hunting dog

syconerd

what type of dog is best for deer stalking following blood trails etc

endasmail

im reading alot on the uk forums about bavarian mountain hounds
they seem to be very popular over there

Glensman

I would go with a HPR dog as it would be more versatile as already mentioned. Although a black lab would be easier to keep clean than a GWP (in case you want to let them in the house like I do).

DR6.5

I use a lab, great dog on both deer and game.

When stalking in timber she will indicate deer, which is quite handy. She half sets when she has winded the deer.

Where she is handy is when shooting sika on the hill at dusk in tall heather.

I also like to see the dog work, last season had two lads out, they shot four animals out of a group, i was watching from app. 200 mtrs, sent the dog out into the wind and she took each animal on the wind and marked them great to see.

The bavarians are very popular in the uk, i know two lads that have them and rate them, they are fairly expensive appr 1000 euro a pup.

The wirehaired are also very popular, i would definately recomend the lab for deer, great temperment and versatile.

Birdnuts

One of the best hunting dogs I had was a bitch collie/spaniel X - great noise and brains to burn, a real joy to work with:)

PS: My current Lab is a good lad too in this area!!

Spunk84

I've seen beagles,foxhounds and bloodhounds in Ireland work before and there's no stopping them. The only problem is that if you do down a deer with a hound he will bring you to it but if another deer or scent is there he will no doubt run off on it.

A Lab would be my choice , seen them scent deer and there as good as any other dog IMO. Also they can be used for fur so you have a dual purpose dog

poulo6.5

i have always had a graw for a gwp, but there are many other breads out there that can do the job,
there are plenty of lads out there using labs as the are a good dog and easy to train.
you dont have to have a Hungarian hound or a viszla just because they are in fashion at the moment.
as with anything maybe more so with dogs you get out what you put in.
a good dog will be no good with out time and training put in.

i dont have a deer dog my self and manage fine with out it. i have a springer for the game and a large german shepherd so for the time being i have a full house

customrifle

Got speaking to a fella who was down lookin for a turoe stone in field at back of home place. He was a forestry inspector for dept of agri. He had a grand weimaraner with him. The conversation got round to shooting anyway and he said he never lost a deer thanks to the dog it was a dinger to track. Have since got a young weimaraner myself and am starting him to hunt and hes learning very quick. The ability to hunt/track just seems to be in them.
I was lucky and got mine for a good price as they can be on the expensive side with good breeding, they are a handful though and need to be worked and given lots of exercise.

.243

from what ive seen working get a weimaraner or a barvarian,but what ever you decide the best part is having mans best friend for company beside you,
ive been shooting deer well over 20yrs and i know several stalkers that have a dog at their side,personally id love one but i dont have the space

semi-auto

A properly trained dog is invaluable for any kind of hunting IMVHO

Spunk84

syconerd wrote: »

what type of dog is best for deer stalking following blood trails etc

i checked with a few deer stalkers in the uk who shoot the whole west of Ireland on private shoots. Heres there thoughts

Bavarian Mountain Hound
Cocker Spaniels
German Shorthaired
German Wirehaired
Hanoverian Hound
Hungarian Vizsla
Labradors
Weimaraner

The dogs that came up again and again where the Scottish Deerhound and specifically Wirehaired Dachshund:eek:- Supposed to be a very very good deer tracker.

doyle61

Any hunter who claims to have never had a runner in their hunting life is either not hunting very long or is telling a few porkies IMHO. It doesn't have to be a deer that was the runner but a rabbit crawling down a burrow etc etc. Unfortantly I've had a deer get away on me before (deer spooked as I was squeezing trigger), the shot could have happened to anyone but it was the fact I didn't have a dog that made a bad situation worse. I breed weimaraners and cockers and the one thing I've learned is that the next Weimaraner pup I get, it's going to be trained for deer.
To the OP; if you can get a good well bred Weimaraner you won't regret it;)

DR6.5

There is not a big tradition of using dogs for stalking compared to britain and the continent. Another reason was that when lads were restricted to using the .22-250 nearly all them were neck shooting there animals so the use of a dog was not as necessary as if you were chesting the animals.

Over the last few years more and more lads are using dogs. Another factor is that roughly 80% of licenced deer stalkers in ireland shoot between 0-10 animals a season so might not need a dog solely for deer.

I stalked the a number of years without the use of a dog but since using a lab for the last 5 years i would not go back to stalking without the dog.


dr6.5

doyle61

I don't know, I'm only stalking couple of years but hunting for a good few and there's one thing I've learned is that you'll get a surprise when you least expect it and to learn from other peoples mistakes/advice and the fact that dogs are used extensively throughout the rest of the world for stalking hold water with me anyway.

Sika98k

doyle61 wrote: »

Any hunter who claims to have never had a runner in their hunting life is either not hunting very long or is telling a few porkies IMHO.

+1 Anyone shooting Sika deer is well aware of how those buggers run with their chests shot out. They are dead on their feet but just wont admit it.

Cass

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