Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Tracking Tales

Coyotes likely got this one......It appeared to be a really low gut hit....good bit of hair blown off at the hit site.....Deer wasnt really bleeding much though.....Ruby did very well out to about 350 yards but lost it.....We crossed over a muddy road where we found blood and could see a bunch of coyote tracks on the same trail.....We got Otis out and he tried to take a little farther but it ran out on him too. Coyotes likely ran it for a long ways before taking it down somewhere.

Just had a guy call me wanting me to come track a buck.....I asked him when he shot it.......He said "About 15 minutes ago!".........

Thanks for the stories. You write well !
We're all there with Ya !

Thanks I appreciate that.......I try to just write as if we were standing next to each other by the campfire telling stories to one another in person

Thanks for posting them! good luck on the next one.

Well are ya gone go get him

He said the deer hunched up and kinda ran off......they had blood at the hit site but nothing after that. I recommended for him to give it some time because it sounded like he hit too far back. He was wanting for me to come out right then though. Waiting to see if he calls me back in a little while. He probably called someone else I imagine

Went on my first track today - called tracker closest to me - was hopeful but had doubts. The first 5 minutes the dog hung around us more than trailing and he commented the dog was not wanting to trail - I Thought it was going to be a flop - was wrong big time!! once dog got going it was pretty quick - very impressive- the last 70 yards the deer crossed creek 3 times

Me and a buddy tracked it about 230 yards about an hour after I shot it Yesterday- we thought we Hurd something in front of us different times - think we pushed deer like dummies - got to an old logging road w the blood and I said let’s get heck out of here

Was given idea by 257 to call tracker - tracker met me this morning

Asked tracker what does dog do when he finds deer - said just sits there unless it alive then it barks

Dog started barking - deer was still pretty alive but could not go anywhere - he finished it

Very impressive- highly effective - decent chance I never find that deer on my own

Would do it again and highly recommend if needed

Running these tracking dogs is fun, exciting some times, and aggravating at others. But it makes my day when we put one on the tailgate that more than likely wouldn't be there with out the dog.

^^^^^
That’s how mine felt - grateful for that dog

Just back from one shot last night we had to earn this one a lil bit.
Hunter shot yesterday evening in a food plot bout 85 yards from a ground blind down a hill. Said the deer mule kicked and tore out he was shooting a 270 amd deer was quartering to him. get there meet them go and look no hair no blood no nothing at the hit site dog don't act like he is to interested in tracking I'm thinking swing and a miss, but I told them I'd do my best to find it or not so we go for a walk in a bunch thick planted pines and briars. Still ain't found nothing after several hundred yards we looping around in there and by now I'm pretty well convinced it's a miss. So I call it and start out. I take the leash off the vest and put on his collar and tell rooster we done. And start heading out. We still in there kinda zig zag going around and dog starts pulling on me pretty hard and I keep pulling him back cause I'm tired I know he is I'm bleeding pretty good finally I was like you win go were you want to. We go bout 80 yds and start up a hill and I look up I'm starring at a rack with a black mouth cur chewing on it. I am guessing when were down in that holler the scent was going down in there and he was winding but he stayed nose to the ground the whole way and didn't really act like he was winding. But we got it on the tailgate. The shot was exactly where the guy said it was left front shoulder was busted got one lung liver and gut bullet was under the hide in front on the right hand leg

When I was a kid I shot one with a 30-30 that ran off. We searched and couldn't find him. All of the men decided I missed and quit looking. I knew better. I found his likely trail and literally crawled on my hands and knees with a flashlight in my mouth. I finally found 1 chunk of lung about the size of half of a pea. I called them to the woods. We kept going and found where he had finally left a blood trail. And found the deer. About 100 yards from the first spot of lung. I was about 12 and so proud of myself. My dad and cousin were embarrassed that they told me I missed. The drug him out, skinned him and everything while I sat on the side watching and ate my supper. Haha. (Normally I would have been involved in all of that)

That is a good shot in my opinion. How far was the deer from where it was shot?

It was a good shot of have took it in a heart beat myself he went about a 100 -150 yards I'd have to look at my GPS to be exact

I got asked to track a deer shot yesterday afternoon that they only found bone meat and hair at shot site. Due to Riggs being new to tracking and knowing it was likely leg or brisket I told them to call a seasoned dog in. They did jump him and bay dispatch this morning. The next 2 weeks I’m killing some deer so he will get some work.

I had a voicemail on Sunday. Guy wanted me to call him back. Said he had one that he’d wounded.

My last three tracks have been on live deer that crossed multiple properties before we finally couldn't get permission anymore. Been a ruff year for us with only 8 recoveries so far. Tracked one in New Hope last week that the guys pushed hard before calling me. It had rained all night and we found one small chunk of meat with some blood on it about 1.7 miles from where he was shot. He finally went off into a swamp we couldn't get permission to go in and duck hunters were in it anyway. Tracked one for a 7 year old boy shot with a crossbow in Crossville Monday. Only white hair where he hit her then a few specks of blood about 150 yards away. 300 yards in I found a puddle where she stood for awhile. Followed her a across two growed up fields and into a creek bottom with no more sign. That little boy got upset and started crying when his dad told him she was alive and he shot her to low. First time that's happened to me and it sucked seeming him so upset

Hang in there Johnv- sounds like u doin all u can do and it also sounds like some really marginal shots

Like TDog93 said hang in there......Tracking makes me feel bi-polar.......I go from loving it to saying that I'm hanging it up about once a week.....It definitely has its highs and lows.....Dealing with dogs can make it frustrating or wonderful too.......Otis went from being a great tracking dog to nearly worthless over the last couple of years. It started when my lab Shelby started getting older. I dont know if he decided he was just gonna let her find the deer from then on and he was being lazy or if it was something to do with pride but he just started shutting down more and more until I was about ready to retire him. He perked back up some at the first of this season after Shelby got killed and a new puppy was behind him again. She has progressed quickly though and he's once again reverting to doing the same thing....He's gotten to where he just wants to come get behind me and stay with me and the hunters instead of searching......


The other day he started it and I had my fill of it......I had tried zapping him with the collar before to make him "go" (a command he knows).....but I got up to an 8 and he was just sitting there taking it like a stubborn mule.....I guess I felt sorry for him and didnt go any higher.....Well, this day was different......Something was gonna give this day or it was gonna be his last hunting trip.....I hit him with a 6......nothing......then an 8.....same thing just jittering and taking it........By God when I went to a 10 the whole world changed for Otis.......He shot out from under my feet like he had flames coming out of his arse.....He got out there at about 100-150 yards and went to hunting like hell. He's been a completely different dog every since. It's like it lit a fire in under him. He's even become dominant over Ruby at home where as he was already showing subordinate tendencies again like he did with Shelby. I saw him go snap at her and just take a bone from her the other day. He's amped up ready to go hunting too.....I had to go pry him out of a wood pile trying to dig for a chipmunk......I sure wish I could put these collars on my kids.

Oh I know and I do the same thing. I love it and hate it at the same time. It's a great feeling to recover one especially the real hard ones you know they would of never found. My dogs haven't let me down yet this year and they are getting better and better. My little plott hound pup is doing unreal for a 5 month old. My two best dogs are really hanging together working as a team. They run off and leave me and the pup but I stay behind the pup and look for sign with her. So far I've found alot of specks of blood and stuff I normally don't see because she is going slow and staying on the track so I can keep up with her. I'm not blaming it all on bad shells but people are shooting basically anything they can get their hands on and I think that is part of the reason this season is going so tuff.