BigGameHoundsmen.com

Seen where many of you want your hounds to run good game before they ever get shocked for running bad game. Good plan and one that I have tried to stick to for many years.

The last few years I have had several dogs that were extra hard to break off deer. All of these dogs were very smart and go back to one female we bred heavy in our dogs that was very smart. The kind that can figure out a way to get out of most any kennel or pen. I believe those real smart dogs can cause you no end of headaches compared to the dumb ones.

Anyway, what I have started doing is walking them out where the deer are and shocking the p*** out of them for chasing deer, when they are just puppies. I've done this with a few that hadn't been started on hare (good game) yet. The results have been very good. Didn't set them back anymore than it would have when they are older and they become deer broke with much less shocking than if I waited until after they were started good on hare.

One more case where I had better luck going against the conventional wisdom than going with it. On the flip side, each dog is different and what works for one might ruin the next.

Any of you tried this?

My thinking used to be the same... but in the later years I sure have changed my thinking on account of the same factor... hard driving gamy dogs that were smart---- and I have come to the conclusion that it is a whole lot easier to PREVENT Deer races than to break them... and I must give credit to John Wick---- way back in his 1st book (the black one)
he had mentioned hanging the hind legs of deer on an electric fencer.. he said to start it around 3-4 months old--

I tried it and that sure was the beginning .
Now I believe that if that sucker has the drive necessary to make a good game getter you are not going to ever stop that drive

you can however keep them from learning the pure joy they seem to get from a red hot deer race.
you might have one instance where you have to give the hound a "reminder' after they get 7-8 months old and have worked on the proper game...mainly when that white flag jumps up right in front of them --a little reminder then usually prevents any other problems.

The John Wick method works pretty good to keep pups from having a GREAT desire to run deer. I take the scent gland from the hind leg and coil elect. fence wire around it. So the wire sticks out away from the hair about 2 inches. Then I go out and hang it from the electric fence. I wait about 3-4 hour so there is not a lot of my scent around. I turn the dogs loose and let them run around just like I do every day. My fence charger runs constantly it does not pulse. Those pups will walk up and grab that coil of wire with the gland in it and life lesson #1 is imprinted pretty deep in their brain. I will do this a couple of times and move it to a different location in the 3 acres that the dogs have to run in. They will still need a few reminders before they get it totally figured out. Mostly when they run right up in the middle of a bunch of deer and they see them scatter.

Riverbottom,

Dads philosophy follows the old saying that "An Ounce of Prevention” is much better and easier than “A Pound of Cure”!

You other Gentleman sure have good ideas on making the pups learn early that a Deer’s smell will HURT!

CJC

Dads dogboy wrote:Riverbottom,

Dads philosophy follows the old saying that "An Ounce of Prevention” is much better and easier than “A Pound of Cure”!

You other Gentleman sure have good ideas on making the pups learn early that a Deer’s smell will HURT!

CJC

dogboy, a man told me to take a sponge and cut it in small square pieces, the size to fit on a mouse trap. soak the pieces in a good deer sent, put them on the traps,set them around in different places inthe yard. take one pup at a time and turn it in the yard. he said this worked really well for him on pups about three months old, i will let you know how it works, i will try this next week. muleman

I'm all for not shocking them until they have been on good game and most of the dogs I'm running now never fool with deer if you get them started right. However, I treat off game like livestock. I'm never going to let them run or bay stock so I'm never going to let them get away with running deer and I don't care how old they are or what they've been on they're going to get corrected. To me, your just letting a problem get worse, and sometimes a lot worse, if you ever let them get away with it.

It sounds like a lot of the things that people do to deer break a young dog is done before they are hunted. So they are not corrected for running the deer or hunting, they are corrected because they smell a scent and it works. Maybe even better than frying your dog for running the first track he smells or tries to run. So you let the deer scent break him instead you trying to break. Seems a lot easier for you and your dog. Dewey

I dont worry about prevention, no need to try to break them before they run off game, and a few never do seem to run off game. But when the shock collars does work there isnt many hounds a .22 pistol and rat shot cannot cure from a deer race in a hurry.

Hey Dewey how do you go about breaking dogs. I know 25+ years ago when I used to come up there and hunt with Roland we hunted with you couple of times. All of those dogs would ride the box dogs and never even notice the deer, elk, and coyotes that ran across the road in front of the truck. Not even BLINK just like the deer and elk were never there. Do you think its because you have so many deer and elk (used to, not sure about now) that you get a lot more opprotunities to correct them at a young age, plus the fact that you put them on so many cat tracks that they learn what the GOOD stuff is sooner?

You can not beat the #8s and rat shot from a 22 pistol and if you cant use that you will settle for the tri tronics. I have broke a tractor trailer load of dogs on the outside by doing this! It works for me and many other people. When my pups are big enough to be running mine are on the outside. I just happen to be lucky enough to have my pens in a place where i can leave them out until the start running. At this point in the game i dont care what they run, they might run a rabbit, deer fox or even a cat. But what this does is tech them how to hunt, trail, run and come home! After they havehad a plenty of this I start taking them hunting with me and feeding them in fox and cat races. If they pull out on a deer i shoot them with 8s or shock them which ever I can, load them up and dump them back in the race! That is how you do it!!!! It wont take but a time or two for him to figure out that them 8s in his a** is the result from him running that deer. Another thing to remember is that it is 10 times easier to break a dog in alot of deer than a few deer.

I'm by no means an expert, and have only had 6 hounds in my life but this is what I have had luck with. By the way I have just got back into hounds and have only hunted coon in the past. My new pup I'm training for cats. First off I will let my pups run coon drags. Then move on to releasing a caged coon for them. When their around 6 or 7 months old and able to tree the caged coon on there own I will take them out to one to my hunting site and drive till I see deer in the open. Then I will turn the dog loose. I don't say a word to them, I just get as close to the deer as I can and let them out. If they see the deer and chase or hit the deer tracks and start working them I will light them up with my shock collar. Like I said I'm no expert but it has worked for me and I have had excellent luck with it. By the way its nice to see everyone helping on this site and it seems there is no bashing. Keep it up and happy hunting.

Va cat hunter wrote:You can not beat the #8s and rat shot from a 22 pistol and if you cant use that you will settle for the tri tronics. I have broke a tractor trailer load of dogs on the outside by doing this! It works for me and many other people. When my pups are big enough to be running mine are on the outside. I just happen to be lucky enough to have my pens in a place where i can leave them out until the start running. At this point in the game i dont care what they run, they might run a rabbit, deer fox or even a cat. But what this does is tech them how to hunt, trail, run and come home! After they havehad a plenty of this I start taking them hunting with me and feeding them in fox and cat races. If they pull out on a deer i shoot them with 8s or shock them which ever I can, load them up and dump them back in the race! That is how you do it!!!! It wont take but a time or two for him to figure out that them 8s in his a** is the result from him running that deer. Another thing to remember is that it is 10 times easier to break a dog in alot of deer than a few deer.

for the way you hunt peppering them with birdshot is an option that works . it makes dogs gun shy which is totally something alot of hunters dont want.no offense ,but my friends bought a dog that was trained this way from carolinas . it was a waste of time .any gun fire at all even if it was just someone bird hunting or target practice ended the race.

Off all the deer breaking methods
I would think the shooting with bird shot would be the last resort.
There are so many other good deer breaking methods one can use.
Probably the main reason u would not be close enough
to hit the dog & he just keep on run,em till u finally catch him in the nest zip code.
Then u are so mad u just shoot him dead

Sorry, I don't hunt cats any more, but a deer is a deer. I like the method of hanging deer glands in a coil of wire but hide it some distance from the fence so as not to fence break them. A lot of fencers are too strong for the young pups I prefer them to be 6 to 8 months old.
I also like to stop and unload the dogs, even older dogs where I see a deer and lead them in and scold and mabee switch them a little depending on their reaction. I realy like the shock collar and use it but want them to know that I have a long arm not happy if they run deer. I need a dog to not be gun shy and so would certainly not use the bird shot method. What ever works for you these are only my thoughts. Terry