Hunting with a Grand or Grands

Practical experiences by Jussi Okkonen

Due their origin grands are hunters by their nature. This set limitations to everyday life, yet if one has possibility to chase or hunt with a grand or a pack of them, it is truly something to remember.

In general starting to hunt (or using a grand in a designated manner) with a hound is one of easiest things to do. Only thing one needs is a large enough and a safe area with game. Suitable game for a grand are arctic hare, brown hare, fox, boar, roe deer, white tailed deer and elk (in continental Finland cloven hoofed animals are forbidden, yet boar is allowed). Of course an area empty of game will do, quite soon it will be boring for you and the dog if nothing happens. One should have permit hunt or chase in the designated area.

After a suitable area is found (which may be the most difficult task when utilizing grands), next thing is to go to area and disentangle the leash. (Note that in Finland one can have a hound loose from August 20th to end of February. Hunting season starts in the beginning of September and lasts until end of February.)

Hunting with grands can be roughly divided to two stages seeking and chasing. After releasing a grand or pack of them, seeking starts. In this stage dog tries to find scent of game or traces of them. In snowless time of the year there is not much to do, one can only wait dog to find a scent exciting enough. When there is snow, dog can be aided by seeking traces and steering dog to them. However, in general for a grand it would be advisable just to sit down and wait or if one wants to move along, slow pace is required. As somewhat intelligent breed, grands quite quickly realize if someone is working for them. If the handler seeks the traces or, even worse, the game, grands may become lazy to seek. This is now a problem per se, only if you are willing to participate in hunting tests, lack of eagerness can be seen even as a disqualificating characteristics.

In general grands seek close range, so anything over 50 meters is enough. Due the fact that grands are pack dogs, they usually keep good contact to handler while seeking in empty area. However, while scent strong enough is found, grands usually work until the chase starts. If dog keeps contact, it is usually a sign of empty area. Because grands are very precise while working, it may take a while before the chase starts as every trace of scent has to be checked. Usually grands are tight thus the game is very near or on the run when the barking starts.

After the chase starts, you will surely notice, grands usually go slowly. Precise working and loud and clear voice make the chase pleasing to follow. In good conditions you can easily follow on the distance over two kilometres. That is sufficient for hare, boar and deer. Fox and elk can easily go much farther off, and thus a tracking device is recommended. Grands chase with passion. A good chase can last for hours and grand may be difficult to collar. To avoid that, basic training with a whistle is required.