Cooper finds a couple more bucks

bowhuntingrook

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
First BUCK:
I helped some good guys find their fathers buck. They had lost blood just 25 yards from hit site but we're smart enough to back out. When I arrived we started the track, Cooper took us 150 yards past where blood ended until I could see the eye shine of the buck, he was bedded 15 yards in front of me, facing me, I had Cooper stay, I yelled did they want ME to shoot, buddy yelled yes so I took a shot before the buck took off. Well I don't think I hit him after investigating his exit from the bed, and there wasn't much blood in the bed at all so that had me a little concerned but the buck had let me get close in open cover, he's obviously not feeling well. We thought the buck may be gone now across the road which was a short distance, although I'd normally back out we needed to confirm if we were going to have to end the track, was it on another property, we moved forward with Cooper to see if the deer crossed the road but another 75 yards further Cooper made a right turn and stayed in the woods, I looked ahead and could see the deer had bedded again just 30 yards in front of me. The deer bumped again as we tried to sneak in for the shot. We then used Cooper again to advance the track, the deer bumped and as the deer came toward us we were able to dispatch the buck, Cooper kept us on the deer and made some happy hunters.

2nd BUCK:
Cooper, Dachs and I were able to take a call 5 minutes from the house and make another recovery tonight, the hunters, now friends lost blood 75 yards after hit site before the deer left the field. With little to go on Cooper took to the track confidently and confirmed it was correct with blood at barbwire fence 150 yards past last blood. After crossing that and tracking another 75 yards we eventually found a bed with white hair in it but no blood. We restarted at the fence to confirm the track to bed and Cooper was able to work out a sharp backtrack to the original field where we dispatched the deer. The deer made a big loop, Cooper was first but Dachs impressed me the most navigated a backtrack out of a woundbed. It looked like a liver shot with ML.
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aya28ga

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
With all the effort you've been putting into training your dogs this past year, I had no doubt you'd be enjoying success this season.

Good boy Cooper!

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bowhuntingrook

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Thanks, we are s little worn out, not from the finds but from the ones we haven't found, confirmed multiple by jumping them many hours later, confirmed leg bone or just bad shots and deer haven't left any sign and likely will live or they die in weeks. Many aiming shoulder with a muzzleloader.

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bowhuntingrook

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
flathead977 said:
Any more tracking stories?
Click to expand...
I guessed shoulder hit on this one a while back, my dog tracked to a pond multiple times at night, my dog tracked the trail 150+ yards back the way we walked in and took right turn damn near at road we parked at, right to a pond. Thinking hunters may have contaminated the trail and my dog may be tracking the deer scents on their boots that they had left after tracking and going in and out of the spot to their vehicles, I reran the dog 2 more times. I asked guys if they searched the pond, they said no so before ended searched I told them to do so, they still didn't see the deer in the pond tell today. Arrow was broken off behind shoulder, I'm guessing stuck in opposite shoulder and no pass through. Only blood was 20 yards from hit site. This was a 24 hour old blood trail as well. It was another learning experience since it's the first deer out of 40+ that I've tracked that we did not find that was confirmed dead by the hunter. What it reminds me is that if we track to pond and cannot advance, I need to highly consider the option of submerged dead deer, the more stories I get the more I learn my dog is very very good, convincing others to trust him as much as I do is what's difficult.
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brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
You are right to trust your dog more than any human on a track. Ive had 2 occations where hunters were down right laughing at my dog after she went a completely different direction than they had said the deer ran. Both times she was right. I have to remind myself that she continues to prove her worth and I just need to follow her.

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bowhuntingrook

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
In most cases, it's hard for me to figure out what I got over the phone tell I actually get there and see it myself and read my dog. Very few people know what a lot of blood is, very few people understand the anatomy of a deer and how the body works. Then add what they want to believe happened and what actually happened.

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bag12day

Six Pointer
Contributor
brownisdown said:
You are right to trust your dog more than any human on a track. Ive had 2 occations where hunters were down right laughing at my dog after she went a completely different direction than they had said the deer ran. Both times she was right. I have to remind myself that she continues to prove her worth and I just need to follow her.

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You are a better man than me win lose or draw when they start laughing at someone that brought their dog in the middle of the night to help them track a bad shot on THEIR deer I would have told them to have good night and never call me again. The ethics of not recovering a suffering animal might cause me to reconsider but dang how stupid do you have to be? to you @bowhuntingrook and any other trackers, Thanks for y'alls work for the people that appreciate and the deer that deserve it!
 
turkeyfoot

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
Pretty silly to not respect dogs nose by them ones laughing. I'd trust it over my eyes any day especially in that moment after shot everything happens real fast. I love hearing these tracking stories
 
aya28ga

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
bowhuntingrook said:
In most cases, it's hard for me to figure out what I got over the phone tell I actually get there and see it myself and read my dog. Very few people know what a lot of blood is, very few people understand the anatomy of a deer and how the body works. Then add what they want to believe happened and what actually happened.

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Click to expand...

This has been my experience with dog tracking as well.

Most hunters convince themselves that the shot and subsequent actions of the deer unfolded in one way, and close their minds to any other possibility. The dog doesn't have this handicap of a preset notion of what occurred; he's literally following what his nose is telling him to be true. The dog has to be given the chance to work out the trail for himself, and he may not always go in the direction the hunter is pointing, but 9 times out of 10, the dog will be right.

In an experienced dog tracking team, the handler recognizes this, can read his dog's behavior, and knows when the dog is "on" or "off" the trail. The one true maxim in blood tracking with a dog is "trust your dog's nose." Fact is, the secret of training a dog to track wounded deer is training the handler, as well.
 
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beard&bow

beard&bow

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Once upon a time, I trusted a dog with my life. I volunteered to become an ied detection dog handler. That deployment fell through, but through those months of training, and still years later, my confidence in animals has only strengthened.

Your dog will not lie to you, nor deceive you. Everything during "the hunt" is a game. Their only prize is pleasing their owner.... And getting the Kong.

I remember our first training op after dog school. I received a rather lengthy speech about how this particular infantry company wasn't going to wait on a dog to do its job. They had a timeline and if we slowed them up, they were going to ditch us. They were basically saying that if this op failed, it was because we slowed them down.

When the Osprey touched down, Ace and I were out the door (after other things happened.) We took the lead. I kept getting calls to slow down. But I didn't. At this point, I was overcome with belligerence.

Our trainers were involved in the exercise. They'd set anal, c4, gun powder... Everything out. Ace hit on it all. He got paid, and we pushed on.

We made it to the raid 10 minutes before everyone else. Of course I got laid in to, but they never questioned my dog again.

Trust your dog. It will only strengthen his confidence... And make other people look stupid. Lol.

Great job on training and the ones yal've found so far!
 
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