Blood Tracking

[sam03]

I have been reading and watching about blood tracking and finally found time last night to start working with my dog. He is a dachshund and always has his nose to the ground following whatever scent he catches. I did 20' drag and put a small piece of venison at the beginning and 3 piece at the end. He followed it pretty well for his first time only got off of it once to mark a tree that he marks every time we let him out. Which was my fault for putting the trail right beside one of his marking trees. Hopefully he will have a good idea of what he is doing by the start of hunting season and i can put him on a couple trails.

[Iluv2hunt]

I believe I discussed this last year on here. I have 2 dachshunds, a male and a female. My male has a good nose, but no drive in him. He sniffs where a squirrel or rabbit, chickens, etc walked thru the yard but just sniffs. My female is gritty and will trail up all these animals and I have to stop her before she gets out of the yard.

Last year I saved some legs off of deer and hogs we killed, as well as some blood. Really no scientific method to how I did it. Just whacked off a leg and put it in the freezer. Just catch some blood and freeze it in a bottle.

The most important thing is to not let the dog trail you. I have a pair of rubber boots I wear all over the yard all the time so my scent is always there with no pattern. I take a leg out of the freezer with latex gloves and let it thaw a little bit, and tie a string to it. Also take the bottle of blood out and splash some blood on it. You could use a chunk of hide also but I wanted the interdigital scent from the feet. Just find a starting point and drag it, then pick an ending point and I like to raise the leg up where she can barely touch it with her nose.
I wait about 30 minutes then take her physically to the starting point. At this point, you probably want to dress her/him like you would if you were in the woods. If you are going to use a special collar or vest now is the time to put them on so they relate those items to trailing. You need to pick a command and use it. I use "find the deer" whether it was a deer or hog.

SO far mine has found it 100% of the time. When they do find it, kill them with praise and give them a treat

[spazhogdog]

Sounds like she is off to a good start. I have seen where they made a brace to fit on your leg that had a deer leg strapped in it. So it want a constant scent drag but actually like a deer running when they got that down they would mix blood and water i think put it in a bottle and drop a blood trail for them to follow and leave a piece of meat at the end for a reward. One thing i read is they don't want these dogs to trail fresh sign, so that was the reasoning behind just blood trailing after awhile.
Keep me posted on your progress i think it is very interesting.

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[treefarmer]

Being able to hunt at home has given me an advantage in developing a blood trailing dog. My wife's Cho.Lab/Red merle Austrian Shep. puppy was less than a year old when she did her first find. I had shot a little buck through the chest and he ran but I saw him pile up. Went to house, got the pup and put her on the spot where Bambi was shot, she found him in no time. As she approached the dead deer it was hilarious! She had to sneak up on him! Have used her each year since and she will go find them! Here's a pic of her 1st blood trail:
Treefarmer

[spazhogdog]

Cool looking dog. What does she do when she finds the dead deer? I know my old Curr gyp will trail up a hog that has been shot and if it is dead she will trot on past it and keep hunting.

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[sam03]

Great info Iluv2hunt and Treefarmer!

[vonnick52]

Gotta watch them weiner dogs! My buddy had one and was walking down a trail in a park with him off the leash. Walked up on a sow with a litter and the little dude caught himself a piglet about 10-15 lbs.

[Iluv2hunt]

I had 2 pigs I trapped in a cage and let my wieners bay them up like it was a bay pen. That was the most redneck sight I've ever seen. Don't really want to do that anymore as I don't want her thinking she is allowed to bay or catch. She might get killed as gritty as she is

[vonnick52]

That dog eventually got killed by a pitbull....he latched on to the dogs nuts and it spun around and grabbed his midsection and gave him a couple shakes...

[Iluv2hunt]

Real tough looking dog, eh?

[treefarmer]

spazhogdog asked what does my wife's dog do when she finds the deer? She tries to lick all the blood she can and then she stays with the deer while it is being hauled on the cart or truck, she thinks it's hers. After hanging the deer in the old oak, she gets in the way! She gets her fill of "goodies" during dressing, gutting and breaking. A lot of the unusable scraps are frozen in pint freezer bags for dog snacks. We've got a lot of pictures of her and her deer.

On several occasions when I would be driving her to the area where the deer was shot, she will wind the blood , I'm guessing, and bail out of the cart and go find the deer without having to get her started. So far she doesn't pay any attention to a deer track other than check the scent and move on. We jumped a spotted fawn one afternoon and she started to run it by sight but I was able to call her back without any trouble. On the other hand she has a big time running cats and squirrels, problem with the cats is she won't catch one. If she runs one down and it stops, she watches him till he breaks and runs, then off she goes again. She will kill a squirrel when one makes a mistake. She's a great companion for my wife and so far has found each deer she's gone after.
Treefarmer

[spazhogdog]

I would like to see a Weiner dog baying. I bet they get with it.

Treefarmer sound like your wife has a really good dog.

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