Sheds For 2009/2010

[Tito Degiosio]

As Of the first of the year 2010 I will begin my rounds for the hunt of them sheds

If anyone is wondering you should start seeing deer droping sheds anywhere from the first of the year till late feb

Normally Feb is the best month for me But I have found A shed before christmas

You have to make a regular round on your area during the time day your deer aren't there so you don't scare them off

everything from rodents to coyote's will nab these sheds quickly and chew them up for the morrow inside them

I use a dog to find my sheds She is black lab That I trained to sniff them out

last year she found a dozen sheds incuding two sheds that were from the same deer off of the same side but a year a part

this rifle season my neighbor shot the deer and it scored 158 5/8 what A nice deer

good luck to those who injoy looking for sheds

Any young dog from the pound will work to train to find sheds some mix breeds work pretty well just make sure there big enough breed to carry those big ones you don't want them droping them because there to heavy the younger the better I got mine when she was about 7 months old

and had her finding sheds within the month I was lucky to get a full blood lab for free and was smart as you could ask for

she knew how to Sit/stay/laydown/come load up and find a bone all in thew first month sit/laydown and load up are all hand commands

that way I can control her with out making abunch of noise in the woods

One Thing I must say is never touch the bone with your bare hands when training or the dog will learn to find you instead of the smell of a deer horn also be ready to get alot of other bones brought to you or in your yard a bone is a bone and they smell the same to a dog when they are old and been in the woods awhile

good luck any questions on how I trained her fill free to ask

[oneshot]

Might want to take into consideration before taking Dogs out Shed hunting there is still about a month of Deer hunting left in Missouri and half of that is Firearm Hunting.

oneshot

[Tito Degiosio]

I stay On my property and have about 300 hundred acres to my self for hunting so no one should be in my hunting area and that is

plenty of ground to cover each week once they start to fall

but that is a good comment for someone hunting public ground or where other hunters are preset

you want to be sure not to disturb anyone hunting I can understand that

[FishinCricket]

Thank you, Tito, for giving me an idea for an adventure!

And thanks to you and Oneshot for reminding me (a non hunter) that I need to be aware of hunters.. Good advice.

Now.. Can I borrow your dog, Tito?

[Tito Degiosio]

Thank you, Tito, for giving me an idea for an adventure!

And thanks to you and Oneshot for reminding me (a non hunter) that I need to be aware of hunters.. Good advice.

Now.. Can I borrow your dog, Tito?

just whistle and she'll come to ya

gonna have to start throwing some sheds in the brush and get her nose locked on to the scent so I can come home to a six point shed at the door again

[Ping]

Tito,

I actually got a lab puppy back in late summer for the specific reason of finding sheds (I even named him Boone) I am just getting ready to take him out on his first hunting trip. I would gladly take any suggestions to help train him. I have several sheds that I have found over the years and I have given him those to play with since he was 8 weeks old. I guess my first question is how do I get him to understand we are going out to hunt sheds. I think he will look for them if that is why he knows we are going. Unfortunately, we dont have anywhere too close to go, but we do have acces to 1000's of acres (private land)

Thanks for any input.

[Tito Degiosio]

Tito,

I actually got a lab puppy back in late summer for the specific reason of finding sheds (I even named him Boone) I am just getting ready to take him out on his first hunting trip. I would gladly take any suggestions to help train him. I have several sheds that I have found over the years and I have given him those to play with since he was 8 weeks old. I guess my first question is how do I get him to understand we are going out to hunt sheds. I think he will look for them if that is why he knows we are going. Unfortunately, we dont have anywhere too close to go, but we do have acces to 1000's of acres (private land)

Thanks for any input.

First Off giving the dog a shed to play with as he feels is good as a pup. gets him used to the feel of them in his mouth. but you need to make him find them in order to play with them and don't let them chew on it. start by having someone hold the dog unless he already stays, you need to have a word to trigger the search. something simple and that doesn't sound like anything else the dog would know. I used the word READY that would make her look at me then I would say GETTHEBONE as fast as I good, do not ever change it up once started using it ,ok Now make sure he can see you go off and hide it. start with dragging and puting them in plain sight. then start making it a little harder to find make him use his nose. but be careful your scent is not on them get a pair of cheap gloves and use them to touch the bones you want him to find. other wise he will just learn to find your scent. do not wash the gloves and only use them to handle the sheds

once he becomes good at finding them in and around the home do the same thing out in the brush

if you already have a few sheds bring them and hide them your self. don't let the dog see you hiding them

then start making your rounds though the area you hid them. reward everytime he finds one and after each find start over with the search word but don't repeat it to many times while the dog is hunting for them you may confuse the dog .

you always want to make training fun for the dog give treats and mix it up don't give a treat everytime switch between rubing and pating. you don't want your dog to become treat hungry other wise it will just concentrate on what your hand is doing and not hunt, never train for over a hour short training periods are more effective then long ones remember to keep the training fun. your dog feels you if your mad he's confused but if your happy and excited he did something right show it let him know and your dog will begine to show the excitment you do in finding sheds.

stick with it and he or she will become a great shed dog any other questions on how to get them back from the dog. if you having trouble with that I can help you for most of my childhood I was around dog training and assited with lots of them some went on the win blue ribbions I never did it to compete just for personal use and to have a good working dog

one other thing if your gonna be in a big area such as a thousand acres get a tracking collar I wish I did I lost my lab in jan. never found her don't have a clue what happend to her eithier

will be in the market for other dog after august to train

grinding a shed up into chips and putting in a sock is a easyier way to keep your dogs nose on the smell of sheds remeber don't let your dog begain to chew on them or your never get them back once the find the bone morrow inside

Also don't let the dog see you throw sheds in the brush other wise he will want you to do so all the time instead of finding them and bringing them back once you have the first shed in your hand the dog would think you are gonna throw it and not leave your side so be sure not to do that learned it by doing it the wrong way with my dog also mix it up have other people hide the sheds for you while you hold the dog that will get him concentrated on just the scent of the shed and not his master the very first dog I trained would find me anywhewre. but that was my mistake I touched the bone with my hands and also hid everbone myself the dog knew my scent and that was it I once had someone hold the dog while I went and hid on a hay pile the dog found me in seconds and started to climb the hay stack so just remmeber to be aware of what your scent does whe training a dog

hope I helped you any question feel free to ask