I currently have a chocolate lab but if or when I get another I will probably get a catahoula cur for strictly tracking. My lab was supposed to be a duck dog and I trained him for that but due to lack of birds quit duck hunting.
As DSF said any dog will have a good enough nose for tracking and some of the best are the short dogs (wire haird dachshunds) the problem with them is being able to catch a deer if needed. Beagles can track but don’t handle very well and can be very difficult to obedience train.
Then you have to decided what do you want out of the dog for the other 8mt your not tracking, potlicker, family pet, subdivision walking companion? Not all breeds are suited and people get pissed cus their “hound” barks all the time or terrier digs all the time or lab stays in a ditch or pond.
Once you get lined out on a breed then start running tracks and always remember trust your dog not the guy who swears where the deer was or went, if they were that good they wouldn’t be calling you. It’s fun and addictive but it gets in the way of your personal hunting and can be very tiring and demanding. Be prepared for calls at 7pm 40miles away and track through cutover for 2-3hrs get home at midnight and have a call that someone wants you to go on the next morning and then try to decide to track or go hunt and track after.
Good luck

This post was edited on 1/16/24 at 8:59 pm

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Posted by lsupride87

Member since Dec 2007

96659 posts

Posted on 1/16/24 at 9:02 pm to Ol boy

My bird dog does great tracking. But if he comes up on a randy deer that’s still alive he won’t fight it. A catahoula will track and take the soul out of a wounded deer

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Posted by Yukon7

Louisiana

Member since May 2018

590 posts

Posted on 1/16/24 at 9:13 pm to Ol boy

You hit the nail on the head. I will still track for the public if someone can’t fill it. But there’s enough people who live to track and prefer to do that than hunt. I’m the opposite.

I started off on a leash first , i think it really helped me learn the dog. And also taught her to work at the pace in which i can follow her. We spent the last 2 years using the tracker, and i much prefer that as it allows me to walk around briars, obstacles, etc.

Always trust the dog, the dog is right. I’ve only had one time where she was wrong and that was due to it being 100 degrees and in a drought her 2nd year.

You will learn a lot with your first blood tracking dog, and what you would do differently the next time. My dog is a beagle and a house pet, and because of it , she doesn’t have drive. She has the drive to track and has found deer since she was 6 months old, but she isn’t about to go bay or get into it with a live deer. Pack of coyotes get on the deer, she’s outta there. Her sole purpose is to find a dead deer, collect her foot to chew on and call it a night.

Already have a Heeler that I’m working on to work with her, he has the drive but doesn’t seem to have the nose at the moment. It’s all a work in progress but takes patience sometimes.

More important , have fun with it, it’s definitely rewarding to see the smile on everyone’s face when you have found their deer.

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