lucy and I track a lot pf deer in high fence areas,I like high fence, places super safe for the dog,we dont have to worry about her getting hit by a car,the consentration of deer doesnt matter,I train my dogs to track only wounded deer.weve even tracked deer in high fence areas that have elk
I had Otis try to track a non-wounded deer yesterday but he hasn’t been too bad about it so far. Not to spoil the story but when I pulled up the hunter told me he had some bad news. Another buck had just crossed over the lane he was on and went right down the same trail as the deer he had shot the day before. The deer he shot went down the trail and took a left. The recent unwounded deer went down the same trail and took a right. Otis has hit a new phase now in his progression. Earlier this season he was still kind of timid on some tracks….like he was a little nervous to venture out on his own. Now, we've been on enough tracks that he knows exactly what we’re going to do and he comes out of the gate amped up ready to find a deer.
When I cut him loose on the track yesterday, he started tracking the wounded deer but when he came to the fork, he never checked up and he went to the right behind the fresh scent instead to the left on the day old track. I could tell he was working the track WAY too fast for a track that old but I let him go for a little ways just to be sure. After about 300 yards he slowed up and I pulled him off. We restarted back at the hit site and I gave him the “eaassssy” command several times. The second time he kept his nose on the ground and methodically worked the track slowly right to the buck we were searching for. It actually worked out great since he saw that the one track led to a prize while the other led to nothing. Just part of the training process I suppose. Even though he let his excitement lead him astray, I’m still really happy to see his motivation and drive really amp up. He’s starting to get that “don’t give up” attitude now.
