This is a topic I like to bump to the top each year after reading of the heart ache some people express after loosing a big game animal. It is worth a read by all of us.... Call a dog folks, if legal, every time you lose that trail.
I realize that this is a topic that has been mentioned on here in the past no doubt but I think it important to bring forth every year for folks that may not think of this solution to recovering a wounded game animal.
The use of a highly trained blood dog can dramatically increase your chances of recovering a wounded big game animal. There are some very serious misconceptions about what is possible with these dogs so to prevent me from reinventing the wheel I will quote a very well respected blood dog tracker from Georgia. Ken Parker sums up the process like this:
"Mistakes hunters make before calling in a tracking dog.
These are things that I have run into over the last few years. This is not an all inclusive list of mistakes as I am sure I will continue to see new things the more I track.
The most common mistake is that hunters walk down the middle of the blood trail. Then when they get to were the blood runs out they start walking all over the place. This transfers blood from their boots to places the deer did not go. When the dog gets there to track and gets to this point on the trail they have to spend a lot of time unraveling this false blood trail that is now laid out. There is not a good solution other than to try to be careful and walk to the side of the trail were possibly.
Mistake number 2 is that the hunter does not visually or physically mark where the deer was standing when they shot. This point can be very important to a tracker in that a lot of information can be gained by looking at the color of hair at the hit site along with any bone that might be there.
Mistake 3 is that they do not know who their neighbors are or how to get in contact with them in case the deer travels across property lines. In many states it is illegal to cross property lines without permission even to track a wounded deer. A solution is to go ahead and make arrangements with your neighbors ahead of time just in case. This will help when late at night you come to a property line and you are trying to find out who owns the property. You will be very disappointed when the tracker and his dog call it quits, so get permission ahead of time.
Mistake 4 is not being prepared for tracking at night. A pen light works fine for walking into the woods but when you need to see the minutest sign you need a very good bright light. Bring several good lights just in case your batteries die or a bulb blows.
Mistake 5, not marking their progress along the track to the point of loss. Marking the trail helps the tracker to see that their dog is following the right blood trail to the point of loss. If the blood trail is very light the handler may not see any blood as they will be watching their dog’s reaction. By marking the last spot of blood the handler will know that at that point there might be a lot of false trails, see mistake #1Mistake 6 pushing the deer. If the deer travels out of site after the shot give it 30 to 45 minutes. As soon as you start tracking and see that the animal may travel a great distance or that it is a poor shot back out and give it at least 4 hrs if the temperature will allow and you are not worried about coyotes. If there are signs of a gut shot wait 6 to 8 hrs before begining to track again. Most mortally wounded deer will try to lie down within 200-300 yards. But if pushed out of the bed can travel great distance before expiring .
Misconceptions about Tracking"
It’s been raining, so a dog won’t be useful." Actually, a light rain helps to hold the scent. Some dogs are even able to track after heavy rains.
“I’ve waited too long.” It is always better to call as soon as possible, but, if you can not get a tracking dog for 12 hours or more, don’t worry. A lot of people think that a dog is only good if the track is under a few hours old. However, a well-trained dog will be able to follow a scent trail 20 to even 40 hours old, even if other deer or wildlife has traveled the same trail. The meat may not be any good, if the weather is hot or the coyotes might have gotten to it, but, if you want to recover your trophy, do not be afraid to call in a quality tracking dog.
Another misconception is that "a tracking dog will always find” the animal. A tracking dog greatly increases your chances of finding a wounded animal, but it is by no means a guarantee. Many deer survive what hunters think to be a kill shot. But, let’s not forget … dogs can have bad days too, just like people do.
The art of working a tracking dog has come a long way from just turning out the best tracking deer dog to the highly specialized tracking dogs of today. Do not be afraid to contact a person from the tracking dog list ahead of time to ask questions. It might save you some time when you are in need of a tracker the most. Happy hunting to all and good luck to all the trackers during the next season."
End quote.
There are some great in-state organizations that have blood dog handlers for your area and you can always go to unitedbloodtrackers.org and click on the "find a tracker" tab.
It is very important to remember that many of these dogs can track cold lines of 24-36 hours old. I ran blood dogs for years and "very little sign" after the shot is often used to gauge the lethality of the wound when often means nothing at all. Countless times I have tracked deer with little more than a drop or two of blood (some times none) over a half mile or more to find them very dead in their beds. Without a dog, recovery would have been impossible and undoubtedly we would have assumed that the deer would recover. We all like to think of ourselves as super trackers but a trained recovery dog does not need blood to recover a wounded animal, we do. If nothing more, the use of a quality blood dog is giving it every possible effort at recovery and will put your mind at ease that the animal has a good chance at recovery. We owe it to the resource.
Spend the time to find out what the blood dog resources are in your state and have their numbers stored for the time when you really need some help.
On a personal note, I use a network of trackers in both Georgia for deer and hogs and in Canada for bear. I am excited to be getting my first blood dog in a few weeks after not having one for quite some time. My choice is a teckel. I have used them in my bear camp with a cold blood trail of 30 hours with great success. I was sold on them.
Good luck to everyone.
Topic: Dogs for recovering wounded game (Read 4370 times)
