Scotty the Shed Dog

[j-bird]

Wayne - that is great you are enjoying your dogs and having success. If your ever looking for a place to shed hunt with your dogs in Southeastern, IN - you let me know. I should be able to get access to a couple neighbor properties as well. I would be very interested in seeing them work and just learning where the sheds where found. Speaking of which, what do you do with all the sheds you find? A guy really only needs so many!

 

[wbpdeer]

I just added you to my list of shed hunting sites. Scotty has found every antler he smelled - he didn't smell two antlers (those are Wayne's fault) one on a practice run in Mississippi and one in Rarden, Ohio on an official Hunt Test. He is still gaining skill and experience. He and I are going to travel to hunt shed antlers.
Right now I don't have a pile of wild antlers but when I do - I will keep the best ones and trade some others. I plan on doing a few crafts with the antlers.
Additionally, there are antler buyers in the East and West USA. The most famous antler auction occurs in Jackson Hole, WY - you can watch some clips about that one on YouTube.

Scotty has 3 Passes on his Junior Title. He needs 3 more passes and I believe some January 2018 events will knock those out. Perry starts his official training on Dec 1st in Linton, Indiana.

I am looking at Iowa and South Dakota for a big antler hunting trip right now. See if that works out. Will hunt Ohio a bunch and Kentucky too. Tennessee a bunch and Illinois a bunch.

If Perry develops skill like Scotty I can see us collecting a pile of antlers but I guess I better not count the chickens until they cross the road.

Thanks
Wayne

 

[swat1018]

My farms are in NE MO, about 35 mi south of IA line. Maybe we can give it a try.

 

[wbpdeer]

My farms are in NE MO, about 35 mi south of IA line. Maybe we can give it a try.

How many acres is your farm in NE Missouri? It would fit good with my plans. My son purchased a farm north of Cape G' MO next to Chester, Illinois.

Many farmers will let a person shed hunt if they have ever ruined a tractor tire with an antler. I would too in their shoes.

Wayne

 

[swat1018]

How many acres is your farm in NE Missouri? It would fit good with my plans. My son purchased a farm north of Cape G' MO next to Chester, Illinois.

Many farmers will let a person shed hunt if they have ever ruined a tractor tire with an antler. I would too in their shoes.

Wayne

396 ac

 

[wbpdeer]

Swat1018

With 396 acres in that part of the world there should be good sheds to be collected. I will put your farm on my list. What is your closest city/town to your farm?

Thanks - sounds like great fun.

Wayne

 

[swat1018]

Swat1018

With 396 acres in that part of the world there should be good sheds to be collected. I will put your farm on my list. What is your closest city/town to your farm?

Thanks - sounds like great fun.

Wayne

LaBelle.

 

[Brushpile]

Wayne, swat1018's farm is in an area where there are big deer. 6 miles south of the Iowa line I recovered a 300+ pound buck last year, and there was a bigger buck they called "Christmas Tree".

 

[wbpdeer]

Brush

Do you know much about the state of Iowa? I am trying to hunt sheds in Iowa moving from East to West and move on into South Dakota.

Going to talk to a biologist tomorrow. Late March / Early April likely timeframe.

Wayne

 

[wbpdeer]

Today, Dec 4th I drove Perry to Linton, Indiana to my dog trainer. Jacob Burris trained Scotty earlier this year and now it is Perry's turn.
It will be a 3 or 4 month process. I didn't work with Perry like I did with Scotty. Perry is head strong and I knew my limited experience would not cut it.

Scotty rode along with us and when we got there we travel out to a conservation area close to town. There was some large mud holes in the old roadway and Perry and Scotty enjoyed theirself getting completely muddy. Jacob was wanting to see how much grit Perry has. It didn't take long for him to say that is all dog.

I am so glad Perry gets this opportunity to be trained by an experienced dog trainer. Perry has much potential but we are starting late at 7 months. I believe things will work out fine.

My primary goal - I want Perry to be good on wild shed antlers. A secondary goal is allow him to participate in shed dog hunt test. If I was guessing he will not be participating in hunt test until Sept 2018. I will shed hunt wild antlers with him in early 2018, along with Scotty.

I don't plan on going to the World Championship in early April of 2018. I had rather be hunting wild antlers with Scotty.

Perry was very happy when I left him. As soon as he gets around the other dogs in that kennel he will get settled in and learn the pecking order of the pack. Scotty is so sweet and gentle with Perry. Perry will get man handled the other dogs when he tries with them what works with Scotty. The dogs will work that out.

Thanks for reading this thread. Scotty is tired from 8 hours ride time and is sound asleep early.

Wayne

 

[cutman]

Wayne, I hope you will come to SC one day with your dogs. I’d love to see what they could find in the marsh.

 

[wbpdeer]

Cutman

I would love to make that trip. What month do you believe the bucks shed their antlers in your area?

Perry will be at the trainer thru the end of Feb and maybe March. I will spend about 7 days getting him settled back in at my house and then we will hunt shed antlers. I am guessing my dogs and I will hunt in 2 or 3 hours segments. Once in the AM and once in the PM.

Thanks for reading this thread.

Wayne

 

[wbpdeer]

In my original post about Perry going to Indiana, I mentioned the mud hole fun. I have a photo. About 15 minutes of this puppy nonsense, Perry stopped to catch his breath and I was fast enough with the phone.

Trust me, my dogs get the best care available. I feed them Science Diet large breed puppy feed and it is costly. I rely on my local Vet to keep their health in tip-top shape. I personally feed them - my loving wife would have them over weight. I make sure they get the proper amount of exercise - labs have hip issues - so I don't over do their exercise sessions.

Looking at this photo could lead a person to think this pup was not taken care of properly - which is totally false. The area we exercised them in had been strip mined so there was big bodies of water. Scotty and Perry loved it. I have never seen my dogs this dirty and they had a blast getting that way.

 

[wbpdeer]

Perry has been in Indiana three weeks today. I am sure he is learning great things and enjoying all the dogs in Jacob's pack. For me 2017 will be the Year of My Dogs. In Jan of this year, I broke the news to my wife that we would be getting a new family member. She basically said that was not going to happen. She was not happy when I explained she already owned 70% of the pup and he would be paid off the day I picked him up. Was a chill in the house for about 5 or 6 days.

No she loves Scotty and definitely loves Perry. Perry's great looks impress her.

My dogs have been great for my health and I enjoy working with them and for them.

The temps here this morning were in the low 20s. I took Scotty to the City Park nature area and we spent 40 minutes. Now he is asleep in his crate and usually gets a good 2 hour nap. I never had a clue I could love a dog as much as I love Scotty. This experience has taught me how it possible for my father to love his bird dogs as much as he did.

I am looking forward to January 13th as Scotty will compete in a Hunt Test in Owenton, KY at John Ballard's farm. Will be great to see all my dog handling friends and to make some new friends too.

My training methods and approach has improved and Scotty is reducing his run times. Jacob Burris encouraged me to establish non-verbal communication with Scotty and that has worked out great.

Thanks for reading this thread.

Wayne

 

[Brushpile]

Wayne, Iowa has deer throughout the state, but it's wide open spaces. Deer winter in small state parks and around BLM land around major reservoirs. The river systems also hold large populations of deer. I would think that rivers with crops on both sides would be where most bucks in those areas shed. NE Iowa and Southern Iowa hold the largest concentrations, but it's almost all private land.

 

[Brushpile]

Perry has been in Indiana three weeks today. I am sure he is learning great things and enjoying all the dogs in Jacob's pack. For me 2017 will be the Year of My Dogs. In Jan of this year, I broke the news to my wife that we would be getting a new family member. She basically said that was not going to happen. She was not happy when I explained she already owned 70% of the pup and he would be paid off the day I picked him up. Was a chill in the house for about 5 or 6 days.

No she loves Scotty and definitely loves Perry. Perry's great looks impress her.

My dogs have been great for my health and I enjoy working with them and for them.

The temps here this morning were in the low 20s. I took Scotty to the City Park nature area and we spent 40 minutes. Now he is asleep in his crate and usually gets a good 2 hour nap. I never had a clue I could love a dog as much as I love Scotty. This experience has taught me how it possible for my father to love his bird dogs as much as he did.

I am looking forward to January 13th as Scotty will compete in a Hunt Test in Owenton, KY at John Ballard's farm. Will be great to see all my dog handling friends and to make some new friends too.

My training methods and approach has improved and Scotty is reducing his run times. Jacob Burris encouraged me to establish non-verbal communication with Scotty and that has worked out great.

Thanks for reading this thread.

Wayne

Something to consider is training one or both of your dogs to recover long dead bucks, that the hunter can't find and the track is too old for a blood tracking dog. On really big bucks, hunters would pay to have the rack recovered!

 

[wbpdeer]

Brush

Many states have laws against dead heads for those of us hunting sheds. I imagine the hunter that shot the deer can handle the state requirements. I have spoken to a state game official in South Dakota and he encouraged me to follow the Missouri River. I made contact with Iowa officials but it was right at gun season so I am going to weight until after their season is over.

I have a farmer in South Dakota that I have sold chestnuts to that is going to allow me to hunt sheds on their farm ground. They are close to Chamberlain which is widely known for pheasants.

Farmers of big ground hate shed antlers because of expense tires being damaged. We have a lease in Ohio in prime hunting ground and KY ground. We will get a chance to find some nice sheds. As far as me - about 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the morning and about that in the afternoon. Probably a good amount of time for the dogs as well.

We have discussed finding areas in Western Iowa where the pressure for out of state permits is low. Would like to kill a great Iowa deer and that is a good way to try.

Merry Christmas Brush - hope you get to see the boys and grandkids during the holiday season.

Wayne

 

[Triple C]

Wayne...Just spent the last couple hours his morning reading this thread. One of the gems of this forum! I'm without a dog at present and will be until I retire. Just too much travel for me to have a dog. I envision roaming the farm in a few years with a canine at my side but that's all I can do at this point. What a joy to read of your adoration for Scotty and now Perry. I'll be following along with you on your journey through this thread. Thx for taking the time to document all you have done! Awesome!!!

 

[wbpdeer]

Triple C

About 13 years ago while I was still a county election official, I tried to have a shed dog then. Got a Mountain Cur which was a poor choice due to the lack of retrieving drive. Also, very bad timing because I didn't have time for a dog. When it came time for my annual fall week of hunting with my son the wife put her foot down. She said she was not feeding him.

It didn't work out at that time because it was not in the cards. Reading Brushpile and DocBrady's post about their tracking dogs put my interest to life again. I did some searches and came across the Kennel that Scotty came from. This time because I have time and thanks to YouTube I have had success training a dog with the right bloodline. Many times when people give me the credit, I tell the truth - I have a smart dog.

Thanks for your kind words regarding this thread. Glad you enjoy it.

Wayne

 

[wbpdeer]

Perry Update

Yesterday was Jan 4th and that completes the first month of three for Perry in his formal training. Jacob Burris is our choice of dog trainers and I am so thankful for his leadership and patience in building the right foundation. For anyone that thinks I am foolish to pay a full time trainer, you have never spent an hour with a high-drive dog like Perry. Well trained dogs are 10X more enjoyable IMO.

Also, I am thankful for the training and guidance Jacob has given me.

Perry comes from a strong line of shed dogs (as Norman Henderson would say "Antler Dogs"). Norman and Rusti Henderson are the kennel owners I got Perry from in late June 2017.

Control at the kennel door, leash behavior, and general obedience has been the major emphasis during December. Got three photos of Perry getting some simple retrieving work with rubber antlers in the snow. I also use the both the white and brown rubber antlers with Scotty and Perry. After a dog learns how to approach an antler as it lays then the rubber antler is not important but until then you don't want a pup getting set back due to the stab of a hard horn they piled onto.

Hope you enjoy these photos - Perry is 8 months old on Jan 2nd. These photos are about 2 weeks old.







The last photo shows a brown rubber antler. You also see the dogs on the what many call the "chain gang" as they await their training turn. Perry learning to wait his turn is part of his learning curve. Perry is the dog that needs plenty of exercise each day - he sleeps about 1/3 of the time that Scotty sleeps.

Thanks for reading this thread.

Wayne