Tracking Dog Recoveries (2016-2017)

[JustUs4All]

Posts about tracking dog recoveries are to be made here in the Tracking Dog Recovery thread. Tracking dog owner/handlers can use this as a bragging board for the successes of their dogs. Hunters who have had deer recovered may use this thread to brag on the tracking dogs and handlers that provided the assistance.

 

[jerry russell]

I track in the Northern end of the state from North Fulton County up through the mountains with a 3 year old Bavarian Mountain Hound named Bear Dog. The calls for deer tracking have been slower than normal compared to the last couple years but we have had a couple interesting ones for sure. Just a few days back we tracked a big velvet buck shot the previous day on Dawson Forest that went a whopping 1,560 yards and swam a wide river. We feel certain that the buck will recover but the hunter got the peace of mind knowing that we gave it all we had.

Man, that water was cold...


Bear dog had a very busy spring and summer with training that started at the end of last deer season and then testing for and passing his United Blood Trackers UBT-3 tracking title. I was very proud as he is only the second dog in the U.S. to achieve that certification. He rocked on numerous bear tracks and we are ready to get after some deer for you guys.



Our tracking season actually started way back in June in our Canada bear camp and Bear Dog was a rock star for several hunters. One of the bears went 1.86 miles (by GPS) and several of the tracks were 20-26 hours old.





A reminder to the hunters, while it is always best to call ASAP on a bad shot, NEVER give up on finding your deer without calling in a trained tracking dog. Many cold nosed dogs can track up to 36 hours after the shot and even longer in certain conditions. The word "grid search" makes a tracker cringe because what it really does is make the dogs job much harder by hunters spreading false blood trails all over the search area. Shots that very often result in lost deer (like gut shots) are quite easy for a dog if you simply back out without bumping the deer or bear and call a tracker. A quick word about rain...In most cases, with well trained dogs, rain does not hurt our chance at recovery of your deer or bear. We have recovered deer and bear after as much as 2-3 inces has fallen. If your blood trail get washed out- call a dog!

If you think you might need a tracker, go ahead and give them a call- even if you are not sure you will need them rather than waiting till midnight or the next morning. Getting on our radar will help with our planning and quite possibly save you from being so far down a list that we cant get to you. Many trackers have other jobs and are avid hunters too. Please understand that during the rut we all get many more calls than we can respond to but most every tracker I know will assist you with finding another tracker.

I am listed in Dawson County but you would do well to get to know your local tracker (and his dog) before you need him. Some dogs are cold nosed but some are not. Many of these guys train all summer long getting ready to help you in a bad time.

Best of luck and safe hunting. Here are a few more Bear Dog recent recoveries.

 

[Idahomike]

My name is Mike Lopez,I'm originally from Idaho,i once guided mt lion and bear hunts with hounds,now i live out here.



I track deer for hunters full time 24/7 with my specially trained dogs,they are Texas blue Lacy's


i will track up to 3 hrs drive from Macon or Perry.depending how busy I am,
My main dog is Lucy.

Last season 2015/2016 she put "142deer on the tail gate" of those 59 were still alive,
As a pup from 2010 to 2013 she recovered/put on the tailgate 26deer.

2013/2014 deer season she put on the tail gate/recovered 55deer of those 55 deer 18 of them were still alive,broke leg,shoulder,gut shot

during the 2014/2015 season she put "101

"deer on the tail gate/recovered, of those 101deer 42 were still alive!!

By recovered I mean we put our hands on them and lifted them onto the tail gate!!
For a total of 324 deer put on the tail gate/recovered!!!as a 5 yr old dog and she just keeps getting better.
My deer tacking season starts out in Kentucky. I am in KY from the archery opener"Sept. 3rd until September 9th,Then i go to Georgia and track from the second week in Sept. until end of december then i go to Alabama thru Feb.10th. As you can tell tracking is a passion of mine,I love to watch my dogs work and it is very rewarding when we find a hunters deer.
My most rewarding moments are when we find deer for youth hunters.

,tracking is my retirement hobby.so if your conditions necessitate, what ever they are, i will track for free.

Thank you and hope to meet again this year some of he great outdoors-men of georgia!!!
I am listed under Bibb county on the gon tracking list.i will track up to 3 hrs drive from Macon or Perry.depending how busy I am,Thank you
Idahomike

 

[rvick]

Reba with her first recovery for 2016-17.

 

[rvick]

Jerry, thanks for mentioning that we can track even after heavy rains or across large areas of water and certain types of hits need to be handled different ways to greatly increase the chances of recovery. Congrats on the finds. Bear Dog is something else! Is J.J.'s Rosie the other U.B.T. 3 certified dog?

 

[jerry russell]

Jerry, thanks for mentioning that we can track even after heavy rains or across large areas of water and certain types of hits need to be handled different ways to greatly increase the chances of recovery. Congrats on the finds. Bear Dog is something else! Is J.J.'s Rosie the other U.B.T. 3 certified dog?

Yep JJ's dog Rosie is the other UBT-3 dog. She is a great one.

 

[jerry russell]

Bear dog at work.

 

[Idahomike]

Hey Jerry ,were do you bear hunt,i had a bear hunting guide business with hounds in fryburg Maine,you can't believe how hard the tests are to get a Maine guide license,3 hr written exam then a panel,quizzes/drills you for couple hours,lot of guys fail it two three times,i got lucky and passed first time,
Great article you wrote,above,thanks

 

[jerry russell]

We have a Quebec Canada bear camp and also hunt bears in Georgia. One thing is for sure, Bear dog gets to track a ton of bears.

We tracked one 650 yards yesterday. A known shoulder shot but we wanted to confirm.

 

[Idahomike]

Nice bou, this is one I took around lake illiamna alaska he has 71 inch main beams, we find a high percent of deer at 1000 to 1300 yard range,track a few over 3 miles,biggest problem is getting permission to tresspass,
I wish that hunters would get together with their neighbors before the season starts and agree that if any of them need to track a deer that crosses a boundary that it is ok to tresspass to retrieve the deer.

 

[rvick]

_No pictures, but a memorable track this morning. Hunter shot a 12 in the 160s range late yesterday. We thought a liver hit and the deer had crossed onto Gordon Beckham's property. Gordon graciously let us onto his place to track. Reba off lead followed the trail this morning for a couple hundred yards and then suddenly dove into the thicket where we heard the dangdest deer and dog roaring/growling fight you ever heard. The deer broke and after trailing him several hundred yards we picked up Reba and put Annie on the trail. Annie took him out 1000 yards and U-turned him right back by us without ever baying. Picked her up and let him go till next time. All of this back and forth across the property line which we couldn't have done without good neighbor relations.
UPDATE..... 6 days after we left, the deer was back on camera and appears healthy.

 

[wildlands]

Sounds like a good track Randy. We finally got on our first one last night. I really appreciate the hunters willing to call in a dog for a xoe. Does deserve to be recovered just as much as a buck. Ended jumping into the flint so not sure if she went down river or. Rosser but that is where we ended it. A good 6/10 of a mile. It was a good warm up for mirko.

 

[Idahomike]

i hear ya ken,dog gone rivers and big creeks play havoc with a recovery.
Our first track in Alabama last year involved a small river,track was around 18 hours old,hunters had jumped the buck the night before,she tracked him to a river,i thought we were done,but she went 100 yards up the river then went around 100 yards down the river each time ending up at the same spot,then she swam across and found the track and started tracking down the river on the opposite side we were on,hunter knew land owner so we were OK,ii called her back marked the spot on the garmin and we hiked back to the trucks ,drove out to the hwy to the nearest bridge,and followed the Garmin to the spot,land owner let us use his razor to drive across his field to the river,she found the track and about 150 yards we had his buck,s sometimes things just fall into place!

 

[rvick]

Ken, sounds like Mirko has got it. Been stopped by the Flint twice. Both times the deer crossed and Annie had enough smarts to turn around and come back. (Probably would have drowned). Both times we were able to contact landowners on the other side. We marked it with the GPS and picked it up on the other side. Had to calculate how far down river the current would take the deer. 15 miles each way to a bridge from where we were.

 

[Big7]

Find me! I got the dogs.
The Dachshund and the JRT can find anything.
The Black Lab is a pup, I'm still working on him.

If you really want to find something, PM me your number.

Sorry, not the best camera, same as my cooking threads.
These dogs are bad to the bone.

The JRT is deaf, wind, shot, rain.... NOTHING bothers him.

That Dachshund is pure as gold and he will get on a pig, bigger dog, he don't care.

That Lab is working. Prolly ready to roll next year.

 

[Mr. Fishunt]

Deer Tracker Ken Parker AKA Wildlands

Fellow hunters,
This a note of thanks to Ken Parker, Blood Tracker Extraordinaire.
On Thursday night, I shot a nice doe at 5 yards and was certain that it was a fatal high angle lung shot.
After losing blood 5 yards from where I last saw the deer,
I called a friend to help me track the doe. We couldn't find any further blood either.
I decided to call Ken Parker to see if he could assist us in finding the doe.
I had met Ken a few years back driving the back roads of Spalding County. He hunts across the Flint River and we discussed local deer info.
When I called Ken, he was at the gate about 20 minutes later.
To make a long story short, his dog, Mirko, found the trail immediately and he trailed the deer through a briar choked fallow field and into the swamp that borders the Flint River. We crossed the creek several times, and had to go through low growing privet, briars, smilax, spider webs, "Wait a Minute" vines etc. His dog stayed on trail for at least 2 miles and roughly two hours of tracking. We jumped the deer a few times and saw it staring at us at one point.
We finally ended up at the bank of the Flint River looking down into the darkness, wondering if it had swam across or fell to its death.
Through our experience, we came to the conclusion that I must have shot at a high angle between the rear of the lungs and through the liver.

While I didn't find my deer, I still view this hunt as a success. I called in the troops and we gave it our best shot.
It was a pleasure to watch Ken and Mirko work and it is clear that Ken is an expert in his field.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you can't find a deer, I have included Ken's contact info below.

Regards,
Mr. Fishunt

Spalding:
Ken Parker-AKA Wildlands (C), (770) 468-5459 cell is always with me. $60 one way within 24 miles. $1.25 every mile after that, $20 more when animal is found. Also tracking in Lamar, Pike, NW Meriwether, se Coweta, south Fayette. Willing to travel if work allows
United Blood Trackers Member

 

[Idahomike]

last season Lucy had her best streak,She put the last 17 deer she tracked in a row, on the tail gate!! All random unfiltered calls.
Of those 17,,13 were still alive,broke leg,broke shoulder,gut shot,etc....

 

[rvick]

Annie worked out a backtrack that the young dogs had missed and found this big Crisp Co. 10 point this morning. Hot and dusty again. Thanx to another generous neighboring landowner for letting us cross the road onto his place to continue tracking. Otherwise would have been wasted venison.

 

[rvick]

Big Dougherty Co. 10...Annie bayed 7 hours after the shot...Pete helped...Hunter finished live deer with his bow. Thanks to the guys that helped.

 

[cliff from jax]

Water medics tracking dog

Would like to say thanks to chuck and his dogs I shot my biggest bow buck yesterday marginal shot on the deer so I backed out called chuck we gave a night put his dogs on it this morning and in 20 minutes we were on my deer chuck is a great guy with awsome dogs thanks chuck