How to Train Your Chocolate Lab to Hunt Deer

Dogs have been used for centuries to hunt a variety of species including birds, fox and deer. Pointers, foxhounds and Labrador tetrievers often accompany hunters into the field and assist in flushing and bringing back successful kills. Labs are typically used as bird retrievers, although they can be taught to flush out larger animals such as deer. Training your chocolate Lab to hunt deer may take a little time and effort, but bringing home a trophy deer is well worth the effort.

Things You'll Need

  • Collar and leash
  • Treats
  • Deer hide
  • Deer scent
  • Rifle
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Begin your training as soon as possible. Chocolate labs are very intelligent dogs and are most impressionable before 16 weeks of age; the sooner you start your training, the more valuable information your puppy will retain.

    • 2

      Fit your puppy with a collar and leash and start teaching basic obedience commands. A hunting Lab must know simple commands such as sit, stay, come and heel. Give it the sit command and reward it with a treat when it responds properly. When it is consistently sitting as soon as you give the command, move on to more difficult commands until it obeys you every time.

    • 3

      Introduce your puppy to the deer hide. To flush deer from the brush, it will need to know what deer look and smell like. Add a few drops of deer scent to the hide and let it investigate and play with the hide so it becomes familiar with it.

    • 4

      Lay the hide on the floor and give your dog the hunt command, walking it to the hide. Point at the hide with your finger and repeat the hunt command, asking your dog to lower its head and sniff the hide, then rewarding it with a treat. Chocolate Labs have a very powerful sense of smell and will learn to lower its nose to the ground and seek out the deer scent when given the hunt command.

    • 5

      Transport your Lab to an open field and place the hide in a hidden location. Lead your dog in the direction of the hide, giving the hunt command and allowing it to sniff around until he finds the hide. Reward it with a treat and repeat the process, moving the hide to different locations until the dog seeks out the hide on its own when given the command.

    • 6

      Ask a helper to stand at a distance of approximately 50 yards and fire a rifle into the air to acclimate your dog to the sound of gunshots. Keep the dog close to your side and reassure it if it seems frightened by the sound. Walk five yards closer to your helper and have him fire another shot, rewarding the dog when it stands quietly. Continue this process until the dog stands next to the helper and pays no attention as the gun is fired.

    • 7

      Take your Lab on an actual hunt to try out its hunting skills. Choose an area with a large deer population and walk your Lab through the field, giving it the command to hunt. The dog will walk along the field, lowering its nose to the ground as it looks for live deer. He will increase his speed as he picks up the scent of a deer, pushing into the brush and flushing out deer. Command the dog to stay as soon as it flushes a deer so that you can shoot it without harming your newly trained Lab.