tracking dogs for deer

[AllOut]

I'm going to say NO
To me, tracking/bloodtrailing is part of hunting especially bow hunting. If your not good enough to find your own deer or with a little help from some buddies then it wasn't ment to be or you need to work on your tracking skills. Or actually try a little harder. I've seen guys who shoot a deer and start tracking right away and never bend over or flip over a leaf. They walk the direction they think the deer went and if there isn't an obvious blood trail then they give up after 50 yards.
A dog to me is the lazy/easy way out. Why not just take stupid shots and wound or gut shot every deer u see, then wait til the next day and let a dog find it. No Thanks, dogs are for the birds.... And rabbits

 

[264Magnum]

I don't think it should be illegal. I lost a nice buck several years ago after tracking it for a day and a half, even after losing the blood trail. There's a lot of things that I could have done wrong, but me and the guys I was with are all experienced trackers.

A dog is like a hunting buddy that's just really, REALLY good at tracking. And that doesn't complain about what you bring to eat.

 

[RidgeHunter]

Tracking dogs should be legal. There needs to be some restrictions on it obviously (leash, license), but they can be a great asset.

I know there are several people in Oklahoma with legit tracking dogs, a couple of which made their number public on a couple of bowhunting forums offering to help people if they can. IIRC they made law enforcement aware of what they were doing each time, even though the law is not in their favor.

Allout is right, many hunters are lazy and can't trail - but they're not gonna be the ones to call in a dog. People aren't going to take bad shots because dogs are available; that's ridiculous. The ones that will call in a dog are the ones that have exhausted all other options. I've trailed some deer that were ridiculously hard to find, and like 264, it wasn't my first rodeo. A dog would have found them no problem. A heart shot with a rifle that left clipped hair and zero blood before burying up in some of the thickest crap you've ever seen and dropping dead. High entry single lung bow shots with no exit due to hitting the shoulder blade - don't leave blood until the cavity is filled, even though it's a relatively quick kill shot. ***** to find. If you have nothing to work with it doesn't matter how good a tracker you are. You ain't no dog.

 

[264Magnum]

I actually spent yesterday morning helping a local guy track down a small buck he had made bad shot on. He was just sort of bumbling around in the direction he thought the deer should go, I was able to pick up the blood trail about 40 yards from where he was looking, and after getting backup (my dad) we were able to track down the deer and finish it off.

It would have just been dumb luck if he had stumbled onto it without us being there, and in the process, I got us a new chunk of private land to hunt for free whenever we want.

 

[DogBabe]

I'm going to say NO
To me, tracking/bloodtrailing is part of hunting especially bow hunting. If your not good enough to find your own deer or with a little help from some buddies then it wasn't ment to be or you need to work on your tracking skills. Or actually try a little harder. I've seen guys who shoot a deer and start tracking right away and never bend over or flip over a leaf. They walk the direction they think the deer went and if there isn't an obvious blood trail then they give up after 50 yards.
A dog to me is the lazy/easy way out. Why not just take stupid shots and wound or gut shot every deer u see, then wait til the next day and let a dog find it. No Thanks, dogs are for the birds.... And rabbits

If using a dog is the easy way out for blood tracking then by the same logic isn't using a dog the easy way out for hunting birds and rabbits as well?

Finding a lost deer is in my mind an absolute responsibility and part of responsible hunting and conservation. There is no way that the use of a professionally trained tracking dog doesn't fit in that picture.

 

[VIKING]

I've only lost one deer in my life that I couldn't find. Shot him opening day of gun season and looked for him everyday for the rest of the season. It totally ruined that season. I now own a yellow lab that is only trained to get my shoes when she wants to go outside. BUT..IF I were to shoot and lose another deer (especially of his quality) then I'm taking Gerty to the woods and telling her to help me find my deer.. May be illegal but it's the right thing to do IMHO... Now hold on with all the tickets, remember I said IF...

 

[dowmace]

I used my buddies yellow lab to track my nephews doe last weekend. Without her we would have never found her

 

[VIKING]

I used my buddies yellow lab to track my nephews doe last weekend. Without her we would have never found her

Was it legal? probably not..Was it the right thing to do? absolutely. If a warden sees a yellow lab in the field and thinks the owner is running deer then the warden probably needs to find another job. BTW..Dennis and I both have a friend that had a little rat terrier that was one deer finding little fool. I watch the little dog in action..Never got out of sight and just kept walking and smelling..Took us right to the DEAD deer..Pray tell me how and why this should be illegal! I'm done..

 

[AllOut]

It doesn't matter why it's illegal... But it is!
I like how a lot of you guys are admitting to doing something you know is illegal but trying to justify it by saying u don't agree with the law.
Here is one for ya... Maybe I don't agree with the road hunting law. Why? Well the deer are owned by the state, I'm on a public road and I have the right to retrieve my deer if it goes on your property. Not saying I really believe that, but would it make it ok for me to do it if I did?

 

[dowmace]

It doesn't matter why it's illegal... But it is!
I like how a lot of you guys are admitting to doing something you know is illegal but trying to justify it by saying u don't agree with the law.
Here is one for ya... Maybe I don't agree with the road hunting law. Why? Well the deer are owned by the state, I'm on a public road and I have the right to retrieve my deer if it goes on your property. Not saying I really believe that, but would it make it ok for me to do it if I did?

So I should have left a wounded deer in the woods to suffer? That is unethical law or not.i was also on private property that dog lives on anyway. Wether I was with her or not she would have found the doe bleeding in the woods.