I figured I'd be a copy cat and do like CNC is doing. I figured I'd try and keep my stories in a separate thread to keep his clean.

As alot of you know, the northern half of the state is suffering from options on a tracking dog. I think we have 2 that I'm aware of. I bought a dog almost 2 years ago, a mtn cur, from J Carter on here. I had all intentions on making her a tracking dog. Started working her on blood as soon as she came home. I ended up getting a divorce shortly after and didn't have time to work her. I missed last deer season working on a house and decided to start back training her when I was finished. So this summer I started back doing mock tracks and she picked right up where she left off and was doing excellent. Bow season opened in GA and I was able to collect some fresh supplies off some deer friends had killed. Started making her mock tracks as hard as I could imagine. Making loops, crossing dirt roads, etc. She just blew thru them. I felt like it was time to get her on the real thing and started advertising. I've read about every article and alot of books on tracking and have talked to a few other trackers getting advice. (Thanks CNC) I felt confident Spark would find a deer.

Fast forward to yesterday. As soon as I got home, I went to lay a mock track at a family members house. I let it age 4 hours and while I was on my way I got my first call. My boss had shot a doe in GA and the arrow was covered in blood but he couldn't find any blood on the ground. I told him I'd be on my way.

About an hour later we get to the hit site and I let Spark sniff around a minute. Boss told me the story. 2 deer came in the plot, he shot the biggest doe. When she hit the woods, he hears her run by his stand about 30 yards. He didn't see where the deer went in.

So, I tell Spark to find it. I worked her on lead the whole time because I dont have a tracking collar yet. She hits the woods and man is it ever thick. I mean a rabbit would need a chainsaw to get thru this stuff. And me being the novice expert I am, didn't think to wear my briar pants. So here I go, being drug thru the woods behind a dog in a t shirt and blue jeans with no gloves.

We go about 100 yards thru this mess and we've not found blood and by Sparks body language I felt like she wasn't on it. I decided to take her back to the hit site and start over. This time she hit the woods and went a different direction. We get about 30 yards in the woods and find blood. Boy she's on it now. I felt like I had a Clydesdale at the end of that leash being drug thru hell. We end up going about 150 yards and there's the deer! She gets about 5 steps from it, hair raised on her neck and she starts growling. Lol. I'm pumped up, the boss is going nuts. Spark found her first deer! Then we had to drag that heffer back thru that mess. On the way out, I had the idea to train a dragging dog to go along behind the tracking dog! Reckon that would work?

He had actually double lunged this deer but she didn't start bleeding for about 50 yards. It was so thick in there, there's no way he would have been able to find that deer. He had already given up.

When I got back to the truck, I felt like I'd sandpapered an alligators a$$ in a phone booth. I have got scratches and cuts all over me. I learned some valuable lessons from the first. I will wear my briar pants from now on and I will be getting a tracking collar.

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Welcome to tracking!!

That made my morning. Yeah, you better go ahead and be prepared for “thick”…..that’s just about every track it seems like. If you don’t start out in thickness, then just give it a minute….you’re headed that way…..either that or a swamp. Briar clothes are a must. I like the soft leather gloves…..they give me more dexterity to work my GPS than the stiff ones. A forester’s cruising vest is also a valuable thing to get. You’ll want to get used to taking a bottle or two of water with you for the dog as well along with a tiny bowl. You can just cut the bottom of a water bottle off to make one. Some tracks are gonna take a while and the dog will do much better if you stop and give it a drink every now and then. They’ll eventually shut down if you don’t when its hot.

Keep the stories coming!

Awesome! I will eventually get into tracking and really enjoy reading about it.

Congrats on the recovery?

Congrats on number 1.

Excellent job and excellent story.
I’ve been training my GSP for birds since we brought him home last September.
After his first season of dove hunting I think he has it down.
Now I’ve been doing a little bit of tracking training with him and he’s doing ok.
If he manages to find at least one lost deer then I consider it a success.
I can’t wait to try him out on the real thing.

Recovery 2 is in the books. Sorry to come

You need to buy a wicks suit asap

Good deal

Awesome!

Looking forward to keeping up with Spark's adventures!

Alright guys. I've finally had a minute to type all this out. Yesterday evening, my uncle and I went to a spot that we'd scouted last weekend. I took Spark with me just in case one of us shot one, I could give her some practice. I let her lay around in the dog box while we hunted.

I got set up around 4. This spot is a little pinch point between cutover and had a couple white oaks dropping. The wind was brutal, as this spot is right on the brow of the mtn.

I wear contacts and my eyes got extremely dry. At one point, I thought I had caught movement and was straining to look and when I blinked, my left contact came out. I guess the wind blew it off my face cause I couldn't find it.

Well, now I'm blind in one eye. I can't see at all without lens. Shortly thereafter, 3 big does come feeding in. They came in on my left side and I didn't even know they were there until they were at 10 yards. They fed under my tree for the longest and I was able to get up and get ready. I picked out what looked to be the biggest one and got to full draw. I settled the pin and whack, I couldn't tell where I hit her exactly. It sounded like it was right in the boiler, but I can't see real good. She runs off like a bat outta hell and I have no clue where she went.

It was a few minutes before dark and I went ahead and got down. I walked to the hit site and the arrow was covered in blood. I thought then I had made an excellent shot. I gather my crap and walk back to the wheeler and wait for my uncle. I told him all about it and I went and got Spark while he started looking for blood.

I get back and he can't find any blood at all. I take Spark to where the deer was standing and she's on it. I have her on a nylon leash now, about 8ft long. She's dragging me along. We get out about 40 yards from the hit and I see a speck of blood. I tell my uncle to watch for blood as he's following. We make it about 100 yards and the deer finally opened up and bled in one spot about the size of a truck hood. I looked back to tell him here's a bunch of blood, and when I say it, this deer jumps up 2 steps from me and before I could think, Sparks on her. Jerked the leash outta my hand and is gone. She bayed the deer up about 80 yards away.

I told my uncle I was just gone get Spark and we'll come back in the morning cause I'm unsure about the hit. I start making my way over and I'm trying to call her off, but she aint coming. Deer takes off like a rocket again, Spark's right on her. She runs up the mtn this time about 50 yards and bays the deer again. I'm making my way over to her and she quits barking. I can hear her panting and when I get to where I can see her, she's standing on top of the deer chewing on its butt. She was DRT.

Then its all high fives and pics. Somehow, I shot that deer in the hip. I have no idea how that happened and the only thing I can think is, being nearly blind in my left eye and I shoot both eyes open. I don't know.

I don't know if we'd of found this deer without her. I can't say. I believe I could have tracked her to her first bed but when she busted outta there, I found no more blood. It was great practice for her either way. We're both novices and we both love it.

Congrats on the kill and track.

Man, you need to go ahead and get you an Alpha system. You'll love it. I bet it really motivated the dog to get on one like that. She’ll be pumped up on the next one now that she knows that some of them are alive. I had one tracker tell me one time that he thought his dog was a little disappointed when they found them and they were already dead. All dogs act a little different with live deer. Some of them want to run in and grab the deer and get really aggressive with it. Those dogs usually get injured or killed eventually. Them dang bucks don’t play. You can use the Alpha collar to help correct this issue and keep your dog off of them.

I'm gone get one. 700 dollars ain't easy to come by to.

Sounds like it’s time to start accepting “tips” ($$$$)……

In all seriousness though, I hear you…..it adds up quick when you really start getting into tracking. It’s more expensive to track than it is to hunt.

I can see where it is more expensive. Especially driving a truck like mine that gets 15 mpg.

Yep, I’m right there with you. I drive an older model Chevy that gets about 17……When the rut hits, that when things really get crazy. You’ll be running up and down every back road in north Alabama. Last year I drove about 40-50 miles to track a deer for some folks one morning and literally as I walked back in my door from that track….another hunter called that wasn’t even 5 miles from the first one. I loaded back up and here we went again.

I got a call to track yesterday around 1. Hunter said he shot a good buck at 15 yards broadside. Deer ran 20 yards and stopped he then turned and walked off. Hunter said he could see blood and stringy stuff running from the exit wound. I told him I'd be on my way. Deer was shot at 8am and I didn't get there til 2. They lost blood about 60 yards from the hit sight. I started at the arrow and Spark took off right down the trail. She went on past last blood and she kept working her way pulling hard and I felt she was on the deer. She took us to a fence line and wanted to go in the open field and I just didn't see that buck doing that and I felt like we needed to go back to the hit site and try again. On the way back to the hit site, we happened up on blood that confirmed the deer had doubled back. I led spark to the hit site and off we go again. Same route back to the open field. I know for sure this deer doubled back and she's not showing it. By this time, she was spent. Breathing hard and very tired. I continued to help the hunter look for the deer with no luck.

He had called another tracker earlier in the day and he was hung up. I told him to call a more experienced dog bc I believed the deer was dead. I was wanting to be there when the other dog showed just to see where mine went wrong but it was around midnight when they started and I'd been up since 3 am.

I woke up this morning with pics of the deer. I don't know the story yet, but I'll relay it when I know.

Kind of embarrassing on my end but I know she's still young and inexperienced.

Well, I just got the update. Looks like I should have trusted my dog a little better. The deer went up a very steep pond dam and died in the pond. I didn't know it was a pond and when Spark was wanting to go up it, I called her off.

Good ending. Keep the stories coming.

I've been on a couple where the handler second guessed the dog , however , the dog was right all along.

It’s completely normal…..It’s almost like a rite of passage to have to experience these tracks. Every tracker has done it. It sucks too because it makes you feel embarrassed as hell. Eventually the dog will get better and you’ll get better at reading the dog. It’s a team game. Brush that one off and get on the next one.

Thanks guys. I learned alot yesterday. I'm glad that I was able to find out the info on the ending.

It's like I told you when we went squirrel hunting, if you talk the dog up and want a good performance they will let you down just like mine did that day. Glad to see we have someone to call up here if we need a dog.

Shoot we still had a blast that day buddy. It was my fault for putting us in a gar hole!

Alright fellers, I just got back from a track. Foldemup text shortly before dark asking if I wanted to track a doe. He thought he hit her high but wasn't sure about the hit. I said sure let me head on that way. I didn't forget the briar pants this time thank God.

We get to the hit site and I let her get her piss and vinegar out. He shows us the general direction she went in the woods. Spark locked on and as soon as I entered the woods, I seen a small spot of blood. Foldemup said he'd stay behind and look for blood and Spark took off. Man, when she's on it, its like I'm being drug behind a D9 dozer. I'm not exactly sure how far we went because I forgot to turn my gps on. (won't do that one again!) His phone said .08 miles. I ended up finding one more good spot of blood where the deer had bled on some trees and there was alot on the ground but other than that I didn't see any. Of course I ain't got time to look either. I ended up having to turn her loose and following her reflective leash. She ends up stopping shortly after and I start scanning for her with my light and BINGO! theres the deer.

I've never seen a hit like this one with the entrance and the exit on the same side of the deer. I think when the deer went thru that nasty spot where I found the blood on the trees, that they pulled the guts on out of her.

Thanks again Foldemup for the opportunity to track. We had a blast!

Good job! We need a good dog in our area. CD.

If she’s wanting to track too fast then try working her on some mock tracks that have been aged 12+ hrs. The idea is to make her HAVE to slow down and dig for the scent instead of being able to blow right through it.

Thanks again Brent and Spark! For those reading and seeing my shooting skills, I shot at that deer's right side from 16 yards away using my 35 yards pin. When I walked to the field this afternoon, 2 does were already in it, so I ranged one and moved my slider to 35 to take the shot, but she didn't stick around long enough. I forgot to move it back to 20 when I got in my stand, and was excited that I finally had a deer close enough to shoot at. I guess the height in the tree got me the angle to shoot over her spine and enter through her back strap on the opposite side from me, then it exited out her guts and split wide arse open. Very little blood and Spark did a fantastic job!

I'll give that a shot as soon as this rain let's up. They've picked the corn off my place finally and it's opened up some more room to train.

I usually lay one in the afternoon and then track it the next morning. The amount of time that you want to age it depends on the individual dog…..how far are they in their training and how much nose do they have? You’re wanting to present them with whatever challenges them.... so adjust according to how your dog responds. If she does well on a 12 hr track then try 15 hrs…then 18 hrs…..until eventually you work up to 24 hrs.

Ran 2 mock lines this afternoon. One for each dog. Haggard, my bloodhound, blew thru his with precision. He'll be 4 months old Nov 1st and is making great strides.

It's not time for Sparks yet. I'm gonna let it age like CNC suggested.

You definitely need a gps collar for those two. You'll be shredded to ribbons in the briars with those 2 dragging you around on a leash. Look forward to see them both work!

I'm working on that foldemup. I think I convinced the ol lady Sunday night when I came in and she seen all the blood on my arms. lol

Let us know how she does on that old track.....

Will do.

So, I laid the lines yesterday with intentions on starting with an 8 hr track and working my way up to 24. Some things came up last night and it was raining so I postponed Sparks turn til I got home today. It was 22 hours old when I started. I wasn't gonna even attempt it with it being that old but I thought I'd just see what she did. Her line was about 300 yards long with 4 90's and a backtrack in it. Took her a minute to get going on it but when she did, she dug in and really slowed down compared to normal. She didn't slow down as much as I think she needs to. She overran 3 of the 90's but she did correct herself. She ended up wind scenting the treat about 40 yards away and she skipped the backtrack.

All in all, she did better than I expected but she does need some more work on the older lines. I'm gonna try and get my cousin to lay a line for me before he goes to work one day and not mark it so I can work her without my knowledge of how the tracks laid.

Awesome……..

Yeah, keep working her on those old lines. She’ll figure out that slowing down is to her benefit and she’ll start working the lines better. I bet your young blood hound could run an overnight track already.

He's made great strides in his motivation to track in just a month. I'm gone start making his alot harder after what I seen yesterday.

I wish these folks up here would hunt more and not shoot as good as they do. This getting one or two calls a week sucks.

Good job! Great looking cur dog.

Once she figures out what this is all about, she will be unstoppable. At least one of those dogs had the best nose of any I've ever seen or heard of.

Well I had another swing and a miss tonight. Got a call around lunch today from a fella that found my name on here. Shot a doe around 8:30 this morning and he thought he got 1 lung. Blood had some bubbles in it that he had found. This deer went almost straight up a DEEP holler. He took me to where the deer had crossed the road so we wouldn't have to walk all the way to the bottom where it was shot. He had tracked past this spot about 100 yards and lost the trail. I put Spark on it and she immediately shot up the bank the way the deer went and dug in and was working it alot slower than normal but still not as slow as I would expect for a 9 hour old track. She stayed right on the blood and when the deer turned a hard left, she made the check and kept going. The hunter had lost blood about half way up that last hill. She stayed on it all the way to the top and kept going. Pulling hard but slower than usual. I felt like she was on it. Top of the hill is a new cutover and she tracked right into it. She made it about 100 yards in and cut hard left, which put us headed back to where we had walked in. I had not seen any blood at all once we got in the cutover and I felt like she had cut a fresh deer track and was on it as she was pulling really hard and building speed.

I took her back to where the last blood was where the deer made the hard left and we went a different direction this time. I believe she got on another fresh track as she was trying to run and barking a little which she only usually does when she bays.

By this time, its dark and the thermals are coming off the hill so I thought I'd walk her back around toward the blood and either she'd cut the track or maybe wind scent the hill side. She struck on something hard and went in to the cutover again. I followed her about 200 yards into it this time and never seen any blood.

The hunter had told me that after he shot the deer there was a group of 8 does come thru and went the same direction the shot deer went. There was deer running every where on this place and I think it may have been to much for her to handle being a novice and all.

I'm gonna keep working her on the old mock lines and try to slow her down more. I'm ordering the collar this weekend so maybe that'll help some to.

It has to be tough on one with that many deer laying a track. I know nothing about training one to track a deer but I do know it's hard to get a tree dog to keep from running a fresh deer track. Curs are easier than hounds though so maybe she will overcome it if that was messing her up.

Dang, that sucks. She'll eventually learn to leave those other deer alone though when those hot trails don't lead to a prize at the end. It's tough when you first start. It can be hard to tell if their tracking the hurt deer or just a random one.

Sent you a PM.

Been on 4 tracks in 2 days. Will update as soon as I have more time.

Love these threads.

Alright fellers. Time for an update. I went on 2 tracks Sunday and 2 yesterday evening. First track was Sunday morning. The hunter which is one of my most hated friends, had shot a buck Saturday afternoon. He knew right away it was a gut shot and backed out. He went back in Sunday morning and lost the deer about 200 yards away in a thicket. I took both dogs because my female is in heat and is acting 6 ways of crazy. We held her back while I went on with Haggard. It was very obvious he is still to young so we brought Spark in. We ended up just going to the thicket where he had lost blood. Once in there, its really thick. She's not hitting on anything. I can hear my midget friend whistle to have me come to him. I had let Spark off leash to be able to work the wind a little. I got to him and it was obvious a deer had layed there a while. I tried calling Spark over but she wouldn't come. She ended up being down wind of the deer and was going nuts trying to figure out where it was coming from. The buck was probably 10 yards away from the bed. Congrats midget, I know your reading this.

Sunday evening, I get a call from a man in Paint Rock. His son had stuck a doe and the arrow was still in her. It was his son's first bowkill. I put Spark on the deer 7 hours after the shot. I let her backtrack it all the way to the hit site and started from there. We had parked down the mtn from there. So we head back down following blood and we get to where the guys had lost blood and she is still going strong. Dad was back behind a ways looking for blood as we were going. We went about 200 yards and found no blood. By her body language I believed she wasn't on the deer. So I restart. She takes the same exact path but takes a left about 100 yards into it. I let her work for another 100 or so yards and come up with nothing. So I restart yet again. Same story, she goes the same way down but gets out so far and just seems to lose it. At this point its nearly dark and i have no light. We started the search about 3.5 hours earlier. I tell Dad that I believe he needs to call a more experienced dog. I had told him from the start that mine were young and there was a good chance they wouldn't make the recovery. There seemed to be a lack of trackers Sunday and I was the only one available. The only other one wouldn't take the track later that night because I had been in there already. I really felt horrible leaving without finding the young man's deer. It's very discouraging.

Up next is yesterday's track. Got the call midday that the hunter had shot a buck and misjudged the distance. He had no blood at the hit site and just backed out to find a dog. He tells me that the deer bolted about 20 yards, stopped and walked off twitching its tail. So we go after him about 6 hours after the shot. He takes me to the hit site and Spark is on it. She tracks exactly where he said the buck walked off. I found one speck of blood about the size of a pencil eraser. There was white hair at the hit site and arrow had some clear fluid on it with no color or smell. I can see in the mud as Sparks tracking a large set of tracks and by her body language I feel like she's on the deer, but we're not finding anything. I restart and she does the exact same thing, goes to a creek. We did this 3 times and she follows the same trail each time. I believe that the deer was shot low and would live. But the way the deer acted is puzzling me. It sounds like a classic gut shot minus the hunching up. But there was only one speck of blood.

I left there and went on up the road. Hunter had shot a buck at 8:40. 18 yards broadside with a crossbow. He caught the off shoulder and they didn't give it any time before tracking. They busted the deer out of its bed and it probably ran 400 yards thru a semi grown up sage field. It made its way into another field which was slammed with cuckaburrs. They seen it trying to get across this field and it was having a hard time walking. So they went in after it, thinking it would be dead in there. They grid search it with no luck. I got there about 30 minutes before dark and we go to last blood and start working our way back towards where they last seen the deer. We end up going around this field hoping Spark will pick up on where it exited at least all while working the downwind side of it. I ended up zig zagging thru this field of cuckaburrs that's at times up to my chest. She ends up hitting a faint trail thru it and we find blood. Its off to the races. She's digging in and on the track. We come out of the field and cross a field road and hit a small strip of woods that is right next to the backwater. She tracked it all the way to the water and I pulled her off. We went 100 or so yards in both directions just to make sure and found nothing else. There was another section of land about 60 yards across the water the we assumed the deer went to. The hunter decided to call it and said he'd go back in this morning to see if it was there. He updated me today and did not find where the deer came out of the water. Up to that point the deer had been bleeding pretty good for just an entrance wound. We both believe the deer tried swimming across and drowned and sank.

Some of the things I've learned this week are, that my dog needs alot of work on older lines. I feel so embarrassed when she can't find a deer that I believe is down and dead. I figure it goes with the territory.

On a positive note, my collar should be arriving this Saturday. I will be headed out for Ohio for a hunt, so I will be unavailable. When I get back, she best tie her shoe's tight cause we got a lot to work on.

Midgets buck from Sunday

Make sure you don’t get the collar out and start shocking the dog trying to make it do what you want it to. It’ll create a negative association with the collar and the dog will not want anything to do with it. Forget it even has a shock function for several weeks, maybe more.

First time you put the collar on the dog just take it for a walk and do something fun. It’s new to the dog and you want to have a positive experience associated with it. Next begin working on the tone function. That’s the far right button that makes the collar beep. This is how you’ll control the dog on a track and bring her back to you.

The way I taught my dogs this command was with training treats. I started by simply taking them for a walk and periodically beeping the collar and giving them a treat. It’ s like Pavlov’s bell……beep the collar give the dog a treat. It won’t take them long to figure this out. Once they do then let them wander off from you 40 yards or so and then beep the collar accompanied by a “Come”……You can also put them on a stay command…..back off 40-50 yards and then beep the collar along with a “Come” command……just practice for 20 minutes or so in the afternoons or every couple days. After a few days, take the treats out of the equation and replace it with praise when she comes to you….good girl!.....and then eventually take the “Come” command out of the equation and simply beep the collar to have them come to you.

Practice this for a couple weeks until the dog has it down…..

Collar came in while I was on my trip. Charged it up sat. night and gave it a test run on Sunday. My cur dog was already conditioned to an e collar from when I worked with her before. She knows that tone means business. I worked my bloodhound on it today. He comes when called pretty well now so I didn't get to try the tone on him.

I ran both of them yesterday on mock lines and just the bloodhound today. Haggard, the hound, is progressing very well to be 4 months old.

Finally got to try the new collar out this evening. Call came in before church and I went right after. Good buck shot about 7 this morning. Took spark in to the shot site and she takes off. This collar is the bomb. She worked the trail up to where they lost blood and she hooked a hard right. Ended up getting the deer up and she ran it almost all the way back to where we started tracking and I toned her off of it. It ran probably 400 yards or so with her in hot pursuit and me and the hunters friend believe it ain't hit hard enough. Hunter shot it with a 22 250.

Ain’t it though……It’s a helluva lot better than holding on to a rope. It completely changed tracking for me.

Got a call tonight down the road from my house. Got there 2 hours after the shot. Hunter had made roughly a 100 yard shot on a buck. He had found a couple spots of blood then nothing. I turned Spark out and she immediately was on the deer. Tracked it about 200 yards and ended up getting it up. She ran it out to 550 and the hunter said he didn't have permission to go over there so I toned Spark back. She finally makes it back to me and I can see her right eye is red. Its milky red looking but no blood. I called the vet and he gave me instructions on how to treat and if it's not better in the morning we'll be headed to the vet.

How is the eye doing? Everything ok?

She is back to normal. We went on a track last night that was 24 hours old. She done her best work so far on that one. We didn't find the deer as both the hunter and I believe it will live. He took a straight on shot and had a piece of bone and meat at the hit. There was hardly any blood at all. She tracked it off the mtn working very slow and went out about 400 yards and just came back to me. I restarted her and she done the same thing.

She's doing great and learning alot. From now on I'm gonna stay a little closer to her just in case she bays again.

Forgot to mention, keep an eye out for ticks. I pulled one off my arm thanksgiving day from a track on Wednesday I'm guessing. My arm was sore and I was rubbing it and felt the little devil. There's a black spot still on my arm from it and it's sore in that spot. I've never seen ticks after it has frosted and had 5 crawling on me Friday after a squirrel hunt.

Good deal. That sounds like a leg hit….finding bone is pretty much a sure sign of a leg hit.

You can condition the dog to stay close to you if you want to track that way. It takes a little time but if you tone her back to you every time she gets out to say 125-150 yards…..she’ll eventually slow down and start moving through the woods like a pack with you instead of her thinking that she is free to run on her own. I usually don't let Otis get more than about 150 yards out...I stay about 50 yards behind him most of the time.. but now that's just personal preference on my part....not saying everyone has to do it that way. We track in a lot of different situations and it behooves me to have the dogs used to staying close. I've had tracks where I've been right up against the interstate and other tracks that have been for folks bowhunting inside the city limits. You deal with a lot of different scenarios.

I didn't even think about keeping them close til I talked with Ammon about that track. He suggested it and I'm glad he did.

You’ll keep the dog a lot safer if you do. Most of the bad stories of tracking dogs being injured or killed happen when the dog is way off from the handler.

Again, this is just personal opinion and everyone has the right to track however they want……but something I think you’ll find out over time is that the idea of going out and “baying” deer up is a little overhyped and not like folks imagine it to be.

As you’ve already seen….just because someone has hit a deer doesn’t mean your dog is gonna be able to just run out there and make it hold up. The vast majority of them are gonna run like hell. The deer only bays up as a last resort when it doesn’t feel like it can get away. Most deer are either gonna have to be really weak in order for that to happen or you’re gonna need a large amount of acreage where you can just turn the dogs loose on the deer until it wears down. There’s a lot of situations where that’s just not possible….whether it be due to property lines or roads, etc…..These are the ones where you just have to weigh the risk versus the chance of success and decide for yourself where you draw the line and when to call it off.

Got a call tonight from a hunter I helped with last weekend. Gut shot and lost blood after 50 yards. I got there around 9:30 and had the deer found in about 15 minutes. Nice to finally find one that's dead. Hunter didn't want his pic made so I obliged.

Good job Spark!

Good job! Nice looking dog.

Nice going Brent and Spark.

Went on a track in GA today. Man shot a good buck at daylight. Had good blood at hit then lost it. There were 3 piles of blood there close and I believe he caught one lung as there was a bunch of bubbles in it and it was bright red. We ended up tracking it probably 800 yards total and lost it in a subdivision. We found a bed on top of a ridge with a little bit of blood and she lost it there. I believe the deer is gone live cause he should have been in that bed. It had been almost 8 hours also and the deer wasn't pushed.

This was our first time in a subdivision and it thru Spark for a loop. When the neighbor dogs would start going nuts it would freak her out. Id have to take her to where she turned around and start her again. I did that 4 times.

Here's a pick of the blood to see what yalls opinion is.

Tracked a buck last night for a young man close to where I live. Buck was chasing a doe and he thought he hit him in the guts. I turned Spark out on him and she had him bayed a short time later. Buck broke and ran for another 400 yards or so. She bayed him again but this time she didn't stay. She turned and came back to me. I could see on my alpha where she had circled him so we started walking over and then we spot him. We put a finishing shot on him as it turned out he had been hit in the front legs. I don't see how the deer was walking myself. Both front legs were blown up pretty bad. Congrats to the young man on a good deer.

man, I appreciate your thread! Great reading and great pics.

Love that little brindle dog too. Looks a lot like my old Brindle mountain cur did.

Theyre some great dogs!

Good job and keep posting them up.

Been on several tracks since I updated last. I'll just tell about the ones from yesterday and today.

Yesterday I got a call from my cousin. His son had shot a deer behind his house. Deers front legs went out and started dozing off. They tracked it about 200-250 yards and lost blood in a cut over. I turned Spark lose at the hit sight and she does her tracking routine of pooping right there by it. I guess she gets nervous lol. She gets the deer lined out and is moving right along. We're staying about 60 to 80 yards behind and it's getting thick. She gets up to last blood and goes about 50 more yards into the nastiest briar patch you've ever seen. She bays the deer up and I can't get to her it's so thick. I ended up having to fall backwards into the briars, get up and keep doing that til I got to where I could see the deer. We make it up there to about 10 yards and I call her to me and finish the deer. He had shot both front legs a few inches below the body. I don't see how the deer made it as far as it did. As soon as I get permission I'll post a pic of it.

I left there and went over the road to a leg shot. Guy had 6 bucks chase a doe by him. He shot at the buck 3 times with a 7mm. Bucks right front leg is supposedly about to fall off. Spark tracked it about 400 yards past where he'd lost blood. She lost him in a patch of pines. I restarted her 5 or 6 times from that spot and she just couldn't pull it together.

While I was tracking the second one last night, I got a call to track one this morning. Buck comes into food plot and hunter shoots him in the shoulder at a quartering to angle. I got there at 7 this morning and put her to work. She poops and is off on the trail. I found a small piece of bone that the hunter missed last night and I told him I believe he got leg and the deer would most likely still be alive. Sure enough, Spark tracks him about 400 yards and the buck gets up about 40 yards from us and she runs it about 850 yards onto the neighbors. She never could catch up to him to bay so I called her back.

They are lookin for love hard right now. I seen 2 different bucks chasing on the way to that track this morning.

Thanks for the update!

Keep after them!

Nephews deer

Good job!

Congrats to the young man, glad you were able to find it for him.

Good stuff buddy. Thanks for posting the tracks!

Boy did I go on an adventure this evening. Got a call for a kid that shot a good buck and had lost blood. They found a bed and lost it from there. They were walking back to the truck and happened up on one more drop of blood about 70 yards from the bed. This is where I start tracking from. Doesn't take but a few minutes and she's got the deer up and he runs by me. The boy is saying it's not his deer, but this deers front leg is dangling and my dog tracked right to it. He's adamant that's not the deer he shot so I call her off. I have him take me to the bed and I restart from there. Spark takes off in a different direction and I find blood about 80 yards down the trail. She's off on this line now. She tracked it about 300 yards from that bed and I'm following along behind. She ends up baying the buck and I sneak in and finish him off. Apparently a neighbor had shot the first buck that we tracked from that one speck of blood which went thru the hunters bucks blood trail also. Fun track with a good ending. I had my pic taken with the deer for privacy. Congrats to the young man.

Bucks are up roaming. We've tracked 5 or 6 since my last update. They've all been alive when we get to em and haven't bayed after getting them up. Very proud of my dog lately but she still has alot of room for improvement.

What kind of shot placement are you seeing on the deer you have been finding alive.

This week has been been mainly leg shots. Finding white hair at hit site and pieces of bone alone the way. Dog will run em as far as I'll let her depending on property lines and all.

A couple of guys from our club called Brent the other night. From the sounds of it, it was a very bad shot and not lethal to the deer. The deer wasn't recovered but The guys told me yesterday that they are super impressed with Brent and his dog. They were truly amazed at what they saw that night tracking the deer.

They said they will call Brent again, in the future if they ever need a dog. I will too.

That was a fun one batey! I asked them if you had to be bald to get in that club lol

Fixing to head out on a call. I'm seriously questioning how stoopid I am sometimes. It's friggin COLD outside.

As much as I would like to have a dog and track I don't envy it on days like this. Stay warm and good luck.

Good luck!...Hope you don't end up in any water.

You are pretty freaking stupid but that's besides the point.

No luck. I believe it was a single leg shot. Found a few pieces of bone along the way. Deer bedded down close to where hunter had parked his truck. He walked over and seen blood after the shot and was going to go home and give it time. When he was walking back, he jumped the buck accidently close to his vehicle. We tracked to that bed and then found where he left. She went on past last blood working slow and before I know, we're 400 yards from the bed. We found one more spot of blood and that's it. I restarted her and she ran exact same trail. We just couldn't catch up to him.

I think he's gone call another tracker and try again.

Enjoying the reads, Brent. You and Spark keep up the good work!

Well today has been another adventure. Got a call this morning for a track close to my house. Hunter shot buck and lost blood about 200 yards into the track. Deer run out of field and run up the edge and crossed the driveway into the place. They had lost blood just before the driveway. I started her at the hit site and she ran it the whole way. She got tripped up at last blood and I'm assuming it's bc of all the traffic. I took her on past there and across the driveway to where no one had been. She picked him up on the other side and she was gone. She bayed him at 132 yards away and he broke before I could get there. He ran about 400 yards and tried crossing a creek and he couldn't make it up the other side. Spark wasn't about to get off in there with him lol. To cold she says. I put one in him and then we fished him outta there.

Track #2. While I was on the other one I got a call from a guy I tracked for 2 weeks ago. He had trailed good blood for 200 yards and then it just quit. We get to the hit site and man at the blood. Ray Charles could follow this blood trail. And when it quit, it quit. I saw one drop in probably 600 yards. The deer had bedded up 3 times before we got to him. He wasn't pushed by the hunter, don't know why he kept moving. We tracked him to a big creek and I toted Spark across. Picked a drop of blood up on the other side, then a big pool of blood. As I was working my way up the creek bank, Spark bayed him 50 yards up the hill. Then he broke and ran. She chased this buck forever and finally bayed him in the same creek 600 yards down stream after he had crossed it 4 times. I couldn't keep up with her running thru the cutover. We found a little road that run beside the creek the last 100 yards to the deer. We went down the road to where she was and I see the buck in the creek. I pointed him out to the hunter and he finished him off. I checked the gps at the end of the line and she'd tracked this buck a total of 5.13 miles. I wish I could take a pic of the gps screen so yall could see the loops and back tracks the buck done. They are very smart when it comes to hiding and eluding.

Good job !!

Good job! I really enjoy the stories, thanks for writing them.

X2...

She's hell on them Brent. When I get my lemon gyp I may have to cross her to blood trailing also.

I'm wanting a male like yours Turkeyneck.

Awesome dude! Next free day you have….take her to a small creek branch and have her follow you in a “S” pattern back and forth along the creek as you walk up the bottom. Go from small branches to bigger creeks. Don’t keep toting her.

Thanks cnc. I didn't even think of that. She don't usually have an issue with small ones. It's the ones she actually has to swim that freaks her out.

I'm thinking of getting some frog legs to for these deep creeks. I went over my knee boots today and my feet still aint thawed out.

Does Wicks or Dans make a good pair of briar proof hip waders?

Congrats on the tracks, but I agree with CNC it would get old toting her. Take her and another dog to a pond and throw her favorite toy in, I bet when as soon as the other dog goes to get it, that will be the end of you having to tote her

I feel your pain………I had to give Otis swimming lessons just to make sure he wouldn’t drown. He froze up the first time he ever went in over his head.

great job.

Got a call while I was fishing today from a man who'd shot his first buck. He had zero blood and no hair but was adamant he'd hit him. He was close to the house so I made my way over when I got home. It took me longer to get Sparks collar on than it did to find the buck. She hit the ground and before we knew it, she was standing on top of him. He went roughly 100 yards and didn't bleed a drop that we found. Congrats to the hunter!

Bowtartist why you reckon no blood? Was it considered a good shot to you? I mean I know he’s dead but sometimes people are lucky. Was he using a big caliber.

120 yard shot 30-30. He hit it real tight to the shoulder about midway up. No pass thru. To be honest, it don't get no better than the shot he made. I guess only having an entrance hole up a little high is the cause.

Gotta love those kind......