# Shed hunting



## Letty

My 5.5 month old female Letty just got done with her first two weeks at training camp for sheds. I am going to continue working with her at home but she did pretty well at camp. Right now we are working on sight training and retrieving the shed. Once she gets that nailed down I will introduce the scent aspect. She has been pointing the shed every once in awhile which is cool to see, but not exactly ideal for this type of 'hunting'. Any one else training their V to shed hunt? It's another great way to enjoy the outdoors with my buddy!


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## R E McCraith

go with the nose - that was what they were bred for - unless they are moving - have a few friends that hunt sheds - cold snow and pups that do it well - what a great day!


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## Letty

That's what I was thinking too. I started rubbing the scent on the antlers the day we brought her home and still do it every so often. The trainer that was working with her told me to start with the sight recognition and then eventually add the scent. I don't see why it would hurt to keep using the scent though. She has some time to improve so I'm not too worried. Thanks for the input!


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## R E McCraith

Let - in the off season still do dead bird drills - pheasant wings - they love it - sheds see no difference - work on that - send me some antlers


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## finch

I would love to do shed hunting with my girl but haven't found any formal trainers around here (mid-coast Maine). I bought her some antlers as chews (she seems to like deer more than moose) and we went out looking a bunch in the spring, but didn't have any luck. I'd love to hear more about the techniques you are learning. Are there any training books you recommend?


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## harrigab

not familiar with the term "shed" hunting, but Ruby quite often hunts about in my old garden shed that is now my two boys "den",,,,she finds all sorts in there lol


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## adrino

Ha ha ha! Harrigab you're cracking me up!!! ;D ;D


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## Ozkar

Mine just did it naturally, so I can't offer any guidance or training assistance. But i would like to know when you're going to move up to hunting where the sheds come from!!!! :


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## Letty

Finch - I haven't found any great books, but Tom Dokken's Shed Dog Trainging DVD is a really good tool to help get started. You can find it on the Gun Dog Supply website.


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## harrigab

Just had to google it...sounds like good fun


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## Darcy1311

I have never hunted for sheds....but being Scottish I have hunted haggis with relative success..


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## AKGInspiration

Keep us posted on your progress. I hope to do this with our lab this year. He is much more into retrieving than my lil vizsla is. She much rather just continue hunting, so i figure while she _could_ find them she won't care enough to bring them to me. Wyatt our lab on the other hand hopefully will bring them to me. 

I would think a lot of it is much like any tracking/scenting work. Start easy with ones they can see, add scent as you said it won't hurt anything. And later on you want them to work off scent in the woods first and foremost. Then add the bringing it to you component to it. I would think playing fetch with these items would help with that. That is all I have been doing with Wyatt anyway, we'll see how he does by winter.


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## Letty

Things are going great with Letty. She is retrieving the sheds very well and I usually stop her at about 15-20 retrieves to keep her interested. Once I get her inside I always go out and leave a couple sheds in the yard somewhere, usually behind a tree or around the base of the tree. The next time we go out to play or potty I say "get the bone" and she takes a quick scan of the yard and locates the antler then races over to get it and brings it to my feet. It is really exciting, although I know a lot of the antlers in the "wild" won't be such easy finds, I'm still very proud of her progression through training. 

The next step is going to be getting her used the scent, which will take some discipline on my part. I have to make sure I'm not leaving my scent and her scent (saliva, etc.) on the antler before using it again. rubber gloves and boiling pots in my future! I will start to hide them in tall grass, deep woods, etc. so I don't think the backyard will do for our only training grounds. She will be making a lot more trips to the farm with me. The hard part will be getting her to want to leave!


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