14 replies to this topic

[Jeff213]

My wife and I are the proud owners of a long haired dacshund with a GREAT nose. I started him out when he was 8 weeks old and taught him to follow a scent trail. He has been around a frozen rabbit, and has hunting instincts. He loves to bark at and chase squirrels in the back yard, and when it is dark, he actually stalks the night crawlers on the grass and eats them.I am wondering if it is legal to use a GPS collar when hunting small game in CA. He is a typical dacshund in some ways, mainly, he doesn't listen very well. He is trained however he only listens when he feels like it, and I would feel better taking him out for rabbits if I could put a tracking collar on him. It would break my wife's and my own heart if something were to happen to him, but I want him to be able to go hunting with me.I would also love to take him out with another dog who already knows how to flush rabbits if someone here would want to do that. It might cut the learning curve a little bit.

[ShooterJohn]

No GPS collars are not legal for hunting in California.

[Braz]

He's a little fellow so be watchful for coyotes and bobcats that would love to eat him.

[DirtyDave]

No GPS collars are not legal for hunting in California.

GPS collars are not legal for hunting MAMMALS in CaliforniaYou can use a GPS collar for bird hunting

[dangerranger]

If I rember right Dacshunds were bred to hunt Badgers. So there should be some hunting instinct left there. Your dog would work best as a pack. And would be less likely to be picked on by bigger predators with help. Good luck and let us know how it works out! DR

[ShooterJohn]

Dirty Dave is correct but I just assumed we were speaking of mammals and not birds as Jeff213 specifically mentioned small game..

[screwwork]

One word of caution, hunting rabbits with a dog, where there are rabbits their are rattle snakes in most of Cal.I have family & friends that live by Del Valle & Valley Springs area and their dogs been bittin by rattle snakes, big time vet bills or worse.

[DirtyDave]

Dirty Dave is correct but I just assumed we were speaking of mammals and not birds as Jeff213 specifically mentioned small game..

I knew what you meant John. Just didnt want someone to read that and think they were illegal for ALL HUNTING

[ShooterJohn]

I gotcha Dave, I thought you were trying to needle me.

[Jeff213]

The area I hunt rabbits (between Stockton and Farmington) probably does have rattlesnakes, but I have never seen one there personally, and my friend has never seen one on his property in the 13 years he has lived there. I have seen king, gopher and garter snakes there, as well as blue racers. King snakes may indicate rattlesnakes, but like I said I have never seen one there, but I will remain cautious. I know there are rattlesnakes even a little bit farther east, and I have heard that when they cleaned out the Oak Grove Park nature area in Stockton, they found a nest of rattlers.

[fakawee]

_{Jeff213, its' too bad you live up north. My dachshund Rascal could teach your dog a thing or two about rabbit hunting. He really likes squirrel hunting. Dachshunds don't run very fast or for any kind of distances but, they are extremely good at sneaking up on other animals. Down here, they have several schools that teach dogs how to recognize and avoid snakes. Rascal has been thru 2 such schools and has alerted on 4 rattlers in the past 3 years of hunting with me. My buddies get all worried when I send him in to retrieve squirrels that crawled back into their holes to die. As long as I can see the squirrel in the hole, I'll let him get it after I run a stick into it first to listen if there are any snakes. I don't know about your dog but Rascal is freaky smart and listens well. He sniffs out the jacks and cotton tails and gets as close as he can before making an attempt to grab one. That's usually all I need is to see him run them out of hiding and when they're far enough away from him, I take the shot. Again, too bad you're up north.}

[Frank]

Yeah, as mentioned, rattlesnakes & coyotes would be a semi-concern for me on taking a lone, untrained small dog rabbit hunting.This last quail season, a friend of mine decided to take his very small dog (do not know what kind) quail hunting with us for the very first time to see how the dog would do.Well, at one point, my friend had to put a leash on his dog as there were 2 coyotes approx 50 yards away eyeballing their potential hot dog for lunch. My friend had to fire a warning shot at them with his shotgun to get the coyotes to move on. He was glad he had the leash with him, as he believes his dog would have ran up to the coyotes.His dog also could not last the full day, being exausted. That, plus the coyotes, makes my friend not wanting to take his pet again.

[mtn dog]

If I rember right Dacshunds were bred to hunt Badgers. So there should be some hunting instinct left there. Your dog would work best as a pack. And would be less likely to be picked on by bigger predators with help. Good luck and let us know how it works out! DR

It would be nearly impossible to hunt with a pack of Dachshunds! Who could stop laughing at the sight of them, long enough to aim?

[Divernhunter]

I hunted with a small dog once.Given my bad eyesight the outcome was not good........

[docskinner]

Couldn't ever throw the dog hard enough to get the rabbits.