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Posts posted by outdoorstom
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I had the honor this afternoon of guiding a veteran, Tim, on a deer hunt through Wounded Warriors Outdoor Adventures. He was brought to the farm we just sold, but have retained hunting rights to. Bob Giordano and his buddy Phil brought Tim out in a trailer since he’s confined to a scooter. Our adventure started with the Jeep and trailer getting stuck in the mud on the way up to the ground blind, so I walked back for the tractor and towed them up there. After getting situated in the blind, we stashed the tractor and the trailer on the backside of the tree line and Bob and Phil left.
Tim and I started getting acquainted as we waited for a deer to show itself. Tim had tags for either sex. I was amazed when Tim shared that he had been placed under hospice care today. His attitude and demeanor were such that you would never guess that was the case. I hope and pray I half of his grace when it’s my turn.
We visited for about an hour or so when Tim said “there’s a deer”. I looked and saw a 4 pointer in the brassicas, 75 yards in front of us. I started videoing on my phone and Tim settled in and took the shot. The buck did a little dance and looked around, then started eating again. I told Tim to shoot again and he said “he’s down”. I should mention at this point that Tim is blind in one eye. I quickly scanned the brassicas and the only deer there was still standing. I told Tim he must see a rock on the edge of the field, and to shoot again. He shot and hit the buck, which then ran into our woods. It was snowing pretty good, so I told him I’m going to check for sign before it got covered in snow. When I got out of the blind, I saw a deer down in the soybean field, 125 yards away. It was a doe and she had been in the blind spot between windows in the blind and I couldn’t see her from my position. And yes, I have two good eyes.
I found one drop of blood in the field, and 10 yards into the woods I saw the buck get out of a bed and run 50 yards and bed down again. My nephew (Ralph) was in a blind in the woods only 150 yards away, so I told him to get ready I was going to push the buck to him. The buck took off towards him, then bedded down again 40 yards later. At this point I called Ralph and told him to climb down and work his way towards us. About 10 minutes later the buck went on alert as Ralph approached, then got up and ran another short distance before bedding again. Ralph got on him and soon put him out of his misery. I told Ralph I could call the DEC and explain what happened and they may come and take it so he wouldn’t have to use his tag. He graciously used his tag to help a fellow vet out.
Big shoutout to Mike Fennessey for the processing job he’s going to do for Tim.
Tim’s last hunt and he shot two deer!
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I knew this was an unlikely recovery when we started, but you don’t know if you don’t go. Classic high back hit. Deer went down, had no use of it’s back legs, then laid still for 5 minutes or so. The new hunter, (not a kid) didn’t realize what was happening when the deer started moving again. As his Dad came riding up in the side by side, the spike jumped up and ran off, never to be seen again. The only blood found, (and a small piece of meat) was where the buck went down in the field.
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High back hit….another non recovery. This has to turn around at some point and I’ll be posting recovery pics. We were still on blood at the end of this 1100 yard track which ended with a property line issue. No blood on the ground, only high smears on trees from this bow shot buck. Shot from 25’ high at 10 yards.
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11/19/21
Luna and I tracked a gutshot doe this morning without success. The deer was shot yesterday afternoon. Video of the buck after the shot shows her hunched up and limping as she walked away. The shot appears to be low and very far back. Not one drop of blood was found on this 1.7 mile track, just white/grey hair.
Luna picked a line and off we went. After not seeing any sign for 400 yards, I decided to take her back for a restart. She took me back to the exact same spot so I let her go this time and the deer took us into a swamp, then eventually circled back towards where she had been shot. Through most of this track it was easy to see where she had been due to the leaves being disturbed beyond what a healthy deer would do.
I believe this deer was hit back in the intestines and if that’s the case, it could live for several days.
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Sorry guys……i expected to find that buck within a couple hundred yards from where we parked him the night before. He had vacated the area. 3 times Kunox took me down the same trail and we took it out to half a mile with no blood or beds. I’m hoping they see him again so we can know for sure we didn’t leave a dead one out there. We actually heard a buck grubbing and saw 4 or 5 steaming hot scrapes. Don’t know if it was him or not. I’m guessing not. These kind of tracks drive me crazy. I have got confirmation of some deer being seen on camera or shot that we tracked earlier this season.
I’ve been out of service the last few days with a neck issue. Hope to be back out there in a few days.
11/14/21
#1
This morning Luna and I tracked a doe that a young lady shot with her bow yesterday afternoon. The shot had been too far back and they were smart about it and backed right out. Later, a friend spotted the lumenock from the driveway and they found the arrow 75 yards from the hit site, but went no further. Luna initially took me to a swampy area and worked it pretty good. After a while it became obvious she was doing more searching than tracking, so I took her back to last blood for a restart. This time she locked on, pulling hard all the way. We found the doe 450 yards from where she was shot. She had not stiffened up at all, so it’s good they gave her the amount of time they did.
#2
The second track today appeared to be a brisket shot, based on the hair found. The buck was shot with 6.5 creedmore, 126 grain round. Of course he went into a swampy area where we walked over a mile, with no success.
#3
The third track today was a buck also shot with a 6.5. 143 grains for this one. The shot was straight on, and hair was found, but no blood. The buck bounded away and stopped 50 or 60 yards away in heavy brush. The hunter took a second shot and thought he saw the deer react to the shot, but no evidence of a hit was found. We walked 1.5 miles through this swampy property, but never advanced the track.
#4
I had a fourth call this afternoon. I told the hunter i needed to go home and change clothes and dogs before coming out. I fed the dogs, but Luna would not eat despite just doing three tracks because she saw I had changed into more tracking clothes. Kunox went on this one. This buck had been shot with a .270 at 2:00 pm, and we arrived at 7:00. The hunter had followed blood for 75 yards before it started to get very difficult to find and he called me. He had been carrying ribbon and did a great job marking blood. Kunox took us to last blood and continued on, showing us a little blood here and there. He went hot at one point and took me out 200 yards, but I never saw blood or the buck, so I took him back to last blood for a restart. This whole area is incredibly thick, and shortly after the restart, the hunters friend said there he is. The buck had been about 12 yards from us, but due to how thick it is, even being that close it was impossible to see how much or how little he was struggling as he left. We continued our pursuit and a little whileand saw him watching us from 20 yards away. I left Kunox with the hunter and went after him by myself with the hopes of getting a round into him, but he was gone. We hung ribbon, marked it on my phone, and then backed out. We’re meeting at 8:00 am to pick up the trail again.
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11/14/21
#1
This morning Luna and I tracked a doe that a young lady shot with her bow yesterday afternoon. The shot had been too far back and they were smart about it and backed right out. Later, a friend spotted the lumenock from the driveway and they found the arrow 75 yards from the hit site, but went no further. Luna initially took me to a swampy area and worked it pretty good. After a while it became obvious she was doing more searching than tracking, so I took her back to last blood for a restart. This time she locked on, pulling hard all the way. We found the doe 450 yards from where she was shot. She had not stiffened up at all, so it’s good they gave her the amount of time they did.
#2
The second track today appeared to be a brisket shot, based on the hair found. The buck was shot with 6.5 creedmore, 126 grain round. Of course he went into a swampy area where we walked over a mile, with no success.
#3
The third track today was a buck also shot with a 6.5. 143 grains for this one. The shot was straight on, and hair was found, but no blood. The buck bounded away and stopped 50 or 60 yards away in heavy brush. The hunter took a second shot and thought he saw the deer react to the shot, but no evidence of a hit was found. We walked 1.5 miles through this swampy property, but never advanced the track.
#4
I had a fourth call this afternoon. I told the hunter i needed to go home and change clothes and dogs before coming out. I fed the dogs, but Luna would not eat despite just doing three tracks because she saw I had changed into more tracking clothes. Kunox went on this one. This buck had been shot with a .270 at 2:00 pm, and we arrived at 7:00. The hunter had followed blood for 75 yards before it started to get very difficult to find and he called me. He had been carrying ribbon and did a great job marking blood. Kunox took us to last blood and continued on, showing us a little blood here and there. He went hot at one point and took me out 200 yards, but I never saw blood or the buck, so I took him back to last blood for a restart. This whole area is incredibly thick, and shortly after the restart, the hunters friend said there he is. The buck had been about 12 yards from us, but due to how thick it is, even being that close it was impossible to see how much or how little he was struggling as he left. We continued our pursuit and a little whileand saw him watching us from 20 yards away. I left Kunox with the hunter and went after him by myself with the hopes of getting a round into him, but he was gone. We hung ribbon, marked it on my phone, and then backed out. We’re meeting at 8:00 am to pick up the trail again.
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I forgot to post this one on the 10th. I received word last night this 6 ptr just got shot while chasing a doe. He had been shot in the shoulder when we were tracking him.
11/10/21
Luna and I tracked a buck tonight that had been shot at 250 yards. He mule kicked at the shot and was quickly out of the shooting lane. The hunter waited a little while, then went over and found some bright red blood. The bloodtrail was quickly lost, and I was called. Luna locked on immediately and pulled hard through the entire 1.6 mile track. We saw very little blood on this track, drops here and there, then nothing for hundreds of yards. We were close to a mile into it when we saw a couple drops of fresh blood and realized he was moving ahead of us. We never got close enough to see him and he never once bedded.
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11/11/21
Kunox got the the call to track a leg hit buck this afternoon. The hunter had a frontal shot at 75 yards this morning while walking out to his blind at daybreak. He tracked 150 yards, then grid searched about 75 more when the blood stopped. Kunox needed a restart before getting locked on, but once he did, there was no stopping him. Several small pieces of bone were found in the first 150 yards. For a leg hit, this deer bled very little. He stayed in a relatively small area of around 50 acres, but stayed far enough ahead of us on this 1.8 mile track that we never saw him, just the occasional drop of blood. Kunox did open up once, so I know we were close. He did his job well.
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9 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:
BOB YAX. 1-585-797-9683
I used Mr Yax quite a few years ago and although we didn't find my buck due to poor shooting on my part, I was VERY impressed by he and his dog. We went from the top of Hayward Hill Rd straight west and lost the track in the swamp west of Canadice Lake Rd. Quite a long distance......
You may be familiar with the area?
Bob and Thor are the best team around!
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9 hours ago, suburbanfarmer said:
Good to know.
Planning to take my 13yr old this weekend and want to be prepared. Know any good trackers for zip 14471?
Take a look here. Good luck to your boy!
https://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/find-a-tracker/trackers-by-state/?state=NY
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10 hours ago, suburbanfarmer said:
Nice job.
Curious to know what happens if tracking is requested after a heavy down pour?
The rain actually helps enhance the scent. That’s when you have to trust your dog because there’s nothing to see.
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11/10/21
This morning Kunox and I tracked a buck that was shot last evening. The hunter and a friend had followed blood a short distance before losing it, then continued for about 50 yards before calling me. Kunox made short work of this 370 yard track. The buck had turned and gone in a different direction than they were looking last night. He was very happy to get a morning leg chew. The hunter said he would have never found it without Kunox….something trackers like to hear.
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5 hours ago, UpStateRedNeck said:
What kind of shoulder hit, do you know? Broadside?
He was quartering away
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11/9/21
Luna and I arrived at 10:30 this morning to track a buck that had been shot at 7:30. There was a little bright red blood at the hit site, then only a drop or two every several hundred yards along the rest of the track. At 9/10 of a mile we had a property line issue. The buck had never bedded down in that distance, so I felt comfortable calling the track there. I think they’ll see him again.
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19 hours ago, mlammerhirt said:
Ouch....Dad needs to drop the hammer on him. Once is a mistake and everyone can learn from those....2nd time he definitely needed you giving him the business!
Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk
If he was my son, he would have at a minimum lost a week of his season.
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It was my turn yesterday. Nothing like hearing splashing coming towards you as they come out of the swamp :-)
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11/6
Kunox and I were called to track a big buck this afternoon that had been shot a couple hours earlier. The buck had been tracked a short distance before losing blood. Kunox advanced the track and took us to the edge of a deep swamp and dove in and started swimming. He took us there three times. In the past when he’s dove in and started swimming, that’s where the deer was. The hunter and his son are going in deep tomorrow.
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On 11/6/2021 at 2:15 PM, mlammerhirt said:
Not to clog things up on this awesome thread...but what lead you to questioning the young hunters ethics? Just curious if it was something else beside the 250 yard shot?
Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk
A couple things….he doesn’t practice at that distance, and his dad told me he shot a running doe earlier this year, despite his dad saying don’t shoot.
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11/6
I was called by the father of a 12 year old hunter last night asking me to come track a buck his son shot at 250 yards. He said he suspected a gutshot because the buck hunched up at the shot and then walked away. They walked into the woods and jumped him from a bed 20 yards in. There was concern about coyotes and they wanted me to come out right away. I told them I’d be happy to come out, but not until tomorrow morning or we run the risk of really pushing him a long way. We met at 7:30 this morning and started in the field, but couldn’t find the hit site. We started checking trails and a few minutes later Luna showed me a few drops of blood and away we went. The nice 6 pointer was found only 170 yards away. The coyotes had eaten a small area of his rear end. I discussed the lack of ethics of such a long shot but it fell on deaf ears.
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11/5
Kunox and I tracked a buck this morning that was shoulder shot with a 6.5 creedmore at 200 yards yesterday evening. The hunter tracked a couple hundred yards last night before losing blood and backing out. We arrived at 7:30 this morning and quickly covered the 200 yards, then began advancing the track with Kunox showing us a little blood here and there. About halfway through this 1.6 mile track, we started seeing fresh blood and knew he was still on his feet. We never found a bed or large amounts of blood and it became obvious we were not going to catch up to him.
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11/3
I woke up to a text this morning that I had received at 11:00 pm last night, asking if I was the guy with the tracking dog. Usually if I hear from a hunter that late it means he and his buddies have been out grid searching and I’m the last resort. That wasn’t the case here. The hunter had his 8 year old son with him when he shot this buck, and they watched it go across the railroad tracks and bed down. He thought it was dead, so they went back to get the side by side. When they returned, the buck was gone. He found a couple drops of blood, but was unable to follow the track and wisely backed right out. I had an appointment this morning, so we didn’t arrive until 1:00, about 20 hours after the shot. This track was 650 yards long, with no blood after the first 100 yards. Luna took me up and down a couple small hills, through some fight your way through thick stuff, and to the edge of a swamp, where she turned around and headed back towards the direction we came from. She was acting confident so I let her continue. Shortly after, she led me right to the gut shot buck and commenced with her usual leg chew. The hunter and his wife had fallen behind as we tracked, and we’re not within hollering distance. When we connected on the phone, I told him I had found a couple drops of blood and to come on over. It makes my day to watch someone’s emotions change so quickly when they realize they have their deer.
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20 hours ago, Grouse said:
If you don't think the COVID-19 virus has been politicized, consider this. The US has recorded more than 745,000 COVID deaths, while China has reported fewer than 5,000 total COVID deaths.
Can anyone believe either of these numbers is even close to being true?
The CDC openly admits that even if someone died from something else, if they tested positive for covid, they’re being recorded as a covid death. These numbers are nowhere near accurate. Hard to keep the sheep living in fear without big numbers.
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11/1
After 3 weeks off, Luna finally got to go to work tonight! It turned out to be an easy one, but she wasn’t complaining and had laser beam focus.
The hunter shot twice at this 8 point at 200 yards, and knew he hit it at least once. He had found blood where it exited the field, and only went in about 10 yards before backing out and calling me. We ended up going 520 yards and finding the buck still alive, so I dispatched him. He had been hit in a rear leg and low in the stomach. The hunter had some history with the buck. He had shot it during bow season, but unfortunately the shot had been high and forward, hitting the shoulder.
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Biden is out of his freakin mind!
Tracking and After the Shot Lessons Learned
in Deer Hunting
Posted
Can’t believe I haven’t seen this thread until now! You guys are nailing some great advice here.
There are a couple of hits that should be pushed immediately for your best chance of a recovery. These are leg hits and shoulder hits. Sometimes you can get a deer to bleed out through the bone marrow on a leg hit, or at least weaken it enough to get you close for a finishing shot. Shoulder hits can be even tougher….sometimes you catch up, sometimes you don’t. Attached is a picture we pulled off a game camera as we pushed this shoulder shot buck over a mile. The next picture was of Luna. He was 3 minutes ahead of us and we never caught up. Of course pushing a deer that distance can lead to property line issues. Always a good idea to have neighbors phone numbers ahead of time or have a standing agreement on entering to track. Even with the agreement, most people appreciate a courtesy call.
Just a quick point about pushing deer that should be left alone….liver and gutshot. It’s crucial to avoid the temptation to go in too early. Good rules of thumb are 6 hours for liver and 12 for gutshot. Sure, everyone has stories of recovering deer with these injuries much earlier than that, but there are more stories of non recovered deer due to going in early. Lots of people tell me they want to track right away because they have a coyote problem. A good way to look at this is, if you don’t push it, usually they’ll bed down within a couple hundred yards. If you do push them, they can literally go miles. Coyotes have a much smaller chance of cutting the track of a wounded deer if the track is only a few hundred yards long as opposed to the much longer track of a pushed deer.
As has been mentioned many times already, throw a roll of tape in your pack. Even if the blood is heavy and obvious, throw a marker up every now and then so you look back and see the line. If you leave the deer overnight, it’s amazing the number of times the hunter can’t find blood the next day. Also, if you call a dog in, trackers love to see their dog on the line as long as possible to learn the scent of that individual deer before the blood stops. I know this has been mentioned too, but it’s worth repeating…..walk to the side of the bloodtrail, not on it!
The last point I’ll make is one of the biggest if you’re bringing in a dog……DO NOT GRID SEARCH when you lose blood. You and your buddies will have scent from the blood and scent from the deers wound on you, leaving false trails throughout the woods. Someone saying they haven’t grid searched is music to a trackers ear! (And the dog will quickly show the handler if this is true or not!)
Pic of a piece of a leg bone. Will be rounded on one side.
The neck/brisket wound is an old injury that the deer had survived.