The use of blood tracking dogs is growing: two recent articles

There are so many blood tracking dogs working in the field these days that it is impossible for us to include all the reports we have been getting. I have never thought that a day like this would come! For John, who for decades has been promoting the use of dogs in recovery of wounded big game, this spread and rising popularity of canine trackers have brought a lot of satisfaction. Just recently he wrote an article that has been published in the October issue of NYS Conservationist under the title given by the magazine editor: "Born to Track: The Dogs of Deer Search". You can read it on DEC website or download it from click here.

No doubt there is much to be done as big deer hunting states states such as Pennsylvania and Kansas have not legalized the use of tracking dogs yet. However, it is just a matter of time. One of the best articles on this subject has been published by Scot Bestul on his Field and Stream blog "Finding Lost Deer: It’s Time For Tracking Dogs To Go National, where he writes: "We should all strive for close, lethal, and ethical shots on game. But the reality is that, if you deer hunt long enough—whether you shoot a bow, crossbow or firearm—sooner or later you’re going to hit a deer in a spot that makes finding it difficult. And sometimes rain, snow or dense cover can complicate the picture. In situations like these, using a tracking dog is not only logical, there is no more ethical option."

Of course the rising popularity of blood tracking dogs creates new challenges such as recruitment and education of new handlers, dog training and testing, and so on. We will try to make our blog as educational as we can and from now on some posts will have "themes". They will take more time and we won't be able to post daily (especially during hunting season), but in the long run it will be more informative, educational and enjoyable. For example we can write posts under themes such as training on the job, first recovery, liver-hit deer, versatile dogs, multiple finds, adolescence problems, tracking with older dogs and so on. There are many possibilities. Right now we are working on "women handlers".

We are ending this post with reports from calls that ended up with recoveries by two brothers, Theo and Thor.

Darren Doran from New Jersey who tracks with Theo von Moosbach-Zuzelek wrote:I received a call from a hunter who had shot a deer around 12 noon on the 5th. He had tracked the deer with blood about 150 yds. and then lost it. He had gut material on the arrow and had searched all around the area with no luck.

We would be tracking south of my home in Colliers Mills WMA. This is large tract of mature oak, pine and green briars surrounded by oak scrub. This land scape is mostly flat and looks pretty much the same. It is broken up by various fire trails through out. We arrived about 9am 21 hrs. after the shot and proceeded to the hit site. I told the hunter to locate the blood trail so I could start the dog. He had no marks and looked around for a while with no luck. I was beginning to think that I had been misled and was starting to get a little frustrated. I told the hunter to stop and I would do a controlled search with Theo to find the line. I put Theo down and asked him to ‘’search here’’ and within seconds he had the line and was showing us blood.

We tracked the first 150 yds. with ample blood to the hunters point of loss. At this point Theo continued on another 150 yds. showing an occasional drop of blood. We came to a spot that had an oak leaf with a quarter sized drop of blood on it. This was the last blood we found. At this point I had the hunter mark this spot and stay there. Theo continued on and we hit a sandy opening in the brush. He worked around in here a while and I wasn’t sure if he had it or not. I brought him back to the last blood and put him down. He immediately took the same direction and flew down the line. I called to the hunter and followed.

In the next 200 yds. I didn’t see a drop of blood. It was pretty thick here and Theo was tracking hard at the end of a 50 ft. lead and I couldn’t see him. All of a sudden the line when slack and I knew he was on the deer. This track took less than 30 minutes and the hunter was amazed at this. He knew would have never found the deer without the dog. This was Theo’s 9th find and one of our longer tracks that ended in a find. This makes up for the 2 hours we spent yesterday in a nasty swamp coming up empty.

Darren Doran with Theo

Bob Yax, a member of Deer Search of Finger Lakes, owns Thor von Moosbach Zuzelek (Theo's littermate) and last weekend this team recovered three deer. This is one of them. The buck laid down about 75 yds from the hit site. The hunter snuck up on him and shot another arrow at him. He missed, but the buck jumped up and went 10 more yards before laying down again. The Hunter then backed out for a few hours, but when he came back the Buck jumped up and ran off out of sight, looking pretty healthy again. The hunter called us and we came in next morning. I was thinking it was a liver hit. We found the deer dead about 150 yds up the trail, probably 300 yds from the hit site. Not sure how long he was alive at that location. The arrow caught 1 lung and put a 3 inch long x ¾ inch deep cut in the Heart. You can see the entrance wound in the other photo. The exit was out the bottom of the deer.

Bob Yax with Thor

Blood tracking dogs in the press; the situation in Pennsylvania

Recently there have been quite a few articles in the printed and online press on the subject of blood tracking dogs:

•  The July issue of Dog World has an article by Darren Warner "Deer Detectives" on page 38. Darren Warner is a freelance outdoor writer, photographer and deer hunter from Michigan. The article is spread over four pages and contains numerous pictures, some of which we supplied. The Dog World has a section of extras online and there is a link to our video of Summer when she worked a line as a young puppy.

• The August issue of Deer & Deer Hunting magazine has an article "A Nose For Deer" by Alan Clemons (page 33). It mentions United Blood Trackers.

Much has been written recently about the situation in Pennsylvania. The PA House Bill 881 was passed unanimously in the House  (197-0) on May 22. Things were looking really promising, but once the bill got to the Senate it got, unfortunately, referred it to the Game Fisheries Committee. The recent history of the bill can be viewed here. the below articles deal specifically with Pennsylvania.

• Release the Dogs by was written by Ad Crable for Lanacaster Online and it was also published this week in Pennsylvania Outdoor News.

• Two days ago Lancaster Online published another article This dog is on the right track by P.J.Reilly. The article is about Kevin Lutz from Columbia, PA and his wirehaired dachshund Archie (who happened to be sired by our Billy). Kevin, just like Andy Bensing, lives in PA but is not able to help fellow hunters there. He loves to track so he travels to Maryland.

• Craig Dougherty dedicated his recent blog post on Outdoor Life website to the Pennsylvania situation. Its title is very appropriate: Pennsylvania Sportsmen Fight to Allow Tracking Dogs for Deer Recovery.

For more information about the battle in PA go to Deer Recovery of Pennsylvania.

Andy Bensing's wirehaired dachshund Eibe cannot be used for recovery of wounded deer in Pennsylvania, where it is illegal to track with dogs. Andy has to travel to Maryland to track there.

"Deer Detectives" article in Dog World

July issue of Dog World is going to have an article by Darren Warner on blood tracking dogs titled "Deer Detectives". Make sure you get your own copy!

New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame Honors John Jeanneney

New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame

Press Release, Feb. 25, 2011

The New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame proudly announces that its class of inductees for 2012 will include John Jeanneney. Jeanneney will be honored at the annual banquet April 28 in Canastota, NY.

The New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame is an organization dedicated to honoring sportsmen who have made significant achievements in outdoors-related fields.  More importantly, they are recognized for their long-time service in preserving our outdoor heritage and helping others experience it.  The NYSOHOF is also involved in programs such as kids fishing derbies, clinics, seminars, and similar activities.

John Jeanneney of Albany County was the co-founder of Deer Search, Inc. with Donald Hickman (1940-1995).  In New York Deer Search is an organization of individual volunteers who are committed to reducing  crippling loss of big game. Individuals use their skills and tracking dogs to locate wounded deer and bear. Fueled by his love of hunting and his respect for the game, the outdoors and dogs, John worked tirelessly to demonstrate and get the DEC to recognize the benefits of such a program.  Finally the NYS legislature approved this program in 1986.

Through United Blood Trackers his influence has extended far beyond New York State  into over  22 other states and  several Canadian Provinces. With his leadership and experience he helped get this practice established  in many areas. John personally spoke on behalf of the program and helped to train many of the initial volunteers. 

He continues to be active and personally went on 1007 searches in the past 35 years, including 45 in 2010 and 34 in 2011.  John also has a strong influence on regular  tracking skills and ethics with his many speaking engagements and with his books on tracking and the use of leashed tracking dogs.

The annual banquet and induction will involve sportsmen and organizations from all across New York State.  It will be held April 28 at the Rusty Rail in Canastota with registration and social hour beginning at 5 pm and dinner at 6 pm.  Guests and interested parties are welcome.  For information or reservations please call (315) 363-3896 or (315) 829-3588. 

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[for additional information on individual inductees, or the New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame please contact Leo Maloney, 321 Robertson Road, Sherrill, NY 13461, phone (315) 363-3896 or e-mail – lmalone1@twcny.rr.com.]

___________________________

We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to everybody who supported John's nomination, and especially Gary Huber of Deer Search of Western New York, who spearheaded the idea and gathered support. We hope to see you all at the Banquet!

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!



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.

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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."

Pat McCaffrey and Zeus, a blood tracking team from Columbus, Ohio

This picture comes from a very nice article on Pat McCaffrey and his wirehaired dachshund Zeus published by the Colmbus Dispatch. To access the article click here.

Craig Dougherty's article on blood trailing dogs in Outdoor Life

The video shows Radar (Quentin v Moosbach-Zuzelek), a Joeri/Keena son owned by Craig Dougherty of NorthCountry Whitetails.

I have not seen Radar in person since he left us as a young puppy so this video is a nice treat. He is a talented, good looking wire.  To read Craig's article on blood trailing dogs on OutdoorLife website click here.



Thank you Craig for such a complimentary article and for promoting the use blood tracking dogs in ethical hunting.

Recent articles on blood tracking dogs in the deer hunting press - part 1

Carney Easter and Dinky at UBT

Trackfest  in Alabama, 2009

The September issue of Bowhunter magazine has a nice article  Lost and Found: Trailing Dogs at Work by Clay Newcomb. The article starts with a story about a wounded buck recovery by a blood tracking team of Carney Easter and his dachshund Dinky from Arkansas. When Clay Newcomb made a poor shot he called Carney for help. A two-year-old Dinky found the buck in 20 minutes, 14 hours after the shot.

We know Carney, who is a member of the United Blood Trackers, but we did not know that John's book Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer played a role in Carney's choice of breed. In Carney's words: "The book talked about all aspects of blood trailing game with dogs. The author stated that the miniature dachshund had retained much of his hunting instincts, so I went out and bought one. At first it was just a tool, but now it has just become another very rewarding aspect of hunting for me".

The second part of article is dedicated to the United Blood Trackers. Carney is quoted "Ihe United Blood Trackers is dedicated to promoting resource conservation through the use of trained tracking dogs in the ethical recovery of big game. We support recovery efforts afield, the education of hunters, the training and testing of dog handlers and their dogs and legislative efforts to promote blood trailing". If you need help with recovery of your wounded deer, go to the UBT website http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/ and check handlers in your area by following the link "Find a tracker". The United Blood Trackers is a national organization, which accepts members from all states. You can join online by filling out an application and submitting payment ($25). It takes just few seconds.

Congratulations Carney on such a nice recovery and many thanks to you and Clay for promoting blood tracking!

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.

Chuck Collier's mission to change tracking regulations in Michigan

We wrote about Chuck Collier from Hillman, Michigan a year ago. Chuck, who is a State Trooper and member of United Blood Trackers, has been working hard to change tracking regulations in Michigan. As it is now no weapons can be carried, day or night, during tracking. Tracking is allowed at night but only with lights that can be carried in the hand. No tracking of elk is allowed with a dog. Chuck is trying to modify the regulations, and today there was an article on these issues posted at click here. We wish Chuck good luck as his battle is not over yet.

Wildlife officials consider plan to help hunters find mortally wounded game

By The Grand Rapids Press

January 31, 2010, 7:25AM

Victor Skinner | The Grand Rapids Press

LANSING -- State wildlife officials might adopt changes to how wounded deer, elk and bear are tracked in a move designed to recover more wounded animals.

The Natural Resources Commission soon might allow hunters to use licensed trackers and their dogs to help blood track deer, elk and bear to put down the mortally wounded animals.

The commission has reviewed and amended a proposal raised by State Trooper Chuck Collier, a professional tracker, several times and is expected to take action on some form of the measure next month.

“The main reason we do this is to recover the meat from the animal and put the animal out of its misery,” Collier said. “I’ve had a lot of support from people, even anti-hunters.”

He said other states, including New York, have similar laws that allow professional trackers to help hunters recover game animals, and his proposal loosens rules that restrict the use of weapons and lights.

State regulations allow the use of leashed dogs to find wounded animals, but those tracking cannot carry a gun while doing so.

The new blood tracking measure would allow pros to help hunters find mortally wounded game using dogs and allow hunters to carry a gun afield to finish the animal, during the day and at night.

The new regulation also would ensure trackers pass a state-approved test, contact area law enforcement before and after each track, pass a criminal history check, possess a concealed weapons permit and abide by other safety measures, Collier said.

Collier said permitting only the hunter, not the tracker, to finish a wounded animal complicates tracking efforts, especially after dark, but added he is “thankful that we are allowed to have some means to put the animal down” under the proposed regulations.

Collier, whose 2-year-old dachshund has helped recover 26 deer and three bear, is one of about 10 professional trackers in the state, he said.

NRC member John Madigan said the regulation change specifically would benefit older or younger hunters who have a harder time tracking wounded animals.

The NRC has mulled the proposal for several months, Madigan said, and likely will take action on it at the panel’s Feb. 4 meeting in Lansing.

The commission, however, still is studying the proposal, including when a hunter can load his or her weapon while with the tracker and the definition of a “mortally wounded” animal.

“The commission is very concerned we have qualified people (tracking) and it’s not misused by poachers,” Madigan said. “That’s why we are taking our time and drafting these regulations carefully.”

The Nose Knows

John Philips' article on blood tracking published in Petersen's Bowhunting is available now online at http://www.bowhuntingmag.com/tactics/BH_nose_1209/index.html

The Little King of Deer Recoveries (from Deer and Deer Hunting)

Today our mail brought us the December issue of Deer and Deer Hunting magazine. It was a thrill to see Les Davenport's article "The Little King of Deer Recoveries" on wirehaired dachshunds used for blood tracking. You can actually read the article online at http://www.deeranddeerhunting-digital.com/deeranddeerhunting/200812/?pg=58. Les writes "When it comes to finding wounded deer, nothing can top the scrappy, little dachshund".

The article mentions several dogs out of our breeding who track in Illinois. The first picture is of Nadja (Nettie von Moosbach-Zuzelek) owned by Jeff Richardson. Nadja is just a year old but has already made quite a few recoveries. Al Diehl's Bella is actually registered as FC Briska von Moosbach-Zuzelek and now she is nine years old. Neal Meyer's Chloe is Bella's daughter. Neal who is an outfitter http://adamspikeoutdoors.com/ hosted a very successful Trackfest two years ago. Chloe was the first dachshund certified for blood tracking in Illinois.

It is rewarding to see that these dogs do what they were bred for. We believe that they make a difference and inspire other hunters to get involved in blood trailing.

Deer trackers go on missions of mercy

A week ago the Daily Gazette based in Schenectady, NY, ran the below article by Jim McGuire in their Sunday edition. The picture taken by the Gazette's photographer Ana Zangroniz reminded us how badly our barn needs to be painted!

Some explanation is needed as there seems to be some confusion about field trials in the article. Field trials have nothing to do with blood tracking training or blood tracking tests (the AKC has a good explanation of dachshund field trials on their website). Anyway, we'd like to thank the Daily Gazette for promoting the use of blood tracking dogs!

Photographer: Ana Zangroniz
Jolanta Jeanneney and her husband John play with two of their wire-haired dachshunds, Billy and Elli at their Berne home August 26. The Jeanneneys specialize in training dogs for tracking wounded deer and bears.


BERNE — John Jeanneney refers to the state’s band of leashed-dog trackers as “the agency of last resort.”

It’s a hunter thing. Others might not understand or may even recoil when Jeanneney explains: “We work when there is little or no blood.”

But what Jeanneney and the more than 150 state-licensed trackers do is actually humane. When hunters wound deer or bear and cannot find them, they can turn to the volunteer trackers who stand ready to drive considerable distances to begin a search.

The trackers and their trained dogs are usually successful. Since Jeanneney began pioneering the service in the mid-1970s as a permitted trial program watched over by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, he and his German wirehaired dachshunds have found 232 deer and three bear. Once on Long Island, he tracked a deer for nine miles.

He still has vivid memories of the time he and his dog came upon an aggressive buck that attacked them and injured the dog. It’s rare, he said, but sometimes “a deer will charge a dog.”

Since New York adopted legislation in 1986 and subsequent regulations in 1989 authorizing and licensing leashed-dog trackers, the program has been adopted by 16 other states. This month DEC gave its latest licensing exam to prospective recruits.

Jeanneney, the author of “Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer,” and the late Donald Hickman are regarded as the co-founders of the trackers’ association, Deer Search Inc., which started in 1978 and today offers 24-hour dispatch service.

Jeanneney, at 73, rates himself as “still going strong.” Each season, he estimates, he travels an average of 1,200 miles responding to calls for a tracker.

A tracker holding a state guide’s license may charge for this service, but Jeanneney said the majority of trackers are volunteers. He said hunters may make a donation to Deer Search, but it is not required. Deer Search reimburses trackers for their mileage.

DEC spokeswoman Lori O’Connell said the state leashed-dog tracking exam tests the tracker and not the dog. There are no field trials, she said, but part of the exam focuses on dog training.

There are rules and regulations governing the service, but no strict standards for tracking, O’Connell said.

One requirement that must be followed, she said, is notifying the local conservation officer before tracking begins.

NIGHT WORK

Jeanneney said trackers in New York, but not all the states, may carry a gun for protection and may work at night. Most trackers are not even notified until evening after hunters have given up finding their prey.

It is important to start immediately, Jeanneny said, because “chances are very good the coyotes will have it by morning … when they pick up the line of a wounded deer they know what to do with it.”

Darkness does not deter Jeanneney. “I’d rather work at night; the scenting conditions are better,” he said.

Jeanneney may prefer dachshunds, but he said he is open-minded about a tracker’s choice of dog. Others use beagles, bloodhounds, labs, basset hounds, golden retrievers, smooth dachshunds, drahthaars, dachbrackes and a number of additional breeds.

A good nose is necessary, but the training is key.

Jeanneney said he starts his dogs while only months old following the scent of a deer-liver drag. That technique gives way to more advanced training using tracking shoes that leave the scent of the deer’s interdigital gland, located at the top of the hooves.

It is that scent that all tracking dogs must follow on the job. Trainers use blood, but only sparingly, Jeanneney said.

Trainers make the field trials challenging by putting down cross tracks.

“A good tracking dog has to tune out the hot lines of healthy deer,” Jeanneney said.

Hunters and others seeking the services of Deer Search may contact DEC, a conservation officer or go to the Deer Search Web site.