outdoorstom

10/13/18 #1 I was called last night by a bowhunter that told me he had made a high shot on a 6 pointer. He and a friend had tracked for approximately 200 yards, marking the blood with ribbons as they went. They had backed out for fear of pushing him in the dark, and told me they were going back in the morning. They further said they would call me and let me know in the morning if they need us or not. I was called this morning shortly after daybreak and told they had tracked to the edge of a swamp, but weren’t sure where he had gone in there. I put both dogs in the truck and headed out, anticipating a possible second track this opening morning of muzzleloader. Luna quickly got on the track and took us past every ribbon that marked blood, taking us to the swamp. I told the hunter to start flagging blood as we see it, and I followed Luna in. I was surprised and happy to see the buck laying dead, just 20 yards in. Field dressing revealed the the broadhead had clipped the liver. These guys did everything right, from not pushing the deer, to doing a great job of flagging the bloodtrail. Things could have turned out differently if they pushed this deer. The total length of this track was 318 yards. #2 I received a second call this morning just as we found the first buck. The hunter, on public land, shot a 6 pointer with his muzzleloader and had lost blood after 75 yards. Kunox got on the track and moved beyond the point of loss, but we never saw another drop blood. We did a restart after a couple hundred yards and we ended up at a property line...again, not one drop of blood. I decided to try Luna and see what she could show us. She took us right to the same spot at the property line, but this time the buck jumped up 100 yards in front of us and ran off on 3 legs. We were not able to pursue on the private property, so unfortunately the track ended there.

10/9/2018 Well, Kunox redeemed himself tonight after yesterday’s squirrel fiasco. I was called at 6:00 tonight by a bowhunter that had gutshot a doe. He had tracked it and pushed it out of a bed and wanted me to come right out. I told him we needed to wait a minimum of 8 hours, but he said he had to leave for work at 5:00 am, so he couldn’t wait that long. I suggested he line up a friend to join me at first light, but nobody was available. I had my doubts about our odds, but I told him I’d be there around 10:00 tonight. We started the track at the hit site and Kunox quickly took us beyond the hunters point of loss. We had gone 400 yards and found ourselves in thick tag alders. Kunox was 15’ ahead of me when I saw the deer bedded down right in front of him. I called the hunter and his friend to move up, while I reeled Kunox in. I was going to give them the leash while I got in position for a shot, but she took off before that could happen. We took off after her and caught up 100 yards later. Again, in a very thick area and it was impossible to get a shot. Off we go again. I had Kunox 5’ in front of me now, and he was on the doe before I could see her. That gives you an idea of how thick this area was. He bit her on the rear haunch and she bolted, taking him with her. He was completely off the ground as I was pulling back on the leash, and he finally released his bite. 150 yards later and we were at the edge of a swamp. As we started wading in, I saw the doe bedded in the water 20 yards ahead. I had the guys take the leash and I was able to dispatch her there. We had quite the drag out through the swamp, walking mostly in beaver runs. This was one to remember!

One quote I hate the most “it’s only a doe”.....really pisses me off.

10/8/2018 #1 Luna and I tracked a young bowhunters gutshot deer this afternoon, after it was shot last night. Unfortunately, an hour after the shot this deer was pushed for 2 hours. We were able to advance the track a distance during the two hours we worked it, then lost it and were trying to pick it up again when the hunters Dad called it due to time constraints. #2 I was called at 8:00 this morning by a young hunter’s dad. The hunter had gutshot a buck this morning, and they had lost blood, marked it, backed out, and called me. Gotta love it when you get these calls! I tracked for the Dad last year and he remembered my advice on following those steps. Luna found this young man’s first buck 200 yards away. #3 Our third track today was for a bowshot doe that 3 people had grid searched for. The hunter believes he may have hit one lung on this pass through shot. I have never seen so little blood on a pass through. In 60 yards, there were about 6 specks of blood. Kunox got the call on this one, but was sent back to the truck after about 15 minutes. The entire floor of this 60 acre woodlot had more acorns than I’ve ever seen and Kunox was totally distracted by the large number of squirrels and chipmunks. Luna advanced the track, showing us an acorn cap with blood in it. Further on we found something weird.....a large wad of undigested grass that appeared to have been thrown up and contained feces. Unfortunately we never found this deer.

Just got word of another survivor we tracked :-)

A hunter I tracked for last week sent me a current picture of the deer. You can see it was a high back hit. Pretty much explains why we couldn’t find it.

I’d love to see it, but it says the video is unavailable?

Great idea. We have a local logging company that leases hunting land too.

That would be a great addition to anyone's man cave!

10/4/2018 I was called by a friend last night telling me he had shot a doe. He and his father in law hadn't even looked yet, and were giving it some time due to hitting too far forward and high. He had video of the shot and believed the arrow was stuck in the opposite shoulder, and he was putting me on standby. I was called at 10:00 and told they had only been able to follow blood a short distance before losing the trail. I loaded both dogs up and was there in 20 minutes. Luna quickly advanced the track from a thicket, across an overgrown field, and into another thicket. We found light blood in the thicket as Luna worked a large area. It was obvious the deer had been milling around in there. She took us back into the field and was air scenting out there. Part of the field were too tall and thick for her to work so I carried her around as we searched. After not finding any sign, I took her back in the thicket and started walking the outside edge looking to find where the doe had exited. Bingo.....found some blood and we were off again through the field. We were working within 50 yards of where we had been. Luna got on a trail and took us a couple hundred yards without blood, but was showing confidence so we continued on. It was so thick I couldn't see Luna most times, just the weeds moving up ahead. We had stopped for a minute when we saw a green light moving about 100 yards ahead of us. For a second we thought someone else was in the field, then realized we were looking at the lumenok! I told the hunter we need to mark the location, back out, and come back in the morning. He had to take his kids to school, so agreed to meet after that. We tracked this morning in a heavy downpour. The doe was not where we left her last night, so I walked Luna through the area trying pick up the direction of travel. After a while, she picked a trail and led us a hundred yards along the treeline, then into the woods. We were unable to find any sign of the deer. When we saw it moving last night, it was 7 hours after the shot. I believe if it was a mortal injury, we would have found her not far from where we left her.

Absolutely! I hear all kinds of things and sometimes it's obvious I've been lied to. If that happens, I'm not shy about letting them know Ithat I know. I don't call off the track, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I was just curious what your policy is when it comes to bowhunting in the rain. Do you think it's a good idea? Bad idea? Do you think it's ethical?

These are the ones I seriously consider not writing!

9/30/2018 #1 We went back to yesterday's second track this morning. This time I started Luna at the hit site and quickly worked the 1/2 mile to where we started last night. Luna took the same route as last night, but we weren't able to advance the track beyond that point. #2 I received 2 more calls shortly before starting the first track this morning. The second track was for a 14 year old that shot a buck this morning. I had high hopes for this one, good blood and he had bedded twice in the first 150 yards or so. I was in for a let down. For reasons I can't explain, we were not able to advance the track beyond the second bed. We checked all trails leading away from there, and I even ran both dogs on it (separately). I felt horrible. This youngster spends a LOT of time in the outdoors with his Dad and Grandpa and his woodsmanship really showed. #3 Our day didn't get any better on this track. The hunter shot a big racked buck this morning at 23 yards, quartering away. He and his son tracked for 200 yards with no beds, then ran out of blood. Luna and I tracked to the hunters point of loss, then another couple hundred yards before losing the trail. Again, we worked every trail out of the area, and worked a circle around the point of loss. A river borders the property, so we walked the riverbank hoping to find him floating in the water. No such luck. We went back to the truck and I dropped Luna off and grabbed Kunox. He ran the line to the point of loss and was also stumped. We ran circles and checked trails again, with the same negative results. At this point I told the hunter I was going to have to stop, my legs were exhausted after 11 hours walking in the woods. This may sound odd, but this tracking game is streaky. I've never started the season on a losing streak, but occasionally had them at some point in the season. A winning streak is due!

I'll certainly let you know!

9/29/2018 Off to a slow, frustrating start this year. #1 Luna and I were called to track a bow shot buck after the hunter lost blood after 100 yards. We slogged through a swamp for 9/10 of a mile as per gps. After following a decent amount of blood, it tapered off to very small, sporadic drops. The last blood we found was very fresh, so I flagged it and marked it on the gps and we backed out. I told the hunter I'd come back in the morning, but he declined and said he go look himself. #2 I was called while on the first track by a hunter we've tracked for in the past. He and his sons were on good blood, but wondered if I wanted to bring a dog for a training track. I told him I was tracking now and to continue on their own. I called him back when I finished to see how they made out and was surprised to hear they were still on blood and tracking. He requested I come out, so Luna and I headed over, arriving at 9:00. They had tracked half a mile and based on the blood they were seeing, couldn't believe they hadn't recovered it yet. Due to the fact they were still on blood and Luna was tired, I started where they were, rather than running the whole track. They had just come out of the woods to the edge of a field and Luna picked up the line. We worked through several large fields and at one point Luna started her high pitched bark. We never saw the deer so I don't know if it was ours or not. One of the hunters sons and his friend were tired and had gone back to the truck when I started. They called us right after Luna started barking and said there were a couple men at the truck who were upset and wanted us to come out and talk to them. When we got there, one of the neighbors said we should have called them to let them know what we were doing. Very weird, we weren't even on their land. I'm heading back this morning once the hunter gets a call back from a nearby landowner who's swamp we may have to enter. To be continued......

9/28/2018 Luna and I went on a track this morning for a mature double drop ten pointer that was shot yesterday evening. The hunter (his first bowshot deer) and 2 others searched for a couple hours last night and followed very light blood for 300 yards before losing the trail. Luna wasn't able to pick up anything at the hit site, probably due to windy conditions in the field, so we headed in the direction the buck had run. The blood started at about the 100 yard mark, a small drop here and there. Luna took us past the last of the flagged blood, then into a very thick bedding area. In the bedding area, she started her pitched bark, indicating a live deer. We saw several beds while in there, none with blood. I let Luna take me 400 yards into a swampy area without seeing any blood, then picked her up and carried her back to flagged blood and did a restart. She took exactly the same route, so I let her continue this time and we ended this 1000 yard track at the edge of a large, deep swamp. The hunter had left the arrow in his Dad's vehicle, but sent me some pictures of the fletching. I see a couple white hairs and a little meat, and he said the rage broadhead had fat on it. I believe this may have been a brisket shot.

It's quick and painless. As someone else mentioned, you only have to do it once for that particular weapon.

9/27/2018 I received a call this evening from the father of a young hunter. His son had shot a doe in a field at 28 yards, and they had lost the very light, sporadic blood trail after 60 or 70 yards into the woods. Kunox and I met them and we went to the hit site. We were unable to locate any sign there, but Kunox took us across the field and into the woods where they had marked the little blood there was. The hit was described as being high and loud, like bone. They believed the opposite shoulder had stopped a pass through shot. Kunox took us past their ribbons, and into very thick prickly ash, where we worked in a circle, eventually ending up back at the field. I told them I believed the arrow had hit the close shoulder, not the opposite, and we were tracking a live deer. In the field as we walked back to our trucks, the son found the arrow. It showed 3"-4" of penetration. This doe will live to see another day. Luna was not happy about being left at home and my wife said she sat on the arm of the couch watching out the window the entire time I was gone.

Not trying to downplay the danger of ticks and recommend you take protective measures, but I've been in the woods a lot this year and haven't had 1 tick on me or my dogs. I don't know why, but numbers are definitely down.

Count me in....thanks!

I hope you know I was being a smart ass there. It's my nature :-)

Hope you didn't tell him center of the center. It's middle of the middle:-) Huge difference there.

http://www.bear-hunting.com/2014/5/middle-of-the-middle-redefining-shot-placement

I totally agree!