Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Hound season , Vic , Oz

Our hound season is under way over here, Sambar deer is the only deer we are allowed to hunt with hounds and usually the only deer in the country we hunt
Season runs april til nov inclusive
It was a cool misty morning as Gavan and Ian walked the two hounds in about a mile to where the deer usually are in this hunt
They walked along and old gold miners trail above the river
Hunters were set up and hounds released, Soon they had lifted a deer and crossed the river heading upstream , Back across the river and climbed up way out of hearing, about 30 minutes later they could be heard way up high but coming down
We had hunters at the bottom of the ridges and spurs , waiting
The doe came down to Gavan and at 15 yards was able to finish that race with the dogs close behind , 2 or 3 more runs and they'll realy be fit and hard for another season
Time to cut up the deer for the carry out and lead out the dogs
Tom & Ellen are the hounds

Very cool. Sounds fun.

Very cool thanks foe a look down south...way down south. GRF

Very cool. Love the poochies.

Nice, Hone.

Here in Virginia, hounds can be used to hunt deer, though it is getting to be a contentious subject.

Though I don't personally care to hunt with hounds, adjoining properties do, and it is something to listen to!

Thanks for posting, always good to hear how people hunt in other places. The terms used are always interesting too, over here we would say we jumped a deer, where you guys say "lifted."

That area was burnt by fires about 8 years ago, you can still see the black on the tree trunks behind Gavan, The mule trail gets overgrown a lot now and makes it harder to move along
The sambar is well equipped to handle dog hunting , can run a long way , uses water well to shake off the hounds
I'll try and show you some of the country as the season progresses
Been bear and lion hunting in the US with hounds, need to get back again for deer , coon , bobcat
Love listening to hounds working
I've got some pups coming along by Tom Out of Bonnie , Ellens sister that show some promise

I hunt deer with hounds in Florida. To me there's no greater joy than watching and hearing the dogs work. Especially the young ones coming along, It's like watching your kids grow up and get good at something.

Cheers Buddy,

Looks like you're earned a VB !

Paul.

I've got 5 x 3 and a half month old pups at the moment
I've been taking around near home for about 6 weeks , getting them going , walking them through little streams to get them used to water, they are coming along fine, A lot of work is put into these young dogs , bring out that desire to hunt
The enjoyment i get from listening the hounds and see someone take a deer over them is worth the effort
And yes Paul , A VB or three at the end of the day
The days end of any hunting trip is important , i feel
For no matter what the day has dealt to you, Sit down by the fire, have a cook up and a cold beer , enjoy the company and being outdoors
For that is what it is all about

Hone, very cool..beautiful dogs..do you use rifles on hound hunts..?? From what I hear, the boys in the U.S. usually use shotguns on deer driven by hounds..One thing I have never done, but would love to...Give those dogs a pet from me..Love hunting dogs of all kinds..thanks..

Minimum caliber is .270 for hunting sambar deer
Most use 30-06 or .35 whelen pump action for hunting over hounds, i'm not sure about shotguns , might be allowed
All public land hunting except National park where deer hunting is for stalkers only
The dogs get into some big country , Sambar like most other game bail up (bay) in some of the thickest , crappiest country around, or in the rivers and streams , which can be a challenge to get to , take the deer and dogs out
We have no wanton waste laws regarding meat , however most people and certainly ,we as a crew ,do make an effort to get all the meat out

Just got back from 3 days hunting
Had good runs from the dogs each day , with 2 deer taken , 2 missed and one we let go
I took this stag this morning as he trotted around the head of a creek system high up in the gully heads
He was about 500 yards ahead of the hound and just trotting along
At about 80 yards i took him, Quite steep up in there and once you find the main game pad , it is usually the one they are going to use

Hone,

Thanks for the great story. Surprised to hear rifles are carried more than shotguns with buckshot. Great looking dogs you've got there. I've never tried hunting deer over dogs. I have a hard enough time hitting deer when they're standing still, I can't imagine regularly trying to knock one down that's doing Mach 2 with a pack of hounds in hot pursuit.

I am not a huge fan of hunting deer with hounds, but I have always thought still hunting for Sambar in Vic must be one of the premier deer hunting experiences in the world..

What other deer species do you guys get over in Oz? Fallow, and Red I am pretty sure, but any Sika or Rusa? maybe Whitetail?

Back pack hunting for sambar is quyite popular over here
The Alpine National park is a big area with a healthy population of Sambar that have gone right up into NSW
Reds , Fallow, Rusa , Chital (Axis) & Hog deer are all available in Oz
A 28+ " sambar would be a worthy addition to any trophy room and well earned too
I've got 5 x 14 week old pups that really started voicing last monday as i took them out for a run
These pups already represent about 30 hrs of work in the bush plus another couple hours on leads getting them used to that,and there's a lot more of hours to go yet
Raising young dogs is a part that i enjoy a lot
Anybody considering a sambar hunt by stalking should give it a try, You can drive and camp by your vehicle and walk in each day or back pack hunt
With the hounds , the deer can be really moving especially if the dogs are right up them , however the deer will get out a little and they are fully tuned into what is going on ahead and behind them
They are then into a trot , but the hounds will keep coming and will close the gap
The water becomes the deers best friend and to the rivers they go, no matter how hard the water is going , in they go and off they swim

Here in north Florida we regularly hunt deer with hounds. We mostly use Walkers, Black and Tans, and Blueticks. Races often last several hours and fun is had by all... I'm also a still hunter and am on a couple of hunting leases and I can tell you that although we don't have the quality and size of deer here that they have in the west and midwest we DO get to hunt 5 years with rifles around here (including south Georgia season) and we have a GREAT time.

Hunting with hounds is the most exciting hunting I've ever done and I wouldn't trade my dog hunting experiences for anything.

$bob$

We had a good day out on saturday, Plan was to hunt along the river while the flow is low and see what happens
This is the headwaters of this river and it does a big loop from a small town around to where the hunters would be set up
We free ran the dogs in and soon they were going. Only problem they went upstream instead of going downstream. The dogs went above the small town and split, 3 climbing up and headed back downstream and eventually lost the deer in the water
However the other deer went to climb out with Tom and Ellen after her, She climbed out over the top only to be in a creek that ran right down to where our hunters were waiting
Tom and Ellen are a run or two off full fitness but still would be putting a lot of pressure on the deer, that was evident when it ran down the road heading towards the river.
Even though it was getting tired , its senses were still switched right on and it saw Mick and ran down a small spur to get into the river
Going not much faster than a walk by now and the dogs closing quickly , it went past Jack at about 10 yards
This race ended there, I drove down to give the boys a hand
Fitted wheel chainsd on to drive out of there and back to camp for a cook up
The deer and dogs were seen by a couple deerstalkers earlier in the run but they didn't take the deer
They have a house in town and regularly hunt this area.
I encourage them to shoot the deer in front of the dogs if they see it , just get my dogs back to me
Found some good stag sign during the day so we'll keep going back to try and get him , pictures to follow

I've had hounds most of my life, but have never hunter deer with them. Our state doesn't allow it. My son and I were talking tonight and are going to find somewhere to go this fall. Can't wait.

The flow is low but with the deer constantly in and out of the water , the dogs get left behind , in winter the river will be flowing higher and quicker which suits the deer even more