Video of wounded moose recovered by Susanne Hamilton and her dachshund Meggie

The use of tracking dogs in the recovery of wounded game has grown and expanded enormously in the last decade. The United Blood Trackers is still gathering numbers of recoveries from its members for the 2015/16 season, but in the previous season UBT members recovered 718 deer, 11 bear, 7 moose and 2 coyotes. 

One of the more active UBT trackers is our very good friend Susanne Hamilton from Maine. In fall 2015 she went on 73 tracks (while holding a full time job) and recovered 31 deer, 3 bears and 1 moose. Eight animals needed to be dispatched. Susanne tracks with Meggie and her sire Buster, who at 13.5 years made ten finds. Readers of this blog are very familiar with Buster, who is an amazing tracking dog. The video below shows Susanne and Meggie on a track of wounded moose. The track was 9-10 hours old and shows very well the spirit of tracking. You might notice that Meggie opens a lot on the track. Susanne said that the terrain was very rough and she moved slowly, too lowly for Meggie, who was getting impatient. There were also a lot of obstacles and Meggie swam at least 20 times. There were also times when Meggie tracked silently but the five minute footage chosen for the video does not reflect it.

Susanne, a top level dressage rider and trainer, is competitive by nature. Her passion for blood tracking is matched by very few handlers. Last fall she went on 6 tracks within 24 hours and recovered 4 of the 6 deer she tracked. This must be some kind of record! I don't think she slept in those 24 hours at all.

Susanne's graveyard track

A big thank you to Willette Brown who shared her story about a wounded buck track that took place on September 24. Susanne is now on her way to Florida where she spends her winters training horses. It was her best tracking season yet - she went on tracks of 58 deer, four moose and four bear. This kind of dedication to tracking is matched by very few!

By Willette Brown

I got out of the passenger seat and adjusted my coat and hat.  We were parked in a graveyard and heading for the field and woods just beyond. Susanne handed me a headlight and a coat because we had hurried from another location to the hit site and I didn't have any tracking gear with me.  I was thinking to myself that I hoped there wasn't any swamp because I only had my sneakers on… but I wasn't going to whine about it in front of everyone else.

As we got our equipment together Susanne recapped the information with the hunter… half the arrow still in the buck, no blood at the hit site, blood fifty yards later on.  Buster, Susanne's dog, was all business, quiet, thoughtful, and patient as she got him fitted with his harness and light.  He has been here and done that.  He knew the drill.

We moved towards the field and out into the night.  Susanne's headlamp illuminated the path, light banter and Buster's businesslike trot drew us on.  It was probably a four pointer the hunter explained, best he could tell in the heat of the moment. As we approached the hit site, Susanne hooked Buster to his tracking lead.  "Game on!" as far as Buster was concerned. Nose down he began to work. Suddenly, we were off into the tall weeds, thick and thin, with paths here and there that appeared to be game trails. 

Buster moved across the uncut field and spent some time looping.  We paused and watched him work.  Well, we actually couldn't see much except Susanne's shoulders and headlamp following through the rustling, dried weeds.  Down the edge of the woods he went, then back up to last blood  where we were standing.  Then he locked on and headed or the woods and we followed.  After maybe thirty seconds we hear, " I got it!" and about fifty yards into the woods, hidden in thick brush, lay the dead buck.  It was a 17 pointer! Wow!  The hunter was now REALLY pumped up.  He had brought his son and a friend to help get the buck out of the woods.  He was completely confident that Buster would find the deer.  He had worked with Susanne before and knew that if it was "gettable" they would get it.

In fact, he had quietly remarked as we set off into the night, that he wished he had met her 20 years ago.  I laughed, and knew that this was high praise, as well as backhanded marriage proposal.  Of course I think he would have to get in line, a very LONG line, as she has admirers all over Maine who have come home with a deer that might otherwise have become coyote food.

We then let my young dog follow the track and "find" the deer.  Susanne patiently guided him as he had an excited but muddled start.  Once on the line he quickly headed for the woods and "found" the deer, his first.  Initially he was surprised and unsure what to do with the dead deer, and he cautiously tugged on the ear, then looked around like, "Is that OK?" We laughed and praised his efforts.  He was getting very proud of himself.

It was full dark and the party, with dressed deer, moved back through the woods and fields. Bow season, warm weather, lots of night tracking.  I knew that I had watched a truly remarkable team at work and I couldn't help but admire the amazing partnership.  So sure of each other and focused on the job. And out of the maze of deep dark woods we were able to find this one deer.  Wow.

 Pools of light from headlamps guided us back and the relief and accomplishment was palpable.  The hunter had done the right thing, and the Buster had made short work of what might otherwise be a long, possibly fruitless search.

Tracking season had officially begun and "that look" was now in Susanne's eyes.  It is a hungry,  razor focused,  adrenalin laced look that might be terrifying if you were a wounded deer, but is unadulterated nourishment for her partner, Buster.  The look in Buster's eyes was a bit more ho hum, and as he settled into the car he quickly curled up.  Only eight more weeks to go!

This 17-pointer shot by Paul McFallin was recovered by Susanne Hamilton
and her 11.5-year-old dachshund Buster.

Terrific tracking season for Susanne Hamilton and her German dachshund Buster

We have written about Susanne Hamilton and her German dachshund Buster many times before. It is hard to believe but in June Buster turned 11 years old.  His age does not seem to be slowing him down, quite the opposite. So far he has had an outstanding tracking season. Susanne is a dedicated and driven tracker who travels long distances, often at night as after all she carries a full working schedule during the day. We wish this amazing tracking team from Maine many successful recoveries in the future.

Not too many handlers are willing to track a wounded bear at night. Susanne seems to be an exception.

 

Susanne wrote: We tracked it a quarter mile till point of loss, then we tracked it another quarter mile with only two spots of blood. It was still alive when we found it.... and put it out of its suffering quickly. The moose was 828 lbs with a 42 inch spread.

A 16-hour paunch shot. Smart hunter left it alone and Susanne and Buster found it in 200 yards!

A 17-pointer!

Hunters wrote about this track: Josh Callahan shot a doe last night which headed through brush that was murder to track in. We struggled to follow the blood trail for 4 hours. At 11 PM, Buster and handler Susanne Hamilton joined the search. Buster is an amazing blood trailing Dachshund...yes that's right, Dachshunds are great tracking dogs! Buster jumped on the blood trail and found the deer within 10 minutes.
 

Buster does not mind sharing his find with kids.

A memorable bear track for Buster and Susanne

This picture shows Susanne and Buster on one of the tracks they did in 2012.

By Susanne Hamilton

The saying that things get better with age is true although for me it comes as a two edged sword.

My dog Buster is 11 years old and has many jobs of which all of them he takes very seriously. He is my best friend, my constant companion, my horse show dog, my field trialing dog, my agility dog and last but not least my tracking dog. My friend Jolanta always says that there is no such thing as the perfect dog, but  to me this little guy is the embodiment of perfection and all I wish is that I could make time stand still to keep him just the way he is right now for ever and ever! 

I want to tell the story of a recent track  in which although we did not end up with a find, everything went right...

It was at 11:30 at night and I was just ready to get to bed when I got a Facebook message that someone was looking for a tracking dog to find a wounded bear in Maine. After a short conversation on the I couldn't resist going on this track even though I realized this was two and a half hours away. It was our first call of the season and both Buster and I were itching to go.

The man that called, Chris, is an experienced hunter and guide, and he was devastated because a good shot turned into a bad one. The bear moved the moment he pulled back the release of his bow, which resulted in the arrow landing on the upper part  of his hindquarters. The bear had taken off with a loud roar, then crashed, then got up again and crashed again, and after that there had been silence.

From the description of the shot, I did not think we had a fatally wounded animal, however, there is always the question "what if", and Chris, my hunter was really anxious. The arrow was a fixed blade, and from the description,  it was at least ten inches in the bear. I pondered it for a short while, and decided to take a chance.

There was no evidence of blood at the hit site, and Chris had really never found any blood during his search for the bear he had shot at 6pm that evening,  but Buster does not need blood to follow a track. We knew the bear had been hit high, with no exit wound.  The people who usually need blood evidence, are either a) the tracker, who would like to know that his/her dog is persuing the right animal or b) the hunter, who feels awful, that he took a bad shot, and made every effort to find a "bloodhound" and now doesn't really trust that a little 20 pound dog  on short legs with a blonde chick at the end of a tether could  in all actuality sniff out and recover his wounded game.

When we arrived at the bait site at about 2:30 AM, my eyes fell on all the bait scattered at the site...   to me it stank, but to Buster, it must have smelled like a feast.  I wondered for a split second, if Buster was going to show more interest in the food than in the bear track, but I was mistaken, and he never even glanced at it. As always, he was all business.

Chris  showed me the exact direction the bear had taken off after being hit, but Buster gingerly chose an entirely different trail in front of the trail camera.  I was puzzled,  and trusting my dog, I let him lead the way for a bit, but then  chose to reset him back onto the trail that the hunter showed me, and that he had been certain, the bear had disappeared. Buster threw me a short glance, put his nose down, and started tracking.

Off we went, and Chris who was searching for any evidence behind me was excited. He felt that this was exactly the direction the bear had taken,  just before he heard him crash.  Buster confidently kept up on the trail, swung slightly to the left after about 300 yards, and kept a good pull on the lead. He felt very consistent to me but after a half a mile with absolutely no blood evidence I made the decision to go back to the bait site to see if Buster would take the same track again.

My general rule is, if Buster tracks it once, I may on occasion be allowed to be a skeptic, especially if there is absolutely no evidence or signs to prove we're on the right track,  but  if he takes the same trail twice and he is committed to that track, I had BETTER follow his lead.

I carried Buster back to the bait site,  put him  on the same trail and asked him to "find that bear".  He gave me a look that one would get from someone who feels a bit sorry for you because you're a little slow on the uptake, but then turned, and patiently took me along exactly the same trail we had taken before.

I love tracking at night, there is something serene and quiet about it. There aren't any of  the loud abstract colors and distractions  that appear in the daylight, my entire world exists in the low glow of my headlamp and everything around us is dark. It gives you a feeling of being almost encapsulated. The little world includes only myself, my dog and often my hunter. One’s senses tend to sharpen to details of the trail.

 This time,  about 300 yards into the track, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a tiny black spot, I did a double take low and behold, on a small fern, with only six or so fern leaves, there was a pin drop of blood. I hollered for Chris to come and check it out, and the excitement grew.  I marked the spot with some tape, and also marked it in my GPS. This pin drop of blood was to be the only blood we found on the entire trail.

We tracked to our half mile mark, and just when I told Chris that we were now passing the spot where we had decided to reset Buster the last time,  I found the chewed off  end of the arrow. Buster had stopped and pointed it out to me.

From that arrow, we could now tell that it probably had only penetrated about 4-5 inches, which made me suddenly realize, that this bear was probably at the most just "pissed off".

 However, Buster really pulled and told me to get going, and Chris really felt that he wasn't finished "looking" ye, so  we marked that spot and off we went again. This time, the track took us on a large circle, which after fifteen minutes ended exactly where I had marked the arrow. Then suddenly we heard a loud crashing through the woods, VERY close to us. Buster jumped directly behind me.  I have to give it to him.... He knows he's in charge of finding these bears, but when it comes to "killing them", he'd rather leave the job to one of his two- legged hunting partners.

 From this moment on, Buster tracked very close to me, which is usually a sign, that the bear is very close by.  This was evident on many levels, being that we had a heavy morning dew at this point, we could see where the dew was disrupted. It was also evident that this large male bear lived here.  There was evidence of bedding places, and bear trails, and Chris knew from the cameras, that this was the only male bear in the area. He had over 400 pictures of this bear, and we where literally right  in HIS living room!!!

 

The bear's picture caught on a trail camera

 

 When we had traveled a total of about two miles,  had tracked for 3.5 hours and the first signs of daylight where visible in the sky and it was 6:00 am , I looked at Chris, and on his face, I could tell that he was finally satisfied, that he had done the best he could, and that aside from the feeling of guilt causing an animal to suffer, he could accept that this bear was not going to get caught... not that night anyway! 

 I took off Buster’s harness, and we checked compass and GPS for the way back to the truck. Tired, sweat soaked, thirsty, but satisfied, I climbed into the car for a two-and-a-half hour ride home.

 Our reward....  Chris's awe and  pure amazement at what my little dog had done for him. We had taken a donation towards gas money, but that means little in comparison to the enthusiastic praise and re-capture of things he had seen Buster do, that "for sure made him the SMARTEST dog he had ever seen in his life..."  that "boy oh boy, he was sure glad that Buster didn't track HIM, because that is 20 LBS of NASTY". Hunters like  Chris, remind me why I can spend an entire night driving and tracking, not get a wink of sleep, but will walk around all day long, with a smile on my face :o)

 Chris called me at 10:30 AM to tell me that he had checked his trail cam, and that the bear had come back to the bait  five hours after he had been shot, with the arrow already gone and hungry for a snack. So I have much confidence, that his bottom will be sore for a few days, with the embedded broad head in it, but that he will recover fully.

 On a short note, the evidence of the camera showed that the bear  left the area EXACTLY where Buster first chose to track him until I reset him onto the colder trail.

 Upon getting home, my tired Buster refused to eat his breakfast, until, according to our tradition, I told Cliff the whole long tracking story. Buster  will sit in front of Cliff, wagging his tail, looking back and forth from me  telling the story to Cliff, ooooh-ing and aaaaaah-ing , and occasionally giving a woof  of encouragement.  It is only then, that he will eat and climb into bed...

What an AWESOME dog!!!

---------------------------------

 

BTW, this is a note Chris left on the United Blood Trackers Facebook: You folks offer a great service and being somewhat of a skeptic prior to this event, I can tell you that I am not a skeptic anymore. This is the first time I have ever relinquished control on a tracking job to anyone else and it taught me a good lesson... A good dog is worth a thousand men, maybe more. Buster is THE MAN!

Promotion of the use of blood tracking dogs in Maine: Thank you Lindsay!

Many thanks to Lindsay Ware who represented the United Blood Trackers at the Cabin Fever Reliever sportsmen’s show in Brewer, Maine, on February 23^rd and 24^th. Lindsay says:

The show went very well. There was high attendance all day Saturday and on Sunday morning. An afternoon snowstorm slowed things down later on Sunday, but overall the show was very busy, with many people stopping by the UBT booth.

Comments from people approaching the booth ranged from “I didn’t know you could do that in Maine,” to “Hey look, it’s the blood trackers!”  My dog Gander did a great job of greeting visitors at the booth, and I had a lot of fun explaining what we do.

Many interested deer hunters visited the booth. There were a few in particular that stood out for me because they were just so appreciative of the fact that there are people out there that spend their time and effort tracking for others. I was also able to speak with a few guides who were very keen to discuss blood tracking. Interestingly, the guides seemed mostly interested in utilizing tracking dogs for bear.

UBT will be at another Maine event coming up soon: the 75^th annual Eastern Maine Sportsmen’s Show in Orono on March 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th www.conservationassociation.org/sportsmensshow/sportsmensshow.htm. This is one of the largest shows in Maine and it will be a great opportunity to spread the word about United Blood Trackers and the use of tracking dogs in Maine.  

Extraordinary outdoors photography shows Susanne Hamilton and her German dachshund Buster at work

Sometimes most memorable deer calls do not end in recovered deer. The pictures below were taken by a hunter's friend who accompanied Susanne Hamilton and her German dachshund Buster on a call, and I think they are just superb. There was no celebration at the end as there was no recovery. But as always Susanne and Buster gave it all. Thank you for sharing the pictures!

Buster and the Lady Tracker

We are starting this New Year with the excellent article written by V. Paul Reynolds, who is an editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. I think this is one of the best articles on the use of dachshunds for tracking wounded game. Many thanks Paul for letting us post it on the blog. And congratulations to Susanne Hamilton and her tracking teckels Buster and Meggie.

Susanne Hamilton with Buster and one of the many deer that they recovered in 2011.

 Buster and the Lady Tracker

By V. Paul Reynolds

The last thing any deer hunter wants is a wounded deer, but it happens - even sometimes to the most skilled hunter. The buck that Tim McClusky wounded came trotting by his treestand from left to right, and presented a quartering away shot at about 60 yards. With his .50 caliber blackpowder gun, McClusky took the shot. The deer bolted. There was some hair and blood, but after a while no blood, no deer, nothing. An ardent and ethical outdoorsman and hunter, McClusky was sick at heart. But he had heard about the lady deer tracker from Montville and her dog tracking dog Buster. The woman, Susanne Hamilton, has developed quite a reputation in the Maine hunting community. She and her dog, licensed by the state, have been racking up a very good success rate in locating wounded deer for hunters like McClusky.

On opening day of the Maine muzzleloader season, Hamilton took McClusky's call and agreed to meet him shortly at his home in Orono. A German native who emigrated to the states in 1984, Hamilton, who is an internationally known horse- training expert, and Gold Medal winner in dressage, decided to get into tracking as a sideline. This came about not long after she and her husband decided to share their 65-acre farm with a  wire-haired male dachshund. Buster, who is also a German native, has brought home medals in field trials. He also has found many wounded deer.

This same day, about  a week after Hamilton was a studio guest on my radio program, Maine Outdoors, my phone rang. "Hello Paul, this is Susanne Hamilton. I'm on my way to help a hunter find a wounded buck in Orono. Want to join us?" she asked from her cell phone.

It was the first day of Maine's two-week blackpowder hunt. "Love to," I said.

Forty minutes later, Hamilton, Buster, Tim McClusky and his hunting friends -  Tom Davis and Scott Abbott -  and myself were on the track.  McClusky walked us through the shooting scenario with his buck and a few minutes later, Buster was on the scent and moving out. And move out he did. Buster was attached to a 20-foot long, hunter-orange leash that snaked through the fir thickets behind Buster as this tracking dog sniffed, bobbed and weaved over rocks, under blowdowns and through swale swamps. All the while, Hamilton, by some miracle, stayed with the dog, occasionally giving him words of encouragement. As it turned out, the challenge was for the rest of us to keep up with Hamilton and her dog.

For a short-legged little critter, Buster is a canine dynamo with an uncanny nose. During the first half hour of the tracking, when we ran out of blood drops on the leaves, I could sense that a couple of the hunters were growing skeptical, worried that Buster was on the wrong deer track.  Suddenly, without fail, Buster's track would once again lead to small blood droplets. "You gotta trust the dog. This is not his first rodeo," I told one of the skeptics. ( Before this day, Buster had located 11 wounded deer during the 2011 deer season).

As it turned out, we never got the McClusky buck. We jumped him just once, but there was no chance for a followup shot. By nightfall, we knew we were beaten. We tracked the buck for eight gruelling woods miles over a six-hour period. As bucks will do, he knew we were on to him and he tried to lose us by taking us through alder swamps, water holes and dense fir thickets.  Halfway through this deer-tracking adventure, a couple of our dog-tired hunters dropped out of the race, and Hamilton elected to give the intrepid Buster a well-deserved rest. She brought in Buster's daughter Meggie, attached her to the long tracking leash, introduced Meggie to the trail scent, and we were off and running, literally.

For a youngster, Meggie proved to be as persistent and determined as her master and there was no let up. But we ran out of blood signs altogether as darkness came on and it became disappointingly clear that it was not to be. The buck's incredible stamina, despite his wound, was more than a match for our tracking team.

A tired McClusky, though crestfallen, was nonetheless deeply appreciative of Hamilton's Herculean effort to find his wounded buck.  As much as Hamilton wanted her Meggie to find the deer, she remained upbeat and philosophical about the whole affair. "I'm sorry we didn't find the deer, but we did all we could do. And Meggie did wonderfully today. I'm so proud of her!"

The dogs impressed me. Although I have had some exposure to working hounds on bear and bobcat, I never realized the incredible noses and true grit possessed by these little dachshunds. As for Hamilton, she is a one of a kind - a meticulous professional with a solid working knowledge of wounded deer behavior. Couple this with her enthusiasm, unbounded stamina, and skill in dog handling, and you have a true tracker in every sense of the term.

If you are a deer, bear or moose hunter, you know that sooner or later, you may unintentionally wound an animal that can't be found. When it happens, call  Susanne Hamilton at Leashed Dog Tracking: 207 249 8078.

 ________

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program "Maine Outdoors" heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM  101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is paul@sportingjournal.com and his new book is "A Maine Deer Hunter's Logbook."

Passion for blood tracking and a nine-year-old friendship

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Susanne Hamilton from Maine. We talked about our puppies, but I sensed that there was more to this conversation. I asked her whether she was driving somewhere (she often calls when she drives). She said that yes, she was on her way to Caribou. I had no idea where Caribou was, so she explained. She was on her way to track a wounded bear in Caribou, Maine, at least FOUR hours away from her home. I also learned that she has to be back home by morning as she has a very busy day ahead.

Now, how many women you know would do that? Drive four hours by herself to track a wounded bear at night for strangers, turn around and drive back home to face a very busy day filled with horse training. I know only one woman who would do that, and it is Susanne. At 12:45 AM I got a text message that Buster did a superb job tracking but unfortunately they did not find the bear. The details followed, but this post is not about a detailed description of the call. We talked more today while Susanne was still high from the excitement of tracking a wounded bear. You see there is nothing more than she loves to do. Some trackers get addicted to this stuff... I know as I live with one of the addicts.

After we'd hung up, my mind wandered to the first contact with Susanne. It was on October 1, 2002, nine years ago, when I received e-mail from her with a picture of Buster:

Hi Jolanta

My name is Susanne Hamilton, and I LOVE your website and your pictures. I just got a beautiful and well bred wirehaired dackel from Germany from a private breeder (Gerhard Weick) who does hunting and showing ..

My little dog "Clown vom Talsdeich" (who we call Buster Keaton) is the most amazing dog I have ever had... he outsmarts my German Shepherd by so much, it's scary. I hadn't seen much in ways of Wirehair Dachshunds in the US, and had wondered if I have an exceptional little male over here, and now that I do, I find you site... (actually through the German breeder) and see that there are BEAUTIFUL ones already here..

I would love to know what I can do, to join the north american kennel club, and how I would go about to let my little guy go for stud, when he's of age... or does he have to prove himself at breed shows or hunting clubs? He comes form excellent hunting lines... seems to take his time with his coat at the moment but in one picture of you and one of the pups, I saw a similarity.

Buster is only just three and a half months old, and we have a lot to learn (but are willing).

Best regards

Susanne Hamilton and Buster

What happened in the next nine years could fill a book, and maybe one day it will. Enough to say that in 2009 and 2010 Susanne received the Maine Bowhunters Association Award in recognition of her accomplishments and dedication to bowhunting sport. Her dachshund Buster (who never manged to grow a beard) turned out to be one of the best tracking dachshunds and also won the Dachshund Club of America National Field Trial twice. The puppies that are at my feet right now are Buster's "grandchildren". And I got a GREAT friend for life! Congratulations Susanne - I am so proud of you and Buster!



Susanne with Meggie, Buster's daughter

Blood tracking reports from Maine

A good friend of ours, Susanne Hamilton from Maine, called yesterday that her five-month-old Meggie did great on a real blood line. The puzzle was that when Susanne got a call from a hunter she took her experienced blood tracking dachshund Buster to look for the deer. It was not a difficult track, about three hours old, but Buster struggled. Those who have been tracking for a while know that from time to time something happens that just leaves you scratching your head. Sometimes we can just speculate while looking for a plausible explanation. Buster is a very experienced and accomplished dog, and he has tracked lines up to 30 hours old. But on this one he had a hard time focusing and was overshooting checks. The experience like this can be embarassing, especially in front of the hunter who can see the blood and knows whether the dog is on it or not.

In the end Buster found the doe, and Susanne decided to run Meggie, Buster's daughter, on the same line just to give her some experience. As it turned out, Meggie did the line perfectly and did not follow Buster's tracks at all. She was tracking at a medium speed, put her nose to the ground and was pointing blood on leaves.This was a good ending to the call that left Susanne with some questions.

I don't know whether this applies to this specific situation, but sometimes when the line is fresh and there is a lot of blood, a dog can have a difficult time with following the scent line. It happened to many trackers, and the whole experience can be very humbling. It seems that freshness and abundance of scent creates a cloud of scent, and in the case like this the solution is to come back several hours later.

Susanne with Meggie. Meggie is out of FC Quilla von Velbert and FC Clown vom Talsdeich "Buster", and she was bred by Willette Brown

Dixie, an older sister of Meggie, from the 2009 breeding has been doing some amazing work this year. Willette shared with me e-mail that she had received from Dixie's owner Phil.

"Hi Willette, Hi Susanne. Dixie had an outstanding run last night that didn't finish until today. I received a call on a wounded deer that I was told could not have gone more than 100 yards. Definitely dead !!!!!. Dixie and I went just to help drag the deer out. One hour thirty minutes and 1.25 miles later we crossed a road and came to posted land and a housing development.In that time Dixie never lost the track and only stopped once to get a drink. We did not know who owned the land so we decided to try in the morning

This morning we circled the posted land in hopes of finding where the deer came out. We left the track with only faint sporadic pin drops of blood last night and could not find any this morning. There were fresh tracks everywhere. Dixie opened on a trail so I decided to let her do whatever she wanted even though there was no blood. We went about a half of a mile with her opening all of the way. She swung hard left and jumped into a pond. I said sorry Dixie I am not going out there, and looked, there was the deer floating out in the middle. The young man that shot it swam out to retrieve his prize. I sat on the bank and hugged my dog.A pretty Good day I think.

Phil"

Dixie with the deer she recovered. She is a Buster and Quilla daughter.

Susanne Hamilton - the MBA Supporter of the Year 2009

Maine Bowhunters Association held its Banquet at The Calument Club in Augusta on April 24, 2010. The Guest of Honor was our close friend Susanne Hamilton whose tracking services are very much in demand in Maine. Susanne was named Supporter of the Year 2009 in recognition of her accomplishments and dedication to bowhunting sport.

Susanne and her dachshund Buster are a highly effective, talented and dedicated tracking team. This is a great award for their services - congratulations to both of you!

Susanne Hamilton and Buster

Buster and Quilla's honeymoon

This picture was sent by Willette Brown, and it shows her Quilla (FC Quilla von Velbert) and Susanne Hamilton's Buster (FC Clown vom Talsdeich) on their honeymoon. The marriage got consummated recently over the period of eight days (it must be a record!), and now we have to wait two months to see the outcome of this union. We'll keep you posted. Willette is not taking more reservations as her waiting list for puppies is full.

Blood tracking reports from Indiana and Maine

INDIANA

In Indiana Joe Walters blood tracks with Doc (Magnum v Moosbach-Zuzelek), who was born on March 19, 2007. Doc comes from our "M" litter - his parents are Buster and Keena.

Joe wrote:

Doc found this buck yesterday after a 2.4 mile track, which was 14 hours old. Buck was hit high and back with little external bleeding. It wasn't a very pretty tracking job but accomplished the mission. As we started track two deer crossed in front. Later a pheasant flushed and then three turkeys flushed right in front of Doc. I wrongly assumed he was tracking turkeys and pulled him off track for a restart at last blood sign. He tracked to fence and then turned right and proceeded about 175 yds. The hunters behind me yelled they had found blood going straight to fence and said there was water about 50 yds beyond. I wrongly pulled him off track again and crossed fence for a fruitless search on other side. I told hunter Doc wanted to continue down other side of fence and we proceeded over the 175 yds and after another 200 yds found buck. The gentleman in the picture is the owner of two sporting goods stores that I had dropped off fliers before the season. Good publicity.

Congratulations Joe - this sounds like a very demanding track with a lot of distractions. Great job!

MAINE

Susanne Hamilton wrapped up her tracking season in Maine with two long difficult tracks, which both ended with recoveries. She is a dressage trainer, and now is on her way to Florida, where she spends her winter training horses. She told me that the last two successful tracks resulted in 3 marriage proposals! I am not surprised. It is not uncommon that hunters' wives and girlfriends don't support their men's passion for hunting and spending so much time in the woods. Male hunters must be surprised when they call Susanne for her tracking services first time. They see this beautiful blond who is ready to track regardless the weather and terrain conditions, carries a gun, has a great dog... and finds their deer.

Susanne tracks with Buster, who is now 6 years old and is in his prime. The November 24 trail was a very long one, and took 3.5 hours of fast tracking. The deer had a leg injury, and injuries like this call for immediate tracking and fast action. There were very long stretches where there was no visible blood on the ground at all. Few times Susanne wanted to verify whether Buster was on a right line and restarted him, but Buster always pulled in the right direction. This is Susanne's description of the second half of the track.

Buster had to work really hard at a spot in the pasture, where the deer had crossed, and where a truck with three barking Great Danes had just driven over it. Buster worked up and down the tire tracks, and eventually went bouncing back into the woods… now again almost 300 yards with absolutely no blood. I hoped that we would find something, and low and behold, as Buster took a right turn into the woods, Andy told me he had found a little bit of blood.

Buster then went yet another 200 yards with no blood, and crossed a paved road, went alongside the paved road, and went back into the woods. At this point, we started to find a little drop of blood about every 20–50 yards. We went through the woods, and then through a Christmas tree farm, went across the paved road, back into the woods, and at this point, the deer started to bleed stronger.

By the time we crossed the next Christmas tree farm the deer bled a lot. Andy, KC and I entered the woods. Big smears and patches, and even a piece of bone indicated that we where successfully pushing that deer. I had talked to Tracker Tom to ask his advice, and he encouraged me to really push this buck. He figured that if he bled now, and if we managed to bump him, that we’d likely eventually catch up with him.

Tracking through this woods was really easy going, when eventually things turned boggy. We entered Plymouth Bog, it was dark and mossy and frozen, except for the places that the ice was not strong enough, and we almost went through. It was the place where I figured we’d eventually get him. However, the bog was getting really difficult to go through, and really thick, but we saw places where the buck had fallen and slid on the ice. I thought I heard a crash, but wasn’t sure, but about five minutes later, we finally bumped the deer. We saw this large buck about 25 yards away leap away through the trees and bog. At this point I told Andy to go ahead and load his rifle.

About ten minutes later, looking only at my dog, trying to keep up and trying to keep the sticks out of my eyes, I see my dog latching on to a deer tail. Seeing that the buck was still alive, but down and slightly stuck with his antlers between two trees, I pulled Buster back, and gave Andy the go ahead to shoot.

It took us almost an hour and a half to get the deer out of the swamp, and on that way out, is where we found all the weak spots in the ice, and kept sinking through it getting really wet feet (in 25 degree weather). By that time, KC and Andy got sweaty from dragging, and I was freezing. Maynard caught up with us in the bog, and Scotty and Skip had the four wheeler and the truck waiting for us, as soon as we got out of the bog.

Buster was super tired, but still digging into that deer any time they took a break. They dragged about a 180 pound deer with my 20 pound dog hanging at the end of it.

Back at the cabin we took some pictures, gave Buster some heart, and warmed up by the wood stove, reliving this speedy 3 ½ hour track. Anyone who knows Buster (or has his kids) knows that he tracks at a pretty good clip… too fast for some people's taste. We covered an enormous distance, and reliving the track in the cozy cabin, made it a special event.

I found out that this cabin is a taboo to girls, and that I am now considered a life long “honorary dude”. We had some beer, some good laughs, and molasses cookies, and Buster was the “king”. What a GREAT day !!!!

The next day Susanne was tracking again - this was a 24 hour old trail. It took 2.5 hours of tracking to find this deer at the end:

Susanne with Buster - the last deer of the tracking season in Maine