This is the one time of the year that really effects a lot of pig Hunters as access gets closed up on a lot of private land. The down side of this is that a lot of pressure goes on the forestry block’s. The way that I have set my training block up is not just with pigs but also cows and sheep. Right now I am in the middle of lambing so am really enjoying every time that I ride the 4 Wheeler up the hill to see what extra Lamb’s the ewes have got for me.
This lamb may grow good horns so he may get the chance to be my next breeding ram.
So far I have had more twins than singles and one set of triplets. When I am riding the bike the dogs are also running along side so they get to see how the sheep act. Now that they have Lamb’s they act differently because they are protecting their Lamb’s. My young pup Thunder is very nervous around them at the moment as he has been bunted by them a number of times. This has had an added advantage of Thunder getting up onto the 4 wheeler for the first time and I have not even had to tell him to get up. The more times he gets up the easier that it will be when I start to take him hunting.
All of my other dogs are confident enough around the sheep but also very careful not to get to close that they could get charged. One of the big things that hunters need to be a where of is that little Lamb’s running around can get a young dog wanting to play and this can cause some problems if the trainer is not keeping a close eye on their behavior. Most hunters do not get the chance to put their young dogs into situations like this which puts their dogs at a disadvantage compared to the dogs that are regularly seeing these other animals. When a dog is raised with other animals it is far less likely that the dog will have
trouble with chasing stock. I had been trying something different with Thunder by putting sheep’s wool in his kennel for him to sleep in over the winter months. I had seen him on a number of occasions pulling the wool apart and having a great old time. This has not gone over to trying anything with the live sheep as he has grown up around them and has learnt from watching the other dogs that a dog just does not chase the sheep unless the boss gives the word.