got bit by a stray dog. I had a bow killed doe laying on a trailer nearby that may have attracted one and I am the only guy in the county who keeps his dogs up when not supervising them. Spud is healing up well and would hunt now but I am waiting for it to hair over and giving all the time to Tess for the moment.



We have worked for every covey we have found and so I have been marching in ready to flush and shoot vs messing with a camera. It is important to reward Tess with a downed bird when she holds a point on her finds. Pretty easy to get some retrieve photos however. I am learning a new camera in the process.



Two days ago Tess pointed 2 coveys, a few singles and a few pheasants. She hunted every drop of the trip and was still running and hitting cover at the end. And she took out some birds along the way too.

A scotch double on the one shot I fired on a Covey Tess pointed.



Last drop of the trip two days ago, Tess pointed a rooster in some nice grass bordering corn stubble. The rooster had moved on by the time I arrived to flush and Tess started tracking it heading towards my Buddy I was hunting with. Tess went on by him tracking the rooster towards the edge of the grass and the stubble. The rooster decided to flush and my Buddy hit it lightly on his second shot. The rooster went some distance and crippled down into the corn stubble with Tess in hot pursuit. We were on a high vantage point and could see the rooster head down and running, Tess took up the track, went about 150 yards and found the rooster still alive and buried under some stubble. I woke up the camera and got a few shots as she brought him in.

[orhunter]

Another good time on the prairie.

Bummer about Spud. Interesting you said you're the only guy in the county who keeps his dogs penned when unsupervised. We had a discussion about dogs running deer on the local website. One joker made the comment about shooting around bird dogs when in what I believe to be hot pursuit. It would increase their prey drive. I invited him to explain that as from my perspective good bird dog owners train their dogs not to chase deer and other critters. He didn't respond. I'm wondering just how far your local lose dog owner problem has gone? I'm not an advocate of shooting dogs like some are nor am I an advocate of doing nothing. I assume law enforcement in most places these days has better things to do than deal with dog issues.

[AverageGuy]

Our laws are ancient and in severe need of update. Dating back to the Supreme Court case of ole Drum (google it). The landowner is basically powerless. "Coyote" hounds harrass deer around here year round. They drop their dogs from the county road onto posted property. Not illegal for a dog to trespass since "dogs can't read" and it is illegal to shoot a dog even when it is running a deer across your posted property. Repeatedly.

Iowa played Heck getting tracking dogs legalized to recover deer and are still not there yet. Deer running trespassing "coyote" hounds are the reason why. Landowners are sick of it and equate using a Vdog to track and recover a wounded deer with renegade coyote hunters letting their hounds run where ever they please.

I have hunted in 5 states this year and so far my trained dogs have not illegally trespassed once. If I can do it others should too. I realize a good hound goes where the track takes them. Not my problem to solve. Figure it out or switch to a cur you can control.

Tess went through her first heat cycle back in November. I put up plywood around her kennel. Near by Renters' constantly roaming deer running blue heeler (I have trail cam photos of the dog running deer on my farm as well as have witnessed it while hunting) chewed through the bottom trying to get at her. He wisely ran when I heard barking and exited the house headed that way ...

[orhunter]

Unlike your neck of the woods, we have a lot of forest/BLM land and timber company land open to hunting. We also have laws against hunting lion and bear with hounds. We have a ton of both. Bobcat are okay and I suppose Coyote too but almost no one runs dogs on them. Our big game tracking laws are antiquated also and many have a tough time reading and understanding them. They really aren't that difficult. While intentionally dog tracking/recovering wounded game, a person may not be in possession of a firearm that is legal for the game being recovered. At the same time, it is not illegal to go for a walk in the woods with a dog while carrying a firearm if it is chambered for a cartridge not legal for taking game in the season that is currently open. If a person shot an animal on the last day of the season and couldn't take up the track till the next day when the season is closed, we can carry whatever cartridge we choose because there is no open season. Don't know how the current law is worded as things change from year to year. Personally, I don't care what the law is, I'm going to do everything under my power to recover that animal asap. I'll take my chances with the law because it's the right thing to do. Something else people don't get is law enforcement isn't standing behind every tree watching us every moment. Amazing the amount of fear many walk around with. I think if a person ethically challenged the law in the field and the courtroom, the case would get thrown out. Never heard of anyone testing it so for all practical purposes, the laws don't exist.

[jlw034]

Kinda nice having a backup dog like Tess!!!

We just got our dog tracking law on the books here in MN. The dog trackers FB page is nuts during deer season, constant requests and success stories.

[AverageGuy]

jlw034,

The FB tracking dog page in my State is non-stop. None of the Trackers hunt as they are completely tied up tracking. Not my thing for sure. I took 4 archery does in the past 2 weeks and collected blood and tails from each so I have plenty of training materials. Looking forward to seeing what Tess can do in this area. I think she will be very good at it.

Harvey,

The laws make no sense in this area. Every minute of every day it is legal for me to let my dog roam off leash on my farm and elsewhere. Of course I do not but I could. But if I were to say I am looking for a wounded deer my dog must suddenly be on a leash, while "Coyote" hounds circle deer on posted ground and landowners are powerless to stop it ...

I started with coonhounds and really enjoy a good track and tree dog. Beagles circling rabbits is great sport. I hunt my Farm annually with Friends and their hounds who I invite over for some hunts. It is sad how hounds have been outlawed in so many ways on the Left Coast.

[Willie T]

Bummer on Spud. The situation is probably good for Tess though. Those young full of piss and vinegar dogs often hunt better tired. As usual great pics. Thanks for sharing.

[J D Patrick]

I liked this thread (except Spud getting hurt),,,

started with great hunts with Tess,, then a discussion on challenges with dogs/hounds,,,we have it bad here (deer hunting with dogs is legal in half the state),, not the folks who "do it right" but the renegades who use the "my dog can't read" as an excuse to run your land,,,

anyhow,,, good luck all!

[Willie T]

Texas has it pretty close to right. Against the law to shoot somebody’s dog. Against the law to run deer with dogs. Legal to track a wounded deer with an unleashed dog. Against the law to let your dog run free on your neighbors property without permission. Still an issue at times with hog doggers but they are ticketed if caught. It’s not perfect but there is both freedom and accountability.

[AverageGuy]

"Coyote" hound in action. Owner dumped the hound in from county road. I heard the hound strike a hot deer track while I doing my morning chores before heading to church.

[Huskerhunter416]

I live in Nebraska, you can’t run deer with dogs but I believe you can use them for recovery. I think it’s a good tool to have to recover wounded game for sure. I’ve never hunted deer with dogs and I feel it would be a bit of a zoo for sure. Some of those old traditions die hard that’s for sure.

That’s a nice looking dog by the way and it looks like it’s a hunting machine.

[AverageGuy]

I live in Nebraska, you can’t run deer with dogs but I believe you can use them for recovery. I think it’s a good tool to have to recover wounded game for sure. I’ve never hunted deer with dogs and I feel it would be a bit of a zoo for sure. Some of those old traditions die hard that’s for sure.

That’s a nice looking dog by the way and it looks like it’s a hunting machine.

Thank You. Recovering deer was part of what drew me to GWPs decades ago.

This is my Spud dog when he was 10 months old. I put an arrow in that bucks heart at 10 yards hunting out of a brushed in ground blind on Christmas Eve at last light. The buck whirled and like all heart shot deer, he ran as hard as he could go into the dense timber. The arrow was still in him blocking the entrance hole. I baled out and went looking for blood. Found none.

I knew the hit was fatal but with no exit hole and the arrow blocking the entrance no blood was exiting the buck. There was a deer trail where the buck had entered the timber and I went up it a 100 yards and still had found no blood or buck. It was getting very dark so I hustled back to the blind, packed up my gear and walked to my Ranger. Drove to the house.

Spud was 10 months old with a good deal of dove, waterfowl and upland bird experience, but I had done no blood tracking training as yet. I put a box in the pickup, collared him with GPS, loaded him and drove back down to where I had shot the buck. Saw coon eyes as I drove down into the creek bottom. It was pitch black dark by then. Spud promptly went and treed that coon. I leashed him off the tree and lead him to where the buck had disappeared running in the timber. Started walking up the deer trail and Spud disappeared out of the ring of light from my headlight. Had gone about 100 yards and the Garmin vibrated saying Dog on point 16x yards on up the timber.

I walked in the direction of the arrow and found Spud wooling on that dead buck. I started dragging the buck, Spud continued wooling on the back end which was not helpful. So I leashed him to a sapling, drug the buck 75 yards or so and then went back to a crying Spud and moved him up, repeat ... Came to the creek and rolled the buck into it. Getting the buck out the opposite side of the creek bank was exhausting! Finally had the buck at the edge of the timber where I could drive my PU and load him up.

It was 1:30am when we took this photo while snow fell. I was as tired as I looked. Made to to sunrise Christmas morning services at Church a short while later Thanks to Spud finding that buck that night.

[reader4]

What a great story.

Also, using "wooling on" twice in the same post means you are definitely in Missouri. Only place I know where wool can be a verb too

[AverageGuy]

What a great story.

Also, using "wooling on" twice in the same post means you are definitely in Missouri. Only place I know where wool can be a verb too