Hunting with Kai

NavyDog

How early do you start training a dog to hunt deer/boar? Do Kai need to be taught how to bay or do they do it naturally? Boar I can see being bayed fairly easily since they tend to "fight back" but can a dog bay a deer trying to run? Or is it more about tracking when using dogs for deer?

Losech

The sooner the better. Get some skin to use as a training aid if you can. They should bay naturally, but can be encouraged to bark if they don't and praised when they do.
Deer is not legal to hunt with dogs in America (that I know of, at least not in my state) . You can track wounded deer with dogs in some states, but not all of them. Some require the dog to be on-leash. (I don't know where you are located, check your local laws. I could easily be wrong.)
Boar varies from state to state.

NavyDog

I thought some states still allowed dogs to hunt deer? I could be wrong.. Most of the info I've found online is pretty outdated

Losech

Possibly, but I haven't looked into it for all 50 of them. All of the states I have looked at don't allow it.

WrylyBrindle

Your state DFW should have the laws on their site. My kai have taken to birds, so I just went with what they naturally are drawn to and we hunt ruffed grouse. They are also turkey motivated. When we have run into Large Game, mine are inclined to bark but not engage or chase. Matsu bayed a mom moose with 2 calves one day, but it was more like he was noticing them and telling them to keep back than that he wanted to Get Em. This is good, in my view, because dogs can be shot by a game warden for harassing moose and deer and those animals are not allowed to be hunted with dogs. As Losech said, one can get certified by the state as a leashed tracking dog to recover wounded game.

Motts was off leash and could've run at them, (and could've got himself killed by momma moose) but he stood and barked and they walked away. What I found interesting was that he didnt go all nuts, he was bold and confident. Like- "You moose move along! That's right, Ok Mom, all clear." I have encouraged my kai with birds, I share their excitement and get into the hunt with them- and huge praise when they flush grouse. I saved some wings and we play and train with those.

tjbart17

Mine are natural hunters. Mika is more of a bird/small game dog. But she hasn't had the chance to go after anything larger.

lol @WrylyBrindle you may think this is interesting, but Koda is a large game dog. He will chase to bite anything large like a cow or deer. Mei just kills anything that moves.

shibamistress

Leo didn't seem at all interested in hunting, though he's always had a strong chase instinct, until this year, now that's he's past a year old. Perhaps it got triggered by actually catching something (a rabbit), or perhaps he just had to grow into, but now he is seriously obsessed, and he is always tracking while on walks: head down sniffing, with wide sweeping movements, and once he's on a scent he's really hard for me to control (because he's not off leash--no way. I'd never see him again).

However, he doesn't make a sound. No bark, nothing, except for on occasion, the tiniest little whine. But he's really very interested in hunting small game now. We've never seen anything bigger where we live (except coyotes, which he unfortunately had no fear of either, which is worrisome).

But Leo never barks. I've heard him bark probably three times in his life. So while his hunting instinct is strong, he's pretty silent.

shishiinu

There are several states where deer hunting is legal with the use if dogs. For example my ultra liberal tree hugging state of Ca banned bear and bobcats with dogs but still allows deer and hogs to be hunted with dogs. Florida is pretty big on deer dogs and so is other states in the south. Deer dogs have a long tradition in the US.

As stated above start as early as possible but it's definitely a hit and miss. Each dog is different and it takes A LOT of time and patience to train big game dogs. From what I have seen you have a 50/50 chance of your Kai hunting or not. The best thing to do is to immerse your dog with as much field time as possible. Spend a lot of time in the hunting grounds off leash and if it's hog hunting, put your dog in a bay pen to see how he/she does. There isn't a whole lot of training for big game dogs, if your dog has good prey drive you'll just need to show the dog the intended prey for it to hunt. This is where bloodlines play a important role although it doesn't mean your dog needs to be from hunting lines to hunt.

Saya

Can't help much sorry..

Saya has pretty good prey drive and good listening skills and she loves treeing squirrels, chasing rabbits and finding mice nests. She is pretty accurate on finding the nests.. She did went into the pond to chase after a muskrat she isn't fan of swimming, but for prey she made exception. hehe

I agree starting early work on off leash skills, coming and stuff like that.

I have two squirrel pelts as a toy for Saya she loves chasing it and fetching it.. I also save quail feathers for scent from the quail I feed Saya.. The smell gets rubbed on her toy I use and I hide it for her to find..

I'm no hunter mainly enjoy fishing and stuff.

shishiinu and @Thewalrus would have best info on hunting with NK breeds.

NavyDog

@shishiinu that's good to hear. We're in Florida. I'd like to get her into a bay pen some time but I haven't been able to find any in our area. We took Yucca with us to shoot our hunting rifle and she handled it great! not shy of the noise at all though I hope she doesnt look any confidence as she gets older (im not sure if kais commonly go thru a fear stage). We're working on her recall now so that when she gets a few months older i can hike with her off leash but that wont be for a while, we will see how her adolescence goes

NavyDog

loose*

Heidi

I was hiking in elk territory with the pups and they suddenly became very excited, pulling as hard as they could in one direction. For interest's sake, I followed them. Soon we came upon a game trail and they perked up even more. We followed it for a while, then found a recently-used bedding down area. They went nuts! They then wanted to keep going further into the woods. I heard some rustling, but we were pressed for time, so we didn't follow any more.

So, my dogs can track elk.

NavyDog

I hope yucca picks it up that naturally!

shishiinu

Florida has a ton of hog dog outfitters that has bay pens. I would check out sites like baydog.com, extreme hog hunter magazine, etc. I know Osy is also looking for a bay pen to test the kishu pup I sent her.

NavyDog

Oh wow I didn't know there was a website! Thanks @shishiinu