09/29/2026
Story time
Our first track of the season took us south into Maryland. We received a phone call from Western Maryland Hunting, his 78yo grandfather had just made a shot on a nice buck and they needed our assistance. The sign on the bolt and ground confirmed that the shot was back just a touch. We made arrangements to meet in the morning.
Kyler would be able to tag along on this one due to the school being closed. He was excited. I contacted Hot Timolly Outdoors and extended an invitation for him to tag along. Tim is an up and coming drone operator. I felt this would be a great experience for him. He graciously accepted our invitation.
We all met the next morning. Dexter was ready to rock and Kyler had all the snacks we needed.
The hunter and Kyler would stay at the hit site. Gary and Tim would follow me and Dexter.
Off we went. Dexter, locked on quickly and set the pace. With zero sign a few hundred yards in I, was close to restarting. Nope, he looks good and hasn’t shown me any reason not to trust him.
Nearing 600yds we find our first sign on the ground. We soon found ourselves in a creek bottom and Dexter began to indicate that we were close. I told the guys to keep their eyes open. The buck wasn’t there. Dexter, hydrated and cooled himself in the refreshing mountain pool. I brought him up to some sign at the water’s edge and up the hill we go. Dexter is on a string. I’m starting to get a little concerned, why has this buck traveled so far? Dexter, begins to indicate again. The woods are fairly open now and I’m not seeing anything. As we are approaching the field edge, there he is. Well part of him. I then see more pieces. Unfortunately, a bear had gotten to him first 😞
What a wild track for the first of the year. We covered .92 of a mile on this one. Congratulations to the hunter on a great Western Maryland Whitetail. Thank you for trusting us with your recovery 🧡💪
Tim definitely got a chance to see some amazing dog work. Let’s hope y’all get a little redemption with that bruin in a few weeks🙏