Idahomike deer tracking

Roll Tide

Did he find that Madison co buck you mentioned?

Got him. Had to track him some distance I hear, low brisket/leg shot.

Hell hes prolly tired of running all over Alabama.

hey guys lucy,jake,andy and i are back,we plan to stay until feb.7 or when the deer season ends,then we might go to mississippi until their season ends,
we are having a great season!!!!
95 on the tail gate with 33 of those caught alive.
idahomike
mike lopez
630-240-6394
call or txt

Great to have you back!

Good to see you back Mike!

Welcome back!

Impressive numbers already with 2 months to go! Glad you're back!.....Casey

I called you this morning about a deer mike but it said your mail box wasn't set up so I couldn't leave a message

Mike's good as they come and Lucy is an absolutely amazing tracking dog. I've seen her work and was completely amazed.

Did you text him too?

Send him a text, he answers those...I asked him about your deer awhile ago and he said sometimes Lucy can find a carcass, but I think he would prefer a track

Na I didn't text him, I was so flustered about the ordeal that I didn't think to

Good to have ya'll back in North Alabama.

i will check that out,was traveling this morning to bama,i know i was in some bad reception ateas on my way here.

Welcome back Idaho mike. Thanks for coming out.

My name is Mike Lopez,I'm originally from Idaho,now i live out here. I am retired and now I track deer for hunters full time 24/7 with my specially trained dogs,they are Texas blue Lacy's.
2013/2014 deer season she put on the tail gate/recovered 55 deer of those 55 deer 18 of them were still alive,broke leg,shoulder,gut shot

.... Last season 2014/2015 she put "101

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

this year lucy has put 95 deer on the tail gate with 33 caught aluve!!

By recovered I mean we put our hands on them and lifted them onto the tail gate!!
My deer tacking season starts out in Kentucky. I am in KY from the archery opener"Sept. 5th until September 11th,Then i go to Georgia and track from the second week in Sept. until middle 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.
I'm asking alabama hunters to please call me if you shoot or wound a deer that you can't find.
I don't charge for my services,tracking is my retirement hobby,but if you are so inclined but certainly not required a donation of gas money would be greatly appreciated.tips are also accepted.but not required I have a lot of expenses like apartment rental,utilities,my primary house is in illinois,gas,hotels,i average 5500 miles a month with some months reaching 6000+ miles, etc...while I am here.
I realized times are tough and a lot of people depend on wild game to supplement their food requirements.
Thank you and hope to meet some of the great alabama sportspersons again this year.
thank you
idahomike
call or txt
630-240-6394

If you get around Pisgah soon, I'd love to buy your supper and talk to you about my new pup and what I need to do to get her started.

sounds great

When are you going to locate south of Montgomery? I think you did last year.

i thought i would follow the rut,but i am staying mobile,were ever i get a call,i will go there and get a room,hang out there until i get another call,then go there and get a room etc...
anyone have advice were i should be located now?i dont know how the rut moves around in bama,i thought maybe ut starts up here north and moves south, people im staying with here in huntsville watch the deer every day from their house and havent seen any rut activity yet..

Jackson and Madison the next couple of weeks should be on fire.

Central and north Alabama now and south Alabama in about 2-3 weeks

Scrapes and rubs are starting to show up everywhere on our property in Chilton county. Alot of the deer I am seeing now their tarsel glands are darkening up.

Dallas County area around Selma will be firing up very...very soon. Usually the first 3 weeks of January are very good in my area as well as down Hwy 41.

Cullman or a little farther south would be a good starting point right now. You would be a little more centralized to go north or south.

There have been a bunch of tracks going unanswered around B'ham to Tuscaloosa and to the north of that area. Somebody needs to catch the slack in that area for sure. Welcome to Alabama.

I would stay where you are, no competition from other trackers, so more should come your way.

Casey should be little to no competition for Mike from Dallas Cty north.

I was just going by this map and it seems saturated towards the areas below Birmingham. I don't think Tom Munoz likes to travel very far from Madison County and there's a whole bunch of folks in Jackson County that can't shoot worth a damn.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c276/itscoldoutthere/img008.jpg

PM charles (Artistic Whitetails Taxidermy) he can tell you where most are coming from now. Area between Brent and Marion will be wide open this week until about Jan 10.

I think the lists of trackers that are out there is a little deceiving. There’s not a lot of competition in Alabama period from the best I can tell. There may be a bunch of folks with their name on a list but there’s only a small handful of people across the whole state who are tracking to the extent of being able to show up on a Wed morning or on a cold Sat when they had plans to hunt themselves, etc. I’ve seen a good number of tracks go unanswered this year all over the state to my north. I’ve also heard multiple hunters say that they called every number remotely close to them and no one could come out. The only place there is any competition at all it seems like is unfortunately right where I tried to start up. I’m in Macon Co and AJ has everything to my south wrapped up for the most part. To my north is my best opportunity to expand. I’ve passed out several hundred business cards and it seemed like every hunter I gave one to had a story about AJ tracking for them. Fortunately though, he and I have been able to become friends and we’re working with one another instead of against each other. He’s 70 years old and I’m 36 so it’s a good fit and makes sense.

With the low number of trackers and large amount of lost deer in this state…..there’s no reason why us trackers should compete with each other at this point in time. The rut may peak around the state at slightly different dates but for the most part the whole state is about to get good for the rest of the season. There’s no need to travel 3 hrs to track one that’s 15 minutes from my house while two other tracks above B’ham or Tuscaloosa go unanswered. It hurts the hunters who don’t have a tracker in their area and it hurts the next generation of trackers like me by not being able to work Otis on the tracks in my area. I would respectfully ask Mike to respect that there are a few other trackers out here who are truly serious about the hobby as well. From my perspective it seems like the most important thing right now for him is putting “numbers” on the tailgate with no regard to the guys like me. Maybe I’m wrong about that and it’s just the perception I’m getting from only following things across the interwebs or listening to other trackers who have been rubbed the wrong way.

Like I said though, it would be different if there was more than only a small few across the entire state who are actually tracking hardcore. I could see there being an every man for himself mentality if there was a tracker on every corner…….But when you can count us all on one hand then I think their becomes a “right way” to do things that respects the other few trackers. Knowing that I’m trying to track too, but still driving 3-4 hrs to track deer #128 in my backyard I think is a little bit bad form. I’ve said my peace though and I won’t continue to whine about it or hate on Mike regardless of what happens. I can adapt and play ball by whatever rules are set. I’m just attempting to call for a little “etiquette” in the game amongst the tracking community moving forward since there are so few of us. I hope this isn’t taken in an inflammatory way.

Good post CNC. If you haven't already, contacting IdahoMike directly might be the easiest thing to do. He could give you first right of refusal if he gets a job close to you. Worst he can say is no.

I don't personally know the man at all, but I do know that it's a good thing to have multiple trackers in the same area. It'd be hard for one man to cover 4 or 5 counties by himself when things got hot. I've needed a dog a few times for me and family members. If that one guy is busy, your sol.

CNC are you serious?
A man that shows up in Alabama to track because he loves it and does it for free and has probably one of the best tracking dogs in the country and you're telling him he needs to stay out of your area because you got a puppy trying to learn how to track deer? And you're trying to charge people to come out???
Don't you think it should be up to the hunter to decide who he wants to call?

CNC,

Ive talked with Mike on several occasions and can tell you this, he is a good guy with a wealth of knowledge on tracking. I realize that tracking in your area may be a sore subject, but Ill say this I have a dog that tracks, Ive taken off work several times to help track when I can. Im not retired and I like to hunt myself. Matter of fact I had a guy call me the evening I killed my buck and I told him that I was busy with my own track. He understood, heck I even gave him names of guys in my area. The fact is we all have lives with jobs and some of us have kids, and some have wives. But to be critical because Mike may come into your area and track is like getting mad cause a 150" buck wanders off your property and your neighbor kills it.

I think that all of the trackers are doing a good job. Not many people willing to drop what they are doing and go trudge through briars for a deer that they didnt shoot.

MIke isnt competing with anyone, he just loves to track like you and I and seems he has a lot more free time that both of us combined. If Mike was to come into my area and I was available Id tag along to learn a few things as well as help.

Just my two cents and not bashing you at all just saying.

I agree. A guy just starting out isn't going to get the same volume of calls as a proven tracker. If I was CNC I would delete my previous post.

I’ve already tried to make an initial contact with Mike on the GA forum. I told him who I was, that I was fairly new to tracking, that I was hoping to learn more from the older trackers, and that I had met his son at the tracking convention over the summer. My attempt at extending a hand shake was snubbed and completely ignored. This time I’m just asking…I repeat asking, that we simply try and have some sense of everyone working together on here since the situation is what it is with so few trackers and so many wounded deer going untracked. Make of it what you want.

I don't think he plays on the internet the way we do. He makes a post or 2 to let everyone know he's available and he disappears and goes to work. If you really want to talk to him, call or text him. He's answered every one of my messages I've sent him this year. He seems really nice and helpful to me. In my opinion, your wording makes it sound too much like a business for you. Other trackers I have met seem to do it more for the love of watching their dog work. Maybe you should expand your area if you want to put Otis on more tracks. Your wording is turning people off from wanting to use you.

This is the 11th season I have been tracking with my dog and I am training a new one. I love to do it when my work schedule allows but from what I have read about results, if someone called me and said they had an option of Idaho Mike showing up to look for their trophy or would I come I would have to say go for Mike.

Very well then. I’m really not trying to start a fight. Just let it roll and let the cards fall where they may. I’ll try to contact Mike again privately. Carry on.

SMH and biting my tongue. Far as I know there is no tracking franchise with protected territories , Mike can go where he pleases.

I would try less to push your ideas or tracking on folks just FYI. I actually had good success on my throw and mow this fall. But the more you push yourself on folks the less they take you seriously and aggravate them in turn turning them off to you. Just my opinion for what it's worth.

Never in my life have I've seen a person start a turf war for a free service until today.

CNC I had a deer I needed tracked on 12/20/15 but did not brother calling you because I was in Dallas Cty. I knew my county wasn't in your coverage area. I probably should have asked but I didn't. I settled for having my buddy bring his lab that had found a few but in no way is a trained tracking dog. This deer went un-recovered. I'm 98% sure I hit him back (gut shot).

There is only one official tracker in Dallas Cty that I'm aware of. I've used him and will again if he's the only choice I have.

From the few post I seen from Mike, he seems like a good feller that is enjoying his retirement by spending time with his tracking dogs and doing it as a hobby. Sounds like he has great dogs and in his case #'s do matter, Its the pride and satisfaction he gets from seeing his dog find a deer for in most cases, a complete stranger that could of missed out on finding a trophy.

I think anyone would be kidding them selves if they thought they were going to make a living tracking deer.

I'm actually envios of Mike. I've got a highly trained lab that I enjoy duck hunting with. There would be nothing more sweet than being retired, traveling around with my dog on duck hunts, retrieving ducks for folks. I wouldn't even wanna hunt, just work my dog and watch him roll.

CNC I see what you mean, but I don't think anyone wants turf wars. Maybe y'all can work something out where he gives you first shot in your area, unless you're busy or not available.

I don't really have a dog in this fight, but I'd like to throw in my two cents worth...

After 12/19/15, I fully understand every aspect of what CNC is getting at...I shot a buck that day in Winston County and began looking on here and Google to find a tracking dog that could come help me. I started making phone calls around 3:30 that afternoon and made attempts to talk to 5 or 6 folks before I finally gave in and called Tom Munoz. I knew he was in Madison County and was too far to track my deer, but I was hopeful that he could give me advice on SOMEONE that could help me. Tom gave me Idaho Mike's contact info and Mike answered on the second ring. Unfortunately, Mike was still in Georgia at that time...About 8:00 that night, one person finally returned my call and he was available to come the next morning. He wanted to be there at 6:00am and wanted $140 (plus a tip if he found the deer)...I didn't get him to come, simply due to the fact that this deer wasn't worth $140 for me to find. If it had been a giant buck, then yes, I would've gotten him to come.

Here's my point: YES, this is a business to many of these trackers! YES, they can impede on each other's turf/territory! YES, many of them also have full-time jobs, so they might have to come at 6:00am before they go back to their second-shift job...I get that; I agree that they should be compensated for their time and effort, but they should also be a little bit more readily available! If this is your business, you should answer the phone or return a phone call/voicemail within a reasonable amount of time.

I don't know CNC from Adam's housecat, but I definitely understand where he's coming from. At the same time, I feel like Idaho Mike is doing our state/hunters a heck of a good deed, because many of the tracks DO go unanswered (I found that out real quick). As CNC has said above, they all should be able to work together for the greater good for every party that might be involved.

I ain't biting my tongue. CNC, I think your full of chit for whining like a pussy about Mike getting on "your" territory. That's horsechit! The man can go and do as he pleases. He has had and still does a proven dog, man don't worry and whine about pricing. He just does what he enjoys. And is DAMN good at it. Instead of throwing rocks at him. You shou be trying to learn something from him. But you trying to force that damn dog on people just like your Throw and Mow. You brag on yourself IMO. And folks don't get to far in this world when they start doing that. But I ain't ever liked ya, so you can pound sand for all I care. Or not even read this! Makes me no different.

I quit blood trailing cause my dog got old. And idiots kept calling me. Plain and simple

Lol somebody had to say it

Cnc it's ok to think it but don't post it for your customers to see. That post looks like a post of jelousy and desperation for tracks. Honestly your territory is only as big as you allow it to be and Idaho Mike allows his territory to be very large at his own expense. I don't know either one of you but I wish you both the best of luck in tracking.

I know if I need a dog Idahomike will be the first call made.

X2!!!

I hope that I never need a tracking dog but if I do and he's around, Idahomike will get my call.

I have his number already saved in my phone.

Good post....

CNC, you're an idiot plain and simple. Mike is a great guy and does it because he loves it, not because he is trying to make money like you. I have absolutely zero problem with you trying to make money but don't come on here trying to run off a guy that loves doing this and is doing everyone a huge favor by being here. I met Mike last year when he came and tracked a deer for me. Long story short, he drove 2 hours to where I was and found the doe I had shot and we tracked the buck for 1500+ yards per GPS until the deer swam the lake. I knew it was a very low hit but he came anyways. He did all of this and all he let me pay him was dinner at Waffle House and he stayed at my house that night. I've spoken with Mike on many occasions since then and have let him know that any time that he is in the area that he is welcome to stay at my house. Mike's as good as they come. CNC seems to be a different story

I encourage all of y’all to try and call in a tracker before this year is over. When you see that there isn’t really anyone in many gaping holes around the state then you will have a better understanding of what I’m saying. Some here understand it because they’ve already tried to get a dog brought out. Maybe I don’t word things very well sometimes. I’ll concede that. We all have character flaws. My bad…… But Mike asked where to post up and I’m trying to offer the suggestion that there are many of you getting left out in the cold (not jus the folks on this forum) and it just doesn’t make sense to be tracking in an area that already has me and AJ and Tony…..while you guys around Cullman….Scottsboro….Wedowee……Gadsden….and several other areas….get left out in the cold. Its much more beneficial to everyone if Mike is going to be able to cover any area then he would cover these unmanned areas and lets work together on here. I guess many of you don’t pay that close of attention to it but there has been track after track in certain areas that have just been left hanging. You minions can try to make this out to be a chest bumping competition if you want to but when the time comes that you finally do shoot that monster and you need a tracking dog……it will be to everyone’s benefit that there is one or two more guys out here with a good dog that is in the position of being able to come out and help you instead of you calling around, like I’m watching so many people do, and getting no one. I don’t know how to word it any differently…..Its to everyone’s benefit in this situation if we can work together instead of competing.

I'm new to all this blood tracking thing this year. I had Gunner with Silver Banded Labs earlier this year for a few months. He is just over 1 year old. I continued to train him as William instructed me to. I did that for a good bit. It was fun to work him. So far this year he is 2 for 5. 2 of which there was little to zero blood. The other I think they pulled a Trox and shot it's balls off. He is training to track blood not deer.

I ain't no tracking pro but I couldn't give a rats ass about territory or whatever. For a friend or friend of a friend if I'm available I'm going regardless where its at or whoever thinks it's "their" territory. I ain't calling and asking nobody. I'm damn sure not worried about someone getting on here and getting their barb wire thong twisted up over tracking a deer.

I enjoy working my dog.

If i can help recover a deer for someone or at least give it a good shot I'm happy.

I understand what you're saying, but put the shovel down bud. The hole is getting deeper.

CNC, it's all in the presentation. Intent is oftentimes lost in written communication. This was a much better approach and makes sense. I hope the other posts that came across as you whining about and bashing Mike doesn't hurt your efforts.

Old saying that folks don't care what you know until they know that you care sort of applies here.

It seems that people like to use Mike, because he finds deer.

Yep. Honest Question CNC, how many tracks have you gone on and how many have you recovered?

I've had tracking dogs for years. Atleast 10+. Mostly beagles. Have never asked for a dime. I got tired of the public. I have missed my share of deer. But I never had to use my dogs on any of my deer. But I have them now if I need them. Call it what you want. That's what I'm doing. Ain't no minion party in here. You was crying. I spoke my peace. End of story. To me.

I recovered a nice buck for a guy in gordo today, night before last huge 150+ 8pt in Ashland and a nice 8pt up by scottsboro,have gone on 3 calls so far since I arrived in alabama and have recovered all of them,was in huntsville. but been based out of birmingham last couple days,not sure were I will move to next or just stay here,I will go were ever i get the most calls,been meeting some great alabama sportspersons,thank you for letting us track for you!!!

Thanks for what you are doing Mike!

Thanks Mike for everything you do! And CNC I know you mean well, just struggle with words like I do! Grateful to anyone who is willing to help a fellow hunter find a deer. Paid or free, experienced or not experienced, a recovered animal is the goal of all hunters and all trackers are instrumental in that.

Just gave your number to fellow a few minutes ago.

cnc,if you felt like I snubbed you I extend a sincer apology,I didnt mean to.I get busy doing things,attending to family,health and other issues and I forget to follow up with everything,plus during tracking season im usually tired and forget things,plus in not a spring chicken any longer,im 62,I can keep up physically but not so much mentally.I believe there are plenty deer that need tracking.im here staying in motels and eating out of resturants,on my own dime because I love working my dogs and get extreme satisfaction everytime I see the look of joy in a hunters face especially youth hunters when we find his buck,doe or fawn.I have never said a single negative thing about you or aj,

Mannnn, Some of you guys are ruthless. I've read, and reread CNC's posts trying to understand what y'all were saying. After rereading it I can see where some of you got the point of views that you did. But originally reading it, I didn't see anything wrong with what he said. Although he does charge he had a good point about trying to get more areas covered. Maybe I still haven't read it right, heck I dunno.

Class act right there

Idaho Mike is a LEGEND in my book. Never met the man, but his thread and efforts last year were incredible.

I am in awe of his endurance, passion, and skill!

Keep it up Mike!

One thing, as a lifetime dog hunter/trainer......

All dogs are NOT created equal; nor are trainers.

If you want more tracks, work harder to improve your success rate. Forget about having a pet and strive to have THE best working dog possible. You do that, and you will never have to worry about getting calls.

Just my $.02

Class act, hard worker, not a lot of talk , just turn Lucy loose and find deer!

Mike, Breeding should be kicking in the Jackson Co. area any day and you should have some tracks up in the mountains .

Its all good Mike.

Nothing I said was meant to be inflammatory but some of these drama queens around here love nothing better than to turn things into a big cock fight for their entertainment. I hope you can look past that and just read what I really said in my post. I’m not mad, jealous or otherwise…….All I would like to do is try to work together since we are both using the forum to reach hunters and there are so many place I’m watching go uncovered. Some of these folks on here will try to continue making about you against me though and that’s not what I’m trying to do and I hope we can look past them. Good luck this weekend. The weather is about to finally take a turn to winter and I think we’re probably going to see the number of tracks explode pretty soon.

Now it's everyone else's fault. SMH some more.

Just let it die...go choot a biggun in the arse so we can watch Lucy work!

I believe I will but I'm going in for the kill , let someone else use Lucy's services today. Heading out the door in about 10 minutes.

BTW....Just a heads up. I talked to Art Powers yesterday. He tracks to the west of Montgomery around Selma and that general area. It sounded like he had a lot going on right now dealing with a sick parent and wasn’t able to track much this year. That area was thin already but now with him tied up its just another gaping hole. The reason I was calling him was about a call that came in from Wilcox Co that I believe just ended up going unanswered. I’m going to try to extend my reach a little over that way but about an hour and a half is as far as I want to drive.

Question: Do you have any idea about how much distance I can get out of that short antennae? Otis is still working pretty close right now so I’ve just been using the short one because it makes the GPS unit so much more compact that way. I worry though when we get in some of these really thick pine thickets with ridges that I may start losing good reception. I noticed you are using the long antennae.

CNC are your running and Alpha gps unit and what collar? If so I think the long antenna is good for a couple miles with a TT15 collar. I've seen hogwild track his dogs a long way when hunting hogs on our place. He runs the Alpha and TT15 collars.

Yes….It’s an alpha with a TT15 collar. I may just be better off to go ahead and use the long antennae just in case. A mile really isn’t that far if something unexpected happens and we get separated. It sure makes it a lot easier to carry though with the short one. I actually saw a Garmin youtube video the other day that had a sho nuff long range antennae that goes on top of the truck in case you had to go on a recovery mission. It wasn’t really that much, like $50 or something.

Serious request, please don't clutter this thread with OT posts. It really takes away from the IdahoMike adventures.

I've had some cool tracks tis year if you guys would like I could tell about a few?
That buck in gordo was a little interesting but pretty much routine, it was number 98 on the tail gate this season,,guy called said he had shot a cull buck this morning but had no blood no hair nothing just some scuffed up leaves,,I'm thinking.do I want to drive a hour and a half for a missed shot,I really didn't but the guy was so adamant that he hit it I said heck on it and was on my way,two hours later me, Lucy,and the hunter were all crambed up on a four wheeler intended for one person.going down a rough trail we about rolled over several times.finally we arrived at the hit site,and just as the guy said no blood no hair just scuffed up leaves I said to myself man all this way for a miss,about that time I though hey weres Lucy,I looked up just in time to see her disappear over the hill in front of us going at a pretty good clip,I said humm we better get going by the time we creasted the hill the GPS said she was 200 yards out and cooking so we took off at a pretty good clip ourselves,but she keeped spreading the distance between us,there were a bunch of draws between her and us just as we creasted one there. Was another one in front of us,now she was 400 yrds away and we weren't gaining on her,finally off in the distance I could hear her baying,so we really took off,I looked at the GPS and could see she was circling the buck over and over again,finally we snuck in to the mortally wounded buck and the hunter dispatched him,so much for my theory that he had missed.the buck was on his last legs and would have succumbed pretty soon,he was hit in the brisket, we could see the bucks heart beating through the wound.only problem now was how to get him out of there he was rt at 1 mile away from were he had been hit,good thing he had permission to tresspass because we were on his neighbors,but there were no roads,we had to leave the deer,he went back in with help later and retrived the buck,we followed Lucy's track off and on through out the trailing and never saw a dropped of blood for the whole mile,how she knows the deer is injured with no blood is a mystery to me,but she does it over and over again,I'm starting to think its magic!!!

Great story. Amazing what a good dog can do. If there are any interesting details about the buck from Ashland, please tell us.

My wife is from there and has family land my boys and I hunt from time to time. Well, I still call them boys anyway.

Good Stuff, man!

A good dog is an amazing animal. I don't think that the human mind could even begin to process the complexities of all their senses. Their nose and ability an ability to discern details is mind boggling.

Keep up the good work!

Sooo...should we change your name to MAGIC Mike? J/K...great story

Good story with a great dog.

Mike, you need to put a gopro camera on Lucy so we can watch

That would be some sweet footage!

They actually make a camera now that mounts onto a vest the dog wears. They gave two of them away as door prizes at the tracking convention last summer. It looked like a pretty cool setup but I just don't see how it kept from getting mangled in some of the places where the dogs go.

Good story Mike.

I watched a hog hunting show on TV where the dog was wearing one and it was pretty cool

Time to post another story. Come on I'm bored out of my mind.

Garmin makes a camera, Virb, that works with their Alpha Tracker.
Pretty neat!

got a doosey story from today will post as soon ss I can

Love reading your tracking stories Mike.

Please keep them coming!

LOL Sad ain't it? Thanks for what you do Mike!

just pulled into the motel from a great day of trackin its 3:45am ,need to take care of the dogs then get some shut eye.when I have time I will tell you about the second recovery today, quite an unusual one,but for now nite everyone.

Great work today!

If you get down into SW AL this year, I would like to get up with you and watch Lucy work. I do enjoy watching a good dog!

Mike, was it you that recovered the nice 8 point in Ourtown (Alex City) last night?If so, good job man! That buck was on the lease next to us and we actually had pics of him for the past couple years.

sorry about the silence,been busy,we drive ,recover a deer ,sleep,
been pretty busy.
lucy is up to 104 on the tail gate with 39 of those caught.alive.
im going back to sleep now,dreaming of.tracking.deer
come on guys get my phone ringing!!!

yes thst was us track was 25 hrs old,

I've heard Mike's dog is amazing. If I had to decide between a young dog vs. one like Mikes....id go with Mike's.

Yes it was. I heard the story and It was impressive. Good job! Lucy is an amazing dog.

sorry about the silrnce weve been busy,I will tell about our exploits at breakfast,we havent got a lot of calls last couple days,,dont think people know about us,but word of mouth is spreading.it takes time to get known in a new place,this just our second season here and our time hete last year got cut short,
lucy is up to 107 on the tail gate,40 caught alive,with around 95 percent resolved,

been in alabama 13 days and have put 12 on the tail gate,was hoping for rwice that number,I guess I just need to be patient and wait for the word to get out,have found a few behind other dogs that had a bad day,

That's awesome! If I know of anyone needing a dog I will pass on your number!

Thanks bama west

Can I call one of you guys for instructions on how to post pictures, would like to share some pics with you guys and gals,

Sorry if you've already answered this, but what's your range? Is NE Alabama in the northern part of Jackson Co. too far away? Don't need anything now, but sure needed a dog about two weeks ago. Apparenlty no one on our place can shoot so will likely need again. (one hit but couldn't find and two "misses" at 80 and 100 yds). Makes my head hurt.

Troubledouble, he travels state-wide. He has a "high motor" as they say in the ball games. One of a kind.

Thanks. Good to know.

Truedouble, he stays with Tom Munoz near Huntsville sometimes, so he may be right on top of you.

ok,im going to try to catch up with my alabama adventures.
first track we went on was in sylvania,track was around 20 hrs old,guys tracked it aways nite before,then ran out of blood lucy retracked where they had gone then,she took it around 300 yrds to a small river,the track ended at the bank,lucy tracked up the river around 100 yrds,then came back to were the track ended on the bank,then she tracked down the bank around 100 yrds.then she came back to were the track ebded on the bank again,then she swam across pretty swift water and I could tell by her actions that she was scenting the deer again.we had no way of getting across so I called her back across the water,,marked the spot on the gps we went back to the truck and drove back out to the highway,and found a bridge and found the closesr access to the spot I had marked,it was begind some guys house,as luck would have it,the hunter knew the guy,in fact the guy even let us use his ranger to get back down to the river,I put lucy back on the ground and went down to the river were I had marked,she got back on the deer and found it a few hundred yards down in some thick stuff.

That is awesome. Good story

Gosh, I enjoy reading your stories.

I know you have told before, but what kind of dog is Lucy? Also, what kind of exercise program do you have in the off season for your dogs? Great service you are providing.

lucy is a texas blue lacy,in the off season I have them chase me while im riding my bike around 3 miles a day,and I swim them 2 or three times a week.I also do tracking exercises in the woods,once or twice a month for lucy,I make them really hard with lots of tricks thrown in to stump her and let them age over nite minimum 20 hrs,for the young dogs/pups I run training exercises more often but still overnite with minimum 18 hours old.I do some type of activity/training everyday..all year around.

Great stuff mike! Keep the stories coming.

how about one story a day?

I don't think most people realize how much time and work it takes year-round to have great dog/group of dogs.

Mike is going to be a guest on my buddy Rob Newman's Radio talk show this Saturday. Cast and Blast 740 am in Montgomery. 7:00 til 9:00 am

How long have you known Rob?

25 or 30 years. Got word that Mike will not be on show if he has deer to track. Only way to know for sure is tune in.

have been super busy,we started tracking yesterday at11:30 am tracked all through the day and nite.last track ended at 5:30 am this morning,with a 2.5 hr drive back to motel,we walked into our room at around 8 am,wierd day,every deer had to be caught alive/bayed,seems to go in streaks,one day all deer recovered will be found dead,next day they will be all alive,lucy has recovered 118 deer this season with 42 caught alive,all deer that were caught alive were mortally wounded would have been left out in the woods to suffer and have a agonizing death,ive seen some take 8 days to die,seems gangerine gets them often.the two pups im training are coming along great.both have found a few deer on their own,tough working young dogs,I am a firm believer in not tracking with a young dog off leash until their third season/3 yrs old,on the 3rd season I use a half on half off system,makes for a dog you can trust not to run off game or non wounded deer,that is why we are trusted to track in high fence places with high deer population,,

Mike you know I`ve known you for a good while and I know you have a good dog (so does Randy Vick). What I don`t understand is why you will not track behind another dog. Do think Lucy feels like the deer is already found when she smells that another dog had been on the track and she just wont track it.

I went to Brantly yesterday the track you did not want to track because another dog had been put on it....we found the deer with no problems. you know I have been tracking for 10 years now and have two magic dogs. Would you shed some light on why you will not track behind another dog.....you have to know something that I have missed along the way. A hunter called me last night told me that when you arrived to track a deer for him you refuse to track because a young man had put his puppy on the track just to see if the puppy would track.

I don`t care if someone unloaded a damn bus load of grey hounds on a track....I will get on it....my dogs have no problems.

Mike it has been fun this year going back and forth about tracking...I really enjoy last 2014 season that is when I really got to know you...can`t wait for 2016 season to get here to see what Bull Chit you gonna throw on hunters...talk to you later.

Oh I want to mention Timmy Oller...I gave him alot of tracks this season (thet were in his back yard) his dog is doing great she is gonna be Majic with a few more tracks next year.

Almost forgot...I will tell you when season is over how I trained my dogs from crossing a road...I got em where when they come to a road (dirt or pavement) they will wait for me to get there to take em across...if Lucy would have been trained to do that she would of not got hit by a car in Ga. this season. I`ll let you know how its done ......I have learned so much from you. Thanks

Maybe shouldn't stick my nose in because pardon the pun buy I don't have a dog in the fight. But it's pretty simple....Mike can do whatever he wants to do with his dog. After all its his choice whether to spend his time and effort on tracks. I think over the last 2 years Mike has showed that if he puts the dog on it then she will find it. What is wrong with efficiency? From each story I have read and the testimonials heard on here she appears to be amazing. Not saying she is the only dog named rover once again pardon the pun but couldn't resist. I'm sure there are other great dogs that will find deer. Anyone who invest their time into a dog to hunt or track deer etc. Has a bond with their dog and to mention the fact that his dog got ran over was a low blow to say the least. I will be the first to say it was classless. I hope both of you guys find each deer that you put your dog on. I hope all parties stay healthy and are able to continue doing what you guys like doing!

Mike, I am glad to see u are using the training techniques that J.J. and Mr. John taught us. I've always said that a pup should be kept on lead for 3-4 seasons for many reasons. Let's the handler know where and how bad the deer is hurt (the dog shows you sign) and let's him correct any bad habits. I would like to see CNC take this to heart as I know he would have been better off yesterday with his pup on lead. His pup Otis will be one of the Majik dogs in a couple or three years

Mike needs to pay rent because he lives inside these other trackers heads. If you don't have haters you probably aren't very good at what you do.

Yall sure do whine about each others dogs a bunch. Crap I am glad I am not a tracker, sounds like too much drama!

Sho nuff! Btw I've used both CNC and AJ to track deer.... Both deer were recovered

Mikes the only one I haven't seen whine or say anything bad about the other guys.

Maybe Mike picks and chooses his tracks because he's too damn busy doing it for gas money. Mike was in Jackson County with me, so he chose not to drive 4-5 hours to run his 7th track of the day...AJ you sound like a whiney bitch! I hate he's cutting into your money providing a great service for dang near free!

BOOM

IdahoMike, it is lonely at the top... I'll say a prayer for your continued safety and success. This is a risky business.

All I'm saying is I'll certainly use him again, if I need him.

Hahaha lol. Get em Casey

He and Lucy are busy finding deer, ain't got time for foolishness.

Tell it like it is Casey.

Come other tracking dudes...stop the infighting. it is not attractive.

Choose and Run your tracks and let him choose and run his.
Im sure you all have your own reasons for choosing to go on one or not.

But lets not put down someone who is doing everyone a great service purely for the love of it and his dogs.

Yall gotta learn to just get along.

By the way..good job finding that one buck that he didnt track. Post some pics of it as we were all hoping to see it.

I dont understand all the drama over Mike. I look at it this way he's got a proven dog and he is usually available. Matter of fact had someone call me this morning wanting me to track for them, I had work obligations and gave them Mikes number. I track deer when I can. I dont put up huge numbers nor do I travel all over the state, I do it because I enjoy it. Mike is a good guy with a wealth of knowledge, even as a tracker I call him and ask him for advice. He is always there to help as well. Sounds like a bunch of 13 yo girls who gets mad because the popular guy didnt ask them to the dance.

I'm glad somebody said it. These guys charging $200+ to find a deer obviously don't like it that somebody is out here doing it for donations

If you guys want to be upfront about things and get it out in the open then here it is…...I’m not saying this to start a fight just to be upfront about why some of the other trackers are rubbed wrong.

I’ve been advertising this year that I would come out for free but I had a charge of $100 if I find the deer. I fully intend on charging a set fee eventually but since Otis is so young right now I don’t feel comfortable charging people to come out and search. He’s starting to actually get pretty dang good here toward the end of the season though and as a result I’ve already been given as much as $200 for finding someone’s buck as well as been handed $100 on a track where the deer wasn’t even recovered. This is all while I tell them that it’s free since we didn’t recover the deer or that they only owed me $100 and not any more. Most people are handing me a minimum of a $40-$60 tip even on the ones that go unrecovered. That’s peanuts compared to what I have been told has been given to other trackers. Now I may be honest to a fault but the upside of that is that you can be assured that its all the truth. There isn’t really any free tracking going on out there fellas. Every track ends with someone saying….”I sure appreciate it! Here’s some money.” How much do most of you feel like is acceptable to pay someone for tracking your deer? When I posted a thread asking that very question a few months ago….most of you said $100 is plenty fair or even cheap. So how much then do you think most people hand a tracker at the end?

So if every track you go to is going to hand you money…. then one way I see that someone could stuff their wallet with cash is to get their phone ringing with as many people as you can get to call it. Not just in one area but all over the state. Start lining the calls up and tell people that you can probably be there in just a little while, just hold tight. Stack the calls up 5, 6, or 7 deep and run like hell to show up at as many as you can. Keep the folks who are 2nd, 3rd or 4th in line on hold and waiting in case you can get to them. This isn’t unrealistic. I’m new and I’ve already had as many as 5 calls come in on one day just in the last week. I went on the couple that I could get to in a timely manner and I sent the other ones to other trackers. I think one of the calls I sent to another tracker was even recently posted in a thread thanking everyone for being able to find the 15 year old boys biggest deer ever.

What is pissing off the other trackers….and its not just the ones you see posting…..is when they get phone calls from hunters late at night saying that they’ve been on hold with another tracker all day and now they say they can’t show up. All while the other tracker never bothers to network to get the hunter help in a timely manner. Its not really about helping the hunters when folks do this…its about lining up as many tracks as possible for the money. That’s why you see some of the other folks on here making comments. The hunter in Brantley had to try to find another tracker at 11:00 at night after he had been on hold all day and he was pissed. When someone has referred you 30+ tracks last year to help you get started and then you start holding tracks in their area just in case you can get to them instead of networking like the rest of us do…..it rubs folks the wrong way. I will say that Mike was nice enough to refer me a call to find someone’s lost dog. It's all good though.

I'm in the Verizon store getting a new phone,dropped mine in the water,they are doing file transfers so I can't use my phone,for about another hour,you can email me on my tablet.
lopezmj@comcast.net

LOL @ the jealousy!!!

I can tell by his post that Mike is a 'Dogman'.
All he wants to do is work his dog(s) and see them do well.
Although money changes hands, as it well should, that is NOT what it is about!!

Keep feeding em tracks, Mike!
I am loving it!!!

And fwiw, I have started a list of who to tell folks NOT to call just from some posts on here!

Mike and his wife drove from Birmingham to Catherine Al Sunday evening. To say I was impressed with Mike and Lucy would be terrible understatement. When we arrived at the shooting house where I shot, Mike let Lucy out of the truck while he got his gear ready. She did the normal walking around smelling and I asked his wife how she knew a hurt deer from a healthy one because where we were parked a spike had been eating there about 3 hours earlier, she gave me an explanation that they think hurt deer put off a scent from a gland between their hooves. When Mike was ready we started walking down the patch toward where I shot the buck. It was dark as crap but Mike asked me not to use my headlight as it would mess up Lucy's vision. Lucy had went on ahead of us when we started walking and I couldn't see her in the dark. When we got to my hat that I had hung on a limb to mark where the deer had went into the cutover I asked Mike where Lucy was thinking we would have to put her on the track. He then shows me his GPS and says I am pretty sure she is sitting by your deer 206 yards out there because she hasn't moved for 3 or 4 minute's now. There was not a speck of blood or hair in that patch that I could see but she had ranged ahead picked up the hurt deer track and trailed up thru the thickest mess imaginable in the time it took us to walk the 200 yards from the shooting house to my hat. I was simply amazed. I want to thank Mike, Lucy and his wife again!! To add to the money thing Mike told me this was #116 for Lucy this year. The way I see it even if you did 150 a season at $200 a deer by the time you put 25,000 miles on your truck eat out on the run and motel bills you aren't making any money. When I asked Mike how much I owed him he said all I ask for is a little gas money and if you want to give us a tip that's up to you!!! In my mind that's as close to free as you can get!!! I wouldn't of drove that 300 mile round trip messed up my nights sleep, wear and tear on my truck for less than $500. Thanks again Mike!!!

Good to hear he comes to the Catherine area, we will back at it Friday!

OK finished at Verizon,back on line,with a droid turbo 2,with water proof case!!

Guys,
Negative comments (even if true) will only hurt your business.
There's a couple of you on here that are doing yourself more harm than anyone else is.

X2!

Ridiculous .....its about time for another DRIVEBY !

Just to add to the money comment cnc made, I understand that money exchanges hands, but he's not getting rich off of his hobby when he's living in hotels, eating out every meal, and driving 4 hours one way for a track. He ran a track for me this weekend and I handed the money to his wife since she was chauffeuring him around the state, and he told her to give me half of it back because it was too much. I refused to take any back because I enjoyed watching Lucy work as much as actually recovering my deer. I've seen Lucy run 5 tracks the last 2 years, and Mike has been nothing short of professional and Lucy has performed like a pro herself. We don't have many options for experienced trackers up north, so we greatly appreciate Mike's willingness and ability to travel at will.

Mike was willing to travel a long way to my lease the other night. It was very obvious his main interest was helping me and not the $$$. I ended up calling it off cuz I just grazed the deer, but he was willing to try. He was nice and professional to speak with and my impression is that he is a knowledge tracker and general good guy.

It's weird that other trackers are running him down. There's no need for that crap.

Mike is the only tracker I've ever used. I'm sure other trackers do a fine job too but I can only speak for Mike & Lucy. 1st class and top notch, they'll find your deer. What else could you want?

I don't know Mike nor have I ever met him. I will say this, I think he is a man of character and integrity just by the posts I read on here by him.

I have never read anything on Aldeer that he has said negative about another tracker or their dog.

I'm going to remember that when the day comes that I have to call for a dog.

It will greatly influence who I will call.

I've met Mike and have used Lucy. Professional, quality and integrity come to my mind first about Mike. He will not give up before you do.

I love how Mike has not responded I don't think he reads the posts I think he just posts what he wants and moves along. His posts about being at Verizon while everyone else is slinging drama tell me a lot about the kind of guy he is. I will call Mike if I ever need a dog!

He doesn't need to come on here and defend himself to anyone. He's busy working. I can say he seems like a very honest hard working man of integrity, with a good name. His dog is incredible. I mean incredible.

Very well said and spot on.

Choose whomever you like when the time comes Cuz……but I’m not going to sit here and keep listening to folks carry on about how some are just tracking for free out of the goodness of their hearts while the rest of us charge money. That ain’t how it works. All I did was tell the truth about “free” cause I’m tired of hearing it every time something gets brought up. Carry on.

So how much money you think Mike makes in a tracking season? Sounds like you know

No idea man. I’m not really mad at anyone for putting money in their pocket. The problem is when an illusion is presented that hurts folks who are just trying to run a normal charge and pay system. The honest reason I choose to go that way is because I hate negotiating over money and I don’t want every track I ever do to end in a negotiation that starts out “So how much do I owe you man?” . To me it puts both parties in somewhat of an awkward position.

"Mike and lucy lopez
let us track your deer 24/7
we track for donations or free
No mandatory fee"

This is what Mike has as his signature line. What about this is an illusion? I can't understand why you other trackers don't see that your comments are only making yourself look bad.

Hey CNC,

Heres a thought and its worth about as much as Mikes track fee.

Why not as a tracker starting out just sit back be willing to learn from a tracker with many years experience. Sure you charge money so what. Mike doesnt charge money so what. Instead of learning from Mike, its obvious he knows what he's doing, you seem to be bucking and kicking without a cowboy. I know this, Mike is good people.

The other trackers that are putting people on hold all day will dig their own, every call I have gotten about a track I either went to or got them in touch with someone else, or they decided the deer was not hurt bad enough. Heck like Ive said before I have given Mikes number out many times when I couldnt or wouldnt make it. I have given out other trackers numbers as well. I think thats the way it should be.

Sure I like finding the deer with my dog, but I also like seeing the deer found with any dog period. Sure Ive gotten money from tracks and probably will in the future, but to sit here and bash someone whether you say you are or not is just childish.

In the free market economy we have in America, if your product doesnt sell you either need to lower the price, beat the competitor by using a superior product, or have a reputation that supersedes all of that that way you can ask what you want and it doesnt matter.

Its just giving the tracking dog guys a bad wrap the way you and others are whining. We arent all like that guys.

Dano,


It was good meeting and visiting with you the other day.

Sure was that event was awesome. It was humbling to be a part of it. Look forward to next year.

Jealous people.

I have a tracking dog and sometimes I get money, but mike doesn't bother me at all. Actually if my dog and his were both at the same track I would keep my dog in the truck and ask if I could just tag along. Seems like a nice guy and no doubt very knowledgeable.

I play golf for free, hunt for free, bs for free, and track for free. They are my hobbies and passion. I would do more of all of them if i didnt work. Have no problem with those who charge - to each his own.

Casey (foldemup) I`m likely you all ready....I like the name "Whiney Bitch". I think I`m gonna change my name to that on here.

Last night when I got home around 8 p.m. after doing 3 tracks for the the day, I was too tired to think. But now I want to poke the fire for guys like you so you can have something to do.

As I said before I know Mike and his son Scott sent tracks to both in the past and they are not the only ones I have sent tracks to. Been tracking with the same two dogs I`m tracking with now long before Mike got Lucy and believe me I have no rub with Mike I have tried helped Mike and certainly I don`t need any stars pin on my collar. I told Mike on many occasions take care of your dog, a magic dog don`t come along every day. Last year he told me his dog was so cut up under her belly...infected. It is very sad that Mike would put his dog through what he does. I was shocked when I heard Mike shot his dog up in north Al. I felt sad for the Lucy, even sadder when I heard Lucy got hit by a car in Ga. this season...she was picked up on the side of the road for dead. She came back around sometimes later on the way to the vets office in Macon. And what really made me feel bad was the fact he had her back tracking two days later he had her back tracking. And after that Lucy got hit by a buck in the hip, and needless to say he had her back tracking with a wound and knot on her hip.....I told Mike several times don`t let Lucy get up close trying to catch a deer she is going get kill.

Now I known Casey what ya`ll thinking Lucy is Mike dog, Mike knows what he is doing and its not my business how Mike works his dog "Lucy". I was also afraid for Mike in the woods all by him self all time of night. I am also aware that one of my dogs could get hit by a car or hit by a buck on any given day that we are out tracking. My dogs are my pets I love em dearly and they are tracking machines "Magic" and I enjoy watching work but at no cost to put em in danger I don`t take chances with them getting hurt....I have enough issues with bared wire, sicker and glass cutting them. I don`t know how Lucy has made it so far. You can not run a dog in the woods like that without issues. I have to swap my dogs from day to day to avoid em getting beat up. If they have issues with a cut I have to hold back for a few days. I wish Mike would realize what hes is putting Lucy through..(but that not my business)

I want for Mike to get tracks every day and enjoy what he loves but sometime money will put Lucy in bad situations. I charge a fee that fee takes care of my dog first class. Kudos for me I have done 2-3 tracks a day since the first of Jan. (no tracking at night unless I get stared late and it runs into the night)
I keep a record of the tracks we do (don`t travel too far). When the track is done the hunter knows the fee..and it never fails they give me twice if not more what I charge..this month alone I have had 6 hunters give me $300.00 for tracking their deer of course the deer were found. We don`t always come out with a dead deer for a number of reason an no tracker does. When Mike says he tracks for FEE it does not matter if he tracks for a coke if he does a good job they gonna give money. If all the hunters he tracked for gave him $25.00 he would not be doing it running all over the country. I like getting paid for having fun and I`m even happier when I`m taking wonderful care of my dogs. Now for you guys that works a jobs and don`t have extra money to spend I say work harder and in 30 years if you plan right you can be like me. I got in the shape I`m in by working hard and making money. So for minute don`t think Mike is not making money and I am happy for him. As for as I am worried about him taking tracks from me is the last thing I got to worry about....there is hardly a day goes by during tracking season (this season included) that I`m not looking for someone to track a deer that I know I can`t get to....I`m up front with the hunter...I never tell a hunter I`m coming and call him I`m not going to make after he has waited all day or tell him I`m not going to track your deer behind another deer. Kudos for me again I gave Mike 28 calls in Ga. 2014 cause they were close to him trying to him. (he would call me ask what going on saying I have not had any calls in 2-3 day. In the last five years I have had more calls than I could do...I don`t hold calls if its more than I can do (I like to do 2 calls a day) but alot of times I ask the hunter if he mind that I get a friend to do it for him I am nowt worried about someone taking calls from and I`m certainly not worried about not getting calls...I like for the younger trackers to get all the calls they can get so they can train their pups.

I glad Mike is in Alabama helping hunters Alabama is big and there are a lot of counties that don`t have a tracker. I get calls all over the state...when you do a good job they hear about you and they call.....this year alone in Ga. and Al. I will do around 140 tracks and give another 35-40 to other trackers.

Damn...I got to go I did not realize I`m still making this post.

Good night Casey "Foldemuu" you whiney want to be BITCH. Can`t wait to hear what chit you gonna come up with.

AJ,does your chest hurt yet from all that pounding?

I would never want to be like you...Night night old man!

Good gosh. Really??? I did not know there was such a dissention between trackers. Who da thunk it?

Really, and I got a time out for a different opinion.

ive never heard "kudos to me" before . This thread has been fun.

And people say turkey hunters are weirdos

I'm absolutely convinced that Mike must be the best. Mediocre doesn't generate this level of emotion.

Isn't this Idahomikes thread....? If anyone else want to bitch about his services,why don't you start your own thread with your services so others can bitch about you....?

From what I have seen lately IdahoMike is the real deal ...

Idahomike, thank you for providing your services to the good folks of this state. It is evident you and your dog love to track and are good at it. I've never had to use your service but wanted to thank you for spending your time and money here in Alabama having fun and tracking.

As for any naysayers, don't waste your time on their ignorance.

This is fascinating....I've been deer hunting a long time and I frequent all kinds of message boards (sports, fishing, hunting etc) I think AJ takes the cake for the biggest blowhard/troll on the Internet.

I never knew of this underworld of deer tracking looneys. Perhaps I will gut shoot the next mature buck I see just to get a chance to meet one. AJ do you "track" Baldwin county?

still going strong, who's next?

So far, I think the number of people who have actually used Mike's services, and participated in this complaining session, is either zero, or zero zero.

I think the number of fellow trackers who kept their comments completely positive is either zero or near zero.

The category of people who have been butt-hurt non stop whining are ... competing trackers.

Amount of butt hurt whining from Mike: zero or near zero

To me that kind of frames up who's who here.

Winner, Winner , Chicken dinner.

Do you have a business license in every venue in which you track? Reimbursement for gas, and gifts are not taxable income, but charging for services not only requires a business license but generates taxable income. Don't know anything about your business operations, but I might tend my own fences and let Mike worry about Mike.

In the words of Bham Fred "WTH??"

This is worse than the football forum. Who knew wannabe trackers were so sensitive?

This is the most entertaining forum on the board right now...lol

No crap this is better than Days of Our Lives!!!

Dang deer trackers are almost as bad as squirrel doggers

Honestly if I needed a tracking dog I wouldn't hesitate to call any of the trackers mentioned on here.

After reading this thread, I have a completely opposite opinion.

It's obvious that some of these guys on here, with their "greater than thou" attitude and who are obviously tracking for the money, know absolutely nothing about running a business or gaining clientele.

With that being said, I don't know this Mike guy from Adam, but if I needed a dog he'd be the guy I'd call. If I were in any of the other guy's areas, and he was unavailable, I'd just take my chances of finding it on my own.

Nailed it...

My bad....just jerking the chain...its been fun to see what reactions would come. But hopefully Mike will take better care of his dog and don`t shoot it again like he did in north Alabama....I just made my point to him once again as I did last year. Cause if he does not.... he will not have a dog to track with it takes a long time to get a Magic dog. Without Lucy he would not be able to enjoy his retirement hobby.....hope I have helped him get more tracks and hot have to drive all over the Great State of Alabama...Role Tide.

One last thang....Mike lets see more pics of deer you find for hunter....know you are busy been you got PR guys on here they can post em.

Crawfish

AJ you need to find some tracks to go on so you don't have time to post.

My wife ask me why I don't have Facebook anymore. I tell her with drama like on aldeer, who needs Facebook!

Man, this is getting good! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

So, did Mike actually shoot his dog?...and it got hit by a car? Im just trying to figure out how he shot his dog. From what i understand, hes a tracker, it seems like the hunter could have shot the dog. Just trying to make since out of all this. Has anybody on here seen Mike's dog? Does it look like hell?

Wow dude..no offense as I dont know you but you sound like youre a legend in your own mind!

And more then just a little butt hurt!

I got an idea,...dont worry about Mike and what he does, mind your own business, run your own tracks, and lay off the hard alcohol while youre posting.

Just saying.

Why would you come on here cutting how another man does business, how he treats his dogs, etc??
Really?
He has helped a lot of folks on here and all you do is make yourself look foolish.

So..please...just go find a few deer and back off from down talking another guy that the majority of people on here like and respect, ok?

Alot of pics of his dog on here and they are sharp looking to me!

Also I have a mountain cur and a few scratches or even worse isnt goin to keep her from wanting to hunt. Shes been snake bit twice, cut open for 12 inches under her belly and you still could'nt keep her from chasing a dang squirrel unless you restrain her.

Im sure Lucy loves running the track more then Mike. Shes a TRACKING DOG. Its what she does...

She looked fine to me when she tracked this deer for a friend of mine. She's sticking her tongue out at someone. I wonder who? CD.

she looks both HEALTHY and HAPPY as a pig in chit right there.

Dogs LIVE for that kinda stuff. Shed be whining and carrying on if she couldnt track more then likely.

Yep

deer tracking drama, whoathunkit????? dang bunch of girls.....

They can keep drama out of it and stick to stories right!

I have recently referred four calls that I could not take to Mike Lopez. Two of them he could not take, the other two he took and found both of them. I spoke to the hunters and in each case and they both expressed appreciation and amazement. One deer was found alive 24 hours after the shot in the Alex City area. The other was gut shot yesterday afternoon in South Montgomery County and found alive 4 or 5 hours later. Mike said that if he had known it was gut shot he would have waited longer.
Regarding the two calls that Mike could not take - I sent the hunters the list of trackers on the AON map as well as CNC's number. When I get a call my number one interest is helping the hunter get his deer (or like last night, her deer). If I can't take it I do my best to find someone who can. Mike is my first call. There may be teams that can do just as well but I'm convinced none can do better.

thinks alot mike, now because I showed my wife the picture of your dog, I'm gonna have to get one of them blue labs

We used Mike this weekend for a guy that "knocked a buck down." He was sure he hit the deer good. I went and helped with tracking after the shot. This guy broke his leg earlier this year, so me and his cousin took up the track initially. After about 75 yds and no more blood we backed out and called Mike. They drove three hours to get to us. I didn't go out with them that night, but they said that his dog is amazing. This deer was hit in the hoof! Literally, that's the only injury until they found it! Long story short, dog caught it alive and they finished the deer off! Amazing dog!!!

Ok the deer was hit in the hoof. A non lethal injury. A dog was called in to track it. It was found alive. Deer was finished off at night. How is this not hunting at night with a dog? I am talking legally not ethically. Personally I see that as unethical but that is just me. But by the letter of the law wouldn't that be illegal. If it was hit a little better I would not have a problem with it. Maybe it is just me?

I feel the same way as you, Trlrdrdave. I was just simply bragging on the dog.

At what point do you think they realized the deer was only hit in the hoof? The poster clearly states the guy said he hit the deer good, there was blood, and the tracking was done at night. Given these facts , how would you determine that the hit was non-lethal and not try to recover the deer?

The dog was doing its job. It was put on a wounded deer and caught it.

Please tell us what you would have done differently.

Fellows, I can't speak for Bama but in Ga. it is strictly up to the wardens discretion and so far as long as you don't enter property without the owners permission you are fine. A warden can tell what you are up to. One warden caused a little ruckus about Mike's son dispatching a wounded deer in the water but that was overridden by his supervisors. A warden asked me once to call him each time I went out at night but after about a week of calling him 2 or 3 times a night he said don't worry about calling him.

exactly...I have recovered "perfect" shots that were hit in the nose, hoof, jaw and etc. J.J. recovered one that was hit in the ear.

You didn't recover one that was hit in the ear... you caught up to it. If it was hit in the ear it was just going on with life right? I guess you could graze one and knock some hair off and recover it too? I can't say what I would do I wasn't there. I really ain't trying to stir stuff up. I am sure Mike and his dog deserve the bragging too. Just not sure I would have posted that. I ain't never hit one in the hoof, but I bet it ain't going to react like one hit in the boiler room. One hit in the ear surely isn't going to die from that. I sure don't want to waste one but I'd give one a break if it got lucky. Just all seems kind of odd to me. If I was a GW and knew all the details I just don't know what I would do. I guess that is what it boils down to.

I would not of had any problem with someone dog trailing and finishing off a wounded deer at night. Ya wanna get technical it is illegal to "take" a deer at night, but common sense says finish the job.

My experience is that the tracker has no idea where the deer was actually hit till they catch it. So if I catch/bay a deer at night and seee it is hit in the foot I should pull the dog off and leave because the wound isn't "bad enough"????

For the record a hoof shot deer will get infected in that wound because he will continue to walk on it and push it in the mud/dirt/whatever. In my experience a foot infection is a high percentage DEAD deer due to the infection. A higher hit that is kept out of the mud has a better chance of survival.

Tough topic,what to do if you are tracking a wounded deer and you find it and it is still alive,I feel if a dog can bark at the deer and hold it by barking while the tracker and Hunter walk up to it,it is mortally wounded,I don't think a deer that isn't mortally wounded would stand there, I believe it would take off,
Secondly what do you do,especially if you can see how bad the deer is hit,which in a lot of cases you can't either day or nite,but if you walk up to deer and you can see his leg is blown off,or his guts are hanging out,what is the ethicall thing to do,humanely dispatch the suffering animal or just stand there and wait for it to die?
The deer that had its foot blown off I believe also was hit in the body,the Hunter said the first shot made it go down,then it ran to edge of plot and he shot it again,second time he shot it it kind of buckled,if that deer had just had his foot blown off it would have took off running,not just stand there and let people walk rt up to it,
Oh and Randy my son diddnt shoot that deer in water,it was a friend of ours who lives in Eastman,ga

Ok I agree with Fred and Mike.

Sorry, Mike. I thought it was Scott. Well if we can't call them finds and now we can't call them recoveries. What the heck do we call it? Reducing them to possession? Putting them on the tailgate? Most of the deer we put on the tailgate have to be humanely dispatched. I can tell you that if you go in to a bayed deer you will most likely not be able to tell where it is injured unless you already have a good idea. I won't release my dog to bay unless I think I have a pretty good idea of where the deer is hit. Sometimes I am wr,wr,wr,wrong.

Yep and yep. A deer that is going to live will not act in this manner. I bet there was another wound on him, just didnt see it...maybe near the rear. Hunters/Trackers have to put the animal out out of misery..period.

When we find bone we know that the deer has a broken leg. A deer can heal and survive a broken leg quite well usually. Do you suggest that we not track a broken leg deer? It may be a rear leg or possibly shrapnel like bone fragments have injured the heart, stomach or lungs.

this buck was shot in the foot, just at top of hoof. Hunter claimed it was a good hit. I was several hours away from being able to track it. I put Taz on the track app 8 hours after it was shot, still good daylight. Track and blood pattern made me think leg hit. We jumped the deer at the top of a very steep ridge and I got a look as it bailed off a VERY steep hill, holding it's leg out to one side as it went down. Leg hit.

200 yards later Taz bayed the buck, but it broke as we approached to within 70 yards. Another 200 yards and s Taz caught and bayed it again. We quietly slipped to within maybe 60 yards and finished it off. Only wound was the one right above the hoof.

Taz was a very fast tracker and I had to run to keep up, with her on a 50 foot lead line. When we jumped the buck I released her. A slower dog might not of caught that deer as he was very mobile.

i was thinking the same as mike, but held my response to see what he said. If you bay a deer AND it lets you walk 50 yards to it, somethings bad wrong with it.

Many times you have no idea where a deer was hit when you take on a track and you darn sure cannot often tell when you catch up with him. I have never had a hunter complain about a deer we recovered.

50 yrds,I'm talking 15 feet,I almost always get at least 20 yrds but some times,out to 30yrds

I agree, Mike, I rarely shoot a bayed deer at over 20 yards.

I've dispatched many inside of 20 feet,one time I was crawling on my belly through the thick stuff,had my head down ,looked up and whoa,there he was maybe 5,6 feet,good thing Lucy had his attention,Lucy has been baying up deer and they just fall over dead,one time in ga,I was aiming at gut shot buck from about 20 yrds,was just about to pull the trigger and he just fell over dead,didn't have to put the sig to him,

I don't think very many deer survive a shattered leg,I know some do but I think that is the exception,they might live a few days,but infection,gangerine,coyotes,etc,, get the majority of them,I know of one that had a broke leg real low when it jumped a creek,because the broke leg through off its balance the other leg broke,,but I'm no medical expert,just my opinion,,

There are a few tripods running around.

Hey Mike,

I dont know you except from seeing pics of your work...just wanted to say you do a heck of a job. Congrats on some fine dogs too. That Lucy is really great at what she does.

Thanks for helping out so many aldeer brethren with your service.

Also, if you know Casey I figure youve got to be alright.
He has said nothing but good things about you.

good to see you post too.

Mike, you explained a delicate topic well.

As most hunters know, sometimes the gory details aren't necessary for public posts. Anyone that's bow-hunted knows everything doesn't always go perfectly...

Mike,

Good to see you back posting.

Really enjoy reading your tracking stories. Hope you have more time after season to share some more of them.

Thanks for all you do in helping Alabama hunters recover their lost deer.

You have been a real asset to many of them.

If you see this truck,lay on the horn!!

Mr. Mike helped us track deer , he drove a 1 hour. Mike was talking about how many deer he had track, I asked him how he did it nonstop. He said it was the love for the dogs that made him keep going... I'm sure Mr. Mike was tired because it was late when he got there, but he was as bout as nice as can be. From what I seen he was a good guy, for what him and Lucy does for us hunters.

Mike, are you coming to south Bama about the 1st?

Mike, just curious. Why no phone number on your signs? Look good.

just to add, there's a dogman at our club, that constantly has some of the best hunting dogs you can get, a guy had bloodied up a deer and his dog had him bayed up, when the dogman finally got to them (without any gun) he see's the deer kick his dog with both back feet, and runs in there to help his dog. The deer was pretty week, but still had some fight in him, and still very dangerous. The dogman tries to kill the deer with a pocket knife, and succedded. But let me tell you. He was pretty roughed up by the time it was all said and done

Yeah, I know guys that carry collapsible spears and one fellow who ropes the bayed deer with his 30 ft. lead and snubs them to a tree. These are in states that don't allow you to carry firearms while tracking. I try to explain to hunters that I don't like to mess up their potential mount but I may have to take a head shot because if we are in a situation where I can't call the dog out (she comes out on hand signals so I don't have to make any noise) and the deer hits the ground still alive, she will be on it instantly and could very easily get hurt.

Mike, Lucy and our club president just left camp in south Blount county to go look for a buck he shot around lunch. I'd like to go watch Lucy work but I know what hole they are going to and I vowed to never step foot off in there again. It's one of those stand straight up with leaves laying on the ground 4" from your face places.

Mike is a real nice guy too.

Go Lucy go!

Yes,

Absolutely rt Randy,Lucy does the same thing,when she is baying the deer she is under control and is smart enough and quick enough to not get hurt,but the minute I drop the buck she gets stupid,and jumps on it,had some close calls in that situation,I've learned to get up close and personal with a bayed buck so that my first shot puts him out,

Thank you, Mike and Lucy, you both are an answer to prayer! I shot a 9 point with my bow 4 o'clock,Friday afternoon, January 29, in Bullock county. The hit was a little too far back and too low, but the buck mule kicked and I could see blood pouring from both sides of the buck out of the huge holes the 2 blade rage had made. I was sure I had smoked him. I have been deer hunting exclusively with a bow since 2009 and always make 1 or 2 trips to Union Springs in January. After 6 years without killing a deer in AL,I was hoping to get'er done this year. I get too hunt some great properties, I have passed up a lot of bucks and don't shoot does because of the brevity of my hunts and the desire to disturb the area as little as possible. I have muffed a few opportunities and seen some great deer. Finally, I had one on the ground, or so I thought.
I got down within 15 minutes, got on the great blood trail and promptly got him up and moving. Should of backed out then but there was no way this deer could go far! So, I pleaded with the Lord to let me have this one and took off after him, pushing him as hard as I could, literally jogging after him. Between the blood, scuff marks and stumbling, the trail was that obvious. I had left my pack behind because I had not planned on chasing this deer 500 yards, so with no light I had to pull off and find my way out of the woods. Dejected, depressed and disappointed, period. I decided to go back to camp and return the following morning at first light. At camp, 2 friends showed up for dinner. We were having surf ,(spiny lobster from the keys) and turf,(1 5/8" prime ribeyes, I live on a feedlot) so you can't blame them for wanting to have dinner with us. But God had made that appointment to answer my pleas for help. They listened to my story and immediately shared their recent experience with Mike Lopez and his amazing Texas Blue Lacy, Lucy. They asked if I would like them to contact Mike as they were planning to get with him later that night to try recover a gut shot buck. Of course I did,so they called him and in no time we were on our way. We left the lobsters and steaks on the grill for the rest of the crew and headed out.
Lucy trailed the deer 1.2 miles, bayed it and Mike dispatched it. The rage had passed thru the caudal lobe of the left lung, the bottom 1/4 of the liver and exited. How the deer survived as long as it dead is a testament to their toughness. I knew better than to take off it hot pursuit but was caught up in the moment. I doubt I would have found him without Mike and Lucy, and I know the meat would have been a total loss without them. God answered my pleas in the form of 2 friends from Tallassee and Idahomike and Lucy. James 1:17 says all good and perfect gifts come from the Father. This verse always makes me think what a good and perfect gift a great dog is! If I had lost the deer I would have forever contended he was a 125" 9 point. I get really excited and he turned out to be a 110" 9 point. Nobody got mad at me, they all hunt with guns and felt sorry for me after 6 years! Thank you, Mike and Lucy and thank you Lord!

BTW, Mike and Lucy left us, had to be after 1 AM, to go help answer another hunter's prayer. And they did, recovering a big 10 point for a Tallassee hunter. I bet Mike did not get back to wherever he was staying until dawn. At 62, I have no idea how he finds the drive and stamina to keep up the pace. I'm 54 and he is certainly an inspiration to me. And Lucy, the consummate professional, should be an inspiration to us all!

Mike & Lucy found this one today.

Had a first two nights ago,went in to track big buck for a friend of a friend,we rode electric to the spot he had arrowed the buck ,before we started tracking he pulled the card out of his trail camera,,,I knew it was a very very low percentage track.arrow only went in 4 inches mostly meat and white hair no blood,I figured. Non fatal brisket shot,took Lucy about hour and a half to take the track 650 yrds,she came back once and gave me the "were not going to get this one look" then went back to work,finally we all decided to call it,she showed us a speck of blood at around. 600 yrds,
Next day he sent us this pic that was on the SD card he pulled,the buck had already been back to the hit spot,actually he was there when we drove in.he must have took off like a streak when he heard us coming in,it had been around 7 hrs since he had been hit,

Last season a friend called and said his 8 year old had shot at a 6 point in a food plot just before dark. He didn't think the deer was hit but he knew that Annie could confirm a hit or miss. After she took the track about 200 yards and quit, I told him the deer was not hit. After we went back thru the food plot to our trucks we were standing around talking for about 15 minutes. He had a camera that sends a picture to his phone when it goes off. His phone rang and there was the 6 point standing in the food plot 150 yards away around the corner. The buck had been watching us trying to track him the whole time. Strange things happen in the deer woods and he was not hit.

I remember that one randy

Thanks to Lucy and Mike I was able to recover my best deer since the early 1980's. They both were great, and thanks a bunch Mike and Lucy. They don't get any better than these two.

Hey guys Lucy and I are on a streak,we have put the last 8 deer we tracked on the tail gate,would be cool and a great ending to our season if we could put a dozen or so in a row on the tail gate,so help us by calling us,
Got stuck in the gumbo three times last nite but we got the guys deer,they had to pull me out all three times,

As you all know my favorite hunters to track for are youth hunters,we recovered this nice buck for a 12 yr old yesterday.he was a runner had to catch/bay him 10 times before we could dispatch him,he was mortally wounded,he just didn't know it,

Good stuff Mike! Congrats on a fine season, hope you get 20 more this weekend!

Just recovered this one,that makes 9 in a row, Come on guys we only need 3 more to make 12,give me and Lucy a call,,
This last one was a tough one,we had to track on leash in a neighborhood we went through peoples backbyards down their drive eaysvacross streets,behind a mall for two miles,we finally pushed him out of the neighborhood and out into the country into a huge block of woods,we had permission to tresspass every step of the way,once we got him out of town we left him for a couple hours,we went had lunch and rested,the land owner joined us and we went back after the buck,tracked another 800 yrds on leash just to be extra safe, Lucy drug us across a open meadow and there was the buck very slowly walking across rt out in the open,we watched him go into some thick brush,we could tell by the way he was walking he was hurt bad,it had been around 7:hrs since he had been arrowed and he had lost a tremendous amount of blood,so we let Lucy go in 5 min or less she had him bayed up,we tried sneaking in but he saw us and took off she caught him again in around 150 yrds,again we tried to sneak in he saw us and ran another 150 yrds,this time he just stood their and let us dispatch him.it probably would have taken several hours more before he would have died on his own,so I was glad we put a quick humane end to the situation.was also worried about the coyotes getting to him,

I think chevyman liked that last post Mike!

Good read.

I hope that you get the 3 more you are looking for real soon!

Lucys streak is still going she just put number 10 in a row on the tail gate,gut shot 8 pt,she had to bay him up 8 times,bugger just wouldn't let us get close.you'd think after 7 hours he wouldn't have been so lively.

Thanks guys with your help, Lucy and I got our all time best streak 12 in a row!!!
Number 11 was a broke shoulder,he took us on a tour of the country,the hunters had spent around 4 hours scouring the woods with four guys they jumped him at least once that they knew of,when the blood ran out they did some griding but had no luck so they gave up.the Hunter had shot him at around 7 am yesterday morning,in desperation they called Lucy in on the job late last nite,my friend mitch volunteered to help,I call him my swamp buster once you get him on the job your either going to get the buck or die trying,I've seen him turn his back to 12 foot high swamp thorn brush and start pumping his legs busting through the ugliest thorny brush you've ever seen and while in thigh high water, one nite he and his friend and I spent four hours in the swamp from hell,Lucy bayed that gut shot deer so many times I quit counting,the shooter was positive he liver shot the buck so. We waited 4 hours and went in,had we known he was gut shot low we would have given him a bunch more time at least 3 hours more,last night mitch was a godsend,he saw I was tired so immediately he took over the driving and his enthusiasm got me going again and the nap I took on the way,OK,back to the tour of the country.we arrived at a little after midnite approximately 17 hours after the hit,,Lucy hit the bloodless track at a slow trot,took her a a couple of circles around the starting point and some figuring out to get line up on him,she came back two or three times checking the little bit of scent she had some times no blood and 17 hours can be a little tough,andremember four guys had spent the afternoon running around in there,so the track was probably contaminate finally I breathed a sigh of relief when she started moving out on the track,4 miles later , four sweaty guys heard the unmistakable voice of Lucy baying the rest is history,and we had number 11 in a row on the tail gate.

Congrats, Mike. I had two streaks of eleven in a row. But after one of the streaks I had a streak of nine that I didn't recover.

Will renewed enthusiasm,we decided to go to auburn and recover. A gut shot buck for a friend so we took off on a hour and a half drive,on thebway we called him ,told him get your *** out of bed were heading your way to get that wide racked buck of yours,he had shot it with a arrow around 8 hours prior,the property were the buck was is surrounded on all four sides by busy highways and even though it was 3:30 in the morning I wasn't going to take any chances so we had to do the tracking on leash,Lucy lead us to the dead dead likety split and we had number 12 in a row on the tail gate!!!! All time record for me and Lucy,
Thanks to every one for their support and friendship.

Wow awesome!!!

I'm going to hate the dickens out of the season closing in South Bama in a few days.

Will miss reading the Idaho Mike and Lucy posts in this thread.

The "Idahomike deer tracking" thread has been my absolute favorite thread in the Serious Deer Talk forum this year!

Maybe Mike can take time to tell us more tracking stories that he hasn't had time to post here.

Mike and Lucy have been a great help to many in Bama this year!

I'm sure every one you have helped has been most appreciative!

Im with you there Cuz!

Loved seeing all those bucks he recovered that would have been otherwise lost.

This thread needs more pictures!!!!!!

The streak is still going!!! Got number 14 in a row late last night way down up to our buts in a bama swamp,after broke leg buck,was out of communication for awhile,sorry if I missed any calls,don't like to mess with the phone in wet area's, just my luck I would drop it in the gumbo, will tell story later,I get up at 5 every morning feed the pups then go back to sleep,which is what I'm going to do now,nite everyone

Awesome season Mike. Thanks for helping out so many people. Best thread of the season.

What are the totals at for Alabama and for out of state?

Our streak is still continuing,
Lucy recovered number 15 in a row this morning of those 15,she had to bay 11,
buck was shot yesterday at 4pm, we started tracking at around 10:30 this morning so track was around 18 hours old,which isn't really that old,Lucy successfully tracked one last year that was 39 hrs old,when we got there nature called so is was out in the woods squatting, when I heard the leaves rustling behind me,I swiveled my head around and there were 4 deer standing there looking at me!lol,when they took off they ran rt over the track of the buck we were there to track,.well we got ready and started out Lucy took the old track so fast we had to run just to keep up,no surprise she completely ignored the super hot tracks of the deer that had just went through there,,at about600 yards she found the bedded buck,and started circling him yipping,we me and the hunter,was sneaking in to dispatch him when to my horror some guy that wasn't with us was moving in ahead of me,with a rifle,I hollard at him to stay back,soon as I hollard the buck took off,luckily Lucy caught him again at about another 150 yards,if she caught him again so soon he was definitely mortal wounded,the Hunter had shot him with a bow,in the chest between the front leg and the breast bone,the arrow had broke off and the broad head was still in him,
I will check our totals later for accuracy and let you know,I think total deer on the tail gate is 139

What's the story with the guy who was moving in on Lucy baying him up that wasn't with y'all? Was it on public land or something?

Just out of curiosity do you have to buy an out of state license to shoot an already wounded deer?

Was some club member out walking around hunting heard Lucy and was walking in to see what was going on,have no idea what he would have done if he would have beat us to the bay up,,

good job again Mike. Great dog you have there!

Guys my son's deer was #14 on Idaho Mike's current streak. I have deer hunted for 36 years and never seen anything like him and his dogs. We would not have recovered his buck without them. Call him without any reservation. Everybody has experienced that sick feeling of losing a buck. Mike can prevent that. Thanks again Mike!

[quote=Idahomike]Lucys streak is still going she just put number 10 in a row on the tail gate,gut shot 8 pt,she had to bay him up 8 times,bugger just wouldn't let us get close.you'd think after 7 hours he wouldn't have been so lively.

Mike I really hate you can't make the meet and greet that Paul and Daniel are doing.

If you see some redundancy on my thread,its because I deleted some pics I had on photobucket,didn't know I had to keep them there to continue showing them hete

The streak continues put number 16 in a row on the tail gate today,8 yr olds first buck,broke leg,some were around union Springs,buck was shot the afternoon before,we started tracking at around 3:30 this afternoon,track was around 22 hours old,
Will post story and picture tomorrow.

I was up in Troy today and the club members said ya'll tracked a buck for one of our lady hunters a few days ago. They were amazed at Lucy's ability to not pay the other deer any attention and put the buck on the tailgate. Thanks

OK,,story behind number 16 in a row streak we are on.
Guy called yesterday late morning,he sounded a little distressed,he explained to me his 8 yr old son had shot his first deer a buck,the afternoon before,the buck took off crossed a steep ravine that had a creek in the bottom of it,they waited 25 minutes and went to look for blood, they had pea sized spots every 15/20 yards to the ravine,on the other side of the creek they had the same trail,for 30 yrds,down the ravine/creek bank,at that spot they found two little pieces of bone,to small to determine which part of the body they had came from and from that point on no blood no hair nothing to continue on,by then it was dark,so they drove back to Birmingham, the boy had school in the morning,As anyone who knows Lucy and me knows youth hunters are special to us,so with the thought that our streak was probably over I agreed to meet with them at loves truck stop on exit 22,besides if I was to filter my calls then a streak wouldn't be as meaningful, called my wife and told her our streak was going to be over,we both agreed an 8 year olds first buck was worth it..so we met at loves and I followed him out to his property,I asked him why he waited so long to call,the track was going to be at least 23 hours old,and with such minimal singn our odds were getting less with each tick of the clock,He said their attitude towards deer tracking dogs was negative,because of a incident they had had earlier in the year,they had shot a big trophy buck that they couldn't find,so they called a tracker,they had massive amounts of blood and felt it should have been an easy find for a well trained tracking dog.he said the guy didn't recover their deer and charged them a good amount of money,they thought that the deer his dogs chased wasn't even the wounded deer,
OK now I have triple pressure
,1to get the youths deer.
2,to change his attitude about deer tracking dogs
3,least important not break our streak.
I put Lucy on the ground and we stayed back out of her way,so she could figure things out,I never put her on a deer I let her nose go out and determine which deer is wounded.it a tracker puts his dog on a track,he might get it wrong and send his dog especially a young one on the wrong deer,or even backwards.
OK this is part one,I will continue on next post

Whew!
OK part two,so the pressure is on and Lucy hasn't left the last blood spot area for half an hour,she starts out at the last blood and if she can't get another wiff she makes a tight little circle then a little bigger one then a bigger one until sometimes she is 60 yrds from the last scent she had,at that point she will go back to the last spot and start all over I've seen her do this for an hour expanding the circle,during this time she will take a track out for a ways determine it isn't wounded and come to searching her grid,all me and the hunters have been doing is standing around talking and some times watching her,now I'm really getting nervous,two problems 23 hrs and a tremendous amount of deer tracks,you cant take two steps without stepping on a fresh or old deer track,looks like a feed yard,finally she works her magic and starts very slowly and methodically following a track out,me and the father say come on Lucy!!!come on Lucy?!!!when she hits the 150yrds mark we slowly start after her,planning to give her lots of space for check ups,at about 200 yrds I look down and say,yes!,there is some sweet,sweet blood,we've been following her step by step and this is our first spot of blood,I've also got one of my pups in training on leash,he has definitely been tracking the buck also,just on leash,he is 16 months old and will be on leash for a couple more seasons to solidify his training to ignore non wounded deer and off game,squirrels,rabbits,racoons,etc..it is so tempting to take a short cut in training,but I've seen the results in following a strict regime of training over my "50" years of dog handling,I also work them a lot in the off season,
Well at about 800 yrds from the last blood Lucy starts baying and we take off,when I get close I let my pup loose to get some baying experience.just as we are closing the distance the buck breaks bay but gets bayed up again at around 150 yrds away,this means he is most probably mortally wounded if he wasn't he would have left the country,and I would have called the dogs in.this goes on for awhile and they cross the property line so I call them off while the Hunr calls the land owner,takes a while and a few calls but eventually we get the OK,I leash my pup up and give Lucy the nod in about another 600 yrds she has him bayed up tight so again when I get close I let the pup back in,when we sneak into the bayed buck on our hands and knees he is already down for the count amazing how he could live 28 hours wounded so bad,his front leg was a total mess,either the coyotes would have got him or gangerine, or he would have slowly over the next 24 hrs
bled to death,

Mike awesome story on the find for the 8 year old hunter. He will always be thankful for this. Congrats to you and Lucy for hopefully changing their feelings on tracking dogs.

Great job Mike and Lucy!

Thanks for doing what you do.

Mike - what are your total numbers for the year and for the state of Alabama alone?

Just walked in the motel room,got in early tonite, 1am,but none the less very tired,just put number 17 in a row on the tail gate,nice 8 pt shot by a woman Hunter,had to bay him up,he was low gut shot,will write up story later,of the 17 recoveries in a row 13 of them were still alive and had to be caught,but all were mortally wounded,some would have taken longer to die than others depending on the servility of their wounds but all would eventually have succumbed, either,coyotes,gangerine, or slowly bleeding to death,

Mike you seem to get tons of bad shot/ live deer tracks which is the nature of the business I suppose. Of the tracks you go on, how many of the deer % wise are mortally wounded and how many do you think would survive the shot? What is the reason behind most tracks you go on? Long distance shots, poor angle shots, new hunters/buck fever, lack of practice shooting or sighting in rifles, just curious. I could see tons of poor bow shots but high powered rifles are so accurate it is hard to imagine thousands of bad shots.

Something I've always wondered about, whats the legality of shooting a wounded animal at night?

Look back in this thread a few pages.

It was a thought that started because of two instances we had on the same property this year.

The beginning of season a buddy was riding his 4 wheeler to go move a stand and was skirting the edge of a peanut field that had some REALLY thick briars. He stopped because he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he looked and saw large antlers sticking out of the briars. The pic below he took while standing on his 4 wheeler. He had no rifle with him, and when he got back with it the deer was gone, but it never ran while he was right there beside it on a running 4 wheeler. That buck was convinced he was safe and concealed and that by running he was going to give his position away and potentially be in danger.



Fast forward a few weeks. I shot the buck in my sig, and mortally wounded (some may recall the story) we found him and a fight ensued, but he let us walk right up him. Again, he was mortally wounded, and I would say the finishing shot was after legal shooting hours. It was about 5:45ish PM on December 6th.

Which got me to thinking - what if you are tracking a wounded deer at night, and happen upon another buck in thick stuff that believes he is concealed and you shoot that deer to "finish" him off and its not even the same deer? Not saying I want to do that or want it to be legal or anything (of course I wouldn't), I'm just saying it can happen. Just last year I was tracking a wounded buck at night and walked up to within 10 yards of a doe standing in thick stuff that was just watching us. We thought it was the wounded deer until the light obviously showed that it wasn't even a buck.

Just something to think about. Not trying to prove a point either way, the thought had just crossed my mind the other day is all.

Chris, out of around 1000 tracks, I have had the wrong deer shot twice. One at night and one in daylight. Both times it was because the hunter did not give an accurate description of the deer we were after. Both times there was a huge difference in the size of the deer we shot and the deer we eventually found. It is rare but it can happen and no one is proud of it. Especially the warden.

Sounds like those two were bigger than the deer being tracked? Worse mistakes have been made ha.

CNC I sincerely hope by next year your festering jealousy over Idaho Mike is cured. Comments like that really do not cause you to be viewed well sir.

Dang surely all of you trackers got plenty of tracks. Seemed to be plenty to go around.

If I was seriously ill I would try to contact the best doctor in the world. If I lost a wounded deer I would call Idaho Mike.

LMAO...does Mississippi have a forum like this?

Mike , what's the final tally ?

Sir, you are very eloquent and tactful.

I can answer from text I got from Mike yesterday:

Total tracks 218
Deer on tailgate 142 65%
Caught alive 59
Called off because of no trespassing 29

I was an observer (and eventual deer dragger) on his last one on the night of February 10 south of Union Springs. Caught up with low gut shot buck and shot about 10:00 pm. Mike is a gentleman and an expert with an unbelievable passion. A pleasure to watch him and his dogs work. No doubt that there are many other qualified teams out there but I can't imagine any are better than Mike and Lucy.

Thanks, strong numbers!

Mike, when you finish up in Mississippi can you break down the numbers state by state? Kentucky and Tennessee, too?

You, my friend, are "spot on" with your observation.

I finally quit reading any of the posts on the CNC tracking thread because of the same perception I gained from other similar comments.

The gentleman has a great dog in the making, no doubt. I hope he finds that cure...

I second what cuz pat said

Another accurate assessment and good post.

Randy "Trackncur" We both know Mike very well long before he said he lives in Alabama now. There is no dout he is a good person and has a good dog "Lucy". I`m glad he was able to help alot of hunters out... there`s not enough trackers to cover the state.... But My question to you is why in the hell you ask if Mississippi has a forum, you know they do....You talk to Mike just about everyday.

But I can say one thing for sure Mike needs to be careful with his dog...I was so afraid Lucy would get hurt or killed the last few weeks in Alabama....Over the last year He shot his dog "Lucy"...Had to cut here tail off. she got hit by a car in Ga. picked up side the road for dead but came to later and then got stuck by a buck....when you drive a dog 24/7 day and night for five months out of the year and if it can happen it will.

Advice for new trackers....don`t let two dogs bay a deer sooner or later one is gonna get hurt. And if you ever start letting your dog get up close trying to catch a deer you are asking for trouble and if you get to close you`ll get it to. Last but not least....if you don`t train your dog right you better keep on a rope...its a lot of drama to see your dog being run by a mad wounded deer it will make you put your dog back on lead....train em right Get your self a Alpha 100 TT15 collar with bark detector.

You somebodys wife?

Lol. I think someone is jealous.

Trackers gonna track

Judging by how other "trackers" have handled themselves on this forum in contrast to how Mike has handled himself, I'd say it's pretty clear who a person in need of an experienced tracker should call.

Bill, my gosh, have you ever seen such as all of this? Wow!

There ain't no doubt who the man is when it comes to tracking wounded deer. He's the most talked about tracker to ever hit this state.

It's sad that we live in a world where others can't be happy for a man's successes so because of their jealousy they try to do all they can to run/tear him down.

How many times are you going to make this same post? Why get on here and bad mouth a man? You JELLY bro? People get on here and talk trash about mike, yet he never says a crossword to anyone. Never even responds to the post. It is not your place to try and correct him on how he tracks or what happens with his dogs. Its none of your business. You should spend more time training your dogs instead of posting nastygrams about Mike. Then maybe you could have as many success stories.

Don't hate mike because you aint mike!!!

Sounds like he wanna be like Mike. Wanna Wanna Wanna be like Mike. Sounds like a 13 year old middle schooler girl.

God Bless Nick Saban and IdahoMike.

His detractors are building Mike's business as much as he is. They can't help themselves.

You guys do love you some drama……

Yeah, and you guys did nothing to perpetuate any of it.

You gotta love the drama...come on guys Ya`ll can do better

Not somebody` wife ...ridgestalker, but I think I would be safe to say that you were still wet behind the ears...When I was in Vietnam USMC protecting yo mama 1968-1970. And for you Fullthrottle..you would not know a tracking dog if you saw one...jealous..not in the least what I`m trying to get across is protect your dog don`t put it in harms way just so you can look good. And for all the new trackers that would like to have and train a dog open your eyes. I like dogs and I don`t like for anybodies dog to get hurt....

I never worry about getting tracks like some trackers do and I certainly could give a rat`s Ass how many tracks another tracker get....but there is one thing for sure I`m not going to running all over the state tracking all time of night tracking deer...I love tracking but I also like being in my bed.

Thanks for the remarks I certainly enjoy the drama.

It shows......thank you for your service sir!

First I want to thank all the great sportspersons of Alabama for their support and friendship,
I made a lot of life time friends in the short two seasons I've been tracking in bama,I am amazed at all the offers of dinner and most surprising the offers to let me stay at there homes and camps,Really renewed my belief in the my conceived opinion of hunters,you guys,gals and children are what make this country great,My wife and I thank you for all the memorable memories we are taking home with us and can't wait to return next year to renew friendships and recover deer which is a passion.
We had a fantastic season here are the numbers.
We went on 218 tracks!
142 deer on the tail gate.
59 of those recoveries were still alive,but mortally wounded,had to be chased and bayed..
29 times we had to discontinue tracking the deer due to trespassing issues.frustrating!!
26 times had to call of tracking because I decided that the deer wasn't hit hard enough to catch,high percent of those showed up on trail cameras,almost every time we had some form of proof we were tracking the right deer,blood,visual,ect...
11 times I called off the pursuit due to large rivers with swift currents,large lakes,vast deep dangerous swamps.
3 times I called it off due to danger,traffic,cliffs,ledges at night etc...
We ended the season with a streak of recoveries that I have never had before.
The streak started on Jan.29th and hasn't been broke yet so we will hopefully continue it next season if the hunting gods deam it,
Every track we went on from Jan,29th until the end of the season we recovered/put on the tail gate,"""17" """ in a row of those "" 17" " 13 of them had to be chased and bayed.
Again our deepest thanks
Mike,joyce,Lucy,Jake and Andy lopez

Awesome Mike! Thank you for doing what you do and helping everyone all over the state. Never had to use a tracking dog but if I'm ever in the need I'll try to contact you first. Your love for your dogs and recovering kids deer amazes me and it shows what kind of person you are. Once again thank you and can't wait I'll
Next season to read along as the season unfolds and watch you do your magic with Lucy!

Great service that you and the rest of the blood trackers provide. I know of a few deer this year that could have probably been recovered, but the shooters opted to not call. I think next year ya'll are going to be called more.
Someone said you have moved to Alabama, is that correct?

Congrats on another great season, you and Lucy turned a record amount of frowns into smiles ! You are always a hard working , class act. Thank you for your dedication and service you provide.

BTW, my offer still stands , you and Lucy need a place to bunk for the night when tracking in my area or if I can help in any way, give me a call.

You just made a very important statement. There are tens of thousands of lost deer in Alabama each year and the majority of them are ending up like the ones you describe. The more those people start hearing about using tracking dogs though then the better for everyone. See you next year Idahomike.......


It’s gonna be epic!

Made me spit all over my monitor!

Thanks Mike for all you, your wife and Lucy's hard work this year that ya'll did for Alabama hunters.

You are truly a class act!

Congrats Mike on an awesome tracking season!

Thanks Mike for a great season you are the best!

Thanks Dickie,was great meeting you and your friend,that was fancy atv driving you did!!

I'm in Alabama and ready to help recover deer for bama hunters! I look forward to getting together with all the bama hunters I met last year and hope to meet some new ones.lucy and I have had a good season. so far this season weve put 104 deer on the tail gate of those 45 had to be tracked,chased,bayed and dispatched.lucy is up to 535 deer on the tailgate with 223 of them bayed and dispatched.
So far since we got here on Wednesday we've put two nice bucks on the tail gate first one was a 26 hour old track and the second one was a real cool piebald buck first piebald I've ever seen.he had to be bayed and dispatched.
Mike Lopez"idahomike"
6302406394
I don't charge,just really appreciate a donation to help with expenses,I'm staying in motel 6's because they let my dogs in the room and don't charge a fee for them.
Sure feels good to be back in Alabama,love this state.


Lucy was born May 22 of 2010.

I didn't start advertising her as a tracking dog until 2013,which is when I determined she was good enough to take the responsibility of tracking a hunters deer,before that I just tracked my own,family and a few friends.


I believe tracking a hunters deer is a great responsibility,and should only be done by a competant,fully trained and tested in the field dog and handler. Especially if renumeration is expected.


Otherwise the handler risks giving all trackers a bad name in the eyes of hunters.



I only count a deer as a recovery if we can put them on the tail gate/put our hands on them,some trackers have a more liberal definition as found/or recovered which in my oppinion leads to false claims/numbers. If you can put you hands on the deer then that is a positively definitive reliable result/number,with no questions of ligitimacy of claims!!


Caught alive means,we tracked,chased,Bayed,dispatched the deer,broke leg,shoulder,gut shot etc...


Lucy's records as of Jan.5,2018 approximately 77% through the 2017/2018 tracking season.


            Recovered   caught alive                               


2010 to 2013 pup/training,yrs 


                   26             5


2013/14    55           18


2014/15    101          42


2015/16    142          59


2016/17    107          54


2017/18    104         45


Total to       535        223
Date


If you do the math 43% of the
Deer recovered had to be tracked,Bayed and dispatched.         


Lucy's best streak so far is 17 on the tail gate in a ROW,of those 17,she tracked,chased,Bayed,and we dispatched 13 of them,That had broken legs,shoulders,gut shot,etc,,,,    
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Our club is just south of Montgomery, glad to have another tracker in the area.

I would be honored to track for your club.
I don't charge,just really appreciate a donation to help with expenses,I'm staying in motel 6's because they let my dogs in the room and don't charge a fee for them.
Sure feels good to be back in Alabama,love this state.

JChan in regular forum looking for a dog in St. Clair county.