Standing by!

waiting

I felt confident we would find this deer just as soon as the hunter showed me the hit site. There was a wad of stomach contents that had blown out the deer that looked like it would have filled up a baseball cap. What I didn�t realize is just how far we would have to track him before we found him. From the hit site we were around 1100+ yards when we finally came upon the carcass. We were finding blood along the way here and there but never found where he bedded up.

I said to the hunter after we had went 900 yards or better that something seemed odd about the track. The deer was hit WAY too hard to be going so far without being pushed. I told him to that I thought coyotes might have gotten in behind him and pushed him....that he should�ve done bedded up somewhere. Sure enough, about 200 yards further we crossed a deep creek crossing and I believe that�s where the yotes finally got him. What was left of his carcass was laying just across the creek.

They cleaned him up pretty good.

Great job Harold!

Wow! Those yotes cleaned out the back straps nice and pretty!

Yep, that was likely several yotes that did that. That�s a chit load of meat to eat. There weren�t any buzzards on him either so I assume that�s all from the yotes.



Thanks man!



Check this out��this is how we originally found him with his head locked in that privet bush. They must have been sho nuff hungry.

THIS would make interesting outdoor TV. Way better than most anything I have seen on Outdoor TV, Sportsmans Channel, etc.

Thanks Stickers!....Glad y�all are enjoying the stories.


A little update on Shelby��She�s progressing a little more with every track now. She was pretty well settled down on this track and worked much of it right in behind Otis. She�s getting more and more confident to stay out in front with Otis as well. Otis burned this one up. You can tell a big difference when we track a gut hit versus other shot types. He left out from the hit site and worked the whole 1100 yards on a pace that was just about as fast as we could walk to keep up with him. Gut shots seem to just pour scent off of them. I think that's also what helps the yotes find them so easy.

Good stuff Harold!! Keep up the good work!!

X2, CNC you should start wearing a GoPro and put some of these tracks on a YouTube channel.

Awesome recovery!

Thanks fellas!......

I�ve thought about getting a GoPro and filming some of the tracks�� but honestly, I don�t know if it would be as entertaining as you might think. Most of the track would just be brush passing in front of the camera as I beat my way through 100�s of yards of thicket. I think in order to make a quality video you would really need a camera man following along filming different parts of the track, doing some short interviews, and editing the footage. If you really wanted to get serious about it, they have cameras that the dog can wear. It would be cool to insert some of that footage in with the other.

A camera on Otis when he first finds the deer would give a close up shot of the deers arse, LOL!

That�s the truth!

So I�m gonna add a little follow up story to yesterday�s track but just realize I�m saying all of this with a smile on my face��..

I pulled up at the hunting land to meet the hunter and as I�m standing there introducing myself, I guess it was another one of the hunting club members pulls up in his truck. �That Guy� gets out of the truck and heads over towards us. As he approached�.. the hunter and myself were discussing the hit and he was telling me about how he felt like it was a gut hit, etc, etc. I responded to him that if it was a gut hit then Otis should be able to follow the track pretty well. That�s when �that guy� jumps into the conversation with �Not after 20 hours you ain�t!!....I�ve been uh� running dogs all my life and it�s been WAY too long to try and get on that deer.�

I shouldn�t have even said anything from the start�.but I did�.and I responded with�.�Well, we�ve tracked a good many that long after the hit and Otis usually picks up on them pretty well���That�s when he starts telling me about how bad the conditions are and how it�s too hot for the dogs, yada yada yada�..I said �Yeah, it is getting pretty warm.��.To which he responds�.�That�s what I�m trying to tell y�all!!!�..You ain�t gonna get this one!� At this point I just smiled and knew the best thing I could do was to hush up and go find the deer. Not only do I know folks like this but I�m kin to several.

So we start tracking the deer and that guy decides he wants to follow. We track along for a ways and it�s all I can do to keep up with Otis. For about the first 400-500 yards that guy is pulling up the rear of the pack still carrying on about how many years he�s been running dogs��.how it�s a lost cause�...rah! rah! rah!�..Finally I hear him say �Hey!....I�ll be damn look!....There�s a big ol� spot of blood!!!���.I stopped for a moment and looked back at him �Really????....Dang!! �I�m surprised he can even smell it!� ��We all got a good chuckle out of it�.even that guy just smiled.

He didn�t say a whole lot after that until we found the deer. Me, the hunter, and his buddy had rode a Ranger a little ways into the hunting property and �that guy�s� truck was still back at the main road�� So about half way back he starts to split off from us and go a different direction�.the hunter asks him �Hey man, where are going???���That guy responds�..�I�m headed toward the truck to get a beer man! I gotta get something to wash down all of this crow!!!!�



Good times��.

Great job! I always enjoy your stories!

Good one!

I hope the big buck was dead by the time the yotes started gnawing on him. Kinda doubt it tho. Heck of a deer and I'm glad y'all found him!

Dr. B

Thanks!.... I appreciate it.




Yep, I think the yotes took him down too. When we found him, I looked back at the creek crossing and you could just see what had likely happened. He was weak and the steep crossing slowed him down. That;s where they yotes were able to take him down. He shouldn't have went more than a few hundred yards with the shot hitting him in the stomach.

Awesome track, story and recovery. Way to go!

Question...I assume for the last 50 yards or so there is deer scent, blood, yote scent, urine, feces, you name it all over everything on a track like this. How does Otis know which way is up once he hits that mark? I would assume it started at about the steep creek bank you mentioned?