outdoorstom

That's a good question.....i dont know.

10/25 A hunter reported shooting a deer this morning, and he and his grandfather tracked it for half a mile. He thinks he hit it in the shoulder, but pieces of bone were found making me believe a leg was also involved. The deer was bumped out of its bed twice in that half mile. They had grid searched for a couple hours before we got there. Kunox and I started at the hit site and he did a great job taking us to last blood. We ended up underneath power lines, and there were trails everywhere. This is where the problems started. Kunox was all over the place, no doubt from blood being on their boots as they searched. We walked every trail in the area, did circles around there, and went into the nearby swampy area on the neighbors property, but found no sign or dead deer.

Most of the bears I track are shot by deer hunters who just happen to have a bear walk by As they're on watch. Some know the shot placement is not the same for both animals, some don't. This is is a very informative and interesting article on the subject. http://www.bear-hunting.com/2014/5/middle-of-the-middle-redefining-shot-placement

10/23 I received a call last night from a hunter’s Dad telling me his son had shot a bear and they need some help. We met at 7:00 this morning and advanced the track 400 yards, then had a property line issue. We were able to get online and get a phone number for the name on the sign, but got voicemail. I had a dentist appointment at noon, so I drove the 70 miles for that. Before I arrived, I got word that we got a green light. After my appointment, Luna and I headed back. Tracking conditions had deteriorated due to temps in the 70’s and the wind had picked up. Luna got right back on it though and we were off. At this point we were still seeing some blood smeared on saplings and logs the bear had passed, but that quickly stopped and we were lucky to see a drop on swamp grass or in the woods. We were easily going hundreds of yards trusting Luna, then she would show us some as if to say” have no fear, I’ve got this”. At 1.2 miles per gps, we pulled the plug. At this point we were at the 22 hour mark since the bear was shot and it hadn’t bedded down once.

10/21 I had a call from an old coworker I haven’t seen in 17 or 18 years. His son, 17 years old had shot an 8 pointer this morning and they had tracked for 700 yards, then lost blood in a field. Actually, this field is a range. This is a first for me....this deer was shot on a firing range. The range is 1500 yards long and at least 150 yards wide and is loaded with clover. As they were target shooting, they noticed deer stepping out downrange to browse the clover. They decided to stop shooting and sit tight to see if any bucks would show up. Sure enough, the 8 pointer appeared at 120 yards. The deer must have been angled some because we discovered later only 1 lung was hit. I started Luna at the hit site and had her track the 700 yards they had covered. Luna was all over it and had plenty of time to gather her necessary information to successfully track this deer. Once we got to the hunters point of loss, we were a good 5 minutes of Luna sweeping the field and checking runways lead into a drainage ditch that ran down the middle of the range. She eventually picked one and we finished crossing the field and went back into the thickets, which were mainly prickly ash. Lovely stuff. We had consistently been seeing blood most of the track and that continued now. This buck took us uphill, downhill, you name it....except no swamp this time. At one point, Luna started her high pitched bark indicating a live deer, but it must have been a different one because we found the buck dead a few minutes later. He took us just under a mile. The hunter of course was happy, but I think his Dad was even happier!

Great looking bucks! Good luck!

I had never heard of using peroxide until this post. I asked the tracker group I belong to about it and learned that some of them actually carry it when tracking. They have no concerns about it harming the dogs nose.

10/19 We went on a track this morning and got nowhere. Last night the hunter shot a 4 pointer with his muzzleloader but had no idea where he hit it. He found some white hair and a blood trail consisting of 3 or 4 drops and we never advanced the track despite several restarts. We went on a track this afternoon for a buck that was shot with a muzzleloader this morning. A light blood trail started about 40 yards from the hit site and went into a nearby swamp. The hunter and his friend had tracked it into the swamp and lost blood at a trail intersection. Luna quickly showed us which trail to follow and took us beyond where they had grid searched. We were in and out of swamp grass, through a small wooded area, under main electrical transmission lines, through a thick area, doubled back under the transmission lines, and went back into the swamp. We’d go a hundred yards or more without seeing blood, then find a drop, which is always nice. A couple times Luna missed a turn, but always self corrected and got back on it. There were deep areas in the swamp and we were walking parallel with one of them when I heard a splash and saw ripples around a curve. A second later I saw antlers and I called up the hunter, who was about 20 yards behind me. He was looking for an opening to shoot when the bucks head went under water and he died shortly thereafter. The buck was in about 6’ of water and Luna was going crazy. I encouraged her to “go get it” and she jumped in and actually moved it a few feet closer to us before swimming back. She went back a second time for another sniff and I was hoping she’d climb on top of it and I could gently pull both of them to shore, but she swam back. I eventually made a loop with my leash and lassoed it. It was sure fun watching Luna’s prey drive turn her from a non swimmer to a swimmer! Field dressing revealed a quartering to shot that caught one lung and guts. There was no exit hole. Sent from my iPhone

I've had no big buck sightings on my 3 cameras all year.....very unusual. I'm confident I'll see some cruisers once we get into the rut since I've got lots of does.

6A 10/17 Saw a group of 3 bucks together. Watched 2 four pointers lightly spar off and on for an hour as they browsed.

By law they have to be on a leash and it would be impossible to handle them both at the same time.

10/18 I had a call from a very distraught bowhunter last night. He had climbed out of his tree due to high winds and had ended up shooting a doe from the ground. Unfortunately it was a gutshot. He did what us trackers love...he backed out immediately and put absolutely no pressure on the deer. We were there at first light this morning and Luna immediately walked us 125 yards through the woods to the dead deer. She died in her first bed due to the hunter being smart about it. I had to laugh when he told me I'm the reason he was over his data plan. Apparently he gets up in his stand and reads tracking stories. As we drove home I told Luna not to tell Kunox where we'd been. Pretty sure he figured it out for himself though.

10/17 Luna's back! 2 hours after she got back from NH, we were out on a track. The hunter reported a misfire with his muzzleloader, he put a new cap on and touched it off again. This time there was a delay, but it fired. The smoke blew directly back at him so he didn't know where it went. He found some brown hair and a little meat at the hit site, but couldn't find blood so he called us. Luna made short work of this track. We headed out of the food plot and down a trail. We had marked two drops of blood in 50 yards and the next thing I know Luna is chewing on the tail of an 8 pointer. This would have been a good track for Kunox to get more experience on, but Luna was sure a happy girl!

10/15 Today was a disappointing day. 1 deer track, 1 bear track, 0 recoveries. Kunox did advance both tracks. Conditions were far from favorable. The bear track was in the mountains and we decided it wasn't a good idea to be out there when the wind blew a tree over. When Kunox got out of the truck I noticed he was limping as we walked to the house. Pads on both back paws are skinned up and he needs some recovery time. Luna gets back from Club Med on Tuesday so we'll be back in business Tuesday night.

10/14 Our first track today was for a 5 pointer that was shot with a muzzleloader in a cut cornfield. After the shot, the buck ran to the edge of the field and stood a while, then walked off. The hunter found decent, not great, blood where the deer stood. He followed the bloodtrail through some tall grass until it came to a wide creek. At this point he went and got a canoe, crossed the creek and saw some blood, then lost it and called me. He marked it and backed right out. I took Kunox into the corn field to try and locate the hit site, but we were unable to pinpoint it. Kunox did show me blood in the field, then followed it to the creek edge where we took the canoe across. He took us past the hunters point of loss where we would see an occasional tiny spot on the ground. We continued to the neighboring property and a phone call gained us access. After 1/2 a mile, no blood to speak of, and no wound bed, we called it off. On the second track today Kunox did an outstanding job, but I didn't do my part. The hunter reported the deer hunching up when shot with the muzzleloader, a sign of a gutshot. I told him we'd wait 8 hours then go track him. For several reasons (none of them good enough) I called him back and said we'll go after 6 hours. We got there and the hunter had done his part...he had only gone in the woods about 20 or 30 feet and had seen some blood on a leaf, marked it and left. Kunox had a hard time getting a line on this one, but eventually did after a couple restarts. Once he was on it, he was ON it! 100 yards into the track, we jumped the buck and he took off. He wasn't moving the best and it was obvious he was hurt. This is where I made my second biggest mistake of the day. I thought he was injured worse than he was and instead of backing out and giving him more time, I thought we could get close enough for a killing shot. 3 miles later and I realized how wrong I was. We ended up seeing him standing broadside 150-200 yards on the other side of a swamp as we came out of the woods. Tough shot for a muzzleloader that was sighted in for 50 yards.....it was a miss. We walked all the way around the swamp to the field on the other side and after some searching, Kunox once again did his job and showed us blood. We tracked the buck another 400 yards from there, across a road and onto the neighboring property. We went a distance onto that property then pulled the plug. I learned some lessons the hard way on this track and will not forget them.

10/13 I had a call at 7:00 this evening from a hunter who had shot a buck with his crossbow. He said the shot looked good on the entry side, but the exit was low and he saw something hanging out as it ran off. Based on what he told me, I was thinking he caught one lung, although he didn't see any bubbles in the blood. We got on the trail and it was initially easy to follow, but got tougher as we went. Kunox did great, but did need a couple restarts along the way. He eventually took us to a huge swamp and really wanted to go in. We walked the banks and a trail that led to a beaver dam, but never saw any sign. We went back to last blood and he again was pulling to go into the water. There were two boats there that are used for bird hunting and I told the hunter I wanted to go out in one and look around. He was surprised, but we set sail in the canoe. After working a narrow channel in the direction Kunox was showing me, we didn't see anything and turned around and headed to another channel that ran perpendicular with the first one. As we were paddling, the hunter spotted the 4 pointer floating in the water. Kunox didn't see the deer right away, but his nose was in overdrive! He finally saw it and I had real concerns about him jumping out of the canoe onto the deer's back. It turns out the shot was further back and caught the liver on the way through.

10/12 Kunox and I took a track tonight where the hunter didn't know where his arrow had hit the deer, and he had not found the arrow. First blood was found about 50 yards away, and there was very little of it. It took a while, but Kunox advanced the track another 50 yards to the edge of large deep swamp. End of story.

10/11 Kunox and I went on a 6 hour old track today. The hunter did everything right.....when the blood started getting hard to find, he backed out and called us. This was a perfect track for inexperienced Kunox. The deer was almost directly beneath the hunter who was 15' up in the tree and his pass through shot took out a lung on the way through. There was lots of blood on the trail initially, which of course was no problem for Kunox. As it started to disappear, he did miss a turn. I let him go about 75 yards to see if he'd correct himself, but he didn't so I carried him back. He at once locked on and stayed on. The blood stopped but Kunox kept going and 50 yards later we found the deer. Total length of the track was 250 yards. Poor Luna has an infection in her paw from a pricker. Warm water and Edson salt twice a day, and an antibiotic. My wife is taking her to NH tomorrow until Tuesday to see the kids. Poor girl doesn't understand why she can't take part in the fun.

10/10 At 9:00, Kunox and I went on a track for a doe shot at 5:00. The hunter said it was an extreme quartering away shot and the arrow was completely inside her. He had marked last blood. When I got there we drove into the field and the hunter said he had just seen eyes and it looked like it bedded down in the field. We scanned the fairly small hayfield but there was no deer there. He also stated there were 10 deer in the field when he shot. The hit site wasn't marked, so we worked the area and Kunox picked up some blood. He methodically worked that field......back and forth and kept picking up blood the hunter hadn't seen, and we ended up in the treeline. This is where the hunter had seen blood and marked it. We ended up going past the point of loss and into a cornfield. We found three drops within 10 yards of each other. Kunox was unable to show us anymore and was going in all different directions, I believe on hot lines. The cornfield has a huge weed problem, with weeds being waist high in some areas. We worked through this area with no luck. We called it at midnight with plans to come back at 8:00 after he took his kids to school. This morning we went back to last blood and again Kunox was all over the place. I did several restarts with no results. The hunter found some more blood as we worked an area nearby, just as we found the doe about thirty yards away in the grass. We were really close last night and I'm surprised we didn't find her. Great learning experience for Kunox though! Speaking of learning, or should I say "not learning", we saw another porcupine last night and with a strong grip on the lead, I took Kunox over there to see what he would do. He went into attack mode. The hunter shot the doe from the ground, and the arrow ran along the spine. We could not find an exit hole, but also couldn't find the arrow in the deer. He's going to let me know what happened to the arrow when he skins the deer out. No major organs were hit.

10/9 #2 I took Kunox on a track tonight for a doe that was shot this evening. It sounded like a great one for him to get more experience on.....bubbles in the blood. We were about 5 minutes into it when he went under a deadfall and a few seconds later I started hearing a commotion. I thought he had found the doe and she was still alive. I quickly made my way around and ducked under to get a look. All I could see were quills everywhere. I pulled Kunox out and he had a face full. This brave guy never so much as whimpered.....talk about stoic! The hunter, Mark Henophy, and I hustled out of the woods and Mark drove us to the vet. Kunox was put under and the quills were pulled. I want to publicly acknowledge Mark for being a stand up guy and paying the vet bill! Thank you!

It was a last minute decision to go for Kunox. I'm taking him back in December....we'll have coffee then and I'll bring Luna so you can meet her. Hope you're back on your feet soon!

Nope, Luna is fixed.

10/9 Luna and I went on a track this morning for a young hunter that shot a doe at 7:00 am. We arrived at 8:45 and the hunter told me the doe was at 25 yards in the field when he shot her from a ground blind. I asked him to pretend Luna was a deer and had him point to the spot he hit her. He pointed directly behind her front leg, indicating a perfect hit. He went on to state she had made a big loop in the field, entered the woods, and he heard her crash. The hunter was able to kind of show the general area the doe had been standing when shot and Luna went the opposite way from where she had gone after the hit. She hadn't been alone, I think we were following one of the other deer. I took Luna to the edge of the woods where I walked her along until she picked a trail and took off. 200 yards later we found an arrow with only a couple inches missing from the broadhead end. We entered a swale and Luna gave a couple high pitched barks and started pulling hard. It had been, and still was, raining very heavily so we never saw any blood but there was no doubt we were on her. We continued for another 300 yards until we had a property line issue. A phone call went unanswered and voicemail had not been set up. End of the line. On the way out I had a candid discussion with the hunter about the pitfalls of bow hunting in the rain, especially when 1-2" is called for, like today. I believe he now thinks it's a bad idea.

10/8 Today was a busy day. My wife, Geri, and I drove to Berne (near Albany) to take John and Jolanta Jeanneney up on their generous offer of loaning us 4 year old Kunox. We had a very nice 2 hour visit, then headed home to face the music with Luna. Kunox has had training on tracking deer, but has never been on an actual track. I told my wife how cool it would be to get a call tonight and have him find his first deer. Luna is a little puzzled about the intruder who keeps trying to hump her, but they'll figure it all out in the next few days. At 8:00 the phone rang with a hunter asking for Luna by name. I told him Luna has the day off due to her injury, but I do have an inexperienced dog I'd love to bring over if he likes. He agreed and told me he was hunting from the ground and had made a good shot on a nice buck, had good blood, then lost it. They had looked around for about a 100 yards, then called. I told them to mark last blood and back out. It turned out the track was only 1 mile from my house...gotta love that. We walked back to first blood since the hit site wasn't marked and started there. I told Kunox to "find it" and off he went. There was a substantial trail to follow and he mostly stayed on it. He missed some turns but corrected himself most times. When he didn't I took him back to last blood and restarted him.There were a few times where the blood dried up for 40 or 50 yards and Kunox methodically worked it out and found more. He was a very determined boy! We crossed two creeks and he dove in without hesitation. The track ended up being a mile long and I dispatched the gutshot buck at the end of it. The long drag out started then, with Kunox chewing the deer the whole time. He was not overly possessive as he showed no signs of aggression when I tested him several times by picking him up and walking away from the deer. He's a very good boy! It was an honor to handle him on his first track and first find!

10/7 When I got up this morning I had a message from a hunter who had shot a big six last night. He had watched it for over an hour while it bedded down, out of range. He even took a picture though his binoculars of it. It eventually headed his way and he shot it, hitting the shoulder. The hunter tracked it last night until finding a bed in an open field, then losing blood. He was back with help this morning and had advanced the trail a short distance, then lost blood. I went back and forth on taking this one due to it being a shoulder hit with 6 or 7 inches of penetration. I eventually told him if he found more blood to mark it, back out, and call me. It wasn't 5 minutes later and he called back saying he had found more. We arrived and due to rain moving in, started at the bed in the field instead of the hit site. Luna quickly took us to the point of loss and led us across the road where we went through an open field and into a brushy area. We found a couple tiny drops of blood, actually smears on vegetation and she took me onto a grassy lane. We went down to within 10 yards or so of the end of the lane which led to another field, and I misread Luna. She was acting nonchalant about it and I doubted her. That was my mistake, I'm still sometimes not reading her properly. I'm hoping this one helps get it through my thick skull to TRUST YOUR DOG! We spent a good hour on wild goose chases after the restart, going different directions. Finally we ended up at the corner again and I let her continue. Sure enough, there was some blood there where he made a turn, walking along with an open field on his right and heavy brush, cedar, and swampy areas on the left. We walked 150 yards on the edge and Luna cut in. We went into a swampy area and we jumped him. The bed was dry, indicating he'd spent some time there, but had a little blood in it. We never saw him, but found a small amount of fresh blood leading out into the woods, with Luna barking and us in hot pursuit. We could see his tracks, with long strides and no stumbling. We got to a property line where we didn't have permission to enter. Rather than trying to get permission to enter, based on him still being so strong 16 hours after the shot, I called off the track. We ended up over a half mile from where he was shot.