very lucky

[tmoneysju]

went out for grouse/pheasant/woodcock this weekend at my cousin's cabin in bradford county, pa. Although I didn't "hunt" tucker officially we did have him out running the woods on Friday night when my biggest possible fear happened. That fear would be running deer. He naturally runs extremely big and it has taken a lot for my confidence level to get to the point where I now trust him. Although he runs big he checks in on a regular basis and was doing this on Friday as well. We were at a point where we were walking up a large hill and when he got to the top before me I lost sight of him for a few seconds which normally isn't a problem. Next thing I heard was his combination bark/excited yelp he makes when he busts a bird and begins chasing. Well...

3 of the most excruciating hours of my life later I got him back. We're 90% sure he ran a deer, up over the mountain and down the other side. While out looking for him and talking to neighbors they made a few calls on our behalf and when he went down the other side of the mtn. he went to a house and sat on the porch until they came out. They got in touch with the neighbor who knew we were looking and they picked him up and brought him back to our camp. I've never felt anything like what I felt when their car pulled up and their kids were screaming "WE GOT HIM, WE GOT HIM!!"

Needless to say we'll be doing some deer aversion training ASAP and I'll be in the market for the Astro. Deep down I had a lot of confidence that he would try to work his way back (i left a shirt where i saw him last and a shirt at a neighbor's house that had dogs) but the feeling of not knowing if he was on the mountain hurt or caught in something was unbearable. I'm now on the lucky side of the people that share this story and my heart truly goes out for the people on the other side.

[rockllews]

That's awesome to hear that things worked out in your and Tucker's favor. Hooray for Happy Endings!

[wems2371]

Sooo glad you got Tucker back. I'm sure a giant wave of relief passed over you, when you saw him.

That's my biggest fear too. Our dog was too young last year to know what deer were and the weather was so bad we didn't get out much. Our opening day this year was Saturday, and we ran into two deer in less than 2 hours. The first one she didn't see, but heard it breaking brush, and ran after it anyway. About 200' later and a few whistle blows and she was back. Thank goodness she didn't see it, or it might not have been so easy.

The second deer, I am hoping will help with trash breaking her on them. We sent her into a small stand of trees that we'd already found quail in. She was out of sight when we heard brush breaking, and I thought she was busting birds. But no, a deer ran out within 20' of me, quail flying in front of it. I looked for Roxi to be on it's heels, but I caught a glimpse of her running the opposite direction before she came back in. I think the bedded down deer, bursting out of the cover, startled the heck out of her. I can't afford the Garmin this season, but I can't wait to get it next year. Still have to work on the trashbreaking, but the Garmin will be a big comfort. Congrats again. Denise

[bert01]

Glad to hear you got the pup back. It would be extremely tough to lose that part of the family especially when your kids are attached to them. I am not confortable with big runners and this being my first bird dog am slowing gaining confidence. This weekend was our first hunt not on a preserve and it was really foggy. She did well although we didn't put up any birds and checked back. I have a fenced yard and deer are always beyond that and the dog and deer stare at each other several times a week. I am hoping this will make them grow old on her and she will not chase. I've been told that if she does chase, hit the collar hard and don't say anything. Once or twice of this should take care of running deer. Problem is with big running dogs you don't often know when they run off after them. Glad you got him back and enjoy the rest of the season.

[MTO4Life]

I had to use the collar when my dog started to chase deer. First time I hit her with it, I didn't say a word, and she just came back. Second time, she actually thought about it before giving chase, but did anyway, so I had to give her another shot.
Was out the other day and she jumped a deer and just watched it run away, then looked at me and kept hunting. It is nice that she won't chase anymore.
That being said, I have the Astro and it is incredible. The best part is seeing where she is, but at the end of the day, it shows how far she ran.... very cool...
Glad you got your dog back. I couldn't imagine worrying about the dog and trying to find it... very stressful...

[sambuca]

I cant imagine what you must have felt for that 3 hours. Send those neighbors a huge Thanks for helping out.

Are you training with an e-collar? Here's the advice I heard. If you see the dog chase deer, hit him with continuous stimulation until he turns to run back to you, pretend it never happened and continue on. That will get the dog to associate a very bad situation with deer. Now is a real good time to find him some deer to chase and correct this permanently.

Sammy chased them once this summer and I held the red button until he squealed and came running back. I hate hitting the e-collar but I would hate even more to lose him. He was very uneasy around deer for a month or so but has become more interested lately. One more time should seal it should the opportunity arise.

So glad Tucker is back home and happy.

[tmoneysju]

I cant imagine what you must have felt for that 3 hours. Send those neighbors a huge Thanks for helping out.

worst, most helpless feeling of my life, deep down I was confident that all things being equal he would try to make his way back to me or to a house. The thing that killed me was, what if he was hurt or caught up on something and couldn't move....this is where the peace of mind of the Astro would help out. I'm sending those kids some gift certificates.

Are you training with an e-collar? Here's the advice I heard. If you see the dog chase deer, hit him with continuous stimulation until he turns to run back to you, pretend it never happened and continue on. That will get the dog to associate a very bad situation with deer. Now is a real good time to find him some deer to chase and correct this permanently..

yep, i'm using one. we'll be doing some aversion training ASAP with deer using the method you've heard of. It's fairly easy as long as you can find deer which shouldn't be too much of a problem.

So glad Tucker is back home and happy.

aint that the truth....I was so relieved.

[phermes1]

Good to hear it ended well. I hear you about feeling helpless. Shooter disappeared out of our back yard a couple of months ago and was gone for about an hour or so. Considering all the gates were closed, we were almost positive he was stolen. Turns out he most likely jumped the 6' privacy fence chasing a squirrel and spent the evening in the woods having a good ol' time. The worst part of it was that he was our one dog that didn't have a nameplate on his collar. He had one very soon after that!

Anyway - great to hear you have some good neighbors and your boy made it back safely.