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deer breaking a young beagle

46K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  kutyuska 
#1 ·
I have a young beagle I have been training and today I took her hunting for the first time. She has been doing great on the training and has been running rabbits all summer. She is not gun shy as I have been shooting shotguns during the training but today when I took her out she would not chase rabbit s but wonted to chase deer. Anyone have an fix to that?
 
#3 ·
Hi all. My first post here and I love this forum! We hunt deer with dogs and a beagle that chases deer is great to me. I do understand its very bad for a rabbit hunter. Most of our dogs are ex rabbit dogs that liked chasing deer! I have no idea how to break him of chasing deer. When it comes to hunting, beagles hunt what they want to hunt. I have never seen one change.
 
#4 ·
I have hunted with Beagles for quite a few years now and have started a fair amount of young dogs. The best way in my opinion to break a deer runner is a shock collar, I haven't had a dog not break off deer using a shock collar yet. You said you have her started on rabbits so that is good, get a shock collar and take her somewhere that you can see deer so that you know that's what she is running. Let her take off on one and when she opens up give her a good poke, a lot of people think E-collars are cruel but to me they are the most humane and effective way to break a dog off deer. A deer running Beagle is bad news for a rabbit dog, their in danger of getting lost, shot or hit by a car and to me none of those options are better than an electric shock. Just don't over do it because you can ruin a good hunting dog with E-collars too.
 
#7 ·
Hello there is a way to break dogs from running beagles about thirteen years ago I was taught by my uncle. he charged 200 dollars a dog. The simple way to break a dog from running dear acquire a deer hide fresh preferably. let it sit out let it get nice and stinky.sometimes we would spread rotten milk on it... You will also need a kennel. feed your dog very well. Stuff the deer hide in the kennel Put the dog in the kennel. repeat daily taking the dog out of the crate(kennel). The dog will learn to hate the smell of deer for two reasons he will not associate the deer with food and will also remember being enclosed with the deer. This works I worked with my uncle for about for years strait I works guaranteed,
 
#9 ·
E-Collars

The reward for running rabbits is--running rabbits. That's what beagles are meant for, tracking game. My beagles are well behaved dogs and don't bark and carry on in their kennels but when my hunting buddies show up they go crazy 'cause they know we are going hunting. Some people think you have to shoot the rabbits for them to stay interested and to reward them enough to keep them happy, not so. A good hunting beagle wants nothing more than a hot track to follow.

I've heard of lots of different methods of breaking beagles off of deer such as putting them in a barrel with a deer hide and deer legs then rolling it around until they are sick and such other methods. I can tell you that I broke a dog by holding him in a deer hide(hair towards the dog) and having my nephew hit the hide with a broom handle. It didn't hurt him but made such a loud noise it really scared the crap out of him, it was all I could do to keep him wrapped in the hide, he never ran deer again in his life even when other dogs hunting with him took off on deer. I tried that with 2 other dogs I owned and it had absolutely no effect on them, they weren't associating that with running deer tracks in the woods. I bought an E-collar and shocked them when they were running deer and they too became 100% deer broke. Not arguing with anybody but in my experience a shock collar is the fastest, most effective, and ultimately humane way to break a dog off of deer. I hunt in fairly wild country in Northern MI and if you allow your dogs to run deer you are taking a chance on losing them where they could end up freezing or coyote feed not to mention some people have been known to shoot dogs they see running deer.
 
#11 ·
Most of the time rabbits "circle" or end up where they were jumped at, deer tend to also but they run a much, much larger circle or route. Knighthawk could probably explain how deer run better than I, it is not legal to hunt deer with dogs in Michigan (I always thought it sounded like a heck of a good time though). Dogs can definitely get lost chasing deer, they run a bigger risk of getting hit by a car too because deer run so much farther that they cross roads way more than rabbits tend to. Unfortunately there are some misinformed people out there that might shoot your dog if they see it running deer, a lot of beagles have run deer and most can be broke from it and it is too bad some get killed before their owner gets a chance to fix the problem. You can lose dogs running snowshoe hares too, they tend to run way bigger circles than cottontails and their habitat is usually more remote. That's why I like my Garmin tracking collars so much, I have been able to tell exactly where my dogs are all the time.
 
#13 ·
I have a beagle that kept running away. I am not using him as a hunting dog, just a pet, so I invested in an underground fence. It has been working great, except the other day we lost power and I wasn't thinking and he darted out and ran off chasing a deer. Luckily, someone found him and I got him back. I was wondering is there any way to train a beagle to stay home! Thanks!
 
#15 ·
Yes, rabbits run in a circle. If you wait by where the hound picks up the sent the rabbit will eventually come right back there unless he goes to ground i.e. ground holes, or under buildings. If you are letting them run where there are deer, especially in the fall when they are in esterise (mating) they give off powerful sent and the beagle really like it and will chase. Take the advice given by other here. Get a training collar and use it only when they are chasing deer. It seems cruel, but better than them getting into worse trouble.
 
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