Meet UBT members in Grand Rapids, Michigan this weekend!

January 24-26 in Grand Rapids, Michigan - come and meet United Blood Trackers members at the Huntin' Time Expo at Delta Plex Arena. Friday, Jan 24th 1-9, Saturday, Jan 25th 9-7, Sunday, Jan 26th 9-3.

For more info go to:
http://www.huntingshows.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/grand-rapids1.pdf

Tracking adventures of Bob and Thor on the opening weekend

By Bob Yax, Deer Search of Finger Lakes

owner of Thor (Thor von Moosbach-Zuzelek, born April 6, 2012)

We had a good opening weekend even though the temps were in the 70s and 80s and it rained a lot.  We went on 3 calls with 2 pretty easy recoveries and a weird non-recovery.   Thor showed me that he was picking up pretty much where we left off last year.

       

The 1st call was for a hit that took place at sunset, in the pouring rain, on Friday evening.  The hunter Josh,  said he didn’t know where he hit the buck, but he did have a broadside pass through shot from about 40 yds.  He said that it looked like dark blood and stomach matter on the arrow.  After the hit, he only followed the slight blood trail a short way in the rain, before turning back.  After talking to him, we decided to pick up the trail first thing Saturday morning.  When I inspected the arrow on Saturday morning, I did find dark blood and the telltale gritty / sand-like particles that indicated stomach contents.  I told Josh that if it was a stomach only hit, the deer could still be alive, but if it also hit liver, the deer would be dead by now (13 hrs after the hit), likely within a few hundred yards.

Once at the hit site, Thor quickly picked up the scent in the still wet  hardwoods.  In the first 50 yds of the trail I was happy to come across a few spots where the blood had not been washed away.  Thor continued on a pretty straight line another 50 yds or so until he began circling and backtracking a bit.  Since the hunter had not followed the trail this far, I figured that the buck must have stopped here and wandered around a bit looking for a place to bed.   Over the next  5 minutes, Thor constantly went back and forth over the same 30 yd circle.  I learned last year that at this point I had to let him figure this out on his own.  The only help I could provided was to make sure my son Nate had marked the last blood sign up the trail a bit in case we had to go back to it.  Luckily, Thor finally headed off in a clear direction along an overgrown logging road.  After a short distance, I then saw another blood drop – Great ! we’re back on it.   After a few more blood drops in the next  75 yds down the logging road, Thor took a left off the road and there in the patch of berry bushes was the dead 7pt.  We confirmed later that the arrow had just caught the bottom of the liver as well as the stomach.   All toll, we probably only traveled about 250 yds during the 10 – 15 minute search.  

         

                                                     Hunter  with  Nate Yax & Thor in Howard NY

         

Our 2nd track was a very similar situation.  The Hunter, Cory had hit a buck on Saturday evening just before dark.  He too had a good broadside shot from about 30 yds but didn’t know where he hit it.  The arrow had blood from tip to tip but he didn’t  think there was any stomach matter on the arrow.  When he inspected the hit site,  he found some blood, but it soon began disappearing when a hard rain started.  He tracked some blood for about 100 yds, but then could find no more.  Later that night he and his father searched an area ahead of the last blood sign with no luck.   I arranged to meet him first thing Sunday morning.  Associate tracker Ark Pisarevsky was along to help.

It was very damp and foggy when we met up with Cory on Sunday morning.  This time the arrow contained a lot of bright pink/red blood – lung blood.  There was no sign of stomach contents or dark muscle or liver blood.  From the description of the hit, this could be a good double lung hit.  Once we got to the hit site, I could see that Cory had marked his initial blood trail with orange tape for about 100 yds. The area was a mix of trees with a lot of thick rose bushes at ground level.  

Thor got on the trail quickly and followed right along the markers.  There was no blood sign however. We soon got to the end of the markers and to the point where Cory and his dad had lost the trail the previous night.  At this point I knew we would have trouble.  After losing the trail the previous night, Cory and his dad had done a grid search of the area ahead, surely with blood on their boots.  At this point Thor began searching in a random pattern all around the area.  At one point we headed off into an uncontaminated area of thick rose bushes.  After about 50 yds, Thor got stuck in thorns with nowhere to go.  I had to pick him up and carry him several times just to free him.

I finally headed him back to the last blood marker and after a few minutes of seemingly random searching the “mucked up – boot print” area again,  he headed off in a straight line like he was on something.  Within a few minutes,  I looked up and saw the dead 9 pt about 40 yds ahead of  him.  The shot ended up being a good, slightly high,  double lung shot.  The buck had gone about 200 yds total.  Again it only took about 15 minutes and I never did see a spec of blood.  I was really happy to see that  Thor again had worked through a problem area and got on the right trail to the deer.

Hunter with Bob Yax and Thor in Hemlock NY

Finally we took our 3rd call late Sunday afternoon.  Associate Deer Search tracker Joe Dallas was with me.  The temperature was 82 degrees!!!  This hunter had hit the deer at 7 am Sunday.   The button buck was only 5 yds from his 16 ft high tree stand.  The deer was facing directly at him with his head down and feeding when he shot (bad shot to take!).  He described the hit, which he plainly saw, as just to the left of the deer’s  spine  (the deer’s right side) and  towards the back of the lung area. He said it was a complete pass thru and there seemed to be stomach matter as well as a little blood and white hair on the fletching.  

The arrow was stuck in the ground when he found it.  He described just a slight blood trail because again, right after he hit the deer it had rained hard.  He thought that the arrow had also been somewhat cleaned off from the hard rain.  After talking to him I agreed to help him at about 5:00.  If it was a one lung & gut hit, this might be enough time.  If it was a liver and gut hit the deer would be dead.  When I met up with him I did a quick inspection of the arrow.  The broad head and first 4 inches of the arrow was covered in dirt.  The camo arrow shaft was pretty clean with just a few area of pink/red.   The fletching were slightly greasy had a slight odor and a few grainy particles (gut matter?) on them.  Both the fletching and nock had white hair on them.

To make a 45 minute, hot /sweaty story,  shorter,   there was no blood at the hit site, no blood on the trail.  No beds found.  Thor never seemed to get hot onto any trail, until near the end when I think he jumped a live/not wounded deer – he began yelping / barking  and pulling hard, a classic sign for him.  About the time I was ready to give up,  we were back near the hunters truck.  I told Joe, “I want to see that arrow again”.  It was in the bed of the hunters truck.  I pulled a paper towel  from my pocket, spit on it and proceeded to wipe down the entire arrow and fletching.  There was not a trace of pink on the paper towel!!   The arrow did still have a little pink / red  PAINT!  on it however.    About this time the hunter came back to the truck.  He said “what now ?”  –  I said “I’ve got one question for you”-  “Did you wash your arrow” – he said no!   I said “then you never hit the deer” and showed him the clean paper towel.  He said, “maybe I need glasses”!

I learned again that often what a hunter sees and what really happened are not the same.

PS – I think this hunter shot off to the side of the deer and stuck the arrow deep into the ground.  The deer then jumped and turned 180 degrees to run off.  I think he landed belly first on the nock end of the arrow leaving some grease and white hair on it.

New Jersey handlers promote the use of blood tracking dogs

On September 14 and 15 The United Blood Trackers had a booth at the New Jersey Outdoor Expo. This event is hosted by the Division of Fish and wildlife and was held at Colliers Mills WMA. The event was attended by 8,400 visitors over the 2 days. This is a 17% increase in visitor participation from the 2012 Expo. Together with exhibitors and volunteers, a diverse crowd of more than 8,700 people participated in this successful outreach event. The event is free and has a multitude of outdoor activities that are geared towards adults and kids that don’t necessarily have allot of knowledge about the outdoors.

 

The UBT booth was manned by members of the New Jersey tracking permit. Stan Kite and Rilla, Nola Wunderlich and I with Karl and Theo were there on Saturday. Rich Stollery and Ember, John Drahos and his daughter Rylee along with two new trackers Jeremy and Arthur Garey filled in on Sunday. This was pretty good considering this was the opening weekend of our archery season.

 

Blood tracking demos were held both days and were well attended by spectators. The dogs were a real magnet to kids and adults alike and we were able explain a tracking dogs function to people that had no idea what we did. This type of positive exposure to the general public will pay off later.

 

On a side note:

Over the last three years the UBT has been a member of The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance and has a seat on the Conservation Foundation. The NJOA has been assisting the tracking dog legalization effort here in NJ. At a recent meeting with the Governor’s office, the NJOA discussed the legalization of a leashed tracking dog. A bill is being crafted and is being backed by Governor Christi. Our next step will be finalizing the language and getting a Republican and Democratic sponsor. Over the last five years our tracking permit has been issued, we have slowly won over Fish and Wildlife, the Law Enforcement component, and finally the Politicians. This has been hard work and the amount of paper work our trackers have had to submit is cumbersome. I would like to thank them all for their commitment to the cause.

 

Submitted by Darren Doran, NJ Tracking Permit Coordinator

 

Arthur Garey and Dennis

 

Stan Kite with Rilla and Karl

Jeremy Garey and Faline

Daren Doran's tracking dachshunds: Karl and Theo

Rylee Drahos with Theo and Karl

A big thank you to Darren Doran for all the work that he has put into the New Jersey tracking permit. It is starting to pay off, that's for sure!

 

Promotion of blood tracking dogs at its best: a big thank you to Ray and Joe

 

Ray Holohan, a United Blood Trackers member from Ashkum, Illinois, wrote:

Hi Jolanta, I  thought I would send you a picture of the outdoor show that Joe Walters and myself  did this past weekend representing the UBT. The show was a spinoff of the GOTCHA show that we have done the past few years.  This show was put on by the Kankakee Valley Park District and was called  2013 Ultimate Outdoor Show; it was a two day event. The show wasn't really put together well and wasn't well advertised, making the attendance pretty low. We were still able to get the word out about the UBT and tracking wounded deer with dogs. Everbody thought it was a great concept and  were all for it. We also got a chance to show off our new puppies Ruff and Maddy, they were very well behaved and did a good job considering the temperature was in the high 80s. Joe's tracking season will start this weekend, Indiana has a early urban hunt, I have to wait till October 1st. Well that's all for now, good luck this season

Ray, Claudia, Rosco, Razen, and Ruff

Video shot at the United Blood Trackers Trackfest in Wisconsin

WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and Sports

Sportsman's Dinner provides an opportunity to educate hunters about the use of leashed tracking dogs

The picture is supposed to catch your attention :) It was taken on October 21, 2010, and it was Tommy's first "real" deer that we found for a local hunter Dan Hardin. 

Since then Dan has become a good friend, and our Keena has fallen in love with him. Now Dan has his own tracking license, and Keena has become his tracking partner. 

On MARCH 16 Dan and John Jeanneney will be giving a PowerPoint talk with video in conjunction with the Sportsman’s Dinner at the Westerlo Baptist Church. There will be two presentations: 2:00 and 4:30 PM. Dan and John will be talking about the ethical importance and also the adventure of using leashed tracking dogs to locate wounded deer and bear that would not be found by eyetracking. The address is 618 State Route 143, Westerlo, NY 12193. Call Terri for tickets at 518-797-5126.

 

 

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.  

The UBT promotes the use of tracking dogs to recover wounded big game

A big Thank You to Joe Walters and Raymond Holohan for representing the UBT at the recent Gotcha Outdoors Adventure Show. Ray sent this short report:

 Here is a picture of our booth at the Gotcha Show this past weekend. We had many people stop by, full of questions wondering who we were and what we did, and what the UBT was about. We did our best to educate and enlighten them on the uses of tracking dogs. As always it was a lot of fun telling our tracking stories and letting them pet our dogs. I have to wonder, what the problem is in the states that don't allow it. It seems that the public is all for it, not a bad word against it. Tracking season will be ending here on the 20th, time to start thinking about next season.
 
That’s all for now Ray, Claudia, Rosco and Razen.

UBT at Gotcha Outdoors Adventure Show

The United Blood Trackers is being represented at Gotcha Outdoors Adventure Show Saturday Jan. 5th from 9am - 4pm and Sunday Jan. 6th from 11:30am - 4pm at the Kankakee, Illinois First Church of the Nazarene at 1000 N. Entrance Avenue in Kankakee, Illinois. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 ages 7-16 and kids 6 & younger are free. Drop by, say hello, meet handlers and their tracking dogs.

Ray Holohan, a UBT member from Illinois, with his blood tracking puppy Razen Kane.

United Blood Trackers at the Northern Illinois Hunting and Fishing Days at Silver Spring State Park

Many thanks to Ray Holohan and Joe Walters who were representing United Blood Trackers at the Northern Illinois Hunting and Fishing Days at Silver Spring State Park on September 22-23.

Ray reports: The show was really nice with lots of people attending especially the second day when the weather was better. We were busy both days answering questions and showing off my dog Razen Kane. She was the hit of the show, a few people commented that she was the most talked about dog at the show. She was really well behaved giving pets and kisses to about every one that came near her. Of course the number one question was, what breed is she? Most people never had seen a wirehaired dachshund before and were really surprised when I told them that she was a blood tracking dog used to find wounded deer.

There was many different types of dogs that came by with their owners, every once in a while Razen let out a little bark when a dog would come too close too fast, other than that it was a really good socializing event for her. There was one fellow that came by with a European falcon used for hunting. He also had a tracking dog that he used for the same purpose. I think it was Drahthaar? I believe we were successful on educating most of the people that stopped by about deer tracking wounded deer with dogs and everybody thought it was a great idea . I know that Joe Walters and I really enjoyed the experience. I want to thank Larry Gohlke and Cheri Faust for sending me the brochures and material to make the show a success.

 

Ray Holohan with his pup Razen Kane

Ray Holohan and Joe Walters were manning the UBT booth

 

Blood tracking dogs and their handlers at the NJ Wild Outdoor Expo 2012

By Darren Doran

Last weekend  The 2012 NJ WILD Outdoor Expo drew more than 7,200 visitors to the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area to learn about and experience a wide array of outdoor activities available within our state. Together with exhibitors, vendors and volunteers, more than 7,600 people participated in this very successful and highly commended event. This was a 43 percent increase in participation from the 2011 Outdoor Expo. Many of these visitors have no outdoor or hunting experience. A number of visitors remarked that the Expo was an “excellent family event” and it provided “a great introduction to outdoor skills and learning about the environment.”

The UBT booth was a great success. We had many visitors and answered a lot of questions about blood tracking and our dogs. UBT members Stan Kite and his son Lee and a friend Brandon, Rich Stollery, Nola Wunderlich, John Drahos and his daughter Rylee and myself manned the Booth for the two day event.

We put on two blood tracking demos each day and had a large gallery of spectators watching demos by Rich and Ember and Stan and Rilla on Saturday. I and Theo took the Sunday shift. This type of positive exposure of the non-hunting public to blood tracking dogs can only help the legalization efforts in New Jersey. And you never know, someday I just might be knocking on their door for permission to track across their back yard.

Rich Stollery while manning the booth

Darren's two dachshunds, Karl and Theo

Darren doing a demo with Theo

Nola Wunderlich with a drahthaar

Rylee Drahos with Theo

Stan Kita and Rilla

Rich Stollery's Ember and Darren Doran's Karl are littermates.

Thank you Darren and good luck this season!

A talented dog and an outspoken hunter/handler - the two necessary ingredients for jump-starting the use of blood tracking dogs

I love this picture of Radar (Quentin von Moosbach-Zuzelek), who is owned by Craig Dougherty of NorthCountry Whitetails. Many thanks to NorthCountry Whitetails for sharing the picture with us.

I thought that this would be a good moment to reflect a little and go back to a video of ten-week-old Radar tracking a fresh liver drag.

 

Radar came from a litter of 9 puppies, and his parents were FC Joeri vom Nonnenschlag and FC Keena von Moosbach-Zuzelek. He showed a remarkable talent at an early age, and we were very fortunate to find a great tracking home not that far from us. At one point in the future we might decide to breed to him, so we are lucky that he does not live in Texas for example. And of course since he is owned by Craig an extra national exposure is not hurting us either! Thank you Craig for everything you have been doing for promoting ethical hunting and the use of tracking dogs to find wounded big game. 

Craig has been instrumental in making The National Bowhunter Education Foundation aware of John's publications and activities. Recently I came across this article The Changing World of Wounding by Dr. Dave Samuel. It says:

"Another part of those discussions was about the use of trailing dogs to recover deer. More states now allow the use of trailing dogs and other states are now considering using them. In 2010, twelve states opened up the use of dogs to trail wounded deer. The driving force behind the use of dogs is John Jeanneney who wrote the book “Tracking Dogs For Finding Wounded Deer.” Apparently he has been on hundreds of trackings and this has given him some perspective on what happens to deer hit in certain areas of the body as well as thoughts on how far they go, how often they bed, etc. Indeed, compared to most of us, Mr. Jeanneney has seen what it would many lifetimes for us to see, relative to trailing lost deer. I had to leave the discussions before they ended, but it appeared that the bowhunter education folks were going to invite Mr. Jeanneney to meet with their board and use his expertise to consider any revisions on how to improve what the NBEF teaches on blood trailing in their bow classes."

There is no doubt that things are moving in a right direction, and the use of blood tracking dogs is spreading.  More and more states are legalizing the activity, which should be part of responsible hunting everywhere. Sometimes the change is slow and happens in small increments. But sometimes an extra leap can be made when a talented dog is placed with an outspoken hunter/handler who is willing to put extra work into it and publicize the cause. We all in the hunting and tracking community owe these people a big thank you!