1 up and 1 down in the first inning.

[finditwithfinley]

First track of the season didn't go as we'd hoped unfortunately. This hunter was a super cool dude and this particular deer has a lot of sentimental value, so I'm really bummed for him. The hunter took the shot right at last light and couldn't tell where it hit. There was some blood, but definitely doesn't look to be lung. Looks like muscle to me, maybe liver. The deer went 50 yards or so and stopped and blew at the hunter, then took off. The hunter followed blood about 100 yards or so. We arrived about 14 hours after the shot and were only able to advance the track another 100 yards with confirmed sign, but went a total of just under 3 miles with a few restarts. I tried to force myself to just trust the dog but with zero evidence of a wouded animal, its hard for both myself and the hunter. There was no beds to be found other than the thousand that were NOT from an injured deer. The terrain was BRUTAL on both myself and Finley and the 80° heat made it super difficult to keep her tracking. She eventually gave up and started hunting and refused to try to track again. She was completely overheated and so was I. After just under 3 miles on the leash I'm convinced we will see this deer again on camera very soon.

 

[giles]

Bummer

 

[finelyshedded]

Dang

 

[bowhunter1023]

Tough start to the season for you two and the hunter. Hopefully everyone gets their redemption.

 

[finditwithfinley]

Tough start to the season for you two and the hunter. Hopefully everyone gets their redemption.

I believe we will. This guy has about 300 acres and at least 30 cameras, so I'd imagine we will see him soon.

 

[brock ratcliff]

That stinks. Good effort on your part as well as your dog. Get em next time.

 

[gjs4]

The easy ones wont humble you or build your dog. When I was (blood) tracking with my lab i would take him on multiple lines and see if he gravitated to the same locale or exhibited more zoomies when able to orientate himself in the ideal down wind scenting.

The group i belonged to in NY had a questionnaire we would screen hunters with. Sometimes it was a "fly" vs "do not fly", but it was also for data shared with state and others (hit type, bhead, etc). I would be appreciative of a honest hunter not knowing the hit position versus the "smoked him" to find tail hairs.

No beds can mean a couple of things....none of which are good for the hunter. 3 miles of tracking is parallel with that. Either he was "pushing the deer" or it was a wound that was uncomfortable for the deer to bed. I'd bet on the first. Liver is a darker blood and fatal, though the duration and quality of life (and track) vary based on where the liver is hit and with what.

Some more unsolicited advice. See if you can reach out to DeerSearch of NY and buy a hair chart from them. I would also recommend to anyone/everyone buying a copy of Finding Wounded Deer by Trout. Jeanennys dog tracking books are decent for you but not worth it for others. Oh yeah.... ask folks to save blood and a couple of livers and stomachs for you (for offseason work). Can help you out with how to use legs too.

Good luck and thanks for what youre doing.

 

[finditwithfinley]

The easy ones wont humble you or build your dog. When I was (blood) tracking with my lab i would take him on multiple lines and see if he gravitated to the same locale or exhibited more zoomies when able to orientate himself in the ideal down wind scenting.

The group i belonged to in NY had a questionnaire we would screen hunters with. Sometimes it was a "fly" vs "do not fly", but it was also for data shared with state and others (hit type, bhead, etc). I would be appreciative of a honest hunter not knowing the hit position versus the "smoked him" to find tail hairs.

No beds can mean a couple of things....none of which are good for the hunter. 3 miles of tracking is parallel with that. Either he was "pushing the deer" or it was a wound that was uncomfortable for the deer to bed. I'd bet on the first. Liver is a darker blood and fatal, though the duration and quality of life (and track) vary based on where the liver is hit and with what.

Some more unsolicited advice. See if you can reach out to DeerSearch of NY and buy a hair chart from them. I would also recommend to anyone/everyone buying a copy of Finding Wounded Deer by Trout. Jeanennys dog tracking books are decent for you but not worth it for others. Oh yeah.... ask folks to save blood and a couple of livers and stomachs for you (for offseason work). Can help you out with how to use legs too.

Good luck and thanks for what youre doing.

Thanks for that. At this time, I'm taking every track I can physically go to regardless of what it sounds like on the phone or pictures. We love doing it and know that without screening success rates will be lower. I have a processor that saves blood for me and have a freezer full along with hooves for training. I have the hair chart you were talking about I believe bit in this instance there was none to be found unfortunately. We've been training since 6 weeks old and I have tons of faith in her abilities, but the fact of the matter is that you can't find a deer that isn't dead and in this instance I believe this to be the case. I'm just hoping to get pics that confirm I'm right for the sake of the hunter and is the main reason I don't want to screen calls. Even if we don't find a deer, we offer piece of mind to the hunter.

 

[xbowguy]

All 3 UBT Judges I talked with said take EVERY track you can. The dog is still learning good and bad scent trails.

 

[finditwithfinley]

All 3 UBT Judges I talked with said take EVERY track you can. The dog is still learning good and bad scent trails.

Yes sir! Same here. I'll take them all, even if there's low likelihood of recovery. However I'm going to start limiting my tracks to under 60 degree temps. This poor black dog can't take the heat especially if it's in direct sun. She damn near stroked out on me with the miles we put in.