outdoorstom

I know that nothing I type here will make this any easier, but please know you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Sorry I missed that!!

His phone was in his car.

Olberman clearly was dropped on his head repeatedly as a child.

I use a jacket and bibs made by Dan's when we're tracking. We go through some nasty briar thickets, prickly ash, etc, and they've taken everything thrown at them. http://briarproofhunting.com/?gclid=CJ6l4e7F8tACFZCCswodWD4Lhg

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Heuvelton-Man-Dies-After-25-Foot-Fall-From-Tree-Stand-406337175.html

Good post....another factor is if it's a fixed or mechanical broad head still in the deer. A fixed will continue to cut a lot more than a relaxed mechanical.

Pretty strange no bigfoot pics with all the cameras in the woods!

12/10 - On this 8 degree night, Luna and I tracked a doe shot with a muzzleloader this afternoon. The hunter and his friend has lost blood after a half mile track, did one circle trying to pick it back up, then backed out. Luna made short work of the half mile to the hunters point of loss, then it took a little time to move beyond there. She took off took down a trail with plenty of deer tracks, but I didn't see any blood after about 150 yards. I picked her up and carried her back to last blood and did a restart. She took off down a difference trail this time, but again no sign. Back we went for another restart, and she chose the same trail we had just tried, but this time I decided to go a lot further. 300 yards later and I spotted a tiny red dot in the snow.....good girl Luna! I called the hunter up to flag it and we took off. About 5 minutes later Luna's intensity picked up and she started barking, indicating we were close to the live deer. It became obvious from the tracks that the deer was now running, so we picked up the pace. Despite running, the deer never started bleeding anymore than the occasional drop we had been seeing. After going a mile beyond last blood, we called it off. Luna did her job, and was not at all happy with having to stop.

That was VERY irresponsible of Dick's not to call the authorities.

Good article in Outdoor Life. http://www.outdoorlife.com/busted-10-myths-about-blood-trailing-deer#page-11

Some of you may enjoy this interesting article written by the gentleman who started the bloodtracking dog program in NY in the 70's. http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-is-your-success-recovery-rate.html

Thanks! I consider them successful if we can reasonably be assured they survived.

12/4 - I took a track this morning I normally wouldn't due to the low probability of a recovery, and a good chance the deer survived. The only reason I agreed to try was because it was a young girls first buck. The buck was shot yesterday morning and dropped at the shot, then started dragging itself out of the field without the use of its back legs. After a few seconds it regained the use of its back legs and ran off. All signs of a classic high back hit. We started at the hit site and Luna took us exactly to the hunters point of loss, and then found some more blood a short distance beyond. We searched the area thoroughly with negative results. Our second track of the day was for a 78 year old hunter that had shot at a running buck that was behind 2 does. The shot was at a distance of ten yards through brush, and the buck fell to his front knees, then jumped up and ran away. The hunter had been sitting on a rock and fell off when made the shot, so was unable to get a second one off. We found white hair at the hit site, and a little blood just inside the woodlot. Luna was pulling hard as we went deeper into the woods, then started her high pitched bark reserved for live deer. I told the hunter and his neighbor that we were tracking a live deer, then a couple minutes later we saw the buck in brush at about 75 yards, sneaking away with his tail down. When we got over there we found some more white hair, but no blood. Luna was still barking and pulling hard and we continued on. We saw the buck a few minutes later running through the woods with his tail up. He crossed a swamp with deep water and we called off the track at that point, believing the deer had been grazed in the brisket.

Great story and great bucks! Thanks for taking the time to share them!

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! There was no cell service where I was tracking and as I drove out of the mountains I got two voicemails from guys wanting me to track. I called the first one and was happy to hear they had found the buck. The second one was unable to track tonight so we made plans to meet at 7:30 in the morning. As I continued home I received a third call and agreed to meet the hunter and track this evening. He was unable to show me where the deer was standing in the middle of a big field when he shot it, but he got a second shot at it and had a good idea where it was for this one. We no longer have snow on the ground in the valley so we couldn't see tracks, and Luna was unable to pick anything up. The hunter showed me where we he watched the deer run (with it's tail up and running normally) and we walked major runways in that area. Twice Luna took us to a drainage ditch. The first time we went across we followed a runway for a couple hundred yards but never saw any sign. We went back to the field and did a restart and Luna took us back to the ditch. I carried her across again, but when I set her down she took off but wasn't using her right rear leg. I stopped her and looked and found a stick stuck up between her pads. I pulled it out but she still wouldn't put any weight on that leg, so I called off the track. I'm not even sure this deer got hit by either shot.

12/1 - Today was a frustrating day. I got called last night by a hunter that had shot a buck and needed some help finding it. I told him I'd be over in a little while and he was surprised I wanted to do it at night. He mentioned rain was forecasted overnight and that concerned him, and I told him the coyote problem around here had me concerned so I'd really like to do it now. He said his girlfriend needed the car and wanted to wait until this morning. We got over 1/2" of rain last night, which I knew would of course wash the blood away, but Luna should still be able to track. This State land had 13 apple trees that were still dropping apples, so of course there was sign everywhere. Luna followed where the bloodline was for about 40 yards, according to the hunter. After that, she never was sure. We checked every runway leading out of there into a swampy area, then the runways leading into evergreens and hardwoods. After 2 hours and no sign, we called it. While walking back to the truck, I got another call 30 miles away. The hunter was sitting on a bucket and reported shooting the deer in the neck and dropping him. He then turned away for a few seconds to gather his gear and when he turned back around the deer was running away. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get another shot off. He did a good job marking blood, then backed out and called me. There was very little blood, but the disturbed leaves showed us Luna was on it. We entered a swampy area that still had deep snow and deep water and I had to repeatedly pick Luna up and carry her, following the tracks and an occasional drop of blood. As we came out of the swamp we needed to stop and call the neighbor to get permission to enter his property, which was granted. Luna was going crazy at this time and we knew we were very close to the deer based on her high pitched bark. The blood sightings were getting closer together as the buck tracks indicated he was running at this point. I was confident there was a very good chance to get close enough for another shot, but then we hit another property line and had to stop again. This time, we were unable to get in touch with the property owner and had to stop the track. Luna was not happy.

Every two to three years for me.

Nicely done Witty!! Congratulations! Enjoy those back straps!!

The important thing is to make sure you have taken enough trees out to open up the canopy and get plenty of sunlight in. It took 3 years before it really thickened up in my woodlot. I would hinge cut the small poplars and they'll live for a couple years, plus you'll get some shoots....both good for providing cover.

This is not a shot I would ever take. If I can't get a broadside shot, I let it walk and hope to see it again. I tracked a 9 pointer this year that a 14 year old made a Texas heart shot on, after his Dad telling him to do it. I impressed upon the boy not to ever do that again and I don't believe he will.

It sure reads like it happened after legal shooting time. This guy was shooting at movement.

I spent yesterday with the Jeanneney's doing some training with Luna. Great people!!

Good luck when you're able to get back out there. Heal fast!

Wow....That's the exit off I-75 we take to get to our place. I've got a Florida CC permit....great reminder to never leave home without my Beretta Nano 9mm.