Used my dog to track a wounded deer

[TNboy]

I shot a really ugly looking spike last night just before dark. I shot and watched as it ran into the woods. I didn't look around a lot for signs but I wanted to confirm the hit before dark if I could. I walked down to where I had shot it and saw some white hair on the ground so I knew I had hit it but I was afraid it was low. Turned out it was a good shot I was just shooting down on it. Now I shot it on a path cut through a very rough and large thicket. I walked back to the house and got the truck and my four year old Bench Leg Fiest. This dog has never been good for much outside of being a good pet but I thought I would give him a shot. I loaded him up and drove down to close to where the deer was. I kept him on a leash and he went right to where the deer hair was. Then he started licking the ground, I turned on the flashlight, it was completely dark then, and saw a lot of blood on the ground! He sniffed for a second then led me about 25 yards into the thicket where the deer was lying down with it's head up. I was only about 5 yards away from it when I saw it. At that point I drew my S&W .357 Magnum and finished it off. I had never used a dog to track a deer before, it was a good thing I was able to utilize him though because it looked like to me that the deer actually went the opposite way than where I found it. I may have looked all night and never found it.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

TNboy, while I am glad you found your deer, do you realize you are admitting to a crime on a public forum? While it is perfectly legal to track deer at night, you can NOT fire after legal shooting hours. Crime number one. Also, you may NOT track a deer with a dog while ARMED with ANY weapon (save a hunting knife) in the state of Tennessee. It is perfectly legal to track a hit deer with a dog ON A LEASH but you must disarm to be legal. For future reference try to remember this. If the game warden caught you doing what you did, you would have been fined a HUGE amount, lost whatever weapon you had on you, and lost your license for a minimum of 5 years. I am assuming you were on your own property so you were lucky. I wouldn't push that luck again.

 

[juk]

I had a 115# black lab track a deer for me one night. He went right to it, but didn't make a sound. No barking, no whining, just nothing. He bolted into the woods when he left the truck, and I couldn't even find HIM, much less the deer. I finally heard a sound, and went in the direction I heard it from. Stupid dog was just licking the deer. When I went to pull the deer out of the thicket, the dog latched onto the other end and started playing tug-of war. If I hadn't have been 6'2" and 260 lbs that deer would have stayed there. Dang dog still almost won. LOL.

It's a shame that such an act would be a crime. You would think it would be humane. I guess there are alot more spot-lighters out at night that people with better intentions. I'm glad you found your deer though. If you are anything like I am, not finding a deer weighs heavy on you for a while.

 

[Justin Holder]

Don't worry. All you need to do is add the sentience "If I had shot a spike, this is how I would have done it." to the beginning to your post.

OJ got away with it.

 

[FLAvalanche]

Don't worry. All you need to do is add the sentience "If I had shot a spike, this is how I would have done it." to the beginning to your post.

OJ got away with it.

And wear really small gloves...

TNboy, while I am glad you found your deer, do you realize you are admitting to a crime on a public forum?

Gotta put in a Ted Nugent quote for this. "I'll follow the law until it's just plain stupid.".

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Well FLA, I follow the law as much as possible myself. And I cant stand hunting deer over a dog so I agree totally with that law (in 95% of the states). Nothing I hate more than have a really nice stand set up, done all the scouting for months prior to season, have a really nice buck on it's way in and almost in range, then someones damn pack of dogs on my property come cruising through and run my dang deer off! Yes that has happened more than once when hunting in Va. I also agree 100% with the after dark laws. Pure safety being the reason. I am not admonishing TNboy for what he did, just letting him know that what he did was illegal and to "watch his 6" in the future. I was raised in Tennessee and am MORE than familiar with many of the Game Wardens. Most of them are pretty good guys and would have had no problem with what he did. But there are a few of them out there that are total buttheads and would have thrown him to the wolves for actually doing the "right thing" and ending the deer's suffering quickly.

 

[TNboy]

Thank you for the concern, for the record I believe I returned the dog to the truck and retrieved my gun at that point, before returning to the deer. As for shooting after dark there is no way I would have done things different, nothing unsafe about it, I've been wandering around this property since I was big enough to walk and I had a very large hill as a backstop. Illegal or not I'm not going to allow an animal to suffer until we have legal shooting hours again.

 

[HOOfan_1]

Nothing I hate more than have a really nice stand set up, done all the scouting for months prior to season, have a really nice buck on it's way in and almost in range, then someones damn pack of dogs on my property come cruising through and run my dang deer off! Yes that has happened more than once when hunting in Va

Quite...I wish Virginia would outlaw hunting deer with dogs. I wish they would also outlaw human drives. Or at least I wish the people that organized these drives would be a little more courteous than to walk up onto a hunter who has already set up a stand and just drive through anyway...

Unfortunately hunting with dogs is almost the de facto way to hunt deer in Virginia.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Yeah HOO I know. I hunted Va and West Va for 8 or 9 years while I lived in Pa. Dealt with them a lot. Dogs can't seem to get a grip on reading POSTED signs and I think half of the guys running deer with them can't seem to get a grip on reading them either! Had several hunts flat ruined from them. Having to chase dogs and owners off the property and such. Hey if it is legal, more power to you. But stay the heck off my properties. That is the main flack that deer dog receive. Lack of respect for property lines. I always hear them saying "I can't stop my dogs from running on to peoples property once they are on trail" I laugh at that. I find it funny that my rabbit hounds are trained to stay within the boarders of the properties I hunt and it was not hard to train them for it at all. (Shock collars are an amazing training tool)

 

[HighExpert]

I hunt in VA and find that sometimes those deer dogs that wander too far never come home. Seems to make most hunters look elsewhere to run their dogs.

 

[Zombiphobia]

I see no harm. He had to find the deer and finish it off humanely. Law or no law, I'd say he was right to do what he did.

It would be more irresponsible to follow the ludicrous laws of no having a firearm while using a dog to track a wounded deer... or using no dog at all to find the wounded deer.
Some laws just need to be broken, as dumb as it sounds, but those are just plain stupid laws.

Good job finding and finishing off the deer quickly and humanely.... and besides this thread had nothing to do with running deer with free roaming dogs, or human drives. Quit hijacking the thread.

 

[dogrunner]

Well I DO hunt deer with dogs and I make utterly no apology for it!

It is both sporting and ethical when done properly............as was stated, the prime legitimate objection is the trespass matter..........other than that it is FAR more difficult to kill a good buck in front of dogs than by climbing a tree or slip hunting.

What burns my cods is the righteous band of loud objectors to the practice that extol the "art" of still hunting and clamor for closing dog hunting then at every opportunity set up their stands either in or right next to a dog hunt area.

A classic example is the Ocala Ntl. Forest land in Cent. Fl......most of the North end is still hunt only.........it's little utilized..........if one then rides the dog hunt area one will find those same objecting, vocal "still" hunters set up on the prime crossings!..........


"Still hunters"? Yeah, "STILL" huntin' over everyone else's dogs that they neither feed nor train! And let me not forget to mention the sportsmanship of quickly loading up that deer your dogs were running and hauling ### out of the woods as quickly as possible!!!

Hell, if I merely wanted to kill deer I'd climb a tree somewhere..........I am there for the enjoyment and satisfaction I derive from a pursuit that is literally thousands of years old and was practiced by my own direct ancestors at the founding of this Nation........I will continue to do so as long as I can.

 

[Supertac45]

I would have done the same.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I got no stones to throw!
Glad you got it and finished it off humanely.

 

[ghitch75]

my 140# lab held a doe down that had been hit by a car while my buddy shot her with his 9mm in the head.....yes i'm glad you got your deer and your buddy helped you do it

 

[TNboy]

Thank you Zombi, this thread had nothing to do with running deer with dogs, I tracked the deer with the dog on a leash. Seems that a discussion about running deer with dogs could be started elsewhere.

 

[alsaqr]

TNBoy, you did good.

I track wounded deer and elk for local hunters. Sometimes work with a freind who has a wire haired Dachshund. That little dog is a superb tracker. The dog is kept on a leash because of the danger from wild hogs and coyotes.

There is a problem with hunting in the late afternoon and evening in this area: If you do not get to the animal a few hours after it is shot the coyotes usually get the meat. If the coyotes do not get to the animal, very likely the meat be inedible by morning. The meat of a ruminate that is gutshot soon spoils.

 

[FLAvalanche]

Well FLA, I follow the law as much as possible myself. And I cant stand hunting deer over a dog so I agree totally with that law (in 95% of the states).

I wholeheartedly agree but there is a big difference between hunting deer with a dog and recovering a wounded/dead deer with a dog.

That's why the Ted Nugent quote fits. It's a good law that becomes stupid when the situation changes.

 

[Captcurt]

Many Huntmasters is Europe use dogs to recover game and have for centuries. It is only good conservation.

Years ago there was a dog in Melbourne, AR that was reknowned for tracking deer. Anyone who wounded a deer borrowed Ol' Red. I stuck a doe with an arrow and had to use Red to find it. My partner was dragged all over the hillside when Red smelled the deer. Poor old Dave looked as though he had been dragged behind a truck when we found the doe.

The very next year Red was killed by a wounded buck when the deer's antlers got tangled in his collar. I would love to have such a dog.

As for the legalities, well that is up to you and your state. Personally I would have taken the dog and not said a word to anyone.

 

[buck460XVR]

As for the legalities, well that is up to you and your state. Personally I would have taken the dog and not said a word to anyone.

I have used my wirehairs several times to find dead deer. They were always on a leash, I didn't have a gun or bow on my person and if the deer was found alive, the dog was taken back to the truck or a significant distance away..... and the deer was then finished off....most generally by cutting the throat. No shots were ever fired during closed hunting hours. This is legal where I live, hunting with the use of dogs is not. Ethics is doing the right thing when no one else is around.

 

[interlock]

i will not go hunting without my dog for deer recovery. I very rarely need her, but i know when i do she is worth her wieght in gold. a big dead or wounded deer seems to be able to hide successfully in the smallest thicket. i tend to use her on a long leash maybe 20 yards long... but sometimes not. when i am using her to track i have my rifle with me. Or if i am tracking a deer injured in a road accident i have my shotgun.

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