Hey BCA.....

[Mountain Boomer]

I read somewhere you were going to start chasing a few bears. How is it going?

Anybody else running anything? Our deer season w/ dogs opens Saturday. My o'l potlickers are fix'n ta get a work out....

 

[Muledeer4me]

Mountain Boomer,when you say you run deer with dogs,I have never seen it done so here is a dumb question for you.
What do you do? What do the dogs do? Is it for tracking only or do they find deer ? Give me a run down OK. It sounds fun just being able to use dog for hunting.

 

[Mountain Boomer]

Muledeer4me, In a perfect scenerio here is what happens. Everyone that is going to hunt will meet about daylight near the section of woods we are going to run. We will discuss who is going to go where and one person will handle the dogs. Usually there is anywhere from 5-10 guys hunting. After we know where everyone is going to be we break up and go to the stands. The guy handleing the dogs will give them about 15-20 minutes to get on their stands. He will then take the hounds and turn them loose headed towards the standers. We usually will turn loose 2-3 dogs at a time. The dogs will then take off hunting and jump a deer. They will run it just like bear dogs run a bear. If all goes well they will run the deer by one of the standers. If it is a doe or a small buck he will try to catch the dogs when they come by. If it is a legal buck he will try to kill it and catch the dogs. Once the dogs are caught we will move to another section of woods or try that section once again.

Now here is what usually happens.... We turn the dogs loose, they jump and run off and nobody sees the deer or the dogs...

We then spend the rest of the day trying to catch our dogs...

We usually take around 10-12 hounds a day with us so we can have more than one drop if we loose our dogs.

Boomer

 

[George P]

Man that sounds like fun !!! I have never ran deer before,well,at least not on purpose !!!! Do you guys run tracking stuff on your hounds ?? I dont mean to knock the deer dogs but it must be pretty easy to train them isnt it? Stupid question for you boomer. Do your dogs ever trash on anything.I am trying to think of what could be trash for deer dogs.Are there some deer dogs better than others ? I mean what makes a deer dog a good one.Thanks, George

 

[Muledeer4me]

Thanks for the info Boomer,that sounds so different then how we hunt.
This site has been so much fun,I really enjoy hearing how everyone else hunts.
Sounds exciting getting to hear the dogs and not knowing what will happen.
I take it you guys use shotguns?
It must be some fast shots with the deer running past you with dogs on there butts.
So many ways to hunt and so little time (and money)to do it LOL

 

[Bear Creek Adventures]

Heya Boomer,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I have been out doing a little bear hunting (3 days) and have not had any luck yet. I ran a couple, but did not tree. Now that our deer and elk seasons are done, I can concentrate on the hounds. That deer hunting with hounds sounds cool. If you are ever looking for some good deer dogs, let me know!! I have a couple that enjoy a good deer race.

 

[Mountain Boomer]

Hey guys, sorry it has taken me so long to get back in here. I have been out hunting.

George,
Its not real hard to train a hound to run a deer. Once you get them runnning deer it is kinda hard to get them to run anything else... The only other thing they will really run is coyotes and we don't mind that unless we are deer hunting. A good deer hound is one that can jump a deer anytime of the day, run him steady for several hours, and "home" real well. It sounds easy until you start trying to get a good one. Coyotes are alot harder to run, so if you have a dog that can run coyotes pretty well they can smoke a deer. Tree dogs actually make the best deer dogs around. We never turn loose w/o tracking collars.

Muledeer4me,

The deer will be in front of the dogs anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. They will stop and look back often so therefore you can get a good shot w/ a rifle. The woods around here are fairly open and most shots are out of shotgun range. I carry a Browning BAR 30-06 when I run dogs.

BCA,

Its good to here from you. Good luck on your bear escapades!! Keep us updated. I got all the dogs I can handle right now...