outdoorstom

Way to go!! Beautiful!

Hey Poppy - Luna is a wirehaired dachshund. GREAT personality....loves everyone and other dogs.

Buckmaster - that was a first for me too. He was shooting a 7mm-08

11/18 A little back story is in order before the report on tonight's track. Kunox has been on the injured reserve list after hurting a rear leg about a week ago. At 2:30 in the morning he started barking like crazy, jumped off the bed and ran downstairs. He had me believing somebody was in the house so I grabbed my bedside pistol and checked the house. The house was secure and while downstairs I noticed the Border Patrol were parked across the road. Apparently Kunox heard them pull in and didn't like it. Back to bed we went....I laid there for a good hour unable to get back to sleep as he snored loudly next to me. The next morning I noticed he was limping. Poor guy now has to sleep in his crate so we don't have a repeat. I was called tonight to track a buck that was shot a little after 3:00 this afternoon. The hunter and his neighbor followed blood for about 75 yards before it dried up. They then grid searched for about 50 yards beyond the point of loss, then called me. He wasn't sure where he had hit the deer, but reported good blood. I asked him if we were going to have property line issues and was told that was a possibility as we were only 100 yards or less from the neighbors line. I told him to talk to the neighbor and call me back. He spoke with the owner who told him he allows somebody to hunt on there and it would be best if we did it tomorrow morning. When this was reported to me I decided we should at least get out there and see if it did indeed go on the neighbors, then plan a course of action. Kunox and I met the hunter and his helper in the village, then I followed them out to his grandfather's property. The hunter could not pinpoint the hit site in this large area of swamp grass, but was able to take me to first blood. I was immediately concerned when I saw how high the blood was on the grass...looked like a high back hit. Kunox easily followed the bloodtrail to the point of loss, then we had a little difficulty getting through the grid search area. After about 10 minutes, he decided on a trail and took us to the property line. I wanted to make sure he was sure ( I know, I know, trust your dog) so I took him back to the point of loss and he again took me on the same trail, pulling hard. The hunter told me before I got there they had gone to the neighbors house where there were two cars in the driveway, lights were on, but nobody answered the door. I told him I wanted to go back there and try again, so we marked where we were, backed out, and headed to the neighbor's house. I went to the door with him and the neighbor came out this time. We explained what was going and he graciously allowed us to enter the property. He stated he didn't want to see a deer go to waste....good for him! Back we went, to Kunox's amazement and joy. Once again he picked the same trail and this time we entered the property. 75 yards in, there lay a nice big mature 8 pointer. There was no blood at all from the point of loss. The deer had been shot twice, once through the lungs, and another through the high back area. The lung shot wound had plugged and the blood was all internal. .

11/17 Luna and I went on a track tonight for a buck that was shot this afternoon. It had been shot on a 19,000 + acre chunk of State land. The hunter and his friend had tracked him a short distance, jumped him, and backed out immediately. He actually told me he knew that was the right thing to do from reading my FB tracking stories. It was nice to hear that people are actually listening. Luna locked on and we were off. We followed fairly steady blood through this mature forest for a distance of 500 yards, then Luna showed us the buck bedded down. I finished him there.

Wait a minute.....your blind on your land? They shouldn't be shooting onto your land to start with! Am I missing something here?

11/16 #2 Luna and I went on a track tonight for a buck shot this evening. The hunter reported the deer mule kicked when shot. They found blood at the treeline, then followed it a couple hundred yards to the edge of a marshy area. Luna showed us sporadic light blood for another 50 yards or so beyond that point, then it dried up. She led us out of the swampy area into mature pines and seemed to be on it, so I let her go 400 yards with no sign before deciding to do a restart. We went back to last blood and again she took us on the same trail. We ended up going a mile this time before pulling the plug.

Good luck. Prayers are coming your way.

11/16 Continuation of #2 track from yesterday. We got back on the track at 7:30 this morning and it took Luna a couple minutes to get locked back on, but she did. We advanced the track, finding a drop of blood to confirm she was on it, then she started her high pitched bark. She took us a couple hundred yards, then out of the woods to the road. I hadn't seen any blood in that distance, so I decided to do a restart at last blood. Sure enough, Luna again took us to the road. This time we called and got permission to enter the property. We followed the tracks in there but could see the deer was running strong after being shot last night, so we called it at that point. As we were on the track this morning, another call came in. An 8 pointer had been shot in the leg last night. The hunter and his friend went into the woods to look for it and heard it run off. They did exactly what they should have done....they quietly backed out. I had an apprentice (Phil) with me who will be tracking next year. I told Phil to get ready, this could be one long track. The hunter had to work today so his friend took us in. We saw a small area of blood as we entered the woods, and Luna took right off. We went by two very fresh scrapes and Luna started her high pitched bark and really started pulling. We followed long enough to see the tracks showed a deer running strong on 4 legs, so I picked Luna up and went back for a restart. This time she took a different trail and a short way down it, I found 1 drop of blood. We continued on and all of a sudden, there he was! He had bedded down next to a log and was quite dead. I wasn't there for the field dressing, but it appeared the deer had been angled toward the hunter and the bullet had hit the leg, then entered the chest. The track was only 150 yards long. Just goes to show you never know what you're getting into. I expected to find the deer on the first track this morning and didn't, then I expected a long chase on a leg hit deer and it was a short easy track.

11/15 #1 Luna and I went on a track early this afternoon looking for a buck that was shot yesterday afternoon. I met with the hunters boyfriend due to her not being available. After the shot they waited a little while, then started tracking. They went only a short distance before watching the deer take off running through the woods, so they backed out for the night. This morning the boyfriend and a friend of his got back on the track. They followed blood for around 400 yards, found a bed then lost the trail after the deer crossed a creek. They had done a nice job marking the trail as they went. Luna followed the trail to their point of loss, then had a bit of a struggle. Eventually she took us back across the creek and 50 yards down a different trail where we found a little blood. That was the furthest we got. Luna never seemed sure past that point. We walked all the trails in the area, went back across the creek and worked that side, and walked the edge of a field, all with no results. #2 I was called by a neighbor on the bordering road tonight. He shot a buck late this afternoon and lost the bloodtrail on the edge of a swamp. Luna got right on it and quickly took us to the swamp, then things slowed to a crawl. The swamp was too deep in a lot of places for her to walk, so I carried her along until I could put her on a trail she could work. She'd walk a short distance up, then turn around and come back to me so I'd go to the next trail. At one point she backtracked right past our ribbons for 75 yards, then decided the buck hadn't backtracked and turned around and went back where we had just come from. We ended following a trail that led us out of the swamp and lo and behold....blood! We started seeing blood fairly regularly and it was very fresh. Luna started pulling hard and I believe she was getting ready to tell me the deer was still alive by barking. I pulled the plug here and we're going back in at first light.

We are not allowed to charge unless we are a licensed NYS guide. Personally I haven't bothered to get my guide license because I know charging would drastically cut the number of calls I get. My area is depressed economically and lots of people wouldn't spend the money.

I see where poor decisions were made on some of my calls, others are in another category....unseen branch, buck fever, etc. When I meet with the poor decision makers, I definitely talk to them about what they could/should have done differently. We discuss things like shot angles, finding a rest if at all possible, not shooting beyond your effective range etc. United Bloodtrackers and Deer Search trackers all believe educating hunters is a big part of our mission and take the time to do just that.

11/13 I was called last night by a hunter that had shot a buck yesterday afternoon and believed he hit it in the chest. He and his neighbor tracked a couple hundred yards and jumped it twice before losing blood, backing out, and calling me. Luna and I arrived at 8:00 this morning and started at the hit site, where we found a steady, fairly heavy bloodtrail to follow. We found more blood a short distance from the hunters point of loss, and then Luna led us on what turned out to be a 3/4 of a mile track. A little over 1/2 a mile in, I spotted the buck on the opposite side of a creek and saw him run off with no use of his left rear leg. The hunter tried to get into position for a shot but the buck was gone before that could happen. We crossed the creek at a trot, with Luna pulling hard and barking. It’s times like this that I’m grateful I don’t have a big dog. We left the woods and went down a power line right of way a couple hundred yards, then cut back into the woods. After a short distance Luna took us back out to the power lines for 50 yards or so, then cut back into the woods. I have a 30’ leash, but was keeping Luna close to me and I’m glad I was. As we started to cut back into woods we found the weakened 4 pointer bedded down 5 feet into a thicket and we ended his suffering there.

I 11/12 #1 Kunox and I took a track this morning for a buck that was shot yesterday afternoon, and the hunter and his friend could not find any blood. He said the deer had hunched and tucked it's tail when it ran away after the shot. We spent time trying to locate any hair or blood at the hit site, but were unable to find any. We started checking trails leading away from the area, and on the third one we located two drops of blood within a 50 yard area. This was the last blood we saw on this unsuccessful track. We followed every trail in the area for hundreds of yards, checked two ravines that had water, and walked a river bank. After two hours and nothing else to go on, we pulled the plug. #2 Luna and I took the next track. The hunter reported shooting a big buck as he walked out from afternoon watch yesterday. We got there at 11:30 this morning and followed decent blood for 100 yards. The hunter and his friend had done a nice job marking the blood trail and not grid searching when they lost the trail. We advanced the track about 400 yards with an occasional drop here and there. Luna led me to a large deep swamp and there was no way to follow the track from this point. We walked around the deepest part, but it was way too thick for Luna to walk, and as I carried her, we hit more deep water. Unfortunately that was the end of the track.

11/11 #1 I received a text from a hunter at 7:00 last night asking if I was available for a track this morning. He was walking out to his stand at 3:45 and happened upon a 6 or 8 pointer making a scrape. He took a 75 yard offhand shot but wasn’t sure where he hit him. He and a friend followed blood and found a bloody bed, then lost the trail. They did a small grid search, then backed out. We got on the track at 11:30 this morning, but were unable to find the hit site or any blood until the bed. Luna breathed in deeply and took off following the tracks. It wasn’t long and we were seeing frozen drops of blood as we walked. We arrived at the edge of a swamp and there the gutshot 8 pointer laid dead in the water. Unfortunately, crows and coyotes had found him first. The track was 250 yards long. #2 Kunox and I went to track a buck tonight that had been shot this morning. The hunter and his 2 sons lost the blood trail and one of his sons jumped it as it was bedded down on ice in the swamp. He actually chased it and said if he had a gun he was easily close enough to shoot it twice. They backed out and called us at that time. Kunox followed the track a good distance, then lost it and was not able to ever get back on it. We hadn't gotten to the point where the son had jumped it, so I asked the hunter to take us there. Unfortunately, things look different in the dark and he couldn't find it. He's going back in the morning to find it and flag it. I have a track lined up for 9:00, so I'm taking Kunox on that one, and will take Luna back to this one. To be continued...... #3 I received a call at 8:30 this morning to track a big buck that had been leg hit, but I couldn't get there until 9:45 tonight. The hunter had taken a couple more shots but didn't know if he connected. He and his son had tracked it several hundred yards and jumped it at one point, then did a short search. Luna made short work of the marked trail, then took a couple minutes to get past where they had lost blood and searched. As we continued on another hundred yards, maybe a little more, we came to the edge of a swamp. Luna worked the whole area, then stood there looking across a short expanse of icy water. I carried her across and put her down and she checked out a couple trails, then wanted to go back where we had come from. I carried her back across and she worked the area some more, then went back down the trail we had initially come up. About 10 yards down, she took a sharp right onto another trail and I spotted some blood. Off we went, and it wasn't too long and I saw the buck bedded down 20 yards in front of us. I called the hunters son up and had him take Luna and I went and dispatched this bruiser 8. The buck had been shot in a rear leg.....twice! I had someone who is interested in tracking, join me today. He's on vacation next week and will be tagging along to learn the trade. Phil is a true outdoorsman and I can see he's going to do great when he gets his dog next season.

Nope!

My turn!

11/10 #1 I received a call from a hunter that shot an 8 pointer as he was on his way out of the woods this morning. He found a little blood but was only able to track it a very short distance before the blood stopped. Kunox and I got on it and advanced the track a hundred yards or so, then he was acting unsure so we did a restart at last blood. He went a different way this time, into a thicket. After a short distance he started barking, telling me he had found a live deer. We advanced and found a small amount of blood, then he started pulling hard. We left the thicket and headed down a trail in what I thought was hot pursuit. After a short distance, Kunox looked back at me twice within a couple steps, as if to say "is this the way you want me to go?" I stopped him and we went back to last blood and restarted. He chose a different direction this time and showed me a small drop of blood, but we never saw anymore after that. We went up through someone's yard and it appeared the deer had crossed the road. I believe this deer was not seriously wounded....he didn't even bed down in the thicket, there was hardly any blood loss, and he was able to stay way ahead of us. Kunox did a great job and is really coming along nicely. He is definitely easier to read than Luna was at that stage in her tracking career. #2 I received a call when I was on my way to track #1 from a hunter that had shot an 8 pointer this morning. He thought he had missed it when he was unable to find any blood, but his Dad and and Grandpa went back with him to look some more. They ended up finding some good blood, but lost the trail after 100 yards or so. I went home and dropped Kunox off and picked up Luna. We met the hunter and began a long walk into the woods. Luna quickly took us to the point of loss and made short work of finding new blood. She led us to the edge of a swamp and headed in. She had a few minutes of difficulty locating the line due to deep water, so I had to carry her to different locations and put her down to check them out. While doing this, I ended up filling both my boots with icy water, with the air temperature in the 20's. I emptied my boots out once Luna had picked a line on drier land, and away we went. We were seeing sporadic blood, and after a few hundred yards Luna started barking and we were off to the races. As we continued, the blood trail increased and was easy to see. About 300 yards into this stage of the track, I realized we were still on big tracks, but there was no blood and the stride was way too long. Luna had switched deer on me and not missed a beat. I picked her up and we backtracked until we found blood, and she started over. We had gone less than 50 yards when the hunter spotted him bedded down. He was still alive, so we finished him. We were deep in the woods, surrounded by swamp at this point. My feet had been wet for at least an hour, so I told the hunter we needed to take some quick pictures, get our gps coordinates, and get out before the sun goes down. We ended up walking through a 1/2 mile of swamp, often mid thigh or higher on the way out. When I could no longer feel my feet, I was actually starting to get concerned we had put ourselves into a dangerous situation. We finally made it to a road about 30 minutes before sunset and flagged a truck down and got a ride back to our trucks.

Thanks Daniel. How'd you flip it?

11/9Luna and I went up to the beautiful Adirondacks this afternoon to look for a buck that was shot this morning. It was reported as a shoulder shot, but turned out to be a gut shot. Nothing had been marked and the hunter was uncertain of the hit site location. We had to start at some blood on a skid road and had 50 yards or less of blood, plus one bed. The hunter reported seeing a total of 4 beds as he tracked it earlier before losing blood. He and his buddy grid searched for three hours. They must have been careful not to step in blood because Luna sailed right through the search area. We ended up going a couple hundred yards and I commented that it would be nice to see some blood. The hunter asked me if I thought she was on it and I said definitely. We went another twenty five yards down a hill toward the river and there he lay. It was great seeing the big smile on this retired Army veterans face. Thank you for your service, Carl!

11/8 A friend shot a buck last night and Kunox and I tracked it this morning. There were a couple drops found right where it entered the woods and Kunox headed up the trail, showing us a few drops here and there. About 75 yards in, he abruptly took a sharp right turn onto a different trail. 25 yards later he showed us this fine 6 point. I was really happy for him....he needed a find. I have no idea why pics posted on this site get turned.....nowhere else does this happen.

11/7 We went on three tracks today, but only recovered 1 deer. A hunter called this morning and reported shooting an 8 pointer last night, then he and 3 friends tracked it for a couple hundred yards before losing blood. The 4 of them then grid searched for a couple hours. This morning, 2 of them searched for 2 more hours before calling me. It was reported there were bubbles in the blood. We got on the track and Luna followed the blood, then turned into a thicket. The first thing I saw was chest high blood smeared on a sapling. The hunter had been on the ground when he shot, it now looked like the lung shot turned into a high back shot just like that. We continued on and I was pleasantly surprised when Luna only took a minute or two to get us past the point of loss. Unfortunately, we only advanced the track another 50 yards or so before losing it. Multiple restarts did no good, and after walking a couple areas we called it. A second call had come in 70 miles from the first, so off we went. The hunter reported shooting a big buck, then unfortunately had jumped it twice in a briar thicket. He had been unable to find any blood at all. Luna and I went into the thicket with me carrying her because it was too thick for her to get through the prickers. We could not find any blood either, so we headed off in the direction the hunter had seen the deer go. After about half an hour, we found a tiny drop of blood in a nearby cornfield and Luna locked on. We found a total of 3 drops of blood and a small piece of fat on this 2 mile plus track. This deer circled and doubled back repeatedly. After an hour and a half of this, I told the hunter I believed we were not going to recover this deer and I was pulling the plug. We started walking out and I had a change of heart. I remembered reading that sometimes an extra half hour can make the difference before success and failure, so I told the hunter I wanted to go back to last blood for one more try. Luna took us on the loopy loops again, going by the ribbons we had marked blood and fat with, then this time took us a different direction into the corn. We never saw any more blood but let her take us through the corn and into a woodlot. We continued, and I have to admit that doubts were creeping in when the hunter spotted him limping off, but couldn't get a shot. Luna started her high pitched bark and I told the hunter to stay close and we took off at a trot. We played cat and mouse for half an hour with him taking us through thickets, then back into the corn. He eventually left the corn and started through an open pasture where the hunter was able to end the deer's suffering. It turns out he was shot in the front leg. The third and final track of the day came as we were on the second track. I took tired Luna home and picked up fresh, raring to go, Kunox. The hunter reported shooting a big 8 pointer in a field this morning, then saw him go through a hedgerow. Unfortunately, neither the hit site nor the exit from the field were marked and poor Kunox never had anything to get him started. We never found any hair or blood. We walked different trails for 500 to 600 yards with no results. We walked through a neighboring woodlot where a hunter had shot at and missed the same buck, all to no avail. To make matters worse it was now dark and deer were in the field. 3 or 4 times Kunox started his barking, indicating he was on live deer. We eventually called off the track.

Just got back from hunting in northern Maine. No luck, but had a great time still hunting skidder roads and clear cuts. Saw 2 bull moose and 2 does. Also, we had 3 Amish farms to hunt, one with standing corn and beautiful fields of clover. I'm at a total loss as to why there was not one track in that corn, and in 3 watches only saw one doe in the clover. I know Maine has nowhere near the deer numbers we do, but they don't like corn? Back to tracking tomorrow if I get a call.

10/26 I received a call last night from a hunter who had shot a nice 8 point earlier in the evening. He said the buck mule kicked when shot, then ran a short distance and left his field of vision. He waited 20 minutes to climb down, then located a couple of drops of dark blood near the woods. He and 2 friends grid searched the woods and were unable to find any more blood. The dark blood made me think liver, so we decided to track at first light. We searched where the buck had been standing, looking for hair, blood, bone, anything to help us determine where he had been hit. We came up empty and walked the few yards to where the blood was. Luna sniffed the blood and set off through the woods, she only had about 5 yards to learn the deers scent. I let her take me at least 300 yards with no sign, then took her back for a restart. She took me in the same general direction, so again we went in deep. We did many restarts, went to a couple bedding areas and snooped around, got permission from two neighbors and walked their property, all with negative results. I called it quits at about the 3 hour mark. I received a call from the hunter about 4 hours later. To his credit (which I congratulated him on) he and a friend had gone back out to look some more. They jumped a buck in a bedding area but were unable to get a good look at it. They found the bed and just enough blood in it to confirm it was the buck they were looking for. It ran off strong and they never saw it again. I told him this long after the shot, 20 hours, and the buck is that strong it likely will survive. The wind was obviously wrong for Luna to scent the bedded buck or he wasn’t there when we walked through. The hunter said we had been very close. I have a feeling he’s going to get another crack at him.

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