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Game Retrieval Tool: Washington Ready?

My brother back in South Dakota got himself a new game retrieval tool that he is very excited about. He can't take it out while hunting but he can use it to find a big game animal if he should happen to muff the follow up after a hit and push the animal too soon causing him to lose its' trail. Might our state be ready for this?

SO Dale.....is that a standard poodle or some such ???? I often wonder if this state would allow tracking dogs to recover game animals.....Somehow I doubt it, but know first hand how valuable a good dog can be for sheds.....that alone tells me they would make short order of finding deer. R

It is a russian poodle, I am told. Some debate is going on at another website as to whether an unarmed person (who therefore is not actively hunting) with a dog on a leash could follow a trail without the consequence of breaking the law. The law forbids allowing a dog to 'pursue' a deer or elk. 'Pursuit' by definition is 'chase'. So there is speculation that taking a leashed dog for a walk in the woods for the purpose of following a blood trail might be okay so long as the walker isn't armed and the dog is under direct control at all times.

I don't think they (dogs) are allowed to be used to recover game. My 2 cents.

It's perfectly legal. :o)

I have been on a bit of a mission to get a shed dog, since my candyass shorthair has an adversion to snow/cold.......Important is temperment and hardiness....that being said, Labs are at the top of the list, right along side Labradoodles.....I can say breeders nowadays, place a super high value on their pups.........I would have to be armed with information prooving it legal to recover game, "might be", would be a risk I am unwilling to take, as I know in the county I live in, if you get any kind of a ticket, you are guilty pure , plain, and simple....If its a gray area, you get ticketed and by god you wont get out of it.....R

It's not gray at all, page 58 clearly states a dog on a leash is not pursuit. You CANNOT have pursuit without them being off leash and therefore you CANNOT be charged with "pursuing" if their is no "pursuit". Cannot have one without the other.

The phroibition on page 72:

9. Using dogs: • Hunting wild animals with dogs during any deer or elk modern firearm season is prohibited. • Allowing a dog, owned or controlled by you, to pursue or injure deer or elk or to accompany you while you are hunting deer or elk is prohibited. • Hunting or pursuing any big game animal, bobcat, or coyote with dogs is prohibited, except cougar hunting as permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The whole key is hunting and pursuit, neither of which can occur while the dog is on the leash. I believe you could even do it with a weapon, but I figure you'd get cited for that. But no weapon and dog on a leash they cannot cite you according to their own regulations. Everyone gets hung up on the what are you doing while leading the dog when they should realize that until you unsnap the lead you are not pursuing, by their own definition on Page 58:

"Transporting a dog(s) in a motorized vehicle or walking a dog on a leash is not pursuit."

Fred,

I wish it were true but this is how it reads on page 72:

"Allowing a dog, owned or controlled by you, to pursue or injure deer or elk or to accompany you while you are hunting deer or elk is prohibited."

Notice the "or to accompany you" part... doesn't matter if they are on a leash or not or in pursuit. If they are with you and the season is open, you are in violation.

Accompany you while you "HUNT". If you leave the weapon in the vehicle you can blood trail to lost game. Go back and put the dog up and come back with your tag and weapon if you want. There is NOTHING against blood trailing and finding downed game as long as you are unarmed and keep the pooch on a lead.

You guys aren't trying to say that no one is allowed to walk their dog in the woods and fields during deer and elk season.....are you? There are THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of people who walk their dogs in the woods during deer and elk season. There are no restrictions on walking your dog on a leash in the woods during deer and elk season.

The only part that bothers me is some places I hunt are pretty far from the road. So if I can't carry my bow to trail a wounded animal with a dog it will be a LONG way back and forth to put the dog in the truck and get the bow to potentially finish the job if the animal isn't quite dead. Seems a bit too conservative rule to me.

If you are blood trailing an animal with a dog it would seem reasonable to assume you are allowing a dog to pursue the animal you are blood trailing regardless if it is on a leash or not.

Looks obvious to me, we need to manage fish and wildlife for those who pay to use the resource, allowing way more public input, laws that are spelled out in laymans terms, less politics, an enforcement branch that answers to the public, and make it a small task to fire any and all members of fish and wildlife who do not clearly support our interest. Honesty and transparency top priorities.

DrTim the legal definition is what I'm referring to, according to the the Fish and Game regs, walking a dog on a leash is not pursuit therefore you cannot be charged with pursuing game as long as it's on the leash. Doesn't matter what your doing with the dog, if he's on the leash your not leagally pursuing game. And if you have no weapon your not legally hunting.

Recurve no one said every situation would be plausible, but there are plenty of instances where a blood trailing dog would save a lost animal.

Don't get me wrong, I think the idea is a good first step. In a society where the use of dogs is almost automatically seen as pursuit I can understand it. None the less a little higher level thinking would be in order after a period to get everybody use to the the idea and see how the program is working.

Machias, I see where you are coming from however if the dog is on a blood trail are you walking your dog on a leash or is it walking you?

Stick to your guns Machias. It's being done in this state and has been for quite some time. LEAGAL. On leash + NO weapon = leagal

Really? I guess I am not brave enough to try it. If someone asks I guess you can say your are PETA. :)

:o)

legal or not if it meant recovering a animal i might not otherwise recover i would risk the violation.

How does one determine the legal definition of a dog walking the owner or the other way round? That is a silly premise. Clearly the game regs state the definition of pursuit. These definitions are put there to stifle this sort of confusion. On a leash is not pursuit, seems pretty clear to me. If you are not armed then you cannot even be considered using the dog to assist you in hunting since you clearly are not hunting. I say not using all resources at your disposal to assist you in recovering the game animal may even constitute wanton waste?

Oops! My dog got away from me while on a rope leash! He happened to find this deer that I shot with my bow earlier today. Lucky for me I had a tracking gps on him. What's that? Oh, the Thompson contender in 30-30 with the scope is for my protection. Really!

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