Forest and hill hunting.

[C.green 3,203]

Id be interested to hear your favourite types for this sort of work lads and what sort of distances you like them to go on stuff. Ive me eye on a couple young prospects for abit of this work but be nice to hear how others bring there dogs on for this sort of stuff.  

[leegreen 2,099]

For forest/wood work, I like to bring my dogs on from an early age. Learning the pit falls of such work is vital for keeping your dog alive.

Do a fair bit of hunting in the woods and surrounding land. I also hunt a good amount of orchards, they can be just as hazardous.

Less Greyhound is better I think. Good cobby mutts with great feet and plenty brains.

[forest of dean redneck 11,183]

Talk to wales123 ,I think he uses gps collars on his dogs?? 

Depends on the terrain up in the Forest of Dean the woodlands open as it's grazed the hell outof by deer,free roaming sheep an the boar rooting.

[bird 9,587]

52 minutes ago, leegreen said:

For forest/wood work, I like to bring my dogs on from an early age. Learning the pit falls of such work is vital for keeping your dog alive.

Do a fair bit of hunting in the woods and surrounding land. I also hunt a good amount of orchards, they can be just as hazardous.

Less Greyhound is better I think. Good cobby mutts with great feet and plenty brains.

fair point    , in the day  most of my walk i go on common ground  , not much about game being honest as there alot of other dog walkers use it, so my 2  even loose no leads dont move to far. But another walk i use is in  woods , that does have few munjack , odd foxes  and rabbit in there , now i go in here so it gives  the dogs more of a intreast . was in there yesterday   3.45pm   came out just before 5 pm, now both dogs were gone out of sight , i knew they were  mooching about prob bumping into the odd munjack, i never called them, i didnt see them  lol let them enjoy the walk , i was most time on my own. what i do is after say 10 mins, stand still and call them , and they show up , always old Bryn 1st, then Buck bit later, Buck is more full on temp when hunting , so have to wait bit longer  this just day stuff, in the lamp he better he come back faster, now i think your right above with the kind of dog, these are herding xs  1x collie x grey and 1x gsd x grey , and they do have that thing in them to get back to  you, you right more running dog type xs  and with bull in them, you could very easy loose them , ive had 3 bullxs   loyal dogs, but i couldnt run them loose like my herdings xs ,  i am 95%  i think venture to far and get lost this is in this wood ,  might be wrong but that what i think .!!

[C.green 3,203]

Aye i use the gps thats why i like doing this sort of thing now no more worries of losing dogs never to be seen again !

 

obviously its better if they brought up on it but accidents can still happen cant they just like everywhere else. Was more after how you lads like your dogs to work fo you loose them and they fly off do you walk along and they bump things in front of ya and all that.

[Jerry71 269]

If I was hunting mainly woodland I'd get myself a bearded c x or a kelpie blooded lurcher. I run a whippet and a bedyxwhippet x Patterdale and we work small blocks of woodland and we have some great fun doing so, flushing muntjac, Fox and roe to the gun. I try and keep dogs within ten yards of me but this can be difficult in some woodland. I never use collars as they can get caught up. Whippets are made for speed but my boy knows he must use his nose when in woods and they do OK. Like iv said though I'd want a dog that can take knocks better if my land was mainly woodland. 

[Jerry71 269]

59 minutes ago, bird said:

fair point    , in the day  most of my walk i go on common ground  , not much about game being honest as there alot of other dog walkers use it, so my 2  even loose no leads dont move to far. But another walk i use is in  woods , that does have few munjack , odd foxes  and rabbit in there , now i go in here so it gives  the dogs more of a intreast . was in there yesterday   3.45pm   came out just before 5 pm, now both dogs were gone out of sight , i knew they were  mooching about prob bumping into the odd munjack, i never called them, i didnt see them  lol let them enjoy the walk , i was most time on my own. what i do is after say 10 mins, stand still and call them , and they show up , always old Bryn 1st, then Buck bit later, Buck is more full on temp when hunting , so have to wait bit longer  this just day stuff, in the lamp he better he come back faster, now i think your right above with the kind of dog, these are herding xs  1x collie x grey and 1x gsd x grey , and they do have that thing in them to get back to  you, you right more running dog type xs  and with bull in them, you could very easy loose them , ive had 3 bullxs   loyal dogs, but i couldnt run them loose like my herdings xs ,  i am 95%  i think venture to far and get lost this is in this wood ,  might be wrong but that what i think .!!

A good friend of my father worked a 3q gsd x g, hound and she was one of the best all round dogs he'd ever seen. Back then a dog had to fill the pot and put shillings in pocket for beer money, my father worked a good line of bedyxgreyhounds taken fox for pelts, and all UK game to feed family of 8 kids. He never once said he'd like another kind of lurcher apart from the gsd he'd seen work. Any pics mate. Atb

[Chaff 3,414]

On my permission a lot of the burys are in woodland, my dog now 3 loves that kind of terrain.

Exiting stuff watching them jink through and jump all sorts of obstacles, reckon dog needs good brain in order process all the dangers fast.

When he was around 2year old dog picked up a couple of puncture wounds that wernt that deep so healed well.

Next week I'm doing a pine copse that's always exciting, other things we play it by ear.

I always try to keep dog next to me as much as poss don't want him hunting up front.

When he was younger would put front paw through collar so on 3 legs to keep him by my side. Lol

 

[bird 9,587]

2 hours ago, Jerry71 said:

A good friend of my father worked a 3q gsd x g, hound and she was one of the best all round dogs he'd ever seen. Back then a dog had to fill the pot and put shillings in pocket for beer money, my father worked a good line of bedyxgreyhounds taken fox for pelts, and all UK game to feed family of 8 kids. He never once said he'd like another kind of lurcher apart from the gsd he'd seen work. Any pics mate. Atb

they deff are good x mate  , ive always thought of them as a step up from a  collie x , having had 4 dogs in the past with border collie in them, got a 1x collie x grey Bryn now  , so know bit about this x, Buck the 1x gsd x grey is similar in temp when not working as Bryn both are sensitive nature ,  but he deff more full on when working , a good   drop of gsd  in a lurcher  will give , good feet, coat, wind, not bad brain, but more grit in it than a collie , as you say 1/4 gsd came through  strong ,  say back  3/4 lurcher , you get brill alround hunting dog day and night  

[Wales1234 5,424]

Best dog Iv seen for this work Is colliebullgrey or houndx ! Seen dogs travel over a mile in the day hunting and some real good hunts ! There’s a different between a dog that can hunt and a hill dog ! A lot of dogs are use to stuff getting up infront of them 

[white van man 3,186]

1 hour ago, Wales1234 said:

Best dog Iv seen for this work Is colliebullgrey or houndx ! Seen dogs travel over a mile in the day hunting and some real good hunts ! There’s a different between a dog that can hunt and a hill dog ! A lot of dogs are use to stuff getting up infront of them 

They need to be hardy whatever the breed. I don’t hunt forest but hunted in the hills a lot as a kid and have started again the last year or so. As Wales1234 said...they have to cover ground as things rarely jump up in front of you. I don’t put tracking collars on my dogs. I like to keep them in sight as much as possible. Recall is key for me. I would say mine tend to range no more than a few hundred metres away. I’m normally high up and watch them work the low ground. 

 

[ginger beard 4,652]

Thats great terrain w.v.m.many rabbits on those hills.?

[SheepChaser 8,082]

Ive done a little bit of this. . . . 

Not sure there is a best type, its more about how they are brought up and on and what kind of mindset they have.

Personally have always enjoyed working with lurcher x lurcher types, generally collie/bull/grey type things.

As my matey has said above, there is a big difference between a dog that can hunt something thats there, i.e follow a line etc, and do that for miles, and a dog that can hunt to look for that line, and cast about the hill for miles and miles.

Id have done a lot, lot more in the forest than on the hill. At one time we were out at least two full days a week hunting the forests, and more than likely most other days for a couple of hours here or there.

The dogs get very sharp, they run smart, they know when to use eyes and nose, and they know when to run wide and when to push hard on. They also quickly learn to hunt as a pack if you take more than one, with some dogs pushing quarry hard, whilst others loop above, below or around to cut off the quarry and kill it when it breaks across a track or clearing.

There is also a massive difference between hunting few little copses for rabbits and the odd deer or fox, when there is clear ground around, and hunting in proper forest, where the quarry never leaves the trees and scrub and all catches are made in the forest itself.

 

Our running dogs would always run the tracks and up onto high points and bankings, up onto outcrops, always air scenting, and always looking, catch a whiff and it would be flat out game on, the smaller dogs would bugger off into the thick and just hunt for hunting sake. If anything spoke, every dog ran full tilt into the melee!

 

Hill and forest are two very different places, hill might be less quarry, but less cover and easier running maybe, forest more game, but a killer to catch in. Have seen some good dogs lost.

 

Wales1234 - I always wonder how Avril would have turned out, she had the makings of a good un. RIP.

 

My advice is bring them up running woods from pups, that way, when they hit stuff, they bounce off as they are not properly running. Take an old dog from the open into the woods and might end up carrying them out. My older dog knows her stuff very well in that kind of ground, the youngster would probably kill herself quick.

 

Then try the forest at night lol.

 

Long time ago now!

[Wales1234 5,424]

Definitely! I think Avril would of been some bitch with more time she could hunt that’s for sure !

[forest of dean redneck 11,183]

23 minutes ago, SheepChaser said:

Ive done a little bit of this. . . . 

Not sure there is a best type, its more about how they are brought up and on and what kind of mindset they have.

Personally have always enjoyed working with lurcher x lurcher types, generally collie/bull/grey type things.

As my matey has said above, there is a big difference between a dog that can hunt something thats there, i.e follow a line etc, and do that for miles, and a dog that can hunt to look for that line, and cast about the hill for miles and miles.

Id have done a lot, lot more in the forest than on the hill. At one time we were out at least two full days a week hunting the forests, and more than likely most other days for a couple of hours here or there.

The dogs get very sharp, they run smart, they know when to use eyes and nose, and they know when to run wide and when to push hard on. They also quickly learn to hunt as a pack if you take more than one, with some dogs pushing quarry hard, whilst others loop above, below or around to cut off the quarry and kill it when it breaks across a track or clearing.

There is also a massive difference between hunting few little copses for rabbits and the odd deer or fox, when there is clear ground around, and hunting in proper forest, where the quarry never leaves the trees and scrub and all catches are made in the forest itself.

 

Our running dogs would always run the tracks and up onto high points and bankings, up onto outcrops, always air scenting, and always looking, catch a whiff and it would be flat out game on, the smaller dogs would bugger off into the thick and just hunt for hunting sake. If anything spoke, every dog ran full tilt into the melee!

 

Hill and forest are two very different places, hill might be less quarry, but less cover and easier running maybe, forest more game, but a killer to catch in. Have seen some good dogs lost.

 

Wales1234 - I always wonder how Avril would have turned out, she had the makings of a good un. RIP.

 

My advice is bring them up running woods from pups, that way, when they hit stuff, they bounce off as they are not properly running. Take an old dog from the open into the woods and might end up carrying them out. My older dog knows her stuff very well in that kind of ground, the youngster would probably kill herself quick.

 

Then try the forest at night lol.

 

Long time ago now!

Did you ever take any of the farm collies out in the forest blocks?