Luna and Kunox’s Tracking Journal 2019

[UpStateRedNeck]

Your dogs are awesome.  This, people, is why dogs are man's best friend, and cats are just jackass roommates.

[outdoorstom]

1 hour ago, Steve D said:

He sure don't look like he could drag one that far. Did you help with that to???

Good job!

He was unable to do any dragging due to health reasons so his son and a friend were coming in to take her out.  I’ve dragged my fair share of my tracks, as most trackers do!

[Cabin Fever]

What a great service you provide Tom! You might have mentioned it before, but is there a benefit to using such small dogs? I would think a dog with longer legs would be able to get around the woods better? If your selection is based solely on the cuteness factor, then I completely understand your choice! 

[nyslowhand]

You're a saint, dude. Not to mention your two 4-legged angels! And ... to do this on a (semi-) voluntary basis, absolutely amazing!

Going to stay tuned to this love/hate thread! Love what you & dogs accomplish, but hate some of the circumstances as to why you're called.

[outdoorstom]

1 hour ago, Cabin Fever said:

What a great service you provide Tom! You might have mentioned it before, but is there a benefit to using such small dogs? I would think a dog with longer legs would be able to get around the woods better? If your selection is based solely on the cuteness factor, then I completely understand your choice! 

Wirehaired dachshunds are used a lot here in the States, plus in Europe where they come from. They have outstanding cold noses, and don’t let their little legs fool you....they are very athletic. Their prey drive is extremely high and there is absolutely no quit in them. And yes, they’re damn cute as a bonus!  

[outdoorstom]

10/6/19

 

I went on a track tonight 2 hours after the shot. The hunter was sitting in a chair on the ground and reported a pass through shot right behind the shoulder. The deer had run off the field through a fence row, and then into a fallow field. The hunter and his brother went in search of it one hour after the shot, but were unable to find any blood so I was called.  Luna started at the hit site and entered the fencerow where the deer had. We entered the field and she chose a trail, but came back after only a few yards and chose a different one. We took this trail 200 yards across the field and into a wood lot. We had not seen one drop of blood yet, so I took her back for a restart. We did this 4 or 5 times on different trails and still hadn’t seen any blood. I told the hunter if the shot was as he described it, the deer may not have gone as far as I had been going, so I wanted to bring Luna 50 yards out from the fencerow and walk perpendicular to it. If no sign or deer, we’d go another 50 yards out and do it again. We were walking to the end of the field where the wind would be in our face, with the hunter in front of me and he had just said “I’d love to trip over it”, when I saw that he had just walked by the deer and almost tripped over it!

[biggamefish]

Awesome job,

Did you guys back track to see if there was any blood? What was he using for a broadhead?  

[doebuck1234]

Awesome work and nice buck to boot!!!!

[The_Real_TCIII]

10/4/19

 

I was called by a hunter that shot a doe this morning and requested our assistance. The doe had dropped at the shot, got up, ran a short distance, dropped again, then got up and ran into a thicket. He and his son tracked sporadic blood for about 250 yards before losing the trail. They recovered the arrow along the way  and it showed only half of it had penetrated. Luna and I arrived 5 hours after the shot and got to work. Luna quickly took us to the hunters point of loss and continued on. We cut through a failed cornfield that was only a foot tall, then entered a thicket and Luna went hot. We never saw the doe, but did find blood. We followed, hoping to get a look at her condition to determine our next course of action. Luna led us through a field and into the woods, where we found a drop of blood. This was at the 800 yard mark and I decided at that point to back out and return in 2 hours.  The hunter had been positive on the phone that the shot hadn’t been high, but the evidence was showing otherwise.  To be continued......

At 4:00 we went back in and I had Luna run the entire track. I told the hunter if we jump the deer and it’s running strong, I’m pulling the plug. We continued past the spot where we stopped earlier, and soon started seeing steadier blood. We continued and before long I spotted the bedded deer which jumped up and struggled to run away. I called the hunter up and had him finish her with his bow. Total track was 1,355 yards. We were fortunate to catch up with her.....it was indeed a high back hit.

Catching up; is that the arrow sticking out of the exit side? Is the entrance under the spine?

[The_Real_TCIII]

10/6/19

 

I went on a track tonight 2 hours after the shot. The hunter was sitting in a chair on the ground and reported a pass through shot right behind the shoulder. The deer had run off the field through a fence row, and then into a fallow field. The hunter and his brother went in search of it one hour after the shot, but were unable to find any blood so I was called.  Luna started at the hit site and entered the fencerow where the deer had. We entered the field and she chose a trail, but came back after only a few yards and chose a different one. We took this trail 200 yards across the field and into a wood lot. We had not seen one drop of blood yet, so I took her back for a restart. We did this 4 or 5 times on different trails and still hadn’t seen any blood. I told the hunter if the shot was as he described it, the deer may not have gone as far as I had been going, so I wanted to bring Luna 50 yards out from the fencerow and walk perpendicular to it. If no sign or deer, we’d go another 50 yards out and do it again. We were walking to the end of the field where the wind would be in our face, with the hunter in front of me and he had just said “I’d love to trip over it”, when I saw that he had just walked by the deer and almost tripped over it!

Another one where I have the same question but this one is almost certainly over the spine, did he catch the main artery? Awesome job by the way!

[outdoorstom]

1 hour ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Another one where I have the same question but this one is almost certainly over the spine, did he catch the main artery? Awesome job by the way!

The pic is deceiving....he actually caught the top of both lungs and the deer only went 100 yards.

[dbHunterNY]

way to go Tom. i'm sure there will be more. the seasons young. thanks for everything you do!

[outdoorstom]

10/7/19

 

I was called by a hunter I know and he was looking for some help finding a buck he shot this evening. He and his uncle had tracked about 50 yards before losing blood, and had only searched about 20 yards beyond last blood before calling me.  They had also marked blood with ribbon, which is very beneficial to a tracking team.  Long story short, they did everything right. Kunox and I arrived 2 hours after the shot and he made short work of this 140 yard track. 1 lung, liver, and intestines had been hit.

Edited October 8, 2019 by outdoorstom

[TreeGuy]

I bet you love when hunters do the best thing and back out ! Nice recovery !

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[cdbing]

Awesome service that you and your dogs do. Enjoy following this thread and learning.

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[outdoorstom]

On 10/7/2019 at 10:40 PM, TreeGuy said:

I bet you love when hunters do the best thing and back out ! Nice recovery !

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It helps tremendously!

 

[outdoorstom]

10/10/19

 

I took a track for a high back hit 4 pointer this evening. The buck went down immediately at the shot, but jumped up and ran away. The hunter tracked for 150 yards , then backed out and called me. The blood was extremely light, a drop here and there, then completely dried up. Luna took us to the hunters last blood, then a couple hundred yards beyond. At this point she began wandering so I took her back for a restart. She took us by the ribbons we had hung, then took for a long walk around the woods. I believe this to be a non lethal shot.

[outdoorstom]

10/11/19

 

#1

Kunox and I tracked a doe this morning that was shot last evening. The hunter was on the ground and said the deer was perfectly broadside. He felt that he had made a good shot, but had lost the blood after about 150 yards. It appears that coyotes were pushing this deer. The hunter states they were howling close last night, plus Kunox immediately started marking everything in sight for the first 300 yards or so. He needed quite a few restarts on this track, but showed us sporadic blood for over a mile. After 2.52 miles we called the track.

 

#2 

Luna and I went to a second track at noon. The hunter had shot a doe from a ground blind and felt good about the shot. He had recovered his arrow after the pass through and the sign on it looked good. He and a friend had grid searched about a hundred yards, but had been unable to find any blood. Luna started at the hit site, and 30 yards in showed me some blood. She made short work of this 193 yard track. The doe had been quartering toward the hunter and was hit in 1 lung, liver, and intestines.

[crappyice]

I was talking to the guy who tracks for the program i am in and he said that this year because the acorn crop is massive he has been on three tracks 600+ yards on deer that were shot “perfectly” but because they were so stuffed with acorns the arrow caught only one lung and liver when all three shots should have caught both lungs. Im not sure I’m following his logic but curious if you have any prior experience with a similar situation


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[The_Real_TCIII]

I was talking to the guy who tracks for the program i am in and he said that this year because the acorn crop is massive he has been on three tracks 600+ yards on deer that were shot “perfectly” but because they were so stuffed with acorns the arrow caught only one lung and liver when all three shots should have caught both lungs. Im not sure I’m following his logic but curious if you have any prior experience with a similar situation


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Were there lots of empty spray paint cans in his recycle bin?


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[outdoorstom]

21 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Were there lots of empty spray paint cans in his recycle bin?


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Hahahahaha!

[outdoorstom]

On 10/12/2019 at 9:57 AM, crappyice said:

I was talking to the guy who tracks for the program i am in and he said that this year because the acorn crop is massive he has been on three tracks 600+ yards on deer that were shot “perfectly” but because they were so stuffed with acorns the arrow caught only one lung and liver when all three shots should have caught both lungs. Im not sure I’m following his logic but curious if you have any prior experience with a similar situation


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Can’t say that I have.

[outdoorstom]

10/13/19

 

I was called last night by a bowhunter that had shot a doe and needed some help. He had been sitting in a ground blind with his grandson when he took the 30 yard shot. He believed he had caught one lung, but also mentioned the blood being dark. I suggested we wait until this morning so we don’t push the deer. He agreed, and we met at first light this morning. We bumped a deer as we arrived at the apple trees where the doe had been shot, and Kunox opened up. The trails and beds in the area were unreal.....what a great spot. I decided to start Kunox at first blood which was  about 50 yards away to get him away from the hot trail. He locked on after checking out a few trails and we were off. We only found a few drops of blood before finding the dead doe 200 yards away. She had been hit high in the lungs and the liver had been nicked.

[grampy]

Love that picture! Looks like Kunox has his game face on!

[crappyice]

Can’t say that I have.

Thank you for your proper response- i was SO hoping you agreed 1000% to tell that TC guy to go scratch!!! (Even though it didn’t make sense to me either!)


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