Training labs to shed hunt

[CarsonSmithElkHunter]

Hello, I have 2 labs, one 5 years old, and the other one is 2. Are they too old to train, and would I be wasting my time trying to train them? If not, how do I train them. I would like if I could get a program to use to train them if it won't just be a complete waste of time.

 

[squirrel]

If you consider wandering the wood s with your buddies or playing games with same as a waste of time your mind is in the wrong place on this. Finding horns is not the reason to horn hunt, though it helps to occasionally find a few!

Take a horn toss it for them, make a fuss, this shit aint rocket science...

Enjoy his joy, it passes all too soon. A true story to illustrate, since it is illegal to go for a walk.

The best trophy,
So I get this brainy idea to come into a horn hot spot from a new approach angle which involves crossing a swollen river. Since I was fairly sure it is going to be really good I decide to try it in spite of the incredible runoff this spring. I get up in the morning early and it’s a cold foggy day in the making but no snow so I decided to go for it.
I parked and walked to the river and it was roaring. Now usually it is an ankle deep crossing so I have a spare set of socks for changing to after wading bootless so my footsies will be comfy. I put my boots in my pack and cut a long pole to brace myself with and wade right in. It is actually quite easy and was middle -thigh high and whitecaps raging down it. I got out on the far bank and Cody, who is fearless and a great swimmer, jumped right in and crossed without incident. He got swept downstream maybe 20 feet before he clambered out on the far side into the snow bank there.
Topaz has never been a good swimmer and he knows it so he ran 50 yards downriver to a beaver dam where the current isn’t as swift but the river had prepared a trap. The beaver dam had stopped a lot of logs and debris which had stayed on top of the water and forced the water under the debris before it boiled up and over the dam. The water wasn’t as fast but as they say still waters run deep, and the current was still substantial. I had climbed up the far bank and walked in his direction as he plunged in and was in trouble immediately. As soon as I saw what he had done I said out loud “I’m gonna lose my dog” and dropped my pack and ran down the steep embankment in my socks. Without any thinking about how foolish it was I plunged right into the frigid water.
He tried to turn into the current instead of swimming across it which made it a losing battle even quicker and he got swept into the logs and his body pulled under them. By now I was waste deep and headed to chin deep in a couple more steps. There was a railroad tie floating to my left and I threw myself on top of it and my weight made it sink but not all the way. So I crawled out the RR tie as he was pulled further under the logs. I lunged and only got his lip which pulled from my grasp as his eyes went under, there was only 1-1/2” of his nose still out of the water, he was looking up through the muddy water into my eyes as I slipped out the tie more and reached under the water and came up with a handful of collar and wet dog. I yanked hard and got him out of the suction of the sweeper and started struggling to get back to shore.
It was about now that I realized we were both in trouble and that the brainless Cody was the smart one, over there on the shore watching. The RR tie was my salvation as it gave me something solid to hold on and push against as we fought our way against the current towards shore. Slowly but surely we gained against the push of the water until I could touch bottom again.
We scrambled up the steep bank and I stripped down and wrung out the water from my clothes surrounded by deep snow banks, I was a bit chilly. But I had dry SOCKS to put on! oh, boy. Now I was where I thought the horns would be but I had an un-fordable river between me and the truck. I was freezing and my binoculars were soaked as was my new fancy cell phone. I turned off the cell phone to avoid frying the circuitry. I hiked up the hill and started finding horns almost immediately which made me forget the cold. Topaz was very subdued and followed at heal for a while, I have no doubt that he knew how close of a call he’d just survived, as he is usually a downright boisterous hiking companion. I found a 6x horn on the far side of the gulch and was working my way over to pick it up and heard something coming up behind me. Now Topaz NEVER fetches “to hand” just gets close and drops it. He was coming up from behind me with a nice fresh shed 5x horn and put it right in my hand and smiled all over, Thanks dad…
I got up to where I knew I would have cell service and called the princess and begged her to pick me up 10 hrs later and 6-7 miles away after she got off work so I wouldn’t have to re-cross the river or trespass. It wasn’t very long hiking at an accelerated rate to stay warm that I began finding big elk horn after big elk horn all fresh from this spring. I quickly found 9 big 6x’s and 10 raghorn size antlers which was all I could carry and then some, so I started the long slog to my pick-up spot.
That night as happy as I was with the incredible days’ antler success I reached down to the floor beside my bed and petted the real trophy of the day.