We have been getting most of our deer calls in the big woods of rough, mountain country. It’s a red oak acorn year and the smart deer are up in the big timber where there is plenty of feed, but where it’s remote enough to keep the hunting pressure low. Last Saturday we had promising hit site evidence that led to a very long track with occasional verifying blood. After two miles of ledges, briars and logging slash we came to an old, cold bed with just enough blood to assure as that we had been tracking the right deer. The only satisfaction was very good dog work.
Yesterday's scenario was less promising at the beginning, but this time Joeri found the deer. Again the hit site was up almost at the crest of a mountain again, but this time we rode in style on a very powerful utility vehicle.
The hunter had found very little blood (four drops), but Joeri had no difficulty picking up the scent line which was less than four hours old. He started off “right” according to the hunter, but then Joeri veered off to the left. The hunter had just found another drop of blood farther up the mountain, but Joeri knew where he wanted to go, and that way was down. Hanging on to trees, I worked down the steep slope after him. And there was the dead buck, tucked away in a tiny, deep ravine that would have been easy to miss in an area search. He had gone only 150 meters by the GPS. The shot placement, with a 12 gauge rifled slug, had been almost perfect, but there was almost no bleeding even in the bed where the buck died.
Yesterday's scenario was less promising at the beginning, but this time Joeri found the deer. Again the hit site was up almost at the crest of a mountain again, but this time we rode in style on a very powerful utility vehicle.
The hunter had found very little blood (four drops), but Joeri had no difficulty picking up the scent line which was less than four hours old. He started off “right” according to the hunter, but then Joeri veered off to the left. The hunter had just found another drop of blood farther up the mountain, but Joeri knew where he wanted to go, and that way was down. Hanging on to trees, I worked down the steep slope after him. And there was the dead buck, tucked away in a tiny, deep ravine that would have been easy to miss in an area search. He had gone only 150 meters by the GPS. The shot placement, with a 12 gauge rifled slug, had been almost perfect, but there was almost no bleeding even in the bed where the buck died.
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