Luna & Kunox’s 2021 Tracking Journal

[Robhuntandfish]

13 minutes ago, Moho81 said:

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

They take them to processors that are in the venison donation program

[mlammerhirt]

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. 

Soooo. Do you suggest they call....do you call and report if they refuse??

What if they said it wasn't the deer they shot at?

This situation seems it could have gotten a little hairy but in the end the hunter did the right thing.

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[WNYTRPR]

2 minutes ago, mlammerhirt said:

Soooo. Do you suggest they call....do you call and report if they refuse??

What if they said it wasn't the deer they shot at?

This situation seems it could have gotten a little hairy but in the end the hunter did the right thing.

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And unfortunately pays the price for it .

[outdoorstom]

7 hours ago, mlammerhirt said:

Soooo. Do you suggest they call....do you call and report if they refuse??

What if they said it wasn't the deer they shot at?

This situation seems it could have gotten a little hairy but in the end the hunter did the right thing.

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If the hunter had said that I would have to accept that.  I hated being put in this position!  I would lose my tracking license for a game violation. It’s not going to happen.

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by outdoorstom

[doebuck1234]

Sucks that it ended that way but the right thing was done.another good job done by the dream team and glad to hear the meat didn't go to waste.hopefully to a needy family!!!!

[land 1]

ok great job on the track another win for the pup,,,and i get it was a young hunter and i dont care that he killed a doe but even as a young hunter many many years ago i and young guys i hunted with always ID the target, it happens but should not....i hoping the hunting party accepted responsabilty and was ok  that u called the dec u did the right thing

Edited December 3, 2021 by land 1
mis read post

[outdoorstom]

15 hours ago, land 1 said:

ok great job on the track another win for the pup,,,and i get it was a young hunter and i dont care that he killed a doe but even as a young hunter many many years ago i and young guys i hunted with always ID the target, it happens but should not....i hoping the hunting party accepted responsabilty and was ok  that u called the dec u did the right thing

He’s was good about it.  He definitely learned to identify the target before shooting!

[outdoorstom]

 

12/3/21

 

Kunox and I had quite the adventure today!  I was called by a hunter that had shot a nice buck late yesterday afternoon in the mountains. He had tracked it following a steady bloodtrail, and at 800 yards in heavy cover he was within 10 yards off it before it took off.  He decided at that point to back out for the night and called me.  

We arrived at 7:30 this morning with 24 degrees and a 14 mph wind. The hunter got us going on the track,  then went to reposition the truck, and we met at last blood.  Kunox kept right on trucking from that point, showing us a little blood here and there under last night’s snow.  At one point we had about a 35 minute delay when we had a property line issue and no cell service.  The hunter walked out and spoke with the landowner and was granted permission to enter. We did not find a bed until the 2.37 mile mark.  Shortly after that we found 3 more close together. The last one had fresh blood leading away from it, and from that point on the trail could be followed quickly and easily.  Twice we saw the buck in shooting range, but no shot was available due to thick cover. Somewhere along the way, Kunox had lost a bootie and cut his paw on the jagged ice, so I took one off another paw to put on there to protect it.  Unfortunately he cut that paw too….nothing serious.  At this point he became a passenger and I carried him the rest of the day. The fresh blood from the bucks wounded rear leg was very easy to follow, as was the drag mark which started from the last bed.  When I picked Kunox up, I moved the hunter to the front with his rifle. At the 3.7 mile mark, the hunter spotted the buck bedded down and was able to put him out of his misery.  Kunox was shivering badly so we got a fire going to warm him up before the drag/hike out.  I needed to carry Kunox, so the hunter had to drag by himself,  and while dragging through a swampy area, he  stepped in a hole and wrenched his knee.  Shortly after that, we decided to hang the buck in a tree and hike out.  Kunox was not happy with our decision, but he said goodbye to HIS buck. Kunox weighs 24 pounds, and I think 23 pounds of him is heart! 

[crappyice]

Hot damn!!!! Awesome adventure for sure!!!


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[doebuck1234]

That's one heck of an adventure and one hell of a finish!!!!!!!!good work as always!

[Fletch]

Well done! I hope the drag was not 3.7 miles! We’d of been eating a few pounds at that fire lol..


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[UpStateRedNeck]

Great story!  Odd as it sounds to outsiders, that sort of adventure is the kind of thing that makes what we do never, ever get stale.  Minus the injuries sounds like a great day!

[outdoorstom]

1 hour ago, Fletch said:

Well done! I hope the drag was not 3.7 miles! We’d of been eating a few pounds at that fire lol..


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Nope, we were only 800 yards from a road. He ended up getting a wheeler in there after I left.

[outdoorstom]

Quote

 

 

12/8/21

 

#1

Luna and I were called last night and asked to track what was believed to be a liver or gut shot doe.  We agreed on a meeting time for this morning. Luna quickly took us to last blood, then started working the small area that had been grid searched. After a couple of minutes, she picked a line and led us right to the dead doe. The total track was 400 yards. The shot was a little far back, but the deer had been quartering away and the exit hole was showed it must have caught lung. I didn’t have time to stay for the autopsy. 

 

#2

 

Luna and I went to track either a 6 or 8 pointer that had been shot last night with a muzzleloader. Luna quickly took us to last blood, did a little searching where the hunter and his friend had looked, then picked a line. We had only gone a few hundred yards when we hit another area that had been walked around in.  This one took longer for Luna to figure out, but eventually she led us to a big bedding and swampy area. The hunter made a comment about if he was a betting man, this is where he thought it would have gone.  Luna worked the area extensively, but we never found the buck.  They only had a few drops of blood last night, and we didn’t see any at all on this track. 

[outdoorstom]

12/9/21

They had a few drops of blood in the 30 yards he was in the field, then couldn’t find where it went into the woods.  After the hunter (he’s color blind) and a friend grid searched for an hour, I got a call.  Luna got on it in the field, then picked a trail and entered the woods. About 40 yards in, she showed me some blood and never looked back.    200 hundred yards in and there he was about 20 yards ahead of us in heavy brush. I couldn’t shoot because Luna was out ahead of me, so I started reeling her in and called for the guys behind me to catch up and take her, but the buck took off before that happened.  We saw him 3 more times, but he stayed out of handgun range. It appeared he had an injury in the rear hindquarter. At  1400 yards we had a property line issue and had to call the track. 

[outdoorstom]

Well, that’s a wrap!  The good Lord willing we’ll be back next season. Thanks for coming along for the ride everybody!

[suburbanfarmer]

4 minutes ago, outdoorstom said:

Well, that’s a wrap!  The good Lord willing we’ll be back next season. Thanks for coming along for the ride everybody!

But there is this week and then last week of December? I want more stories from this journal

[land 1]

great season great stories best thing on the site happy xmas and new year

[doebuck1234]

I've said it before and will say it again.this is one of the best damn topics every year.love following and love what you guys do!

[bettyho]

My favorite thread is back!

[jperch]

Thanks for what you do for hunters and thank you for taking the time to report on your adventures with Luna and Kunox.  As many have already said, this is my favorite thread.

[crappyice]

Great stuff as usual! Tons of knowledge shared and the grit of an outdoorsman evident in every little step taken by the pups and handler!
Enjoy the break!
What do you to keep them entertained in the off season? Do they get overly ornery when not able to “work?”


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[2012_taco]

Have a great Holiday Tom, I assume you're heading south for the winter? Thanks for the great read !!

[Moho81]

As always thanks for sharing your adventures. You are teaching a lot of people what and what not to do while tracking a shot deer. 

Just this year alone we recovered a doe that if not for following your teachings I don't think we would have ever recovered as we would have chased her for miles upon miles. Long story short she was shot in the morning. Tracking began 2 hours later with good blood. 400 yards later we bumped her out of her bed. I immediately suggested backing out and marking last blood at her bed. We went back in 12 hours after the shot and found her only 50 yards away from her first bed still alive but no energy to get up and move. Ends up she was shot in the rear leg and was bleeding pretty decently. Sucks that she had to suffer from a bad shot but she was recovered and didn't go to waste.  

[UpStateRedNeck]

Thank you Tom, not only for sharing, but for making what feels like a hopeless situation for hunters have happy endings whenever possible.  You and everyone else who runs dogs for bonehead hunters like me!