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 .