10/05/2023
A memory of four years ago, some very good points in this post.
THAT’S IT WE QUIT THIS TIME! Two for two this season so far! We are sticking at the 100% success rate. Na just kiddin again! I doubt this will last long, but if the hunters would do as this hunter did there’s a greater chance we can have a great success rate.
This buck was a public ground buck in Southern IL at Pyramid State Park near Pinkneyville, IL. For those of you that is familiar with that park, you know it is a huge park with a large variety of terrain. Today I was tracking in muddy bogs, tall grasses, brush, and huge grassy/weedy feels. You name it we was in it!
This buck was shot on by the hunter who was on the ground at the time and not in a tree stand, 23 hours before we recovered it. The arrow did pass through the buck, but there was very very little blood at the hit site. The hunter and a friend did attempt to track this buck after a lengthy wait of course 👍 The bad thing was they kind of had a general direction, but no other blood to track this buck in the knee high weeds and grasses. The two had wisely backed out, gave us a call and we made a game plan do go down and attempt to track this buck.
Dio and myself had a great road trip down south. We met up with the hunters and proceeded to the park. A very lengthy walk was in store for us to make our way to the hit site. At the hit site I gave the pre-track instructions, said a prayer, and then said those words Dio always anxiously awaits... “Go find em!”
In an effort to keep this post from becoming a book, the track went nearly 3/4 of a mile and was in very sporadic blood with long distances between the spots of blood. The odd thing was went Dio found the buck it was actually laying in 6” weeds, in the wide open and nothing had ate on it! When I first saw it from some 10-15 yards I thought it was a mound of dirt. I could only see its back and no antlers, but thought it was very weird there was fly’s all over it. It was the buck!!! Also just ten minutes before we found it the hunter has said to me I love the work your dog is doing, but I don’t think we are gonna find this deer dead! Well obviously it was dead. Turns out this buck was gut shot and the arrow exited out the rear leg, due to the angle of the shot.
So main points I would like to share about this track is:
1. The hunters got PERMISSION for us to track on this public ground during daylight.
2. The hunter and friend WISELY backed out and did not contaminate the track. This smart move in this case was definitely a huge factor in the recovery of this buck. The hunter and friend both said over and over there would be no way that they would have found this buck on their own without the use of a TRAINED dog.
3. The fact that they had faith in us and was willing to WAIT the following day to track this buck.
Hunters try to remember these these things mentioned, it may make a huge difference in the outcome of the track. If you have concerns or questions on or before your track give myself or any other tracker you may know a call for information. Most trackers have a great wealth of knowledge due to having experienced much while tracking.
