Molly's First Deer

Molly at 12 months old, with her first deer was never "trained" to be a blood tracking dog. She is as we say "a natural".

She was imprinted on blood, eating raw beef livers at my house starting at 3 1/2 weeks old for about a month or two before I gave her to Scott and his family to be their family ranch pet.


Below are a couple of pictures of Molly at about six months old, last summer.




Notice the loyalty and devotion in the photo below.





She just found her first deer this past weekend, and I will post those pictures in here along with some of her mother Scarlet which I shot in good light on a track about 2 weeks ago.


But, Molly found her deer after dark, and I was not there to photo, so Molly's owner, Scott, sent the hunt photos to me in an email and I pulled some more off the www.bayoubucks.com site.




The photo below and the other daylight shots are of Molly's mother on a track a few weeks ago in the same terrain. I am inserting those shots in the email for illustration and education purposes.




Scott just sent me an email of Molly's first deer with pictures.

I want to use this email to explain how a Catahoula works a blood trail.

The (enclosed inserts) are mine, to help explain what is happening.

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Here is the email Scott sent me this morning:




Molly’s First Find.

It was a short track, but we lost the blood the last 20 yards(before the deer),





which does not sound very far, but(in the dark), the palmettos were so thick that you couldn't see five yards in front of you.





I tried to let her work on leash, but it was too thick, so I turned her loose.





She does really well. While on track, she does not leave you behind, she will stop and actually let you catch up(check back), then continues back on track.






We are both new at this, but I think with a little time and practical experience, she will be a good asset(blood tracker).




Jeremy was so happy, he was generous enough to give us a third of his deer meat.(better than giving the cayotes a chance)






I have to be careful because, I guess she thinks that since she found it, the deer belongs to her, and she gets very possessive(protective, guarding the kill).


Molly guarding the meat!


I had to put her leash back on, so they could drag the deer out.(She will relax in time, we hope!)


Jeremy Lemieux posted his story on the Bayou Bucks.com forum.


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The link in the last line above will take you to the hunters post on bayoubucks.com(BTW, my forum handle there, is "catahoula1".

Now let's learn something about the Catahoula breed;

What Is A "Check Back"?

For those of you new to the Catahoula breed, you need to understand that a Catahoula Cur, especially a young one, will not go very far without you. If they know you are following them and you are close behind, they will keep moving forward. If you don't keep up, they will turn around on track and "check back".





Meaning, they will come back to you and make sure you are following their lead. When following a blood tracking dog, always trust the dog. If they do check back, do not give up, get anxious or get mad, you should reward them with a pat on the head, and praise them verbally; saying good dog, now go find the deer, blood trail, blood trail, find me some blood, come on dead deer!(get excited, be happy, and start moving forward again), and they usually turn around and continue tracking in front of you. (If they do not check back, they are most likely guarding the kill)



Catahoulas are naturally curious about new scents, and every blood trail is a new and unique scent to be explored and followed. This is natural instinct as a result of breeding, not training. Another natural instinct is protectivity.



Catahoulas Are Natural Protectors

And what that means is, they are by natural instinct, loyal and protective, and are not aggresive unless they feel that what they are bonded to and guarding(such as your family, property, or your deer!) is threatened, by an intruder. I suggest you spoil them rotten as a puppy and provide for and protect them when they are young and they will grow up to want to do the same for you for the rest of their life.


An 8 week old puppy bonding to her "new" momma!


You do not need to teach a well bred Catahoula to be protective or aggresive. It is bred into them and it will surface in a flash when needed. You need to protect your dog from getting himself and you in trouble as a puppy in the first year or two by working him on leash so you have control of him. The first and most important things to teach a Catahoula is obedience and ease of handling on leash, and hope he learns to socialize and warm up to people along the way, so he can be worked off leash, and not be a threat to people.


Now, when they find the deer, Catahoulas are often very protective of the kill. They will growl at anyone(excet their master and family), who gets too close to the deer.



A 10 week old puppy and "her" first deer!(same puppy of the previous photo)


They found it, and it is their deer until the master gets there. DO NOT try to over-ride the dogs position if you are not the owner of the dog. He or she is growling to give you fair warning. Back off, or you will get bit!

And, do not fuss at them for being protective. You(if you are the owner of the dog), should leash them and tie them back away from the deer, before the hunter gets there. If you are using your dog to track for someone else's deer, while tracking, I suggest you stay about 20-30 yards behind the dog, and the hunter about 10-30 yards behind you.


If you(or anyone), beat the dog for eating on or protecting the kill(that's her job), you may cause the dog to be afraid of tracking deer again. You can ruin a good blood dog in one night. Also be careful not to let anyone be too harsh on the dog(verbally or physically), for anything wrong(especially for puppies), anywhere around the deer, at the kill site, during transport, or in the skinning shed.

I advise you to let the dog be present at all of the above if possible. Best to tie them up with a cable lead(they can't chew through it), and let them be there in the skinning shed so they can watch and get treats, without the freedom to get in trouble. If you can't control the dog verbally or by tying nearby with a cable lead, and they continue to get in trouble anyway, and be fussed at anywhere around the deer, remove the dog to a secure area away from the deer. What you want the dog to experience is a totally feel good, positive re-enforcement, team work association, any time it is around a dead deer and receive some meat treats at the skinning and Bar-be-que if possible. Reward and praise them constantly in pursuit of and after the recovery of lost deer. A tracker should always be as close as possible to the dog in pursuit of a fresh track, so the dog does not have to check back too often. Then, in case the deer is jumped and charges the dog with his antlers down, be prepared to defend your dog and yourself with a pistol or shotgun when tracking big bucks.(if legally allowed)

If the deer is gutted at the kill site, give the dog some liver on site and save liver, kidneys, heart, sleen and lungs for later. I always let my dogs eat all they want of any innards at the kill site,


A 12 and 16 week old Catahoula puppy in the skinning shed.

and later, they can have everything including head, feet, skin, deboned carcuss, etc. after the deer is processed.


If your dog eats some choic meat when you are not looking, don't fuss too much, because it is not his fault, it is your fault that you left the meat there, where he could get to it, if he wasn't tied. It is very important that the dog be there in the skinning shed, but be secured by lead or in a crate, so they can't get in trouble.

Being too harsh and punishing the dog around a dead deer, could ruin your dogs motivation to find deer in the future. I have seen dogs be turned off to deer permanently, by someone who did not even own the dog, but was pissed to find the dog's head in their ice chest of meat, or being mad at the dog for protecting and growling at them for getting too close to the kill before the dog owner got there.

Dogs often associate rewards and punishment in a much larger picture than we are aware of. This may not apply to other breeds, but it is an important asset in the Catahoula when properly understood, valued, and handled. Please consider that your Catahoula will guard your kill should the cayotes show up and try to muscle in on the kill before you can get there, and Catahoulas are known for tackling and catching a deer by the throat and killing it, if it tries to get up and run should you jump it while tracking blood.




All of these natural abilities to protect and control the final destination of the meat to the leader of the pack(his master), are due to a Catahoulas' loyalty and grit. This may be a dog breed which is way too "high performance" and "aggressive" for most people, but if you think you can handle them, and you like the idea of having a natural protector around as your family pet, they are in my opinion, the ultimate short range, blood tracking dog.

Prepare For The Next Hunting Season NOW!

Your Past Disappointments And Regrets Can't Be Changed,
But Your Future Success In Deer Hunting May Be A Different Story

One of the most common "wishes" I hear from my customers who call inquiring about my blood dogs is that they wish they could go back in time and do the things they never did, such as having a blood trail dog at the camp the day they shot the 12 point buck that was never found, or the day their son shot his first deer and there was a good blood trail, but the rain came and washed it away before they got to the deer, but at the time, they never thought about using the family lap puppy to see if it could help locate the deer.

You know what my response to this kind of complaints is?

Keep on whining about your past,
and in a few years you will whining about the present.

Think about it. You can't go back in time
and "fix" anything. Regret won't do you any good.
And what's worse is that if you waste your time
"wishing" you had done things differently or if you
waste too much time trying to "relive" experiences you never
lived (Mid-life crisis - sounds familiar?), then you'll
be missing out on the PRESENT. So in a few years, you're
going to find out life STILL sucks because you have
been wasting time NOW.

Time is always moving ahead, my friend - with
or without you. So stop worrying about what you "could"
have done. Instead, focus on what CAN do right now -
at this very moment - so that you won't regret it 5 months
or 5 years from now.

One of the things you can do RIGHT NOW is to sign up to be on the mailing list and get my "Blood Trail Dog Training Course" and start learning to handle and train a blood trail dog, so that by the end of this year you are knowledgeable and are doing the things that will make you more successful in the deer hunting game.

Think of it as one of the best investments you
can make for yourself, your hunting club, and for your family's future hunting success.

I don't know about you, but hunting is a family tradition for me, and one that is or should be passed down to future generations.

Based upon my research, state government biologists are proposing that more deer are shot and lost, than recovered.

This is justifiable cause for the animal rights activists to protest hunting in general and lobby our state governmnets to restrict or deny our privledge of sharing this great sport and American family tradition with future generations.

One way to change the future statistics about deer hunting and the shot and lost factor is to begin using blood trail dogs to locate wounded and dead deer during deer hunting season.

Your best option for having a blood trail dog this coming hunting season is to consider using your family pet or the hunting dogs you already own.



And my course, as well the book I am presently writing on that subject, will enable you to learn how to raise, train, and handle a blood trailing dog.

Many people are worried that the family pet will not perform and I understand the concern. But the reality is that the dog has accepted it's mediocre existence as a pet and playmate for the kids and being a sometime alarm system and guard dog
as this is all there is to life, and it is Ok with that, yet it's natural instincts to hunt and be a valuable member of the wolf pack is still alive and well in there somewhere.

All dogs have an incredible power of scent that may be be 10,000 times greater than our own. And in a blood trailing scenario the scent of blood is often the main focus, not that of the bird or mammal that has been shot.

Another justifiable concern is that using a bird dog pointer or duck retrieving dog may get the dog confused as to it's proper duties. I say that a pointer or retriever is already a blood trail dog, because the scent of blood is so much greater than the scent of duck or quail.


I will be offering my course in a online subscription which you can pay for and download from the website as soon as possible. My webmaster is creating the templates and pages as I write this article for this post.

I will also offer a printed version which I can ship to you in a manilla enveope in the mail if you are so inclined.

But for now, if you will email me at marcus@delahoussayes.com, I will put you on the mailing list to be notified as soon as the new websites are up and running.

You can go to www.bloodtraildogs.com for more info on me and my dogs if you like.

If you would like to call me about purchasing a Catahoula puppy, or a trained or started dog, I can be reached on my cell phone at 337-298-2630.