http://www.cleverscampcamp.com/camping-lab-tents/
Elk hunting trip. Take the dog or leave her?
In November me, my grandpa, my cousin, and my dad are renting a couple horses and going overnight(not sure how mant days) in the mountains of Colorado to Elk hunt. I enjoy hunting but being a 15 year old girl I cant always keep up with them. I was thinking of staying behind at the camp and just cooking and cleaning for the guys sometimes since I dont want to slow them down. Could my 4 year old female Lab come? Shes in good shape, horses dont bother her, she is really protective and I would feel safer with her…she could sleep with me and my dad in our tent. I would put extra blankets, water, and food for her on one of the horses or just carry them myself. Is this okay or no?
Yes, that is her in my avatar. I have been working with her strong prey drive for years and we have lots of rabbits in the neighborhood. when she sees one she points, i tell her stay, and go leash her just to be safe.
I’ve taken my dogs on quite a few extended back country trips and it works fine if you take a few things into consideration.
1. They can never be left alone. Besides the issues of just general manners around the camp and keeping them out of stuff, it’s an issue of safety. There are a lot of things out there that can pose a real risk to your dogs health. Besides environmental factors, coyotes would be at the top of the list for concerns as they are the most common but mountain lions, wolves, and bears also pose real threats and while it’s debatable whether or not they will actively go after a dog as a prey item, the potential for a dangerous chance encounter is enough to not leave them alone. Those animals actively try to avoid humans but a single dog is not intimidating to them and yes, even a good sized dog like a lab. I’ve run into a couple coyotes out hunting that have looked at even my big male intact dogs without seeing me and moved toward them. I didn’t wait to find out their intentions and scared them away but at the very least they weren’t intimidated. I’ve even read about coyote hunters using a “bait dog” to attract them.
The only time I’d even consider leaving dogs alone in the back country would be for a very short period in a group where they are much more intimidating to predators, but I’ve never done it. The chances of encountering a predator when the dog is with you is low and the chances of a dangerous encounter are even lower especially when a predator is faced with the prospect of a human and a dog motivated to protect. If the dog is left alone though it is less likely to make a stand and intimidate the predator without something to protect and more likely to just run which can be enough in itself to trigger the prey drive in whatever they are facing. The chances of a dog being able to defend itself from a coyote aren’t bad but the chances of her doing it without significant injuries is extremely unlikely and in a remote location the seriousness of every injury is at least doubled.
2. If something happens to the dog is your family prepared to drop the hunt to evacuate them and would you be able to get them out fast enough if something went wrong? When people get hurt there’s rarely any contention on abandoning the hunt and there’s always the option of a helicopter evac but they won’t send a chopper for a dog and your family may or may not be willing to leave to save the dog. It’s a significant issue since dogs are more likely to get injured than people.
3. Do you have room to carry the supplies for the dog?
4. Will the environment be ok for the dog? Colorado in november is quite cold especially at night, even in a tent and while you can curl up in a sleeping bag, your dog is less likely to do so. I’ve actually taught my dogs to sleep covered up and depending on the temperatures are happy to be covered up with a blanket or actually curl up in a sleeping bag. Many dogs aren’t so apt to handle it and will refuse to be covered up.
My dogs go on back country trips because they are an integral part of the hunt, whether they’re working as bird dogs or blood trailers and are used to and trained for the conditions. Everyone I hunt with knows that if anything ever happened to one of the dogs, the hunt is over and we are getting them out just as urgently as if it were one of us, possibly more so since we understood the risks and chose to undertake them, the dogs just trusted me. It still makes me nervous at times and I would not take my dogs if they weren’t critical to the hunt so that everything could be tailored around their involvement. My first priority when hunting is always their welfare. The first thing that happens when we get back to camp, no matter how tired or hungry I am, is they get fully checked over for any injuries and get fed and watered and I make sure they get warm. After that is done then I change, eat, and generally take care of myself. The reasoning for that is I know my own condition and that although it’s tempting it’s not critical that I get food and water and get warm but the dogs can’t tell me what’s going on so I prefer to play it safe.
It may or may not be okay for your dog, it depends on the situation. I’m sure you are devoted to the well being of your dog, otherwise you wouldn’t have asked the question. It may mean sacrificing hunting time though if you take the dog and if she gets hurt it may mean ditching the hunt all together. If you’re okay with all that and really want to take the dog, then I see nothing wrong with it as I’m sure she’ll have a blast bombing around the mountains, mine sure do. I would encourage you to really think it over though since once your out there with her you can’t just run her home real quick.
Have fun, sounds like it’ll be an awesome trip either way. I’m jealous.
Opening the Camping Lab roof top tent
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