Bowhunting with a Dog, How does stalking work?

[KimberKid]

Hey HBC,
Just a logistical question I wanted to ask. Does anyone here bow hunt with a dog? and if you do, how would stalking an animal work? Has your dog ever blown a stalk? How do you train/prevent this from happening?
Thanks

[Big Lew]

I have, and once your dog knows what is expected from it, there should be few problems.
Until then, it's usually a hinderence and highly likely that the dog will blow the deal.
As the law requires the dog to be leashed, just the leash alone can be a nuisence as it can
easily get hung up on just about anything. You should include in your training the command
to "go around" which is relatively easy to do. That way, when it goes on the wrong side of an
object you can quietly tell it to 'go around' and it will backtrack and go around on your side.
Using an 'extend-a-leash' is a good idea.

[tigrr]

One bark and the game is over. Other animals smell canine scent and leave the neighbourhood. Unless your duck hunting or grouse hunting leave the pooch at home.

[cmac]

I don't bow hunt but my dog comes on every hunting trip. I always keep her leashed when hunting. Have had deer come within 20 yards before they have noticed us. I doubt the dogs scent is any more of a deterrent than a humans.wouldnt dream of leaving my dog behind.

[hoochie]

I don't bow hunt but my dog comes on every hunting trip. I always keep her leashed when hunting. Have had deer come within 20 yards before they have noticed us. I doubt the dogs scent is any more of a deterrent than a humans.wouldnt dream of leaving my dog behind.

I second that.
With me always. I don't bow hunt either.. but I walk. Spot and stalk.

[KimberKid]

Nice to hear, and yea I want to bring my dogs but if they blew a stalk on a nice animal it would be a hard pill to swallow.

[Big Lew]

The first couple of years when my dog was young and overly enthusiastic, he blew my chances
several times. I put those down to is training years. Where he would 'heel' well on a normal
walk, he seemed desperate to get in front of me to see what's going on during a stalk. The 'go
around' part of his training had been done very successfully beforehand. He now knows that
we're sneaking up on something, be it ducks in a slough, or a deer, and he quietly and carefully
sneaks alongside me. My first lab did extremely well stalking, even trained to crawl when given
the command by hand. He had the advantage of far more training and being out in the field a lot
more often. It is indeed possible with training, and it's very rewarding to have a dog along when
it is in sync with you.

[325]

I have. She’s great and never barks. Incredible tracker