That was a geat track for my confidence in Otis. Don't get me wrong, I have confidence in him at this point..... but we go on a lot of different tracks that for whatever reason end up without a recovery. Not knowing for sure what happened leaves you questioning things in your mind. Did they just not hit it well or did Otis mess up somehow????

We got to the hit site on this one and the hunter started saying….”He was standing somewhere around in here and he went……....well, he went right where Otis is going……..Damn!...He’s gone!!.....

…..and he was too. Otis lit out on this deer’s track and took it from the start like he was running the deer. After about 1000 yards I toned him back to me in order to let the hunter and other two guys catch up and regroup. I told them I thought we were on a live deer and it would just be a matter of how bad he was hurt. While we were stopped, one of the guys who was with us said he was gonna head back to the barn and meet us when we were done. We said ok and he left heading back.

After giving the dogs some water and resting a few minutes, I sent them back after the buck. We had just got back after him good when the guy heading back to the barn calls the hunter…..He tells him “I just saw the buck run out into the big field and then cut back in the woods….he’s favoring his leg but still moving good.” We went ahead and pushed him for a little ways further but he eventually went across a paved road and that’s where we called it.....he just wasn't hit well.