Miller Deer Tracking 2020

 

Marion Michigan

Here is a recovery that should not have been difficult! If I'm being honest we should have found him in 1-4 minutes. Instead it took over 4 hours! Why? 

Because Sypris my main dog at the time got away from the scent and was in search mode. Because I have 100% trust in her and we tell all handlers to trust you dog. These are things we learn while training during the off season however we can never duplicate real scenarios so most of our learning is hands on field experience while trying to help hunters. This is why it's important to start dogs on known kills from family and friends because they will be more patient with you. Thankful TJ is one of my best friends and he gives me the freedom to track without PRESSURE!! I

   I add a ton of pressure on my self and my dogs and this isn't helpful however I take pride in being my best so pressure automatically comes with it. We knew the shot was liver, gut and the buck wasn't tracked the night he was shot and when I put Sypris down at the shot site she had a clean scent trail to work with!! She started off with cautious tendencies so my first thoughts were coyotes moved in during the night. I gave her many words of encouragement and she slowly moved ahead finding tiny droplets of blood along the way. This section we were tracking in has an extremely high deer density and unfortunately we tracking down the main run that goes across an old Beaver dam going through a cedar swamp. I'm struggling to read sypris as she isn't acting normal. (dogs have off days and this was one of them) 

  After 75 yards I wasn't seeing any more blood and Sypris is starting to track faster and this is very typically when you get closer to the dead deer as the scent trail gets easier so my confidence is growing. Knowing the land I knew we were heading back to a river and known bedding grounds so I was confident in her work even tho I'm not seeing any blood. As we approach the river she starts checking all the runs crossing the river and not hitting on any scent and eventually she goes into search mode. We have gone several hundred yards with out seeing a bed or blood so now it's time to back track and do a restart. Their was a section she was very focused so I assume she was correct and restarted her at the location.  She now takes a different route ending up at the river just down stream and again starts checking the crossings. She will swim when she has scent otherwise she will never just cross a river to continue searching for scent. These are the little things you will learn about your dog. So now I'm getting frustrated and she knows it so she goes back tracking! (Some dogs will pretend they are following scent to just make you happy and this is the case with Sypris) I quickly realized what she was doing because she keeps looking back at me from time to time and when she is locked on theirs no looking back as she is moving forward with confidence. So now it's decision time! Do I do a complete restart or go get Sargent from the car and let him have a go at it. I'm not liking that idea of walking back to the shot site as my confidence isn't very high and my confidence with him isn't the best either.  Sarg is handful straight out of the car with over the top high energy. However I'm forced to because I know this buck is dead somewhere in the swamp and Sypris had her opportunity so I pick sypris up and blast through the swamp on a straight line to the car and I got Sargent vest on and he's ready to GO!  As in the past he's ready to get to the prize before putting in the work so it takes a few sit down commands to get his mind right so he can stay focus on the task at hand. After the third restart he is slow and methodical and I'm holding the lead saying prayers in my head meanwhile TJ is getting worried. Sarg takes me past the last blood and continues the same route Sypris takes to the river and he goes down the first run and quickly crosses the river so I drop the leash as it's too deep for me and this is another reason why it's so important to have a GPS Ecollar system on your tracking dog. I run down the bank and find a giant tree laying over the river and this is where I cross. Once across I cut the angle and with in a few minutes I'm back holding the lead. In my opinion it's very important to not break your dogs focus once they have locked on to the target scent. By stopping them and pulling them off the scent so I could cross the log your basically telling the dog "No" and it can take a few tries to get your dog restarted. We go couple hundred more yards and this is when I realize theirs no way he is tracking TJ buck. Fuck I say to myself and now I'm getting really frustrated. I try to restart about half way back and he goes the second route that Sypris took so now I'm convinced he is struggling so he is simply following my scent. This is very common when you lay your own tracks the dogs learn to follow your scent to get to the prize!! So I call TJ and advise him and his buddy to start blood tracking from last blood. I need help advancing from last blood to get a line of direction to get my hounds back on track! Meanwhile I'm using the wind with Sarg trying to air scent the dead buck. Sarg locks on to something and is pulling my arms off. We go back to the river and cross and end up on a island that the river separates creating a island and it's long and thick. Sarg is getting very excited and jumps up on a dead fall and a big 8 point exploded from his bed scaring the hell out of me! A phone call to TJ explaining the rack and we quickly agree no way it was his buck and they also haven't advanced at all. Several hours have passed and I suggest I call another tracking team because my hounds are not figuring this out. I made a few calls and one tracker was willing to make the drive however he was still had to finish the track so this wasn't the news TJ wanted to hear. We gathered up at last blood and we all sat down to take a break and collect our thoughts and sarg was just smelling around being a dog. I'm deflated and extremely frustrated and I hate letting my friends, clients down. Sarg is 20 yards away when I see his tail curl up and is in tracking mode. So I got up from sitting on the ground to catch up to him and that's when I see TJ buck dead 30 yards in front of sarg. Sargent doesn't know it yet because we were all up wind of the deer. I made several handling mistakes almost costing my buddies deer however in the end YOU LEARN THE MOST BY MAKING MISTAKES!!  This was a turning point with my relationship with Sargent and he started crushing tracks because he could sense my confidence in him. Lastly a coyote did eat one of the rear legs! 

linden michigan

Local track in my home town of Linden (Southern Genesee county) 

  Last day of the youth hunt my young client had this buck quartering away with his head down feeding while he was hiding in a ground blind and the crossbow on a shooting sticks. What should have been a clean ethical kill turned into any hunters nightmare! The shot hit high rear rump with minimal penetration. At the time they had no idea the shot wasn't great until they replayed the video and that's when they realized the bolt hit a tiny twig redirecting the bolt. They sat quietly in the blind for over an hour before sneaking out. The blind is located in a cattail marsh so they cleared a lane for access. After several hours the figured the buck is dead or non-lethal. Their wasn't any blood at the shot site and multiple runs to check and it took some searching to find the first drop of blood and after that the blood trail was extremely easy to follow. At some point they had blood crossing over there original path and things got very confusing. So much blood it actually made it difficult to learn how the buck doubled backed on himself. This family has used my services in the past so they knew their best chances was to call me. Well the got online and pulled up facebook and made the call. Unfortunately my number is no longer listed on this facebook page and the tracker that answered was booked up and gave them advice that they must be close to the deer because of the high volume of blood and to go look in the morning during daylight and never gave out my number knowing we both lived in the same town! 

The following morning they searched and still couldn't figure out where the buck was so once again they got online and eventually found my contact info. It's Monday and I'm at work, hunter is in school and the dad is at work so it's a family friend that's trying to track this deer and find my number. Well after some time my info was found an arrangements were made and I showed up with Sypris. The blood trail was very impressive and I could tell by the pattern that an artery was hit. Sypris took us in a big loop through the cattail marsh and ended up back at the shot site! The buck must have passed by when they were sitting quietly in the blind or when they were tracking he got pushed back by the blind. Then the buck used the mowed access lane to leave the marsh crossing their back yard and going through the neighbor's yards! We eventually found the buck dead on a brushy hillside. I promise you no one would have ever thought to look in this spot, the neighbor wasn't a hunter so they never would have looked on this hillside and this young hunters buck would never been recovered!!! Unfortunately my young hunter was in school so we couldn't get pictures together. This buck ran 600 yards shot in the femoral artery. I can't help hunters if they don't have my number! 

If you know hunters in Genesee, Livingston, Shiawasse,Oakland, Lapeer,Tuscola counties please share my info with them. These are my local counties and ones I need to build a relationship with. I will travel wherever I'm needed and I have great relationship with other trackers that will help cover me when I'm unavailable. This is why the Michigan deer tracking network was built to ensure hunters can easily find help! 

Howell Michigan. Blood tracking dog.

12 gauge slug and the buck was 50 yards away and the slug destroyed the liver,1 lung and the paunch. Another tracking team tried the evening of the buck being shot with minimal success. 

  I was lined up to track in Byron and Sypris made quick work of a short track as the buck died in a swamp when my client thought the buck ran a slightly different direction. It's easy to do especially with other deer running away. 

 This morning was super high winds however there was moisture on the ground and that was the key for Sypris to be able to track. I was almost home when I got the call needing help in Howell. After a lengthy phone conversation I wasn't feeling confident especially when another dog had previously tried. I'm thinking if that dog didn't find the deer before last night storm and today excessive winds and this deer may not be dead! In most cases we never know where the slug hits the deer especially when the hunter isn't using a scope. I've helped a friend of a friend as I was referred to this client so I made it clear I can't promise anything and let's all hope for the best! 

 As always we start at the shot site and Sypris quickly takes the scent trail going the known hundred yards in just a few minutes and in the woods their still some residual blood. We get to the area where the previous dog struggled and I see Sypris go into search mode! She is circle and circle this area for over a half hour and indicating blood from time to time and I quickly learn this buck was trying bed down in this area and just couldn't find a safe spot. This is when a seasoned dog shines as she back tracked the scent trail and figured out where the buck double backed on his own trail and exited out of the woods heading north. Not the question is did the buck do this on his own or was he pressured by the trackers? Knowing the area I'm confident that the buck was pushed because the route he took was across cut fields with ZERO COVER! 

Is this typically of a dying deer or just a crippled deer is what I'm asking myself. 

 The only thing I can understand is it was his only option being pressured so he is in survival mode and when that happens his adrenaline is pumping. We go across a short grass field (100 yards) and she actually finds a nickel size spot of blood and I can tell my it's color that we are tracking a dying deer!! Now I'm getting very excited and confident that Sypris figured out what the other dog couldn't. Up ahead is a couple small field pot holes that contains farm equipment and brush so I'm praying he is laid up in one of them. Well he wasn't so now we cross two more cut cornfields and I'm watching Sypris nose hit in a faint track one for one and the wind is whipping 40+ mph and if I'm being honest it was probably 50+!

    I'm in disbelief and super impressed watching her do what she loves. When the come to a road and we cross it and now it's thick cover along with a power lines that been brush hog. We have gone a long ways and at this point I'm feeling very confident he will be dead in this area. Sypris enters the power lines and indicated blood and turns right and heads to another cut cornfield and started crossing it. I've spent years watching a dachshund "TRACK" and for the most part I know when she is locked on and when she is searching for scent. 

As we head across this field the wind is hitting her left side pushing scent away from her nose and she is struggling! I then start helping by following the same hoof prints she entered the field indicating on. We make it several hundred more yards to a creek we find blood along the creek and the deer then exited back to the field edge and now I'm getting frustrated. I'm thinking how in the hell has a deer shot in the liver, stomach by a 12 gauge slug gone this far and has yet to lay down. The field edge turns to the north and some tall yellow grass separates the cut cornfield and the creek and there lays my clients buck. What a warrior and what a performance by a 20 pound wiener dog and now my client is elated and overly thankful for our services.

Deer Tracking Hounds.

South East Ohio. 

Mike Langsdorf called me after his wife's evening hunt. We discussed everything in great depth and Mike also sent me a video of the shot. We all agreed the buck was shot low and back in the stomach. With no intensions of tracking that evening to allow the buck to bed up and hopefully be dead near by. Mike and Tanis were couple hour drive from where I was tracking at and with no other calls I was planning on heading home back to Michigan that night or first thing in the morning. We discussed the options of having Mike and Tanis search first thing in the morning because they may not need a dog's assistance vs just hiring me to be there at 8-9 am. After contemplating for a little while Tanis told Mike let's just hire Rob to ensure we recovery my buck. 

I was planning to head home in the morning because I had no other calls. I reinsured Mike and Tanis that I was very confident my dogs would find her buck. So at this point it's an insurance policy and it's the smartest decision if you truly want your deer!

If they would have decided to look in the morning it's possible that I could receive another call and wouldn't be able to help if by chance they were unsuccessful tracking him. I tell everyone if you want your deer you best be calling sooner vs later and lock in a tracker ASAP. Tracking dogs have become very popular and unfortunately many hunters can't find a tracker to help because trackers are already booked up, because we all have full-time jobs, family obligations, etc. and we're extremely  busy during the rut. I take 18 days vacation during the pre,rut, post rut because the demand for my services are that hight. 

  I arrived at their house and we went to Tanis treestand to do a shot site inspection and to start the dogs. I elected to run Sargent and Sypris. Both dogs are very difficult to run together by myself unless I can get help from my son or the hunter. I ran Sargent and Mike helped with Sypris. Both dogs quickly picked up the scent trail and started up the big hill. No blood at the shot site so it's all trust in the hounds. 40 yards away we find just a few tiny droplets of blood and we were excited too find blood however very disappointed that their wasn't alot more. Both dogs take us along the ridge top indicating blood from time to time. To our left is a big drop off into the hollar and to our right was a big wide open woods that slowly slope downward to a thick bottom. Sypris finds a bed along the ridge with blood going in several directions because I feel the buck was considering laying here as they typically do a couple circles before laying down. From the bed we truly needed the help of the dogs and Sargent headed towards the big woods and I was doubting him because I thought the buck would have dropped into the hollar for the closet spot to hide. Sypris followed Sargent line so I was thinking Sargent has this track figured out. So now we're following the dogs in woods you could see couple hundred yards. The leaf litter was very thick so you couldn't see any deer runs. We follow the hounds a few hundred yards and ever so often we would see blood to confirm the dogs work. We were all wondering why this mature buck was taking this route and all we could think of was he was trying to get back to his core area or coyotes pushed him from his bed! I kept looking far ahead fully expecting to see him bedded alive and that's when I spotted the big rack and we all were FIRED UP!!! I honestly don't know how far this buck went I'm going to guess 400-500 yards. Mike did say he wouldn't have considered this direction and their was so little blood and clues suggesting the buck headed to the big woods. This is exactly the reason why hunters are believing in tracking dogs and when hunters make the right decision following a missed placed shot they are typically rewarded with their deer if it's dead. 

Congratulations Tanis Langsdorf on killing one hell of a buck. 

Southern Ohio Outfitters

https://youtu.be/2Qdn-w7Aq4E

Best deer tracking dog.

Watch the video on my Facebook page. 

810-240-4891

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=428744551110919&id=1762449627357484

Gun Blind buck. MICHIGAN

I was asked to write up the story about this picture. 

The buck was known liver/gut shot. 

 The hunter knew to let the buck lay over night as he was shot during his evening hunt. 

  The blood trail was great and even heavy at times. The buck never bedded from what the hunter could tell and when he lost blood roughly 150 yards from his tree stand he started circling the area looking for new blood. He contacted and started following again. Dropping TP as he goes and next thing he knows he has TP going in several different directions. Very confused and after searching for several hours he made a few calls to see if anyone he knows knew of a tracking dog from someone that they trusted! 

  I received the call nearly 24 hours after the buck was shot and the temperature during the day was very warm so I knew our only shot was to track him after dark. We arrived and now the scent trail is 26 hours old and Sypris locks right on and is tracking with ease..

  She makes a turn away from the known TP trail and I start seeing blood so I'm very optimistic and hoping for a quick recovery. Well that was short lived as she reconnected with the TP trail and we continue. The buck made a slight turn that the hunter missed so it wasn't technically new blood. We get to last blood and their is TP going in multiple ways so I tell my client just stay put and don't move until she figures out this area. Almost an hour had passed and she couldn't figure out how the buck exited the area. This is where contaminating the area messes up the dog. So now I take her in several different directions to see if she can reconnect and an hour later she is still confused!!! My client was tired and ready to go and his buddy that was tagging along left and I wasn't going to give up. I took a break and gave sypris water as I look on Google maps to learn how the deer might navigate the woods. Well that didn't help so I just kept casting her in big circles and bigger circles until we found a wound bed that had a single drop of blood in it. Pure luck in my opinion however sypris did find it so this is where the nose KNOWS!! 

Now I'm thinking we are going to go straight to the buck. Wrong!! Sypris is mentally exhausted from problem solving for several hours so I start trying to find blood and sure enough I did. Just a droplet 50 yards away. That's when sypris took over the heavy lifting and started tracking again. She just needed a longer break then what I originally gave her. We go nearly 900 yards so far and we are at a shallow creek and I'm thinking he will be dead in the water. Wrong. 

 She works this area for another 30 min and I can tell she knows he is close however the scent pool must be 50 yards wide and she couldn't line out the scent.  On the other side of the creek is several giant pine trees that have been blown over during the tornado and it's to thick to see in especially at night. Well she eventually figured out the scent pool and starts going under the pines trees as I start climbing over them. I see this gun blind and by time I got their sypris was enjoying her reward by pulling ass hair. 

If I can find the live video of this night I share it. 

 Enjoy.

Blood tracking dogs in Ohio

This moment... Man what an exciting night!!
Michael Back knew his buck was dead!
The blood trail for the first 150 yards was one you figured the big ol buck was for sure dead in his first bed.
  Well at the point Mike was looking for the buck up ahead to be laying dead is when he jumped him. He knew he made the mistake of tracking to soon, however the blood trail was saying dead deer within in minutes. Big storm just a few hours away he knew the only chance to follow the blood trail was to track 2 hours after the shot. Now the buck ran away and the storm getting ready to let loose. It rained for HOURS!!  The following morning it was grid search time and with several guys their luck ran out and failed to find him. Depressed and pissed for making a novice mistake by tracking to soon it was time to find help. Through mutual friends Brad Blain contacted me seeking advice or help. I was stuck at work so I tried to find help without any luck. At 2 pm my boss said I could leave so I called Brad back and made arrangements to made the trip to Ohio.  My family got my bags packed to help shave off time because at this point time isn't on our side. When I arrived at camp it was 30 hours after the buck was shot. Heavy frost was forming and I'm really doubting that Sypris was going to perform well. While walking to the shot site I told Mike we may have to wait till morning for the frost to melt if she is unsuccessful tonight. Well I started Sypris at the shot site and she took off. At the age of 10 she normally tracks very slow and at this moment she was like a young hound full of piss and vinegar and covering ground. We went down and up a few decent hills in a flash and then she stops to smell something and that's when she indicated blood. Oh boy am I ever fired up!! I knew it was only a matter of time!! She resumes and takes us to a field edge and that's when shit went south. She is struggling. Doing circles and circles I knew exactly what was happening. THE FROST WAS FUCKING US!!
I look at my dogtra Pathfinder app and I said the buck only has a few options so I took sypris across the big field to an area I thought he would go to die. Once across she started checking deer runs until she found the one she liked and 75 yards later we were all 🙏🙏 high-fiving.
If your looking for a great place in Ohio to hunt give Mike or Brad a call. Legend Valley Outfitters
Sypris still amazes me and I'm one lucky guy to have her.
Total distance .80 of a mile and 52 minutes.

Call Rob Miller for tracking 810-240-4891

Blood tracking dogs in Michigan

Lyle Stowe took the shot with his compound bow and his arrow told the truth. Liver!
  Knowing how long a mature buck can live being shot center mass he knew to let the buck lay over night. Always interested in tracking dogs this was a great time to use one. Not wanting to loose his deer and curious about tracking dogs he made the call to Miller Deer tracking.
  After we discussed everything arrangements were made and I was scheduled to help mid morning. Sypris quickly locked on to this uncontaminated track and took us 4-500 yards and along the way she would indicate blood droplets. I can tell you theirs zero chance anymore could have followed the blood trail. As we approach the lake Mr. Stowe says they love to go out onto the island. The perimeter of the lake was very thick with brush and the deer made tunnels to access the water and the island. Sypris checked a few deer runs leading out to the island. She found one that she liked and I was on my hands and knees prying my way through the brush. Sypris stop's dead in her tracks and starts backing up land that's when I seen the buck standing with his head down ready to charge like a bull. I'm trying to yell in a quiet voice to Lyle to back out!! I suggested we give him 6-7 more hours and resume tracking as we know he had to make it to island.
Click on the link to watch the ending.
We ended up using my boat because there's no way we could have dragged him back the way tracked him.

 https://youtu.be/A5FmbSZSJzk

Blood Tracking dogs in Michigan, ohio, Indiana

810-240-4891