Too many times I walked out of the house in the "off season" and had to get "the look" from my labs because they were being left behind. So even as Biggs made himself at home in our hearts and our house, I began thinking of how to utilize the pup in ways that I hadn't before. That quickly led to a decision to attempt to train Biggs as a dual purpose pup, primarily as a waterfowl dog, but secondary as a shed antler dog. It was a win win for me, an excuse to get out more in the "down time" for the hunting seasons and a reason to bring the dog along. Not to mention, shed hunting is a great family activity that could now involve my two boys with "their puppy."
As I began to research I was shocked with the amount of information and countless Facebook pages dedicated not only to shed hunting but specifically to shed hunting with man's best friend. This article is not an attempted explanation of the training process I went through, I will only slightly touch on the dual purpose thing. I basically stayed consistent with training and cue words for bumpers and antlers differed. "Hunt Bone" was used for antler, and the pup easily distinguished the difference with a little training.
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| Biggs, shed dog in training... |
As the shed season is only beginning in my part of the mid-west, I have quickly learned a few things that I can pass on to those that plan to follow in my footsteps down the road with a shed hunting companion. I am by no means an expert in any way shape or form, but if you are like me and just entering the world of "shed dogs" the following are a few tips from a beginner, that I quickly picked up from our weekly extended walks in the timber so far this winter. Hopefully they can benefit someone else.
Dangers to the early shed hunting with a pup:
The primary subject of this article is simply regarding the shed pup and his/her safety. As I have noted, this is my very first shed season with a "shed dog" and the first trip led to a very quick lesson. I decided to avoid bedding areas and take a quick trip around a mowed field edge to get the dog some exercise, work on obedience, and see if we could get lucky. We ended up running into a random guy in the timber who was trapping. I will be honest this is not something that had crossed my mind at all...especially since he was inadvertently on my in-laws farm that I manage and did not have permission to be there. So there is the first tip for the shed hunt dogs out there, early shed hunting may overlap with late trapping season...get familiar with the traps that are out there and learn how to release them in case the worst happens.
The learning adventure continued as we crept deeper into January and I took the pup on another jaunt, this time on a farm that rarely holds wintering deer. I felt it was a good place to plant some antlers for practice and allow him to hunt the area a few hours later. In the process my next lesson came to light. Biggs did great and found the planted antlers but while returning to the truck he hit the creek and disappeared from sight with a crash, falling through the ice. Luckily the creek was not deep and he quickly found his way back to dry land and other than an icy coat he was fine. So keep in mind when out in late winter with the dog the back water, creeks, and ponds, may have dangerous ice on them.
This past Saturday a couple more "shed lessons" were added to the memory bank. A good friend of mine called and invited us to his farm to give the pup a try. It was a perfect piece of property with everything you could think of for bedding and food.
I always carry a back pack with me but rarely have a need for it. My wife often teases me when I pack in enough stuff to last me a month, to a deer stand that I can see from my house. I am not sure if its an innate need to carry too much stuff or what but I would be willing to venture that there are "cavemen" in our ancestry that had a buck skin full of extra arrow heads, sticks and rocks they didn't need. I guess I am waiting to hit that day when we find so many sheds we can't carry them all, but as I watched Biggs work through some heavy briars, it hit me that if he ever takes a locust thorn or something to the paw, I don't have a thing to help him. I always had a kit put together for dog first aid if needed in my waterfowl bag, and though I haven't needed anything yet, it only makes sense to be ready to help your pup when your miles from the truck. So if your gonna take "stuff" anyway, it might as well have a purpose, such as a first aid kit for pup and person.
The next piece of advice I would offer is actually a grouping of small tid bits of things I have added to the "shed pack" over the past few weeks of training/shed hunting. First of all, water. If you are hitting a large tract of timber, and it is frozen, it may be tough for the dog to find water. The first really extended "walk" we went on I noticed Biggs licking at the ice in a tractor rut and attempting to get water. Since that time, I bring a squeeze water bottle and Biggs has learned to get a drink when I stop to get a drink of my own. Another item in the bag that I thankfully have not needed, is a pair of side cutters, in case the pup gets tangled in a fence or wire of some sort, or even a snare trap.
We walked several hundred yards that day without finding anything until Biggs stumbled across a decaying deer leg. It was minutes after I removed this from his mouth and smelled the stench on my hand that I thought, rubber gloves may be a welcome addition to the pack as well.
We ended the day on a high note with Biggs finding his first shed ever. An old shed half buried in the ground, but the pup immediately knew what it was and dug it out without a cue word and so begins our shed hunting "career."
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| Biggs with his first ever antler (8 Months Old) |
Hopefully the above will shorten a learning curve or ease some pain in the future for anyone out there considering the shed dog adventure. Good luck finding "bone!"
