1/26/2024 0 Comments West siberian laikaA Laika’s work on moose is like a showdown straight out of a spaghetti western movie it’s a delicate balancing act designed to create uncertainty in the moose’s mind. The long legs of a moose are deadlier than a bear’s claws and, if the bull starts putting one of them in front of another, it won’t stop until it is far out of the hunter’s reach. With the moose, the bite-dodge-bark routine is both counterproductive and risky. For this kind of hunting, the Laika requires a combination of courage, intelligence, and agility any dog that doesn’t have all three is either useless or short-lived. Naturally, as the bear turns around to attack the impudent creature behind it, the other Laika will go for the bear’s newly exposed rear end. As the bear charges one of the dogs, another dog sneaks behind to deliver a solid bite in the tender area between the bruin’s hind legs. Bears, for example, are pursued with a team of two or three Laikas who keep the bear at bay by taking turns charging and dodging it. Other types of game require different approaches. Squirrels and grouse are typical game animals for Laikas. Meanwhile, your job is to stalk the location of the bark and make out the quarry (hint: a Laika’s muzzle ought to be pointed at it). Either way, the Laika sits under the tree and barks carefully while the forest critter tries to figure out what this weird kind of fox or wolf is doing. It could be a squirrel the dog found in a tree or chased there from the ground, or the Laika might have flushed a covey of black grouse and followed one of the birds to its perch. If you’ve been hunting a lot with this particular dog, you already know what it has at bay from the nuances of how it gives voice, but there’s always room for the unexpected. Sometimes you may even see its face make a brief appearance in the bushes as if to say, “You there? Good,” before it disappears again.Įventually you will hear a cautious bark. Fear not, for the Laika is there and knows exactly where you are. You walk along in your chosen direction, wondering whether the dog became lost, or perhaps called it a day and ran home. Unleashed, the dog simply vanishes in the woods. Your first hunt with a Laika is almost sure to leave you bewildered. Only when the quarry is secured in one place-such as chased up a tree-does a Laika give voice. In fact, the Laika must keep silent as it searches for game, even as it follows a hot trail. This doesn’t mean the dog is supposed to yap and woof all the time. The word “laika” stems from the Russian verb “лаять” (, to bark). New England Grouse Shooting, by William Harnden Foster.The Upland Shooting Life, by George Bird Evans.
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