Luna's Tracking Journal 2016

[outdoorstom]

11/17 - Today was a good day. My brother in law drove in from Michigan last night to do some hunting at the farm. We had an 8 pointer at 40 yards, 30 minutes before legal shooting light, so of course let him walk. He was nice enough to come back at 1:30 this afternoon, and Tom shot him at 225 yards. He went 100 yards and dropped in the field. I took Luna up for a training track and she did great.

At 4:00 we went on a track for a buck that was shot last night. Luna quickly took us the couple hundred yards to the hunters point of loss, then lost the track where the area had been grid searched. We did multiple restarts and she eventually took us into a swamp that was loaded with deer. One crashed off close to us, then I heard another blowing at us. I was concerned that Luna was on a hot track and it may not have been our buck, but she proved me wrong. A short distance later I found some dried blood high on some swamp grass, and Luna was pulling hard. She made multiple turns on different trails and we found some hair and a deer tail laying there. We continued on and and within a few yards found the 5 point buck. He had been dead awhile and the coyotes had just started on his rear end...I believe we pushed them off him. This is the hunters first buck which made it an even more rewarding track!

[ATbuckhunter]

Love this thread! If you don't mind me asking, how do you train a dog to track dogs? Is there somewhere you'd recommend me to look for information on this? 

[Fletch]

Way to go on the tracks!!


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[outdoorstom]

10 hours ago, ATbuckhunter said:

Love this thread! If you don't mind me asking, how do you train a dog to track dogs? Is there somewhere you'd recommend me to look for information on this? 

I highly recommend pick up "Tracking Dogs For Finding Wounded Deer", written by John Jeanneney.

[grampy]

17 minutes ago, outdoorstom said:

I highly recommend pick up "Tracking Dogs For Finding Wounded Deer", written by John Jeanneney.

X-2!  An excellent book! John is one of the most knowledgeable, tracker/dog breeders in the world. He has gotten so many of us started. I'm proud to call him my mentor and to have shared the the woods with him and his wonderful dogs.

And what an absolutely awesome team, outdoorstom and Luna are! You just keep getting better! The skill, dedication and talent the two of you have is amazing! This is one of my favorite threads and I look forward to each new post! Wishing you continued success and keep safe out there!

Edited November 18, 2016 by grampy

[outdoorstom]

2 hours ago, grampy said:

X-2!  An excellent book! John is one of the most knowledgeable, tracker/dog breeders in the world. He has gotten so many of us started. I'm proud to call him my mentor and to have shared the the woods with him and his wonderful dogs.

And what an absolutely awesome team, outdoorstom and Luna are! You just keep getting better! The skill, dedication and talent the two of you have is amazing! This is one of my favorite threads and I look forward to each new post! Wishing you continued success and keep safe out there!

Thank you for your kind words! Tracking is SO much fun!!

[outdoorstom]

11/18 - I received a call from a friend asking if we could track for his brother who is visiting from Georgia. We found one for him last year too....he's a great guy. This 80 year old reported shooting the biggest deer he's ever seen. Long white hair and no blood was observed at the hit site, but the hunter had found and marked blood at the edge of the woods. He and 2 friends had followed the blood for about 100 yards, then grid searched before calling me. Luna nailed this track. She only took a couple minutes to get past the point of loss, then took us 400 yards further following sporadic blood until we had a property line issue. The hunting party thought it was too late to be knocking on a strangers door, so they're going back first thing in the morning and will call me when permission is obtained. One possibly major fact was reported to me mid track.....they heard a nearby gunshot and vehicle doors slamming about 30 minutes after shooting the buck. If it turns out that someone else shot and recovered the deer we're tracking, hopefully we can get to that point and give the hunter some answers.

[outdoorstom]

Permission was granted to enter the neighboring property and we went in at 9:30. We had stopped at the edge of a swamp, and Luna led me into it. It was too deep for her to track, so I carried her to higher ground and then she went to work. She showed us a bed within 50 yards, then again to a deeper area. I picked her up and carried her around, with her nose working hard. It was obvious she was reacting to one trail more than the others, so after again getting to higher ground I put her down and she was off. I saw blood within 20 yards and we continued around a beaver pond and into a very thick area. 100 yards later we found the buck dead, and the coyotes hadn't found him yet. I was wrong when I said the hunter is 80 years old, that's his hunting partners age. The hunter is 75, and I guess it doesn't matter your age...anyone can get buck fever. This largest deer he had ever seen is a 6 pointer. No matter, he will be very tasty!

[doebuck1234]

Great job luna!im glad shes back at it after injury!

[DanielT]

You go Luna!

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[outdoorstom]

11/19 - We went on a second track today near Massena. The hunter (a friend and former coworker) shot a buck this morning and tracked it for 200 yards. He still had pin drops of blood when he backed out and didn't grid search at all. At the hit site we had white hair and a little fat....leading us to believe brisket. It turns out we were wrong about that! Luna took us the same way the hunter had gone, and quickly beyond where he backed out. We were seeing occasional drops of blood, but nothing major for the first 2 miles. At that point, the blood started getting heavier and we picked up the pace. We were moving through power line right of ways, hard woods, thickets, pine forests, and the edge of ponds. The blood started getting even heavier yet, and Luna was getting more excited, so we actually ran through some of the more open areas. We came across two beds within a hundred yards of each other and Luna started her high pitched bark,so we knew we were very close. Another 100 yards and the hunter spotted him behind a tree 30 yards away and finished him. We ended up tracking this gutshot 6 pointer a total of 4 miles. Luna was so exhausted she laid down and used the buck as a pillow as we waited to be picked up. Of course this was after her chewing on his leg.

[doebuck1234]

Again luna never siezes to amaze me!

[Taylormike]

Just incredible, great job.   The only problem, if we ever have the misfortune of needing deer search we will be secretly disappointed if and when it's not Luna.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Taylormike

[Deadhunter25]

Absolute great job by you two! I dont want to be a party pooper but i cant believe how many people make marginal shots and rely on deer search to find their quarry. I really thought it was just anti hunting propaganda. Although accidents do happen and I have had my share great work ensuring those lost deer do get recovered. Is there a way I can make a personal donation to your cause? It would be an honor of mine.


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[outdoorstom]

16 minutes ago, Deadhunter25 said:

Absolute great job by you two! I dont want to be a party pooper but i cant believe how many people make marginal shots and rely on deer search to find their quarry. I really thought it was just anti hunting propaganda. Although accidents do happen and I have had my share great work ensuring those lost deer do get recovered. Is there a way I can make a personal donation to your cause? It would be an honor of mine.

The number of bad shots amazes me too. I really appreciate your offer, but the hunters have been taking pretty good care of us. Very nice of you though!


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[ATbuckhunter]

Absolute great job by you two! I dont want to be a party pooper but i cant believe how many people make marginal shots and rely on deer search to find their quarry. I really thought it was just anti hunting propaganda. Although accidents do happen and I have had my share great work ensuring those lost deer do get recovered. Is there a way I can make a personal donation to your cause? It would be an honor of mine.


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Judging by the range every time I go it's not surprise. I've shot with some people that you pray never see a deer that season because you know it'll be a bad shot. Also people do get buck fever and just mess up.


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[Fletch]

Luna and you sir are on a roll!! Well done.


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[outdoorstom]

11/21                    Sometimes you just get lucky!!

I received a facebook message this morning from a hunter telling me had shot a buck on Saturday afternoon and can't find it. He just heard about Luna and I, and wondered if there was anything we could do. I asked him to call me to discuss the situation. He told me the buck had mule kicked when he shot it, but he couldn't find any hair or blood. He said there was a swamp and a couple areas of cedars, and he had shot the buck on the edge of the cedars. We're in the middle of a snowstorm here with 20 mph winds and 8 - 10 inches of snow on the ground, so I knew Luna could only work in the cedars where the snow wasn't as deep. The hunter only lives 20 minutes away, so I told him I'd give it a shot. When we got there we went to the hit site, but the snow was way too deep to even put Luna down. There was a narrow stretch of cedars, with a swamp on the other side, then a 50 acre area of cedars. I told the hunter I'd like to go to the big area of cedars and start there. We crossed over the top of a beaver dam and made our way into the cedars. The snow was only 4 or 5 inches deep in there so I put Luna down and said we'll just follow her around in here and see if she picks up on anything. We were in there for about 5 minutes when we both saw her lift her head and wind something. She worked her way in that direction and walked right up to the buck. We couldn't believe it! You couldn't even see the deer because of the snow, just the tip of an antler. It was amazing!

Edited November 21, 2016 by outdoorstom

[DanielT]

Bless that little dog...love these stories...you guys are amazing

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[Fletch]

ok now that is just impressive!! Nice work the both of you!

[Poppy]

Lina sure has a a fan club and it is well warranted.  Get job both of you.  I wish I had the opportunity to see her work in person.  I am still waiting for the announcement that autographed pictures of Luna will be available.

Poppy

[outdoorstom]

11/23 -   It Happened Again!

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. Due to the fact it was a 14 year old, I agreed to give it a try.
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, so 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 9 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.

[BizCT]

Amazing


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[DanielT]

Luna Rocks!

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[outdoorstom]

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.

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by outdoorstom