Shed hunting resources

Anybody have a good resource that they’ve used for training a shed hunting dog?

I let my dog chew on an antler from previous hunting seasons. I think it got her used to the sent The first time out she stuck her nose in some taller grass and came up with one. Was as proud as when my kids took their first steps.

I’m in the middle of training a dog for shed hunting right now. I just spent a lot of time reading online and watching youtube videos. One of the things that was repeated over and over again is the issue if getting the dog interested in sheds. My puppy is now almost 5 months old and antlers are his life. From the day I got him he’s been surrounded by them, they are his chew toys, we play fetch with them, and even during walks around town I bring one with to throw every so often. He even goes as far as bringing one with him to bed each night, or just for a nap on the couch. Once you get them excited about antlers they take to looking for them pretty fast. Start by hiding them around your house and slowly progress to hiding them in the yard and so on.

One of the hardest things I’ve found is keeping the pup interested on the long days of walking when you’re not finding them all over the place. Make sure you bring a fresh shed with so you can give them something to find periodically. A bag full of treats always helps keep them excited as well.

Lastly please be confident your dog will not take off after deer. This weekend I watched someone’s dog chasing deer through the woods. Luckily the dog got distracted by my dog barking at him, and he came over to investigate. The owner wasn’t far behind, but was very out of breath from chasing his dog for so long.