outdoorstom

He sounded like a great guy. Hang in there!

As G-Man said, you can use the brush to force them to enter and exit the plot near your stand. Works great!

I'm very excited about tracking this coming season. John and Jolanta Jeanneney (borntotrack.com) have offered to loan me one of their dogs to use as a backup for Luna. Last season Luna had to take some time off due to some minor injuries she got during her 44 tracks. I anticipate us being busier this year. Luna will NOT be happy when she realizes Yukon is going instead of her.

Condolences on your loss. 87 is a pretty good run!

Hahaha

Last year my buddy had someone drive by him laughing and he didn't know why. When he got home he realized some blood had dripped down from the bed of his truck and ran down his license plate. Awesome!

Luna and I wish you the best and hope you have a quick recovery!

I'm still in Florida and won't be going this year. I went last year and would HIGHLY recommend going if at all possible!

Glad its better today!

At least you were smart enough to start getting your gear together now instead of the night before. Now THAT would have been a disaster!

Thanks for your kind words Grampy. I was so happy Luna found it for him. There were huge high fives happening out in the woods!

I received a picture today of this young hunters first buck....just back from the taxidermist. Here's the original story and the mounted buck. 11/23/16 I got a call on Monday evening from a guy telling me his 14 year old had shot a nice 8 pointer Saturday morning and wondered if there was anything we could do. I explained that with the deep snow and the length of time since the shot, we would be air scenting only and it was very unlikely we would find it. The hunter, his mother, and I headed out this morning (Wednesday) at 9:00. While the hunter was taking us to last blood, we came across fresh blood, but it turned out a snowshoe hare had met his fate. We continued on to last blood and in the distance I could see a stand of cedars. I carried Luna into them where the snow wasn't as deep and she could walk. We meandered through them for about 15 minutes with Luna trying to follow hot trails and me trying to just work her through the area. She had her nose stuck into a track and I said c'mon girl, we're looking for a dead deer. 15 seconds later and she's standing next to a nice dead 8 pointer! The coyotes had gotten to the rear end, but the cape was still good. His Dad said on the phone today that they were going to mount it.

I've got great understory in my woods and don't see that changing for a long time!

Thanks for the valuable feedback. 4 years ago the woodlot was selectively cut after being marked by a forester, so we don't anticipate another harvest for many years. I'm not worried about 4 wheeling or hiking in there, I don't do that now....we stay out and hunt the edges. There is 6oo acres of public land directly across the road I use for recreation. The syrup producer has agreed to not go into the woods between September first and the end of hunting season, so I'd be fine with that.

I'm going to be busier than ever next season. The nearest tracking dog to me is an hour away at Ft Drum. Unfortunately, the trackers husband is getting orders to Ft Hood and will be gone by tracking season.

I've been asked if I'd be willing to lease my 25 acre woodlot to a maple syrup producer. I asked his opinion on if the the tubing affects deer hunting and in his experience you usually get more deer in your woods. He said it's as if the deer feel safer for some reason. He also said they have issues with deer chewing on the tubing. I've got two food plots in there I'd need to access, but I imagine they could work around them or set it up so I could do a couple quick disconnects and get the tractor through? Does anybody have any experience with this and could you advise me? Thanks!

Luna doing a little lizard hunting as she waits for tracking season to get here. There seems to be a problem opening the video.....at least on my ipad. Has anyone been able to open it? IMG_1126.MOV

What a cool pic!!

Great story...thanks for posting it!

Where are you located? I've got a lot in my freezer for training Luna, and I'll give you some.

I love hearing from hunters we tracked for....especially with news like this. Hey Tom! I hope your vacation is going good down there in the warm weather....I wanted to send you a quick message to let you know that we went back up to our camp this morning to take down our trail cameras that we left up and we got another picture of the deer that you and Luna tried to help me find! Just goes to show how tough they are and that there was no way that Luna could find him because he was still running....thanks for all your help and have a good winter! 12/3 - I received a call this morning from a local family I know that were hunting at their camp in the Adirondacks. One of the guys had shot a nice buck last night and had found a little blood, then backed out. They went back this morning and searched for a couple hours, then called me. Unfortunately things were complicated by 2" of snow overnight. We spent 3 hours following big tracks, getting downwind of thick areas, and just sweeping the entire area, to no avail. We don't have any idea where the deer was shot since we couldn't find any hair or other evidence. Luna was getting very cold after being wet for that long and was shivering pretty bad at this point, so I called it off. Not only did we not find the deer, but I got a flat tire just as I arrived at their camp. These guys were great though and dove right in and changed it for me. The big woods where they hunt are absolutely gorgeous!

DEC seeks to increase deer population, issuing fewer doe permits in St. Lawrence County Saturday, December 24, 2016 - 8:50 am By MATT LINDSEY Deer harvest numbers in St. Lawrence County are down 22 percent from last year, but that is somewhat by design due to fewer doe permits and more restrictive hunting opportunities, state conservation officials say. Although deer harvest numbers are declining, that does not necessarily mean the population is going down. But most hunters are saying they have seen less deer this year. A variety of field experts say weather, predators and illegal hunting have effected local deer populations. The total buck take in St. Lawrence County for 2015 was 2,657, down 13 percent from 3,033 in 2014, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The buck take is down 19 percent from 2011 when 3,277 bucks were reportedly taken. Overall deer harvest is down 31 percent from five years ago. “The buck take objective is a pretty good indicator of the direction of the population,” said Region 6 DEC Big Game Biologist Steve Heerkens. He said DEC officials judge the overall population based on a buck take objective, which they have used for over 60 years, and do not look at deer populations as an exact figure. Alexander Stewart, associate professor of geology at St. Lawrence University, believes bitter winters from 2011-14 caused a decline in deer population, coupled with a warm winter in 2015 possibly leading to fewer hunters in the woods, has contributed to lower deer harvests. Local game tracker Tom Rausch of Waddington says deer numbers on his farm have stayed fairly consistent over the last five years, but most hunters he has spoken to told him they are seeing fewer and fewer deer in recent years. Deer Harvest Numbers Heerkens said a task force committee was created in St. Lawrence County in 2009 to provide a population that was a happy medium for hunters, farmers, motorists and others. “There will always be differing opinions and how people view deer, so we try to get a diverse group of people when talking about deer populations,” he said. In WMU 6C, which covers parts of Parishville, Hopkinton, and Pierrepont, the objective of 1.8 buck per square mile has remained steady, Heerkens said. Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 6A, which covers portions of land along U.S. Route 11 through Potsdam, Canton, and Gouverneur, to south of Gouverneur, the goal is a 1.7 bucks per square mile. Right now they are at 1.2 bucks per square mile. “We are not far away from that objective,” Heerkens said. “We are half a buck off.” Heerkens said he has been pulling back on antlerless deer permits in an effort to grow the population, but says it takes time for the changes to take effect and see what the trend is. He said that he was not entirely sure why 6A was not rebounding as well but noted the unit has the highest number of antlerless deer take in the northern zone. “Why it is rebounding so slow … I don't have answer for that other than the muzzle loading take was just heavy enough that its not been able to take off,” he said. He hopes the second year for no antlerless deer take during muzzle loading would help kick-start that region’s harvest numbers and increase the number of adult females. Heerkens said because St. Lawrence County environments differ quite a bit from region to region and town to town, forest cover, farms and other dynamics can influence the number of deer being seen. Weather, Predators, Illegal Hunting One possible reason hunters have reported seeing fewer deer could be recent cold, harsh winters. Prof. Stewart, who collected data from 2011 through 2015 from http://climodtest.nrcc.cornell.edu/ and the West Potsdam weather station, says from 2011-2014 the overall weather and climate for the area became colder, on average, drier and windier. The 2015 winter was much warmer, Stewart says. “In sum, it appears that 2011-2014 winter seasons impacted and stressed deer populations by increasingly harsh conditions, which led to less available deer for hunters who weren’t that keen on hunting during sub-optimal, Northern New York conditions in 2015,” Stewart said. Deteriorating winter conditions from the 2011-2014 seasons impacted the ability for deer to survive increasingly poor winters. “This came to a head with the very cold and dry 2014 season where, I surmise, a lack of snow cover and increased windy conditions made bedding-down conditions for deer more stressful … less wind blockage and insulation from a nice warm snow bed … more need to move, stay warm, burn calories and become depleted health wise,” Stewart said. This all led, abruptly, to the second warmest winter on record in 2015, “Deer populations were in a stressed state population wise and then became ‘fat and happy’ with reduced need for travel for food because of increased access and less need to burn calories to stay warm,” Stewart said. “Compounding this lack of deer mobility was the fact that hunters were, likely, less avid during exceptionally warm fall/early winter season for deer taking.” Heerkens said hard winters in 2013 and 2014 caused a lot of mortality in fawns. “Almost all of the deaths of deer from the winters were fawns,” Heerkens said, Game tracker Tom Rausch believes a major contributor to low numbers in parts of the county is the exploding coyote population. Heerkens wasn't so sure that there was an increase in coyote population in St. Lawrence County based on the predator-prey relationship. “I don't know what would foster that,” he said. He said that if the coyote population increases, so would the need for them to eat, eventually leaving them without anything to eat if the population was growing quickly. Most deer killed by coyotes are fawns. Heerkens said illegal hunting and poaching is “definitely a problem in St. Lawrence County and across the state.” “Every area of the state says theirs is the worst when it comes to poaching … there is no reason for St. Lawrence County to feel its worse off.” When asked if the DEC is understaffed Heerkens said there have been fewer DEC officers in the field in recent years due to retirements, turnover and other factors. He did say there was an academy of recent graduates preparing for DEC positions. What Hunters Are Saying Rausch says deer numbers “were down a little last year, I am assuming from the two harsh winters in a row, but have definitely bounced back this year.” He said he usually sees 15 to 20 deer on an afternoon watch, fewer in the morning, “Of the hunters I've talked to though, almost all say they see less deer now than five years ago,” Rausch said. Rausch has an 8-point minimum rule on his farm. “We've been letting the little ones walk for at least 6 or 7 years now and definitely see a difference in the number and quality of bucks in the area,” he said. “We're fortunate that some of our adjoining neighbors practice that philosophy too. I am in contact with a lot of hunters due to our game tracking service, and the ones who pass on the little bucks all report seeing higher quality bucks.” Rausch said the valley appears to have a higher deer population, but that he believes that has always been the case. “I've hunted here since 1992 and I remember years back when the numbers seemed lower than now,” Rausch said. “I continually work on improving the deer habitat on my farm by increasing the amount of natural browse, food plots, and good bedding areas. Others I know have seen good deer numbers when they do the same.” “I encourage hunters I track for to do the recovery that evening, due to the likelihood of coyotes finding them first,” he said. The DEC sends out hunter surveys and is analyzing what Heerkens described as “hunter effort” which will examine information such as the number of days spent hunting, where people are hunting and the number of deer that are being seen. “This helps us square up numbers,” he said. The last time deer were considered to be overpopulated in St. Lawrence County was during the 1990s, Heerkens said. “About 10 to 15 years ago the situation was just the opposite and we were getting approval for doe permits in St. Lawrence County,” he said. Heerkens said he does hear dissatisfaction from St. Lawrence County hunters about deer population. “The deer numbers are never going to be that high again…the expectations are too high and that's not realistic any more,” Heerkens said.

Prayers sent

Maybe caught liver.

Luna and I would like to thank everyone that gave us the opportunity to track for them this season. We ended up finding 12 deer and 1 bear. We'll be training hard in the off season and hope to do even better next year. Merry Christmas everyone!