Just another day in Remi's life

Justin sent a picture of Remi with this caption: "Just another day at the office - 3 cow elk, 3 men and one Dog all stuffed in the Polaris Ranger."

I have been actually asked by some of you how Remi is doing. He is doing really well, but Justin has been very busy with guiding as he is short of staff. He has not done as much tracking this year, but I am sure that we will hear more about Remi when the hunting season is over. Justin will be adding another wirehaired dachshund to his tracking team in 2012.

Richardson Farms Outfitters' tracking dog Nadja

Jason Garthaus with his deer recovered with help from Jeff Richardson and his tracking dog Nadja.

Recently we received this nice message and a great picture (thank you Jason for both!).  "My name is Jason Garthaus, and I'm from Mt. Serling, Illinois.  Jeff Richardson and his dog, Nadja, helped me find my deer this year on November 2nd.  Jeff told me he purchased the dog from you so I though I would send you a picture with all of us.  Never would have found the deer if it wasn't for Nadja.  She did awesome, and it was fun watching her work."

Nadja is now three and a half years old and her registered name is Nettie v Moosbach-Zuzelek; she is a daughter of Emma and Buster. For more info on Richardson Farms Outfitters go to http://www.huntrfo.com/

The best mule deer of the season is recovered with Remi's help

This story came from Justin Richins from the R&K Hunting Company in Utah. Justin's tracking partner is "almost" six-month-old Remi, a son of Joeri and Gilda. Justin wrote:

I’m not a writer so I asked Kody the guide to write this. I’m sure glad I called John as my first thought was to let the buck go for a while before tracking. John assured me the way to approach deer with this type of wound was to keep right on their trail because they would still bleed out through the bone marrow. If we waited, we ran the risk of the wound clotting up.... Thanks John!!!!!

A west view towards the hit site about 3/4 the way down the track

By Kody Whitear

Victor and I had been chasing this buck for a few days and he had given us the slip every time. We probably should have moved on to another deer, but as a guide I have a responsibility to take my hunters to the best buck on the mountain. The first day we had him at 200 yards in the jack pines when the doe he was after busted us. The hunt was over for that day. Day two we saw his head sticking out of the chaparral for 30 seconds as he worked his way into the dark timber of a straight up and down canyon. This had been going on for over two weeks now. Day three was a whiteout snow storm that kept us confined to the lower end of the ranch. Day four, our second to last, was our only opportunity to hunt high at 9,000 feet before the next storm rolled through. Day four was the day to get it done so I called for an extra set of eyes in my cousin and phenomenal guide, Justin Whittier.

As luck would have it we put this buck in Vic’s crosshairs several times on that fourth day as he was running around acting like a froggy buck in the rut. The breeding season brings the big boys out of the bushes, but they never stand still for more than a few seconds. After jumping out of Vic’s scope three different times in a 10 minute period he ran 500 yards down the hill and stopped. Vic had shot well at the range out to 600 yards earlier in the week, but I didn’t want to press our luck with the wind. This was too nice of a buck. So we dropped down to a big rock as I brushed off the snow and threw my heavy coat over the top of it. I dialed up the Huskemaw scope to 412 yards and backed it off two clicks as we were shooting on a heavy decline. We both knew this moment was it. This was our last chance at this buck.

I asked Vic how he felt and he replied, “Pretty good! My crosshairs are steady.” I said that I was ready when he was as he held his breath and let the 168 grain Berger fly through the air. “Hit! Throw another one in the chamber Vic, he’s running pretty fast.” Our buck was flying down the mountain as fast as he could, but I could see some red towards his hind quarters. Then I could see that his hind left leg had been hit. The bullet impacted eight inches behind the vitals, caught his flank, and passed out the opposite side breaking his hind leg high in the quarter. The elevation on his aim was perfect, but Vic must have slightly pulled to the left as he shot with all the adrenaline that we had pumping through our veins.

I watched our boy run 800 yards down into the bottom, stop under a pine tree, and then blow out from under that pine a hundred miles an hour for another 400 yards before slowing to a walk as he dropped out of view. Usually at a time like that my heart would sink into the pit of my stomach. This one was different. I had a good feeling we’d be able to find this buck. Vic was pretty disappointed as we headed to the Ranger, but I told him not to worry as we would do whatever it took to find his buck. I had my cousin take Vic down to the bottom of the slope.

When I hit the tracks the first thing I noticed was that he was bleeding heavily. With every bound in the snow it was easy to see that the shot would most likely be a mortal wound. The buck would pass by nightfall and it was only a matter of whether or not we would be able to find him.

We have asked the Utah GnF several time about the legality to track a wounded animal with a dog and there answer was yes, you can use a dog to aid in to recover wounded/dead game. Therefore, when our outfitter, Justin Richins, showed up with his little wirehaired dachshund (Remi by name) we put him right on the track. Being a pup he was a little over anxious those first 15 minutes as he missed the track, rechecked himself a few times, then took of on the track like a bat out of hell. Justin lost the leash a few times as Remi was moving as fast as he could, nose to ground never looking up. After I finally got a hold of the leash again with Justin in tail we were finally able to slow him down a bit. And as luck would have it the tracks left in the snow had slowed to a walk. Then we hit our first bedding area where the blood was pooled up. After spending a short time checking where the buck left this first bed Remi found the tracks heading out and further down the mountain.

The blood pools left after we got the buck up and moving in a light snow

There are a few ways to approach tracking an animal. If they are gut shot we like to let them lie in their beds  for several hours before we move in. When we have an animal that is passing a fair amount of blood we like to keep them moving so they don’t clot up and recuperate per John's advice. Every situation is different and on this one we decided to keep the buck moving. Once Remi got on the fresh tracks out of the bedding area he became excited all over again. We had to slow him down and confirm blood as we were starting to drop in elevation enough to move out of the snow. When we came into the opening that Vic had been covering, our hearts sank a little as we knew our buck had moved into the lower, thick oak brush. Justin and I looked at each other knowing that it was going to get rough down in there as we were already a mile below where the buck was first hit.

Cover

We again sent Vic and my cousin even lower another 800 yards where there was a good shooting lane. As we started into the brush we jumped a cow moose with a calf that moved right across our track. This spelled trouble for us as Remi had been on a moose track earlier in the year where he had recovered a bull in the thick oaks. When we crossed the moose tracks we didn’t know if Remi had diverted from our buck – the moose tracks would have been a hot scent only being laid down a minute earlier. It took another 20 yards to confirm blood. Remi was still on the right track and completely focused on our buck! It was a milestone for a five month old pup.

Every time when we came into an opening and could see Vic up on the ridge we knew that had he been there a few minutes earlier the hunt would be over. We were 20 minutes behind this buck. The blood kept getting fresher and soon it didn’t even have the slight glaze that sets in 10 to 15 minutes after it falls. We came to another bed, then another, and finally a spot where we could tell that he had fallen down. The thought of an injured buck was heart breaking. I make it a point to always take an ethical shot and limit the potential for a wounded animal. We quickened the pace as we knew we were closing in on him. The tracks made their way into a ravine that dropped down just prior to the shooting lane that Vic was set up on.

Suddenly, Remi froze right at the deer butt and started growling like he had visually spotted something. I ran for Vic and my cousin motioning them to come my way. We quickly slipped down into the bottom of the ravine where we saw the good luck that had trapped our buck. A small quakie had fallen across the ravine three feet off of the ground with branches that created a barrier. As the buck had dropped into the bottom he came chest first into the tree – he couldn’t go under, couldn’t jump over, couldn’t turn around from the narrowness of the ravine, and having lost his strength had laid down. Vic crept up and was able to finally harvest his buck.

Right side entrance

Left side exit

We celebrated with some humility knowing that we had needed help beyond our own ability. The snow put us on the right track in the first place, Remi tracked him once we lost our snow, and the felled tree held up the buck long enough for us harvest him. It was an emotional 10 minutes of relief while we congratulated Vic on the nicest buck to come off the ranch all year.  

Victor from NJ and his recovered buck

Little Remi, having found his quarry, then turned into a pitbull protecting his find. He ran around trying to chase us away from his new property so we gave him his time to be possessive and experience the reward. Remi had been on the tracks for over an hour which is unheard of for a pup this young. From start to finish he had tracked for nearly a mile through the thickest brush. This final track of the year ‘made’ that dog as it taught him to never give up. It also taught us as guides and hunters – to never give up. Everything worked out that day as it should have and Vic was able to return home with his trophy mule deer as well as a story for his friends. It was the perfect ending to the season. 

A map of Remi's track - click to enlarge

Remi in Justin's truck

 Thank you Justin and Kody for sharing this adventure with all of us!

Remi, a blood tracking wunderkind

Remi (Remy von Moosbach-Zuzelek, a Joeri/Gilda son) is just a puppy, and today he is turning five months old. We wrote about Remi on this blog before as he has making a name for himself at the R & K Hunting Company in Utah. We asked Justin Richins, his owner and handler, for more details, and few days ago we received this nice, thorough report from Justin Whitear, a guide at R & K. A big thank you to both Justins!

On September 29, 2010 we had a client who shot and wounded a bull elk. The elk was semi quartering towards us when the client took the shot. The shot went through the front shoulder and exited the same shoulder near the back of the shoulder, missing all vitals. The bull was able to cover a great distance of ground making our recovery impossible. As soon as the shot was made the bull elk spun around and headed into the same thick trees that he had just walked out of.

As we approached the clearing where the shot was made, we soon found a few drops of blood where the bull had ran into the trees. After following the blood for about 200 yards we could tell the animal had not been shot very well and we would need some assistance from Justin Richins. I made a call to Ken Duncan to pick Justin and Remi up at the bottom of the mountain. Within an hour and a half Justin and Remi had arrived and we soon watched this little puppy make a believer out of all us. As soon as they arrived I took Justin to where the shot had been made and that’s where Justin started his dog Remi.

At first Remi was very hyper and jumped around going back and forth from the blood trail to a possible rabbit or mouse track and then back to the blood trail. (Justin Richins comment to this statement was: Remi was just checking out all the wrong paths they tracked down with the blood/scent on there shoes at the hit site.) After 5 minutes of running around all of the sudden Remi ‘s disposition changed and he became very focused on the blood trail. At first we all watched this little puppy just kind of trot along and almost playing around like most puppies do and then something triggered Remi, maybe it was the taste of that blood, or the strong smell of fresh elk still on the ground, something turned this little puppy into a highly respectable dog that has the entire elk camp talking about Remi.

Remi’s nose never left the ground after the 50 yards or so of getting his wiggles out. Remi followed the blood track down a narrow path that was less than a foot wide, leading to a steep hill covered with thick oak trees. 35 yards from where the bull had been shot there was a large pool of blood about 6 inches long and 4 inches wide and then it slowed down to nearly one drop every 30 yards. Then at the 200 yard mark where we had stopped tracking and called Justin we could not locate any blood or which small game trail the bull had taken.

Remi was going at a pretty fast pace as he went over the hill and in fact missed the track and went about 20 feet down another game trail before turning around. He back tracked himself and then turned down a new trail. Watching this from above I had thought this is where the tracking would end. In my mind he had already missed the trail once and was now headed for a creek at the bottom of this large gully. After Remi crossed the creek he stayed at a pretty fast trot right up the other side of the creek and into some more thick trees. As we made our way into the trees I was very doubtful that Remi was even on the right trail.

At this point we were all in agreement that the bull had not been hit very well because of the distance we had traveled and the effort that would have been required to go up such a steep hill. As we continued going up through the trees we found a dot of blood and this was very exciting because we had gone close to a quarter mile without any blood sign. As we went further up the hill we came across a pretty good amount of blood where the bull had maybe laid down, not necessarily because he had been shot but it was getting late in the morning and most of the elk had bedded for the day.

As Remi made his way to the top of the ridge he worked his way out into an open meadow and started to head for the middle of it. Justin did not think that Remi was still on the trail so he took Remi back into the trees where the bull had laid down and started him over. Once again Remi worked his way up the hill and out into the opening towards the middle of large meadow. This time Justin let Remi go and we just followed. Justin and I were both thinking we had come to the end of our trail until we came to the other side of the meadow and found a small drop of blood leading into some more trees.

Justin and I were completely amazed that Remi was able to follow the same track through an open meadow that was 600 yards wide with a warm breeze and sun on the entire meadow Remi had still kept on the trail. As Remi made his way up the next bunch of trees he worked his way up until he came to a dirt road. Once Remi hit the road he kept doing half circles up the road and then back down to where the trail came out of the trees and into the road. After 3 or 4 times of going up the road and then turning back to where the trail came out of the trees Remi crossed the dirt road and followed a small game trail that lead into a giant basin that was covered with oak trees. The basin has to be close to 1 mile in length and ¾ of a mile wide.

As Remi worked closer to the big basin we came into a clearing where there were 10 to 15 beef cattle grazing. It only took a little bit of movement from the cows and Remi was on their tail barking and chasing them towards the basin. By now it was around 12:30 p.m. and we were exhausted and so was Remi. The good news was Remi had showed us where the bull had gone giving a game plan for the night hunt.

That night about 4:00 p.m. Kody Whitear and myself started into the basin looking for the bull. At the top of the basin we had a few spotters looking down towards us to make sure the bull didn’t slip out. About 45 min into our hike Bob Wixom, one of our guides, called and said he had spotted the wounded bull. We were able to make a stock on the bull and harvest the animal.

The recovery of this wounded bull would have never happened without Remi. From where we had shot the bull to where Remi last tracked the bull was close to 2 miles. Any good ethical hunter would have given up as soon as the elk had crossed the creek and its wound had stopped bleeding. I am so impressed with Justin’s dog I asked Justin to let me know when I would be able to get a dog like his. These dogs are incredible trackers and will save R&K many animals that would have suffered and died on the mountain and gone to waste without a dog to track them down.

Justin Richins with Remi at our place. Justin flew all the way from Utah to pick the pup up. Remi went to his new home on August 9, when he was 11 weeks old.

Not all puppies are as precocious as Remi. A breeder would like to see good blood tracking potential in young puppies. But every dog develops at his own pace and some late bloomers turned out to be terrific blood trackers and hunters.  We are very proud of Remi. He is in excellent hands and has a lot of opportunities to work. It is so satisfying to see that outfitters are starting to appreciate blood tracking dogs!

Puppy work and early conditioning

by John Jeanneney

This is a somewhat edited version of article that John wrote for Full Cry.

We are receiving some interesting feedback from folks who purchased our puppies last summer. I’d like to share some of it with you, but please don’t take this as an attempt to get puppy advertising on the cheap. We don’t have any puppies for sale.

The puppies we sold last summer were part of our project of conditioning pups at a very young age as a means of expanding their capacity to track later on. We used deer blood, deer liver drags and deer gland scents. I’ve written about this in a recent Full Cry article, “Nature and Nurture”, and I hope that our experiences will encourage some other breeders and owners of young puppies to try early conditioning. We’ll come back to the theory of puppy conditioning later. First, I want to get on with the stories, which are fun even if they’re not very “scientific”.

We sold a “conditioned” puppy at the age of 12 weeks to Justin Richins, an outfitter in Utah. Last August Justin flew all the way out from Salt Lake City to New York State to pick up Remy, his wirehaired puppy. Justin never told me that his friends thought he was nuts, but I suspect that something similar might have passed through their minds.

Remy was supposed to be “just a puppy”, but when Justin’s clients began to hunt this fall there came a need for a tracking dog. Puppy Remy was all Justin had. Within three weeks, Remy had found three elk in Utah, a Shiras moose in Wyoming… and an easy antelope that didn’t really need tracking. I guess that Justin was worried that Remy might get bored just tracking elk.

The three elk, and later the moose, were the big challenges. Now I really don’t understand why this worked so well. If Justin had consulted me in advance, I would have said “No, the pup is still too young for anything but short easy tracks.” One day Justin did call me on his cell in the middle of a track. “ We have tracked this wounded elk a half mile from the hit site”, he said, “and then we jumped him. This elk will go a couple hundred yards and then bed down . When Remy tracks up to him, he takes off again before we can see him in the thick stuff. We’ve gone ¾ of a mile. What should I do?” My answer was, “Give Remy a rest and a drink . You’ll get the elk if he keeps bedding like that.” And they did get the elk.

Remy was instrumental in recovering this record-sized moose

The moose in the photo did not go as far as that elk, but after the start there was no blood to work with. Justin and Remy had to track him through thick pines to move him out to where the hunter could get a finishing shot. Once the moose was dead there was a little trouble because Remy thought the animal was HIS and would not let the hunter approach. This is normal, especially for young males, but they have to learn to share.

Remy at the age of four months

The theory behind the early conditioning that Remy received is that very early stimulation of the rapidly growing mammal brain increases the density of neuron circuitry that is later used in mental activity. It has been scientifically proven, though extensive and expensive MRI research that this does work in human infants. This has not been scientifically proven in dogs; it is only a “probability”. There is interesting research, performed by Peter Hepper at Queen's University Belfast that seems to prove that very young puppies can be trained to recognize and like something, such as anise oil taste and smell, at a very early age. I admit that it’s a stretch to go from that to tracking wounded game.

Experimenting with the early conditioning theory probably isn’t practical for the breeder who has a litter of coonhound pups and is holding down a fulltime job. It’s too time-consuming. For a retired person, with more time and a special need to develop pups to their maximum potential, it may make sense. Certainly, it’s not the only way to develop an outstanding dog, but it’s worth thinking about. For developing dogs to do a specific task, like tracking, it has promise.

Below is a video of Remy tracking a fresh deer liver drag when he was ten weeks old.

Blood tracking dogs in the press

Today I have come across two articles on the use of blood tracking dogs.

The first one is Dogs on the Trail by P.J. Reilly, Woods and Waters was posted today click here. It covers recent developments regarding possible legalization of blood tracking in Pennsylvania. Andy Bensing, a good friend of ours and a driving force behind Deer Recovery of Pennsylvania,  is featured in the article.

And Bensing and his wirehaired dachshund Eibe

The second article comes from the current issue of North American Whitetail and was written by Tracy Breen - The Scent of a Whitetail. It can be viewed click here. I am glad to see that John Engelken featured in the article has a book coming up soon "Tracking Monsters". It can be preordered from his website http://www.bloodtrackingdogs.com/. The picture comes from the article and shows John's bloodhound Jesse.

Outfitters who use our tracking dogs - Richardson Farms Outfitters

Few days ago we received a nice e-mail from Jeff Richardson, and I realized that it is about time to give a plug to outfitters who use our blood tracking dachshunds.

Richardson Farms Outfitters located in Mount Sterling, IL, is composed of 9000 acres which have produced giant bucks at a rate unmatched by any other outfitter. Read more about this outfitting operation at http://www.illinoiswhitetailtraditions.com/aboutus.htm. We are very proud that they use a dog out of our breeding.

To quote from their website:
"You finally got the shot at a buck of a lifetime. Hopefully, everything went as planned and you made the perfect shot. Your buck ran fifty yards or so and piled up. Occasionally, it doesnt work out this way. The shot was not perfect, The blood trail was thin or played out. What happened?

It is times like these when you can breathe a little easier knowing that you have some of the best tracking dogs in the world waiting to help. These dogs have been selected from long lines, bred for only one purpose, tracking whitetailed deer. They include long and short haired jagdtterriers and a wire haired dachshund. Watching these animals do what they have been bred to do is an amazing site to behold.

We believe that every effort should be made to recover any wounded animal and we will exhaust all available resources to recover your trophy. The Recovery Team is a big part of the Illinois Whitetail Tradition at Richardson Farms. Their services are included in your hunt. If you need them you won't have to wait, they are ready, willing, and able to save the day."

One of Jeff's tracking dog is Nadja who is registered as Nettie v Moosbach-Zuzelek. She was born on June 22, 2007 so she is just two years old. Her parents are Buster and Emma. Surprisingly, even though both parents are around 19 lbs, Nadja matured at 12 lbs only!

To see Nadja's picture with the spectacular buck she found click here.

Jeff writes:

I just wanted to drop you a line on Nadja. She is doing very well and I couldn't be happier with her progress. We are getting ready for our third tracking season and she shows constant improvement and is always teaching me something. She has really calmed down (and slowed down -- concentrating more) when working blood lines over the last year. One thing that she is doing more of is throwing her nose in the air. She actually will stop at different locations when working blood lines and toss her nose up and look around... I can actually "see" her thinking and planning her next move.... I have to laugh when I see this because it is, to me, incredible that she has developed this trait-- I mean this is something that I cannot teach.

Nadja does have her days that she is not "on" or doesn't appear that she is really into the tracking mind set BUT these days are few and far between. Nadja is 26 months old now and weighs around 12 lbs. She is very calm and has only ever shown any type of aggressing when another dog tries to controll her. She stand up for herself VERY well -- even at 12 lbs.

Nadja as a puppy