Coopers 2021 Deer Recovery Thread

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Headed out in a few on what essentially could be called a cadaver dog training course. Gut shot from 2.5 days ago. Deer shot 8 minutes from my house, called a tracker I've never heard of who could never show, then grid searched. I might spend more time educating then tracking. 1 thing I can say that I can't say about half my tracks is, it's dead while I tracked it.
No luck on the search and rescue mission.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Tracked a big droptine buck today close to home, high hit last night. Hunters tracked 75 yards and lost blood 60 yards from cutover. Reason I attempted was They mentioned bubbles in the blood. They called another dog last night which did well up until it got difficult, then tracked all over after last blood including the cutover. It took 10 minutes after last blood for Cooper to sort that out then into the cutover we went, little spots of blood showing he was correct. 100 yards or so in, and multiple water breaks later, we reach a road. We have permission and cross, Cooper works another 100 yards through a pasture, only finding specks of blood behind us. Cross a gravel road and thicket is too thick for us but Coopers not convinced it's dead enough to push his way in. We walk around it, check a pond and go with our original assumption the deer is not dead but was bumped last night by the other dog. Video he has confirms in my opinion it is not a dead deer today. But we do know more then we did and can add some closure or optimism they will see him again.
 
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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
What separates an average tracking dog from a great one, besides their tracking style, is you can give the deer time with a great dog. A tracker who wants to get on the track quick when the deer needs time is likely doing so because it's easier for his dog. The dog will have the freshest scent in the woods. Unfortunately you push as many deer as you recover. Fact is, the longer you wait, the more likely it's dead. A valuable tracking dog prefers wounded deer scent over fresh deer scent even at the 20 hour mark. Bust deer off cornpile and put the dog down, he picks the wounded deer.

As a general rule, minimum 4 hours for liver and minimum 10 hours for gut (paunch). I've seen both live longer then that. Intestinal hits may live 24+ hours, deer have been found alive 36 hours later with intestinal hits.
 
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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
A young man posted on the NC Blood Trailing Network on fb last night for help. Initially he thought his mechanical head didn't' open because it was closed when he found it, the arrow was complete and not broken.. He also remembers the arrow sticking out of the deer on the nearside and possibly not getting pass through. The ground was already wet but rain started in the area yesterday afternoon which made it difficult tracking and it continued into the night. I had to work last night, but nobody could help so I took up the track this morning at the 17 hour mark. The trail was diluted from the rain but within 10 minutes we were at the deer. Only a high entry and no exit with a schwacker made for tough tracking for the hunter. Deer ran 200 yards.
 

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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Tracked a big droptine buck today close to home, high hit last night. Hunters tracked 75 yards and lost blood 60 yards from cutover. Reason I attempted was They mentioned bubbles in the blood. They called another dog last night which did well up until it got difficult, then tracked all over after last blood including the cutover. It took 10 minutes after last blood for Cooper to sort that out then into the cutover we went, little spots of blood showing he was correct. 100 yards or so in, and multiple water breaks later, we reach a road. We have permission and cross, Cooper works another 100 yards through a pasture, only finding specks of blood behind us. Cross a gravel road and thicket is too thick for us but Coopers not convinced it's dead enough to push his way in. We walk around it, check a pond and go with our original assumption the deer is not dead but was bumped last night by the other dog. Video he has confirms in my opinion it is not a dead deer today. But we do know more then we did and can add some closure or optimism they will see him again.
This deer is already back on camera.
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Throwing Cooper a bone I guess. I got to meet a good guy though
Im just teasing ya. If its a dandy like you're saying, I would be torn between wanting to go right after him and wanting to wait for a dog to make sure I got him. Lots of reasons to call you and Cooper actually.

I was kinda making a joking reference to the TV hunters who "smoked him" right in the liver.
 

TrkyJedi

Eight Pointer
I want to thank bowhuntingrook for bringing Cooper this morning. Great guy & great dog. I told him this morning after reviewing the shot from the film of the hunt, I felt like I was insulting him and his dog's intelligence. Deer was hit exactly where I aimed and he went maybe a 100 yds. It was a good deer and I wanted to make sure we found him. Thanks Rook & Cooper. Good luck on your hunt next week.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
I want to thank bowhuntingrook for bringing Cooper this morning. Great guy & great dog. I told him this morning after reviewing the shot from the film of the hunt, I felt like I was insulting him and his dog's intelligence. Deer was hit exactly where I aimed and he went maybe a 100 yds. It was a good deer and I wanted to make sure we found him. Thanks Rook & Cooper. Good luck on your hunt next week.
You post the picture yet? I got a good one, but I'm in it.
 
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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
After the Jedi buck I headed 7 miles away to what was a buck hit high according to his video. A broadside deer with pass through from the ground never be 1 lung, but, from a treestand it is possible. Bubbles on the arrow, but he'd tracked the deer 500 yards already, nearly in circles tell it crossed the road. So I already know it's likely a 1 lung hit, the backside lung near exit. I don't know any leashed trackers finding 1 lung hit deer. I went, after Cooper navigated the bedding for 100+ yards, I didn't see blood tell we went over a barbwire fence, it was fresh blood, we'd bumped the deer. The blood had a small piece of lung in it. We gave the deer time and talked over what was likely occurring. Our only chance was to continue slowly to see if we could see it bedded before it jumped. Unfortunately this deer went 0.6 miles, we had to leave the track while still on blood. A 1 lung hit deer with all it's senses is one we can find but not recover.
 

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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Saturday morning I took a track in Nash county. He texted me when he saw his arrow was gut. He told me where he hit, gut. I told him that's 12 hour wait minimum and if you wait he'd likely be dead in his first bed within 200 yards. He tracked it immediately anyway.
So when he ran out of blood at 100 yards he called. We went and Cooper tracked past last blood within minutes, until we reached the Tar River about 400 yards from the hit site and Cooper attempted to swim. Current was too strong to let him, it was deep in this spot. We marked it and headed back to the truck to go around the river. We saw buzzards circling the river. Got permission and walked the other side of the river. Cooper never caught the track but winded a dead deer and took us to it, nearly directly across from where we stopped a dead doe maybe 3 days old, it was the reason for buzzards. I believe the deer never left that river, eventually becoming septic, wading out into it and dieing in it, then current took the deer and we just never saw it. 95% submerged and it may even be tough for buzzards to find for a week or so.
 
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flathead977

Ten Pointer
Saturday morning I took a track in Nash county. He texted me when he saw his arrow was gut. He told me where he hit, gut. I told him that's 12 hour wait minimum and if you wait he'd likely be dead in his first bed within 200 yards. He tracked it immediately anyway.
So when he ran out of blood at 100 yards he called. We went and Cooper tracked past last blood within minutes, until we reached the Tar River about 400 yards from the hit site and Cooper attempted to swim. Current was to strong to let him, it was deep in this spot. We marked it and headed back to the truck to go around the river. We saw buzzards circling the river. Got permission and walked the other side of the river. Cooper never caught the track but winded a dead deer and took us to it, nearly directly across from where we stopped a dead doe maybe 3 days old, it was the reason for buzzards. I believe the deer never left that river, eventually becoming septic, wading out into it and dieing in it, then current took the deer and we just never saw it. 95% submerged and it may even be tough for buzzards to find for a week or so.
If you tell someone not to track, then they still do it, then that would make me hesitant on going to help them. Good job!
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
So 2 weeks ago I went on a track that was painful, 3rd track of the day and in the heat no less. I had bad feelings about it when the blood trail suggested the deer was not just doing well, it was likely feeding in a field just minutes after the hit. We still put in work, had sunburn and blisters to prove it.
Fast forward to Saturday evening, I get a call from the same gentleman, he'd lost the trail on a different deer 75 yards from the hit. The arrow looked good, and I had a hard time believing he could miss another one.
We started the track the next morning, and Cooper took it well, with good enthusiasm right along a creek eventually crossing it and working a bedding area. I began to get a little concerned, we were close to 200 yards past the hit, my dog was working hard but was not organized. We restarted at last blood, this time taking a left into the creek sooner and crossing a small beaver damn. Deer beds all over. Eventually, the hunter told me he walked the creek just before I arrived and made a circle looking for the deer. Doing this with blood stained boots 15 minutes before the dog arrives is not helpful. It's possible, in scenarios like this that the blood and disturbance trail you made with your boots is much easier then the 16 hour old trail the deer left. Realizing this I wanted to restart to see if Cooper wanted to try something different.
We are an hour and a half into this thing, after a restart at last blood we take it slower looking for blood, eventually Cooper shows us 2 new spots past last blood, and he moves straight ahead. Now 150 yards from the hit, he finds a dead turkey poult, I pick him up, move him back and he works past that distraction. With the wind coming from right to left, I see Cooper begin to lift his head, he works in a half loop nearly returning to the same field we started, eventually finding the buck in a small patch of grass.
The hunter yells, "that's my buck from 2 weeks ago" not the buck he thought. I showed him a 2 week old leg injury and it all made sense. This is his number 1 buck he was after. It was Cooper's redemption buck. You can see where the arrow 2 weeks ago passed through the deers right upper leg.PXL_20210926_142322433~2.jpg
 
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