CNC must have taken the kids to Disney World - last post was Christmas Day

Thanks 3FF!.....If this tracking thing don’t work out, then I think I may just go buy me some decoys and start shooting at ducks. there's no doubt she would have made someone a great duck dog. I think she’s gonna end up being a pretty dang good blood tracker though.

We’ve been out of town visiting family. I’m back now and ready to track…..Bring on the rut!!!!

Hey CNC, love your thread!

I was wondering, do you take tracks on public land or only on private? I'd imagine public land tracking comes with some other issues, but that got me to thinking if maybe you didn't take those tracks. If you do, do you have a general policy of doing it after dark or on a lead for dog safety?

Good luck the rest of the season!

Thanks! I appreciate it.

About 95% of my tracks come from private land. I rarely take calls on public land. The only ones I do is where someone may be bow hunting during the week or something of that nature. I don’t track public land when they’re having big gun hunts.

As far as tracking at night. I don’t go out at night anymore. There are pros and cons to either side of the argument but after taking everything into consideration I just decided to track during the day. About 60% (or better) of the deer we track are still alive when we find them. As many deer as I’m tracking, if I go out at night then I’m just assuring myself of a situation where we would be chasing a lot deer around with dogs and lights. It would be one thing if it were just me and you down at the hunting club but when its dozens of tracks for "the public”…. then its not such a good idea in my opinion. To each their own though.

Besides that….tracking at night just makes things more difficult and dangerous. Stepping in stump holes and jabbing limbs in your eye becomes a real hazard even though that’s something you normally wouldn’t think much about. I know trackers who have been to the ER from both on night tracks. I get disoriented at night really easy too. Even though I have my GPS, I can’t stand not being able to see the terrain around me. It also harder to see blood and you have to carry that much extra equipment with all the lights and extra batteries……It's just more of a PITA to track at night,

Not to mention that I’m not a night owl at all….When 9:00-10:00 roll around I’m ready for bed.

Call just came in....I'll give better details later. Hunter shot buck at 9:00...tracked it 300-400 yards and jumped him.

To be continued........

Got him!...Another one still alive...pretty dang nice buck too....story and pics to come.

Glad you got him. Looking forward to the story.

This was a pretty exciting track. I had a good idea this deer was gonna be alive but what I didn’t know was just how close to last blood he would be. The hunters had already tracked him for several hundred yards and in the process they crossed one their interior roads. We decided just to start there instead of re-tracking the whole thing. I turned Otis and Shelby loose and they hit the track like stink on chit….gone! We had only made it 100 yards past where they had stopped when I looked at my GPS and saw Shelby take off. She was nearly 200 yards out when I toned her back….Otis was still at 50 yards. I thought she might have jumped the deer but wasn’t for sure because she wasn’t barking at all. Sure enough though, when Otis caught up the barking ensued……”Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep!!!”

I got up to him and saw he had the buck bayed up broadside to me. The only problem was he was between me and the buck so I couldn’t shoot….. I carried my Sig .45 this time. The buck broke bay and shot down the creek branch with Otis and Shelby right on his arse. I took off jogging behind them and about 100 yards down the creek, the buck stopped again…..Otis is barking like crazy but doing really well at staying off the deer 5-10 yards so the buck can't gore him. I get to within about 20 yards and see the deer. I round off a couple shot with my .45 just as the buck breaks bay again. Otis takes off this time and goes another 100+ yards before the deer held up again. I think maybe Shelby got nervous or wasn't sure what to do after I started shooting and she just started hanging with me instead taking off again. Well, I catch up again and get in a little better shooting position this time….”Boom! Boom!”….I round off 2-3 more shots as the deer breaks bay and runs straight away from me.

We repeated this about 4 times for 300-400 hundred yards down this creek bottom before finally on the last round of shots….the deer took off and fell over….but still alive. By this point the two hunters had caught up with me with the rifle and I was so out of breath I told them to put another round in that sum beech before he runs again …..”Boom!”….That one finished him off. It was a good thing too because I was on my second clip and shaking like a dog chitting a peach seed on the last few shots. I didn't have much left in me or the gun.

When we started looking we found where I had hit the deer 5 times in the guts and arse end. I’m shooting high powered 230 gr hollow points…..It’s amazing how was able to keep toting them shots off like he did. A .45 may not be enough gun. The original shot the hunter put on the deer had caught the brisket just in front of the front legs. You can just barely see the blood spot on his brisket if you look close. He was weak when we found him but still had a lot of life left in him. I think the big hole in his shoulder came from the final rifle shot.

Damn! War zone

Oh yea……I can only imagine what “the neighbors” are likely saying this evening……

I’m still pondering over this gun situation. I was actually pretty dang proficient with my pistol shooting considering that most of my shots were follow ups as he broke and ran. I was getting fatigued toward the end and my front site started looking like a bobble head doll.

I don’t like how he toted those first few shots off though. I don't want to have keep chasing one like that. If I get a shot on him, I'd like that to be all she wrote. I may have to step up to bigger pistol or maybe try some of the Buffalo Bore Ammo.

Well done! Congratulations on finding him!

What about a judge or defender with 410 slug. I have been in the dame boat as you with a .40 and no dogs. Y'all are having a good run lately. You need to start offering a ride along for bonus money. If I am ever down that way I would love to see Otis and Shelby work.

I may just go ahead and get the youth 30-30 and carry it. It would probably be the best all around option. I had shots on the buck today at 35 yards or so but I had to get closer to make sure I could hit him with my pistol.

Heck yeah man! ….I need someone to go with me that can keep up..... and tote a 30-30 with iron sights……. and shoot it under pressure! It would be a lot easier if I could just work the dogs and let someone else shoot. Every time we bayed the deer I had to find the dogs first and keep one eye on them as I tried to shoot. Otis helped out a lot by staying back off the deer a good bit.

Get a short, pump 12 gauge with a good sling and put 2 slugs and then some 00 in it.

Is that something you discuss with the hunter at the beginning of the track that you may have to shoot the deer yourself?