Luna and Kunox’s Tracking Journal 2020

[outdoorstom]

10 hours ago, grampy said:

Wishing you and the dream team, a safe and successful tracking season Tom!! And thanks for taking us along with you!

Thanks much!

 

[outdoorstom]

Meeting a hunter for a bear track at 0700 in Parishville. GAME ON!

 

[Robhuntandfish]

Good luck.  Hope to see bear pics in the morn. 

[Arcade Hunter]

My favorite thread!

[ApexerER]

Love this thread. Wishing you a safe and happy hunting season with many successful tracks.....

[outdoorstom]

Well, not the start of the season I had hoped for.  We left a dead bear in the woods.  Luna showed us blood smeared on a couple trees, then a small piece of intestine.  She took us 650 yards further, but no more sign. I did 3 restarts from the intestine and she took us the same way every time, so we went further, but no luck.  I pulled the plug as she was overheated and had actually laid down a couple times.  I got word a few minutes ago from the hunter that he and his buddies found it about 300 yards away from the intestine, in a different direction.  Happy they found it, but very disappointed Luna didn’t.

[Bolt action]

I can't wait to read about this year's adventures! Speaking of which, didn't you start a bear track 4 hours ago??

[Robhuntandfish]

22 minutes ago, outdoorstom said:

Well, not the start of the season I had hoped for.  We left a dead bear in the woods.  Luna showed us blood smeared on a couple trees, then a small piece of intestine.  She took us 650 yards further, but no more sign. I did 3 restarts from the intestine and she took us the same way every time, so we went further, but no luck.  I pulled the plug as she was overheated and had actually laid down a couple times.  I got word a few minutes ago from the hunter that he and his buddies found it about 300 yards away from the intestine, in a different direction.  Happy they found it, but very disappointed Luna didn’t.

Sounds like Luna gave it all she could.  A success either way with a recovery.  You got them in the immediate area for sure 

[outdoorstom]

 

Got called to track a 5 point buck last night. The hunter wasn’t sure where he had hit the buck and climbed out of his blind after 15 minutes to check for sign.  He bumped the deer who was standing just inside the woods, and said the buck bolted past him running strong and went out of sight. The hunter and his cousin waited an hour before starting the tracking job. They followed blood for a couple hundred yards before losing it. Unfortunately, most of the blood had not been marked. Kunox got the call and slowly showed us blood as we went, which we flagged. We advanced the track a short distance from where the hunter had lost blood, then struggled from there. We ended up basically grid searching with the dog with negative results. I told the hunter I’d bring Luna back at 7:30, and got home at 1:00 am. This morning Luna made very short work of taking us by all of our ribbons from last night.  She continued on and took us to a cornfield.  We entered the corn for a short distance but saw no sign. We went back to last blood for a restart, and again Luna took us to the cornfield. We walked Luna through it, but again no sign of the buck.  I took Luna to the downwind side of the field hoping to air scent it, but no luck.  After a total nearly 5 hours, we pulled the plug.  Hopefully he’s still alive and we get verification of that.

[Robhuntandfish]

Sounds like this one is still running. Usually in a cornfield blood is easy to find on the stalks. Plus that it took off as soon as the guy got down from the stand. 

[outdoorstom]

Now, this is more like it! Nice 8 pointer shot by this young man went 200 yards. The rain washed away the blood trail, so Luna to the rescue! 

[doebuck1234]

Heeerrreeee weeee goooo!!!good work!!!

[doebuck1234]

Dbl post

Edited September 30, 2020 by doebuck1234
Got excited,haha!

[Arcade Hunter]

Awesome!

[UpStateRedNeck]

Awesome job Luna!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Awesome job as usual. 

[outdoorstom]

10/1

 

Kunox is on the board!  We were called tonight to track a doe that had been shot this evening.  The hunter was sure he had made a good shot, and even thought he heard her crash. He had tracked her 60 yards before losing blood.  He made one loop through the area, then backed out and called me.  Nice job by not grid searching everywhere! Kunox tracked to last blood (which was marked with a lit lumenock) and picked a line and off we went. After a few hundred yards I wasn’t convinced he was on it, so back we went. This time he followed where the hunter had walked when he made his loop. We ended up restarting and Kunox ended up showing us the deer had made two small loops and dove under some downed trees, only 50 yards from last blood. It took a little time, but Kunox figured it out. Good boy!

[outdoorstom]

10/2

 

Track #1

 

HEAVY rain throughout this track.  Hunter shot a doe last night, believing he hit her high. The arrow was never recovered.  We tracked past where he had marked blood last night, but of course it had been washed away. Luna ended up tracking the doe .84 miles until we had a property line issue and had to call it. It appeared she had never bedded. We jumped a deer near the property line, but don’t know if it was her or not.

 

#2

 

A 68 year old hunter shot his first bow buck last night. We were on the way back from the first track which had been 65 miles away, so rather than drive home to swap dogs, I saved the time and miles and Luna got the call. . She didn’t seem to mind. The hunter and his son tracked this buck for a couple hundred yards last night, wisely backing out without grid searching when blood became hard to find. Luna never wavered on this track. She took us .46 miles in a big circle, to a beautiful, big 8 pointer. He had come right back to within 75 yards of the stand he was shot out of. The buck had been gutshot, and luckily hadn’t been pushed into the next county. The hunter could not praise Luna enough, saying he was going to buy her a big juicy steak.

 

#3

 

This track was only 4 miles from the second, so Luna lucked out with three in a row.  The hunter shot this 8 pointer last night, and knew immediately he had made a poor shot. The arrow struck the shoulder, only penetrating a few inches. He and a buddy waited a couple hours and then tracked approximately 400 yards, marking blood as they went.  He and his father went back this morning and advanced the track a short distance.

Luna made short work of the 400 yards, but despite repeated restarts, circles, etc. we did not advance it. Based on the shot description, this buck is most likely still around.

 

#4

 

Darn it, another high shoulder shot.  This one was at 0700 this morning. The 8 pointer fell down when shot, then jumped up and ran away. The buck ran toward the nearby neighboring property line, so the hunter followed the sparse blood trail only 50 yards before backing out.  The neighbor joined us on the track. As suspected, Kunox took us to the neighboring property.  We went 3/4 of a mile seeing very little blood along the way. At this point, Kunox went hot, indicating a live deer which we never saw. I found a bed, but there was no blood in it. Kunox was pulling hard, and 50 yards away we found one drop of blood. Based on the shot description, distance traveled, and so little blood loss, the track was called.

[BowmanMike]

wow,busy day for you guys. Keep up the good work.

[WWJD_Hunter]

Awesome:)

[outdoorstom]

October 3

 

Track #1

 

I received a call from a hunter last night asking me to come in the morning to help track a doe if he was unable to find it that evening. He said he had a friend coming over to help look.  She had been gutshot a few hours earlier, and I told him I’d be happy to come out if he promises me he won’t go look for her tonight, as all he’d do is push her. He agreed and called and cancelled the search party. I arrived at 0730 and off we went. The hunter had only tracked 20 yards before backing out....a trackers dream!  Kunox took us to the edge of a swamp, 250 yards away, and the hunter spotted the doe out in the water. Thanks for not pushing this doe last night!

 

#2

 

I was only a couple miles from the first track when my phone rang with a track request only 4 miles away. Kunox lucked out with two in a row.  We tracked the 8 pointer that had been shot by a huntress last night for 400 yards to the point of loss.  This took us to the edge of a swamp that was too deep to have Kunox work as it would have required him to swim as he tracked. The line of travel made us believe the buck had gone into the swamp, but I had Kunox work the trails running along the edge of the swamp in both directions for hundreds of yards, hoping the buck had turned. We couldn’t find any sign, so the hunter’s husband and I entered the swamp and walked/waded trails with no success. I carried Kunox into the swamp for a while hoping he would air scent the buck. After 2.1 miles, we called the track.

 

#3

 

Luna got the nod for our third track of the day. A doe had been gutshot last night and the hunter and his Dad had tracked for 200 yards before backing out.  Luna quickly took us past last blood, then loopy looped for 500 yards through woods and a small clearing, showing us only 1 drop of blood along the way. At the end we watched buzzards fly off and found the doe had been eaten by coyotes, which explained the loops throughout the track.

[outdoorstom]

October 4th

 

Track #1

 

Luna and I tracked a doe for 1.1 miles this morning, with no recovery. The hunter was sitting on the ground next to a sapling, and said she had seen him before he shot. The 30 yard shot her high, as she was on high alert and most likely jumped the string.

 

#2

 

I was called last night by a hunter that had shot a nice buck. He waited 2 hours before taking up the track, and just under 200 yards realized he had gutshot it.  He called me and I told him to back out and wait for me to come in the morning, which thankfully he did.  Luna quickly took us to last blood and we continued on, flagging blood as we saw it. 170 yards later and the hunter yells “there he is” and the celebration began. We ended up with at least a dozen people out in the woods after he made a call.  They had all been out duck hunting and were waiting to see if we’d find it. It was the perfect time for my “back out and don’t push a gutshot deer” speech, which these guys already knew, but I can’t help myself. 

[DanielT]

This and the harvest thread are my 2 favorites...so glad its back

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[outdoorstom]

10/10

 

Went 1 for three today. I won’t bore you with the two non recoveries.

 

I received a call from a youth hunter’s uncle this evening, telling me his nephew had shot an 8 pointer. Immediately after the shot, they were hit with a torrential downpour. The buck had run into the woods on the far side of the field and they didn’t know exactly where he entered. They did the right thing by backing out and calling me after not finding blood.  I walked Luna along the edge of the field to see if she’d pick a trail and enter the woods. She chose one and in we went, but it was obvious she wasn’t locked on to anything, so we went back to the field. The second trail she picked was the correct one as we found blood pretty quickly. We ended up finding the buck, still alive, 235 yards from where he was shot. I quickly dispatched him and the celebration began. This 14 year old hunter was a whopping 3 and a half hours into his hunting career when he shot this bruiser. I’ll be curious to hear the weight.....easily 200 plus.  Congratulations John!

[mlammerhirt]

Just curious....where did he hit that deer with the first shot?
That is a monster and what a great feeling helping that kid recover his trophy!

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk