Not all wounded deer can be recovered

By Andy Bensing

As all trackers know, not all deer that you track are gettable.  Notice how after we jumped the buck, which was heading right back towards the original hit site.  I see this quite frequently, and it helps me to confirm the jumped buck is the right one when you don't see him or there is no sign.    It would be too much of a coincidence for some other deer to take that path as frequently as I see it.  I have had confirmed sightings of this behavior of wounded deer in the past.  We did not see the buck go out but I was pretty sure this was the correct deer when the trail went hot since there was pulled hair in the bloodless bed he came out of.  Pulled hair and a path back to the hit sight confirmed it for me.    Also notice the buck made a classic "J" hook before he bedded.  Distance from hit to bed where we jumped him was 1200 meters and there was no visible blood after the point of loss.  This buck had been shot twice and knocked down twice from both shots with a shotgun slug.  He actually fell down and did not move for 5 minutes after the 2nd shot before he got up and stumbled away.  I found bone fragments that appeared to come from a large joint either leg or hip.  Since he was running well ahead of us 26 hours after the shot and he only bled for 150 yards after the shot in the first place I deemed him ungettable with a dog on a leash, and we quit the trail

Notice how the "active log" has made a nice clean line on Google Earth.  When you save a track on a Garmin and then transfer it to Google earth it displays all those annoying bread crumbs dots on Google Earth.  The "active log" does not display the bread crumbs.   I filled in the approximate path the buck took after I lost my GPS with the thin yellow line.  We did not get the buck but I was real happy when I found my dropped GPS as I re-traced my trail in the swamp.

I try to put my hunters to work as best I can. The hunter is carrying my backpack
and 2 sets of waders just in case we need them to go into the marsh.

Darren and Theo resume training on artificial lines

Darren Doran's Theo von Moosbach-Zuzelek is a full brother to our Sky and Tuesday. He was nine months old on January 6, and at 19.6 lbs he has a perfect weight and size. Darren is very happy with Theo, and recently he has shared his training experience with us. Thank you Darren!

Training Line

Training line was 880 yards made with tracking shoes with doe feet and tarsal gland. 3 oz of blood were used and all materials were from the same deer. The training line was put out while I was wearing Elimitrax over-boots for added scent control. Blood was put every 10 to 20 steps. There was a 70 yd power line crossing and numerous 90-degree turns. Some turns had a blood squirt at them, some were just made walking with the shoes, and some had an article of skin and hair left at them. There was one wound bed with hair and extra blood in it.

 Training Goal      

The goal of this line was to work on asking commands “is that right”, “find the blood”, “get back on the line”, “is that it you got it”. I wanted to also wanted to observe Theo’s check work and see how it was progressing. I was tracking with the 50ft fishing line and had decided to follow Theo (with in reason) with out stopping his progress on the track to see how he would work and correct. I also wanted to look for signs of adolescence.

Actual Line

The line was 20 hrs old and ran at about 11am. There was a skiff of snow overnight but by the time I was able to run the line it had melted. The ground was not frozen and the vegetation and forest floor was wet from the snowmelt. Blood found at the hit site and wound bed was puddled up in the leaves.

Theo started a little rough. We train in areas with a heavy deer population, and I saw deer putting out the line, and I think he was on fresh deer. I really wanted to get out there while the snow was on the ground. It wasn’t enough to hinder the tracking, but it would have showed fresh deer tracks nicely. He was paralleling the line and I let him go about 100 yds until he passed the first turn and it was apparent he hadn’t locked on to the track. I picked him up and brought him back to the hit site. I held him there and let him smell the hair and blood. This time he started better and was over the line. He wanted to drift off again before the first turn and I asked him “is that right” he looked at me but kept going. I then said very sternly “get back on the line and get to work”. He quit following the wrong line and came back to the blood track and made the turn.

We then tracked to the power line. The line angled across it, and Theo had no problems with it.  As soon as we got in the woods the line made a 90. Theo tracked past the turn about 10 yds before he started to circle. As he was coming back to the line towards the turn, 3 deer busted out in front of us and ran right across the line about 70 yds from where we were. Theo didn’t see them but I expected some problems from them very shortly, and of course they ran into the wind and their scent would be blowing back to us for a while.

By this time Theo was locked into the track. He tracked right to the wound bed and stopped for a second to sniff the skin and hair article. He continued on to the next turn, which he made very easily. We were now on the straightaway headed to a turn by where the deer had crossed. As we got near the spot, Theo wanted to track backwards the way the deer came from. I let him go a little, then he just circled left then right and came back towards the line. I could tell that he could air scent the deer as he lifted his head a few times but he continued to search and he hit the line after the turn and tracked like nothing was bothering him. He never opened or showed the interest in the deer that I thought he would.

The next turn had a skin and hair article in it. He tracked to and made the turn perfectly, and crossed a woods road to the next turn. This turn was just a walking turn and blood was about 10 steps past the turn. Theo tracked past it but checked in a few yds and made the turn. This part of the line was in tops blown down from Sandy and another good deer hangout. Theo tracked fine to the last turn that paralleled the power line. This area was kind of brushy. Theo made the turn and at this point the wind was quartering from Theo’s front right shoulder to his left hindquarter. He was on the downwind side of the line slightly and tracked past the skin then did a hard 90 to it and got his meat reward.

Conclusion

Theo tracked this line very well. I forgot my phone so I don’t know how long it took. I would say that he has not entered adolescence yet. The entire time on this line whenever Theo would hit the breaks and bury his nose on the line I would ask him “You got it? Is that it?” and when he would resume tracking down the line I would praise him hard. I believe the places where he buried his nose were blood squirts, and it was confirming to him he was right and it gave him more confidence on the track. 

I’m going to continue this type of training. I think using all the same parts from the same deer along with the tracking shoes with minimal blood is accelerating Theo’s training. Most of my tracks this year have had minimal blood so this is a good thing.

Andy Bensing's tracking analysis and feedback for the hunter

Andy Bensing likes to keep very thorough, detailed records of his deer tracking services, and this year he has added a new feature. We will let him explain what he actually does:

 

If I have time I like to get back to my hunters with a map and a short written summary of the day's events. This is a lot easier to do now that the season is winding down for me. Doing this personally adds to my enjoyment of the day's events and further builds the professional presentation of my services to the hunter. Quality presentation of a tracker's services before, during, and after the track builds reputation in your given tracking territory and therefore referrals for the future. Not to mention increasing the level of your tips!

Hi Sam and Vernon,

I enjoyed my time with you today. We were unable to recover the deer but you can rest assured that you have done everything possible. I think there is a good chance that he will recover. Let me know if he shows up anywhere, dead or alive! As we discussed, after putting everything we know together, I believe your muzzleloader hit him high in the shoulder blade and impacted on the long spinous processes that protrude above the vertebrae behind the shoulder blade. This would explain all the initial bone chips and all the crashing into trees he did in his initial run and why he was still so strong today when we chased him. To be honest, I don't have a good explanation of why the 530 meters of your initial blood trail was dark red blood as opposed to bright red. I hope he shows up on one of your cameras and we get to see for sure where he was hit. Enjoy the maps and call anytime

 

FYI:

Hit site to your last blood (hunter's point of loss, POL)- 530 meters

POL to where we jumped the deer and trail went hot- 360 meters

Chased him live in front for 2 ½ hours- 7000 meters (4.4miles)

Total tracking time- 3 ½ hours

 

 

Andy Bensing

1411 Cross Keys Road

Reading, PA 19605

610-413-7094

United Blood Trackers and their dogs are busy in the woods helping hunters

The hunter hit this buck at 9AM on the 15th. He trailed it half a mile through a huge corn field. Meantime his wife saw the wounded buck cross the next road, enter a bunch of blowdowns, and bed down. At 2PM the hunter went into the blowdowns and jumped the buck. He called me at that point and I advised he park the deer in that woods overnight and that we would attempt to recover it at 8AM the next morning. The deer did not leave any blood after the first bed but once I got Karma on the right line she raced down the trail and we recovered the deer at 10AM.

After a couple of bad trails this week it felt mighty nice to make another recovery. Karma retains her 50/50 recovery rate for the season collecting #6 for 12 trails. MUCH BETTER than last season! We're smiling

*****

 

Walt Dixon rfrom Tully, NY reports: Here's a photo of gun hunter Tod Avery with a nice buck he shot that Ari recovered after a tough 400 yard trail with no blood sign for the last 300 yards. She recovered this deer 19 hours after it was hit. Ari took the trail out of the woods into a winter wheat field hen cut across a corner and worked the edge checking every deer trail that entered the field until the 5th one where the buck must have reentered the woods. I noticed her change from ground scenting to air scenting within 75 yards of the dead buck found in a swamp near a pond in thick cover. This was Ari's seventh recovery.

 

*****

Hi Jolanta: This is a picture of Razen's 15th recovery out of 27 tracks. This track was on camera and will be shown on the TV show Southern Woods and Water, not sure when yet. At least portions of it.  The deer was shot in the neck at 52 yrds, they had a good blood trail for about a 1/2 mile. Then it started to dwindle, so they backed out and gave me a call. The guy who shot it is Mike Wise a prostaffer for the show, he had been on another track that we did and I explained to them if the shot is iffy or the blood starts to dwindle, back out and give me a call. This way they wouldn't track it all up with the blood that would be on their shoes, it made this track a lot easier to track. We are having a great season, so far we have done 38 tracks with 18 recoveries.

Ray, Rosco, Claudia, and Razen Kane (Ashkum, IL)

****

 

Gary Huber from Hamburg, NY reports: I went tracking today with new WNY DSI member David Powis. I am his master handler. Took him out last Saturday on a rear leg with Kita and he had the lead and got his first find, a "shooter". Wow did he get pumped, but today he really got pumped because I gave him the lead again in thick red brush on what turned out a "butt" shot. Dave jumped the buck 250 yards later and quickly dispatched him. We were tracking for a son and father. The father is a good friend of mine and a NYS trooper and his son is home on vacation from USA, Arizona, border patrol. His father,trooper Ron Wolf, has not seen his son for a year and a half until yesterday when they hunted together. The deer was wounded yesterday afternoon, tracked by eye and "jumped". We met them at 10:30 am this morning. Dave did a excellent job handling Kita. Especially in thick red brush. It was great to see a father and son embrace and everyone got "high fived" and it was the first for me to get "kissed" (on the cheek) by a NYS trooper.

 

*****

 

Andy Bensing wrote on November 27:

Eibe and I went 2 for 2 today in New Jersey, in the snow. Both deer were gut shot with a 50 caliber Muzzleloader and the trails were snowed on first thing in the morning. Both hunters were worried about the snow causing a problem for the dog but as all blood trackers know, snow doesn't cause a problem for the dog. Actually, I think a reasonable amount of snow may actually make it easier. The first track was from the previous morning and the deer had traveled ½ mile and was dead. The second line was from the previous evening and we found it still alive but the short chase and dispatch was very easy. The second hunter was happy to get his deer but the look on his face tells the whole story. He was upset with himself with the poor shot he made the day before from only 30 yards on a calm deer and the buck was well below his hunting club's standards. Did I mention the hunter was a state police swat team sniper and firearms instructor? Oops!

 

 

 

Finding a deer and getting a deer is not exactly the same thing!

Andy Bensing says "Here is a narrated GPS video of my track from Tuesday night. We did not "get " the deer but the video gives some interesting insight into what blood trackers do and the kind of things deer do as well.

Whenever I come home from tracking my wife always asks the question, "Did you find him?"  Sometimes my answer has to be qualified by using the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky approach, "It depends how you define, FIND HIM."  My wife means did we find the dead deer but as all blood trackers know, especially trackers who have to keep their dogs on a leash like most of us, finding them and getting them are often two very different things.  This GPS video is a good example of finding him but not getting him.  Heck, we saw him 5 times but couldn't get him.  The video shows what non-mortally wounded deer can sometimes do and explains some of the strategy I use to determine when to give up."

Did You Find Him? Yes but........ from Andy Bensing on Vimeo.

First successful recovery of the 2012 tracking season by Andy Bensing and Eibe: Spike buck in velvet in Maryland

In some states deer hunters have started their pursuit of whitetails already and we received Andy Bensing's  first report of successful recovery in Maryland. A big thank you to Andy for such a nice presentation of the call. Make sure that you check out his video.

By Andy Bensing

I headed out Friday night to take what sounded like a liver/gut shot so the odds were real good of recovering it. Normally I would let it sit until morning but with the temperature almost 80 overnight, a high fox population and the deer being gut shot, the meat would likely be gone by morning. I gave it 5 hours after the shot before tracking it with the dog. The hunter could find no blood trail at all. He saw deer run up over a hill 70 meters in a field but when he went to the crest, the deer was not visible down the other side. Hopefully I'd find him just inside the woods on the other side of the field.

It turned out that the buck was shot too far back just in front of the back leg.  Eibe jumped him from his initial wound bed about 285 meters from the hit site having found only a few drops of blood along the way.  After we put him out of his wound bed, we slowly tracked him for another 165 meters getting within a few feet of him 3 times until the fourth time when he did not get up and I was able to dispatch him.

An interesting note when you look at the map. Notice how he goes basically in a straight line. When we track we see this all the time. Severely wounded deer most of the time head as directly as they can for a place they feel safe, typically their bedding area, usually regardless of the difficulty of the terrain. Also notice how each time we jumped the deer he kind of cut back on us but then re-oriented himself to the original line of travel.

I had some interesting dog work from my Eibe on this line after we jumped the deer. I wanted to track slowly and carefully so as not to push the deer and keep him as calm as possible to make it easy to slip up to him and finish him off. Of course at the first jump my Eibe went crazy but I was able to calm her down with an "easy" command. After about 50 yards and for the rest of the hot track she stayed almost completely quiet and did not pull crazily but just tracked very slowly and matched MY slow careful pace. This enabled the hunter and me to walk very quietly and scan the darkness ahead with our lights and get close to the deer several times.

Another interesting point. Neither the hunter nor the landowner could reach the neighbor on the one side before we set out to track. I always try to get that done before I ever leave the house to meet the hunter. I knew that property lines might end up stopping this track but with the deer being gut shot there was a good chance it would not travel too far. It ended up being real close but the deer stayed on the landowner's property and died just a few feet short of the property line. It's frustrating but several times a year I end up having to give up on deer when we either can't locate the landowner or sometimes they won't grant permission. Check out in this photo I snapped with my iphone how close we almost were to loosing this one! Of course we could have waited until morning if it had crossed the line and went up to the neighbor's house but the deer would have been rotten and eaten by foxes. Just glad the deer died on the correct side of the line.
 

 

Here's a video depicting the recovery process for this call. There's some video of the dispatch of the deer with a spear at the end that you might find educational.

Spike Buck in Velvet Recovery https://vimeo.com/49090672