I`m not the only one that has been tracking for a while and the only thing that I have learned is if there is bone it has to be a leg shot 95% of the time. When one say back slap just because it fell down and stayed down for a bit got up and took off. All this is, is guessing. I had a hunter call me in Ga. in Tolbot cty told me the same story fell down got up ran off. I could not get to him because I was back up with calls....I got Timmy Oller to take the track....he found the big 12 pointer 400 yds out.

When a hunter calls me to come and track his deer all I need to know did he think he hit him, blood or no blood I`m coming to help. No one really knows where the deer is hit except maybe the hunter. 90% of the time the deer is never hit where we think it was. I hear trackers say liver hit cause the blood was dark, lite red what ever, the tracker was not there to see the shot being made. When you get there the story usually changes from tons of blood to maybe one drop. I found out lone time ago doing the guessing shiiii only made a fool out of me...I did not know what I was talking about after the track was over.

Guess what I`m trying to convey is calling a shot based on what the hunter tells you is crazy just guessing who the hell knows where the deer was hit. Go track it find out if its dead, hit bad or just cut....that back slap maybe a dead deer for the hunter. One other thing when a tracker make statements he has found 17 deer in a row some dead and some bayed and shot is not being truthful.....I do not care how good of a dog one has that is not happening. if it does it is luck luck luck.

Found him finally! In a pond 240 yards from where he shot him! Must have sank, 2 weeks later he surfaced. The neighbor told us a deer was in their pond, dad goes to look, and there he is!

Awesome!

That's awesome!.....Could you tell where you hit him?

Glad you found him but I bet it wasn't awesome getting that head off and out of there.

Good one..

High gut shot

What was the dog tracking?

Nice deer by the way!

Glad you found it. Did the dog lead you guys close to the water source where it was later found, or was it way off track?

It rained really hard for a while the night he shot the deer. The deer ran out of the field, and straight to the pond I believe. The dog made a hard right and went south . The deer was straight east. They never really got close to the pond.

I wonder if he ran in the pond and drowned? Was the shot right under the spine? It’s possible the deer lived for a while and eventually circled back to the pond. We tracked one this past year that was shot just under the spine and it was still very much alive the next morning at 14-15 hrs after the shot. It was messed up and weak though and just ran 100 yards and laid back down after jumping it.

always check the nearest water.

I would have trusted the dog, too. Especially on a gut shot that the sign had been washed away the night before. That's usually a gimme. Always trust your dog.

" One other thing when a tracker make statements he has found 17 deer in a row some dead and some bayed and shot is not being truthful"
Sure seems like some pent up resentment out there.

It's not penned up, he cried all last season about it. 34 posts and probably half of them are negative about IdahoMike.

Why do y’all so adamantly defend someone that only shows up here for a few weeks out of the whole year to promote themselves and then leaves? I just don’t get it. I could care less anymore about “tracking in my area” or any of that bullchit, I feel like I make my own way…. …..BUT….just from the sheer perspective of our Aldeer brotherhood here, I don’t get it. You would think it would matter that folks try to give as much back to the forum as they take but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Do y’all just need someone to be your hero or what?

Seems to me most folks need to shoot a little better. Shoot them in the heart and they dont go far. All about shot placement IMO

^^^^ hey there's an idea. I'll give that a try next year

"Why do y’all so adamantly defend someone that only shows up here for a few weeks out of the whole year to promote themselves and then leaves? I just don’t get it."

As opposed to someone who promotes themselves here nearly every day of the year?

Sorry to jump in the gutter but I object to someone such as AJ claiming someone is a liar when I personally know otherwise. I know from personal experience that Mike and Lucy do what Mike says. His energy and drive are beyond comprehension. He lives to find deer with his dog and does a remarkable job of it.

When I get a call that I can't take my first recommendation is IdahoMike.

IdahoMike is easy to defend because he is never negative about the other trackers, no matter what some of you throw at him. It really is a huge turn-off the way you talk about the guy, when all he does is track deer and stay above the fray.