Fair Price for Tracking Services

I wanted to get your guys opinion on this......

What do you think is a fair price for someone to charge to bring their tracking dog out and track a deer for you?

It's like most things we do - you've got to love it to do it. No way you ever make any real money at it, it's just something you do because you love dogs and deer hunting. I'd say $100. May sound high to some but I think it's cheap

I guess it would really depend on how far out of the way it was for you and how long it takes. If it is the biggest deer my son or I have ever shot 100$ seems like a deal, if it is found and I had no hope of finding it otherwise.

Way too many variables to give a short answer. My biggest considerations would be distance traveled and what time they call me. I'm going to charge more for that 10pm phone call than I would the 5:30pm phone call. The 10pm phone call probably means I won't be getting home til midnight or later. My pricing would definitely incorporate these provisions. I might have a $100min for all jobs less than 30 miles away and before 8pm, then go from there.

$150 is fair.

$100 sounds completely reasonable to me. In fact, you could probably get more. You have to figure that if someone goes to the trouble of finding and hiring a tracker, the deer they want to find probably has significant meaning to them (very large, or kids first deer, etc). I agree with post above, maybe $100 if it's close by, during normal daytime hours, but more for late night, and maybe $1 per mile for travel.

Devils advocate for a minute. What if the tracking dog doesn't find the deer? For any reason. Do you still pay the tracking dog owner? I say this because the one time I witnessed a tracking dog at work, he wasn't really into it and didn't find the deer. He sure hiked us around the woods but didn't find anything past what we had already found.

The guy we use I think does $150 base and an extra $50 if the deer is found. If the dog finds a big ol deer I have no problem paying that.

$100 if found sounds reasonable. The not found issue is a tough one. I remember Idaho Mike last year found 101 deer in a single season with Lucy. 40 of them were still alive! That is a phenomenal number to me to know that 40% of the time, the deer was not wounded bad enough to kill them quickly. So a hunter shoots a deer in the leg with good blood for a mile and a half and keeps on trucking, $100 for not making a good shot sounds good too!

$150 to $200 seems very fair, depends on if the dog is a good tracker and how much time and mileage is invested.

One of the more common ways I’ve seen folks charging is to have one fee for coming out and then an additional fee if the deer is found. What I would suggest is if someone is going to charge a decent amount just to show up then make sure you know that this person has a good dog. If it’s a quality tracking dog then the fault will very likely fall onto the hunter if the deer is not recovered.

I really doubt I have a charge for coming out this year just for the reason you described. My dog is still young and this will only be his second year. I have a lot of confidence in him going into this season but he’s still got a lot of learning to do. I wouldn’t charge someone to show up unless I knew my dog was going to handle it no matter what is thrown at us. I took him to a tracking seminar over in GA earlier this summer and there were some real deal trackers there putting the event on. If anyone remembers Idahomike from last season….his son was there as one of the presenters….some of the other were Randy Vick…..JJ Scarbrough…..and Jerry Russell. Those guys track deer day and night during hunting season likes it’s a religion. They take it seriously and have well trained dogs. If someone like that comes out to track one for you then I don’t think you would have to worry about the charge to show up being worth it.

One of the presenters at the event I was just talking about likes to keep up with all of his data and told us that something like, 60% I believe it was, of all the calls that he goes on.....the deer is found still alive. They were telling us to just go ahead and assume it's alive from the get go.

My take would be you pay whether the deer is found or not. Not the dogs fault if a killing shot or disabling shot wasn't made by the hunter. $100 is cheap also in my opinion.

I've got a German Sheppard that is as good as any tracking dog anywhere. We don't really do it commercially but track for neighbors and friends. Like Yelp said, there is a huge difference between a 530 and a 1030 call. My dog is 100% when called at a reasonable hour, before 600. I won't go out after that. I'll just go out the next morning. Most deer are within 100 yards of where shot. Hunters have walked right past them several times. I personally would charge same $ if deer is recovered or not. Most likely a bad shot and not the dogs fault. Good luck. Hope you have as much fun with it as I have.

Quick story. I use a bell on my dog as he does not bark when he finds a deer. He just sits on top of deer and licks blood. I tell the hunters that when the bell stops ringing the dog will be on the deer. He seldom runs very far to find the deer. The look on hunters faces when bell stops ringing is priceless

Economics also teaches us that if you're getting more calls than you want, your price is too low. I'm not trying to be mean, but I wouldn't want an 11pm phone call to track a 60lb yearling that a some kid gut shot. If I'm going to take that job, I'm getting paid for my time. I would want my price to be high enough that the hunter asks himself if it's really worth it before he calls me. Set your price too low and you'll be getting lots of calls that you may not want at all hours of the night.

I've got a Garmin Astro GPS collar on Otis. Pretty cool little device. I'm going to track with him on lead for now though until he gets more experience. I ran him some off lead last year because I kept getting tangled up with the tracking rope I was trying to use. When I went to that tracking seminar some of those guys and gals were using a lead called a "permatrack" lead. I got one of those and it changed the whole ballgame for me. They snake right through the woods with ease. I'll still likely cut him loose if we jump a wounded deer and go to the GPS collar. His breed is suppose to be a really good baying dog.

Thanks for the input fellas. Exactly what I was looking for...Keep it coming.

I would hesitate to put a single dog, especially a pup, on a wounded deer without a lead. I've seen two dogs killed by wounded spikes years ago, they were in the edge of a beaver pond.

I bought one of the Astro GPS tracking collars also. Can't operate it any better than I can photo bucket. I'd be dangerous if I could figure out all this new tangled technology.

Dang....that would suck. They told me not to turn Otis loose on any his first year for sure because if one charged him and got hold of him then it may scar him for life. I'd like to turn him out on a little doe for his first bay if I could just to see how he reacts. His breed is actually originally a hog baying dog.

Lol!.. I hear you Riverwood. I've got to sit down and play around with mine more before the season gets here.

Sell it to me I've gotta have one before squirrel season comes in

I may post it soon. I have zero use for it. It's a new unit, in box with all paperwork. Has 4 collars with it

I've been thinking about it after listening to everyone's opinion and I think I've decided that for this year since Otis is still young, I'm going to go out on calls at no charge but if we do find the deer then it will be $120 finders fee. Does that sound fair to you guys? This will be anything out to around 50 miles of me. Once Otis and I get back out in to the woods this fall on some real tracks....I'll have a better feel for how much he is going to progress this year. If I get him on a few early tracks and he's on fire....then I'll extend that range out some and we'll go from there. Thanks for all the input. I'm looking forward to to tracking for some of y'all this year.

I have found that 100.00 is good.now that being said last year went on several tracks that the deer was not mortally wounded.

As far as compensation for time, your not gonna get rich doing this and more than likely trudging through briars at night may seem like fun to you it's not. I got so mad at a guy this year, we were looking for the deer and he said his son knocked the buck down and he watched it last there then run off. I was like why didn't you shoot it again and he said didn't want to ruin any meat.

After searching for about 4 hrs and Ada tracked it all the way to a pond then no more blood, the hunter decided the deer was still alive and we should go back. I say Ok and turn Tu him to leave and he said, I'm lost!!, it's midnight and he has no clue where we are, I said what the hell you mean we are lost, I've never stepped foot on this place. Well I brought my compass and got us out but these are things you will run into. I have felt bad taking peoples money when no deer was found, but this time I was happy to take his. LOL

Don’t get wrong…..I by no means getting into this for the sake of trying to get rich. I just figured if I could bring in enough money to help cover the expenses of the hobby, then maybe my wife wouldn’t mind so much if in the coming years me and my boys stay out in the woods all hours of the night and day somewhere across south Alabama chasing wounded deer. If things go well this season, I'm planning on getting a second dog next year. I'm thinking about either getting another Kopov or getting a Lacy dog.

I know you're right down the road from our camp,so I'll keep you in mind if anyone in the club needs your services,or you'd like to get your dog some practice in some different woods then he's used to.

Heck yeah man…..Post up my info at your camp and y’all call me anytime you need me.

Something I should probably mention again while were all talking about tracking…… Remember if you shoot a big one this year and the blood trail runs out or you put a gut shot on him, etc…..A tracking dog can likely track most any true track running through the woods but the one thing that will throw them off quicker than anything is if a group of hunters start grid searching, get blood on their shoes, and then run false lines all over the woods that the dog thinks is the deer. This year if you guys shoot a monster and you’re not sure about the shot…..back out and call one of us with a tracking dog.

What`s a fair price for tracking a wounded deer...I charge $125.00 for showing up within 50 miles an extra $25.00 if deer is found dead. I offer deer tracking as a service I have three (3) train dogs that are supper good and 2 pups that are on their way to making good dogs...to really train a dog to be good you have to train them with a trained dog. It takes a dog three season to get good. It`s a lot of work training a dog and a lot of cost to maintain a dog for one year. I have five {5} dogs can you imagine what dog food cost a month to feed them not to mention Vet. bills. For the last twelve months it has cost me $528.00 per dog to feed. I have a top of the line kennel on concrete which is covered and on top of that I have a kennel house that my dogs sleep in every night cooled in summer and heated during winter months. The reason I have five dogs is if one of them gets hurts I have a back up. When I go on a track I bring 3 dogs which allows me to rotate them out. Last year I went on 140 tracks {Ga & Al} I gave another 30 tracks to other trackers because it was close to them. I have been tracking for a while this season will be my 10th year to track. I live in Smiths Station Al. my tracking starts in Ga bow season and ends in Al. The problem with tracking deer is not all are dead or hurt bad enough to get em to bay up. A lot of hunters think because there is blood the deer is dead that is not the case. It is easy finding a dead deer it is the deer that are not hurt enough that causes a problem. My name is A. J. Niette 706 573 2345 Smiths Station Al. If your are interested in training a dog to track I would be glad to help you in anyway we need more trackers in Al. I forgot to mention I track off lead the only time I use a lead is to cross roads. I use the Garmin Alpha 100 with TT15 Collars. Last but not lease if you shoot a big buck and want to find it give me a call.

AJ, do you go as far as Pike County?

Would you meet up with me one day and let me buy you some lunch? I’d like to get to know the other trackers in our area so we can network with one another. I’m still new at tracking with dogs but I’m taking it seriously and I’m dedicated to having good dogs and being a good tracker. I’ve been hunting deer like it was a religion since I was a kid and I’m just ready for a change of pace. I’m 35 now and sitting out in a tree for hours just to put another rack on the wall has lost some of the luster it once had. I just go hunting for fun these days and whatever happens…happens. Tracking gives me that outlet to still “go huntin”….but just in a more active role than sitting in a tree. My favorite part is that it allows me to share some of the best experiences or memories with hunters that they may ever have in the woods. Helping a kid find his first deer or a guy find his big buck he put a bad shot on….those make for some happy days at hunting camp. Lots of smiling and backslapping. Those are the good times.

I do a lot of tracking in Bullock and Barbour counties and have done some in pike.

That sounds great networking is the key some weekends I can have as many as 3 a day scattered all over and I get backed up. I will be tracking deer 2 days old it really helps if there is someone in the area that can track. Hunter really want to find there deer and some times more that not I can not get to em on time. Some tracks take longer and the drive time from one track to the other takes time. In the past I have called other tracker and they could not make it for one reason or the other. I`m getting old and age sometime slows one down. Just let me know when you would like to meet. Where do you live?

I’m in Macon Co but I’m more toward the western side so we’ve actually got a little distance between us. It looks like were about 50 miles apart. I’ll drive over to Smith Station one day if you’ve got a spot over there you like to eat. Are you doing anything Thursday around lunchtime?

Thursday sounds great call when you leave home.

10-4....I'll call you Thursday morning before I get ready to leave. Let's plan on meeting somewhere around 11:00-12:00 Alabama time.

If it not too hot you can bring Otis I can put out some deer liver to make a short track. looking forward meeting you

Yeah, same here. I'll bring Otis along with me. He can run a 800-1000 yard track pretty easy but he absolutely hates working out in the direct sun on these 100 degree summer days. I guess his thick black coat just gets him too hot in those conditions. He'll still track but you can tell the motivation just isn't the same. I've been working him at night here recently. If you had a shady bottom to work him he will probably do a lot better for us since it will be so hot that day. I usually leave him a piece of liver and a leg at the end of each line if you have one. See you Thursday.