Luna & Kunox’s 2021 Tracking Journal

[suburbanfarmer]

26 minutes ago, outdoorstom said:

The rain actually helps enhance the scent. That’s when you have to trust your dog because there’s nothing to see.

Good to know. 

Planning to take my 13yr old this weekend and want to be prepared. Know any good trackers for zip 14471?

[Lawdwaz]

15 minutes 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?

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?

[suburbanfarmer]

6 minutes 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?

Wow that is quite a track job. I am on the other side of Honeoye lake near Lono Group.

[Lawdwaz]

3 minutes ago, suburbanfarmer said:

Wow that is quite a track job. I am on the other side of Honeoye lake near Lono Group.

Let me tell you, it was one wild tracking job with all the tree tops from recent logging operations and pitch darkness.  

[outdoorstom]

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

 

[outdoorstom]

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!

 

[outdoorstom]

 

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.

[outdoorstom]

 

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.

[outdoorstom]

 

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.

 

 

[knehrke]

Waiting with baited breath for the outcome of that last track. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[suburbanfarmer]

6 hours ago, knehrke said:

Waiting with baited breath for the outcome of that last track. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Yup waiting on update of #4

[outdoorstom]

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.

 

 

[outdoorstom]

 

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.

[outdoorstom]

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.

[outdoorstom]

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.

[outdoorstom]

11/28/21

 

Luna and I tracked a buck today that displayed a deers’ amazing will to live.  Unfortunately for this 7 pointer, he had a tenacious hunter and friends after him.  He was shot yesterday afternoon and tracked a mile and a half last night, being bumped from bed to bed.  Based on the amount of blood they were seeing, they were convinced he would be found soon, but they finally backed out for the night. 

This morning they bumped him out of a bed close to where they had left him.  They bumped him all day long, but could never get close enough for a shot due to all the branches hanging low from the weight of snow. This went on for 4 miles, then the blood became very hard to find and they called me. 

We started at last blood, 3 hours after the hunter backed out.  Luna struggled in the snow a little, but then locked on strong. We ended up finding a bloody bed, then a few more, and then Luna went hot. We ended up going 1200 yards and shooting the buck at about 30 yards.  The initial shot was in the shoulder, but the deer was quartering away and never hit vitals.

This hunter earned this buck!

Edited November 28, 2021 by outdoorstom

[outdoorstom]

On 11/10/2021 at 10:32 AM, suburbanfarmer said:

Nice job.

Curious to know what happens if tracking is requested after a heavy down pour?

We’ve successfully tracked after an inch of rain. Usually you don’t see much blood, if any at all.  The dog is happy though because the moisture enhances the scent.

[Moho81]

What determination from those hunters to track that buck 5 1/2 miles then back out and call you to finish the track. Kudos to all 

[ncountry]

13 hours ago, outdoorstom said:

  The dog is happy though because the moisture enhances the scent.

That is very interesting, I didn't know that ! 

 

[UpStateRedNeck]

 

Luna and Kunox are rockstars!

I'm seeing 6.5 creedmore mentioned alot in concordance with "did not recover".  I'm guessing their man-buns are getting in the way when lining up their shots.

 

[outdoorstom]

11/29/21

 

This morning Kunox and I tracked  a buck that had been shot 20 hours earlier.

The hunter had only tracked 50 yards when he had a property line issue and backed out. He was on light blood for that 50 yards.  Kunox initially took me into a standing corn field, but he wasn’t acting sure, so we did a restart at last blood.  This time he took a trail that we had just seen a live doe on, so after letting him go a while and not seeing any evidence of the buck, back for another restart.  The third time, he deviated slightly from the second trail and started tracking confidently and showed us a drop of blood about 50 yards from last blood.  We continued a long way without seeing any blood, but suddenly Kunox went hot and I could clearly smell a buck.  We continued in pursuit hoping for sign that we were on the right buck and a few minutes later, there it was…..a drop of blood confirming this was him. He was moving strong, his running track showed he was using all 4 legs.  We only saw probably 2 ounces of blood on this entire track and no beds.  We ended up going 1.4 miles, but that includes the restarts.  This was a successful track….Kunox showed the hunter his deer is alive and well.  

[outdoorstom]

12/2/21

Luna and I had a very short, but interesting track this morning.  250 yards in 7 minutes and we had the young hunters deer.  The buck he shot at as it ran away from him at last light had somehow turned into a doe overnight.  She had bedded 5 or 6 times as the hunter and his buddies tracked it, then they lost it and grid searched for an hour before calling for a dog.

Several pieces of bone were found on the track, and we learned she had been hit in the back leg, then guts.

Unfortunately, the hunter didn’t have a doe tag and I was forced to call the DEC. They took the deer and the young man will most likely be fined. 

[mlammerhirt]

Nice doe....but that's a tough way to learn your lesson of ID'ing your target before shooting.

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

[WNYTRPR]

Ouch 

[Moho81]

Does anyone know what the DEC does with the deer in cases like this? Does it at least get donated to a food shelter?