Heartbreaker.

Tomorrow story becomes tonight story!!

The morning starts off heading to a track that I know is single lung shot with a bow!! I called these situations A 1 long Rodeo!!
This is a term I came up with when I had my first dog scout and we would jump these deer and for the remainder of the day trying to catch up to them. Back then I figured one lung was cut means the deer would die! As the years went on and deer we failed to recover stared showing back up on my clients trail cameras I learned one lung deer 9 out of 10 times survive. 

So after the morning of tracking this 1 lung rideo proving to the hunter the buck isn't dead, well at least not yet.  I received a call from a dad saying I would like to utilize your services as I follow your page and I want to do EVERYTHING CORRECTLY AND EVERYTHING I CAN TO RECOVER MY SONS BUCK!!
 So of course I'm happy to hear they didn't push the gut shot buck and better yet didn't EVEN TRACK IT!!
I'm supper excited because I know Sypris is going to find it and I can't wait to see the young hunters face when we find his buck.
  We started at the shot site and in a short distance we start finding droplets of blood. we go approximately 100 to 200 yards further an hour on the edge of a corn field that didn't grow very well and we have blood confirmation that the buck entered the field. Still no arrow yet. At this point the buck had to cross the field or circle left back into the timber it was shot in or go right along a think dense bog.
At this point Sypris is circling looking for the scent and she keeps circling so I decide to do a complete rest from the beginning.
She makes it to last one in no time and begins to circle again!!
 so at this point I decided I needed to intervene to help her. I first go to the right to check out the bog and spent time checking runs. We find nothing
Go back to last blood and start looking in the corn field however the the ground is dry and it just like pavement so we couldn't see any tracks in the corn rows are so wide that there was no blood transfer on to the stalks. we go about halfway out into the field and the dog has not found everything. so we go back to last blood and check left to see if the buck Circled back into the woods. Still nothing!!
At this point she is getting hot and when a dog starts to paint they lose 40% of their scent receptors so now it's not looking good. We take a break and decide to cross the cornfield because if the deer is in the corn we would most likely be able to see him. That how bad the corn was. We get across and I have Sypris start checking all the runs and she actually hits on one and follows it pretty far and I'm looking for blood and don't find any!! So at this point I say I'm sorry we failed you he is dead somewhere!! At some point during the deer season a property owner on the far east side of the area finds the buck and noticed a youth arrow in the buck and through conversation with neighbors or hunters they were able to track down Michael and Caleb to let them know they found his buck. Spoiled and bad however closure was needed by all!!
Tracking during the middle of the day scent lifts straight off the ground making tracking difficult for a dog. Heat and sun evaporated the scent that was out in the field resulting in Sypris struggling. If we would have ran this track first thing in the morning it's possible we would have had better results. Sypris fatigue from the 1 lung rodeo and hot conditions we failed at our job. It's heartbreaking for myself and for my client and it still bothers me today!!
 This is why I always say we are not the best we simply try our best!! To many factors comes into play when using a dog to track especially dogs that are attached to a leash.
Not all endings are happy but we always end with the truth.
Thanks again for following our journey.

Headless buck

Shot placement high just in front of the left hip existing low out the bottom of the right lung.
My client waited a few hours before starting to track. Easy blood trail through the woods and the blood trail vanished in the short freshly cut clover field. To the north is big timber and to the West is two tall grass fields with fence rows and if the deer turned south is a small woods before crossing the road into a standing cornfield. Last blood showing the buck heading north into the timber. Sypris is following the known trail like a train and once into the clover she starts circling. Educational part. "Fresh cut clover realeases chlorophyll the absorbs scent so dogs can struggle". As she is circling putting the scent puzzle together I start looking at the edge of the timber to see if I can cut the blood trail. My client already looked the edge however I needed to double check. At this point Sypris is dragging the lead as I'm also searching. I look up seeing her heading east to the fence row that is about 150 yards away. As she is tracking she starts indicating blood drops so we're all happy that she is back on track. As we are heading west an older man is driving a golf cart on the edge of the field so I asked my client confirming we have permission!!!!! We did..
 So we make it across the field and she starts air scenting in the tall weeds that the farmer wasn't able to plant clover. She finds this headless buck that has been chewed on by coyotes. My client says that can't be my deer! I didn't inspect it as I agreed because it was nasty. (I flipped the deer over to the better side for picture taking)

The old gent comes back by and we tried taking to him however he has a speech impediment and we couldn't understand him. So my client is trying to understand what the guy is saying I'm trying to keep Sypris away from this nasty headless deer. I then decide to inspect the buck. I then see the broadhead hole so I'm able to confirm that it is my clients buck.
So we are starting to think this old gent has the head so I explain how it's illegal to take someone else deer and I will call the DNR.
The gent still isn't understanding as he we learn he is deaf!
So he starts waving is hand as he suggests my client goes for a ride with him on his golf cart and they ride to the houses we could see to the west.
One of the house was owned by a bow hunter that hunts the woods to the north and he had the head and claims the buck had been there for several days. Not true because I couldn't see any maggots and from the time of the shot to Sypris finding it was only 16 hours has past.
  With no incident the hunter gave my client the buck head and the DNR wasn't called!
 That's the story about the headless buck.

Walk in my boots.

This will be a two part blog post talking about the pros and cons of using small dogs and big dogs for tracking wounded deer and by Michigan laws all dogs must be leashed while tracking.
First part is a big 8 point buck Sypris tracked over 2 miles!! This buck was 1 lunged and lost a ton of blood. Sypris found him standing in a dense cattail Marsh and we were so close I could hear him struggling to breathe. The buck bolted so we waited half hour before resuming tracking. Few hundred yards later we seen him bedded near the property line and with fear of him crossing property lines we snuck around to try and put another arrow in him or at least spook him back to keep him on the property. No shot was made and the buck started circling back keeping him on Dave lease. Several more failed attempts trying to put him down until we almost made it back to the point the buck was originally shot, is when we found our selves in tall grass and its almost dark when Sypris yelped and tried getting away as she started to retreat her leash got tangled in a bush and the big buck was trying to gore her with his antlers. I'm pulling on the lead with no luck of saving her. At the time I didn't have my cpl (it's illegal for the tracker to dispatch the hunters deer) however in the case I would have shot this buck to save my dogs life. Thankfully Dave had his bow and made a quick shot killing this warrior.
In Michigan with a certified tracker the hunter can carry the weapon of season day or night to end suffering .

Part 2

Greg calls inquiring about using a dog and asked several great questions. My first question to all bow hunters is do you have the arrow? In most cases I can tell you if your deer is dead by looking at the arrow and if it's worth it to bring in the hound. After our conversation I asked if I can use my young hound Sargent. Greg said sure do what you want I'm all about helping you get Sargent some training. 

I knew the buck was gut shot and we had a giant storm brewing on the west side of the state. It's only been 4-5 hours so most likely the buck would be alive!! However I knew with this HEAVY RAIN coming I couldn't help after the storm and Greg would have to grid search in hopes he can find his deer.

    Grid searching most often ends with a good work out and no deer.

I started Sargent at the shot site and Greg stayed at the shot site until I found blood. I made it to the road about 75 yards and then across a cut cornfield and into a raspberry patch. It was a quick recovery the buck laying there dead and Sargent was slowing approaching the buck nose as he does checking to see if the buck was dead. It's something he has always done and just proves how intelligent these slovakian kopov really are.  I use 3/8 dia bungee cord that is 30' long as his tracking leash. I've been tracking since 2007 and I've tried almost everything I can think of searching for a leash that will not tangle,hold scent,burrs will not stick to and feels good in my hand. I found this bungee cord at Ace hardware so I gave it try. At last I found a leash that doesn't hold scent, no burrs sticks to it, its very difficult to tangle it tangled and feels great in my hand until Sargent takes off unexpectedly and this bungee will give you serious rope burn!! 

Well this quick recovery celebration didn't last long. I was trying to call Greg to tell him we found his buck however the call couldn't go out as the cell service was horrible.

Next thing I know this giant buck got on his feet and bounding away with Sargent hot on his ass and I get rope burn trying to stop him and the bungee cord is stretched from 30' to 90' so I let it go to watch my hound disappear into the timber. 

I had a gps system on him and old Garmin 220 that doesn't have ecollar functions. I've been whistle training him to stop and come back to me. Well that didn't work so now I'm running my fat ass trying to catch up and yeah I tripped over a dead tree and like a ninja I'm back on my feet running. Then I could hear in the distance Sargent barking and I'm praying the buck fell over dead!!!! 

Well as you can see Sargent is baying the buck and I'm having flashbacks of sypis getting tangled and this buck is going to kill sargent!! 

The bungee cord is getting tangled then Sargent starts running in circles and the cord stretches and realeases whipping around. I'm trying to call Greg and finally the calls goes through and Im trying to explain where I'm at (I had no idea) then he says I can hear a dog barking I'll head that way. I have my pistol drawn and preparing to shoot this buck to protect my dog and this is why I'm recording this to have evidence so no one gets in trouble. The buck bolts and Sargent takes off. Thankfully the leash tangles and he stretched out the bungee until the bungee jerked him back as Sargent does a backflip flying back at me!!! 

So we're back on the chase and Greg is with us and we tracked him another 300-400 yards to find the buck out in a small lake swimming across. We watch him stop and eventually drowns . So not how do we get him? Way to far to swim and way to cold so Greg calls his buddy Tyler to bring a kayak. I suggest let me go get him with Sargent as I want him to finish the job and get his reward!! So we paddled out to the buck and as we get close sargent jumps off flipping the kayak and the buck gets the last laugh. 

For tracking service 

please call 810-240-4891

Thanks for reading .

Lansing Michigan.

Epic recovery!!
The shot was low and back and the arrow had zero blood on it and no blood trail. My client thought he missed. The buck ran and then stopped and you can guess what happend next. He turned and walked away slowly. The buck wasn't tracked until morning and with no blood to follow my client decided to call in the hound instead of grid searching the thick cover. Sypris indicated small chuncks of digested corn at the shot site and this is the first sign that the buck was actually hit!! I knew then we have a good chance of recovering this unpressured buck. She went about 150 yards and came to a swamp/pond and checked the waters edge and then proceeded back to me and then started along the trail paralleling the water's edge until she came to the next run. She again checked the waters edge. She started swimming about 10' out and then turned back to shore. I told my client he is in the pond. She started back along the edge of the water until the next run that ended at the waters edge and she began swimming and this time she didn't turn back. I followed at the end of my 25' rope and next thing I know I'm chest deep in water and she is trying to get onto the vegetation because pulling this long rope was like an anchor pulling her under. We made it about 50 yards into the pond/swamp and I could see a small tree and this means theirs a small section of high ground. As she approached this tree the buck jumps up and swims across the pond. I quickly called Sypris back to me and we retreated on the path we came in on and circled the pond. Not knowing how far the buck ran we waited about 2 hours. We resumed the track and the buck completely backed tracked to where he was originally shot and still not 1 single drop off blood and my client was unsure if we were tracking the correct deer. I asked well how big is the antlers and he replied I'm not sure. I trusted my hound and we contuied following blindly until we ended back at the pond on the same run she originally checked the first time and im getting confused. Then I see a deer tail flicker and a small buck leaning against a cedar tree with his head down looking sick. I creep around to see if I can see a wound to confirm the buck was shot. I could see a small hole where the White/Brown hair meet. My client made a follow up shot and the deer didn't suffer any longer. 
Key points to the success of this recovery was the hunter backed out when he was in doubt and brought in the dog before grid searching.

I always say use a dog before grid searching and if the dog is unsuccessful then grid search. We typically can work through a grid searched area however it's much easier to trust a dog when the track isn't contaminated and the dog can problem solve much faster.
It's like doing a puzzle with no pattern it will take you much longer however eventually you will figure it out. Trying to work through a grid search area is like doing the same puzzle however someone throws in extra puzzle pieces that dont belong.

Thanks for reading and following our journeys.
If you don't mind sharing my page and inviting your friends. As we get closer to deer season I'll share some more great recoveries.