Jaeger Recovers

Jaeger Recovers

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Avid hunter Damon Bungard uses his dog Jaeger, known as a teckel to track and recover during a hunt. I had a question. “Let me ask you a typical scenario for Jaeger. I’m out hunting white tail, a muley, a bull elk. I shoot and it takes off. The blood trail doesn't take me to it. The blood trail disappears. So I've got a wounded and/or dead animal out there. I need to find him. In comes Jaeger. Is that how it works?

That's very close. Pretty much how it works. State regulations vary on if you can use a dog for recovery in Tennessee, we are a leash state. So he has to be on lead and a weapon can't be carried. For instance, a lot of states are like that. They put in regulations so that you're not using a dog to run game. It's only brought in in a recovery scenario. And that is really what's making it so good. And that's how in Europe, a lot of places you have to hunt with a guide and they have to have a recovery dog by law there. So they really place a premium on what happens after the shot and all options available for recovering an animal. So having the dog, Teckel along as they often use, that's why they're still so good at it is they have cycles and that's walking right along the guide and the hunter. And once the animal goes down, the dog helps find it. It's his job. That's part of the hunting team in Europe. It's very much a stewardship model, whereas in the States, it's more of a consumption model.

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