Tracking update. A "simple" track ends with a twist.

Balancing my own bowhunting with blood tracking is not always an easy task.  I love spending my days in a treestand with my trusting recurve hanging by my side.  This is especially true during the rut when deer movement is at its peak on my farm.  During the first couple of weeks of November, most of my time is spent at my farm, and at least one dog is usually sharing camp with me.  

On this particular morning, I was hunting with a friend.  My morning hunt was spoiled by a local pack of hounds that are allowed to run free by their owner.  As a dog guy, this frustrates me beyond all measure.  As I climbed down out of my stand to run off the large pack of hounds, I received a text from my friend, "I just smoked a stud buck!"  

Unfortunately, 5 minutes after sending the text, the hounds had made their way across my farm and were running deer past his stand.  I was hoping that his shot was on the money and that the deer was already expired, so as not to be pushed off the property by the pack of reckless hounds.  

I met my friend at his stand not long after the text, and worked with him to push the hounds off my place while deer scattered and ran for cover in all directions.  Many opponents to blood tracking are concerned that tracking will be used as an excuse to drive deer with dogs.  As this particular story demonstrates, unscrupulous dog owners don't need an excuse to run deer with their dogs.  Adding a long tracking lead to the running dogs would just hinder that process.  Leashed blood tracking has nothing to do with chasing deer, but rather recovering game that is already mortally or seriously wounded.  

Back to the story...

After getting the dogs pushed off my property, and recovering my composure, it was time to get a leashed dog on the track.  Normally I would have waited considerably longer to embark on a recovery, but in this case the hunter was fairly certain that he had made a perfect double lung hit.  More importantly was the fact that a pack of several hounds had just pushed the entire area, so if the deer wasn't dead it was likely to be covering some serious ground.  Better to get on the track sooner than later in this case.  

Blood was fairly good for the first 100 yards, making for easy tracking for the dog.  After another 100 yards, less blood was apparent, and we were having some second thoughts about how good the hit was.  There was definitely evidence of lung blood, but this deer should have been dead if both lungs were penetrated.  

After progressing 300 and then 400 yards I became worried.  We were nearing my property line, and I was concerned the dogs had created a serious problem.  

The track went up a steep hill and then down a trail that parallels a cliff before dropping down to a large creek.  The dog didn't have any trouble progressing the fresh track across the creek and up the steep game trail further down the creek.  Once we crawled up the embankment I was even more concerned about the health of the deer we were chasing.  

After progressing another 50 yards the trail went cold.  The dog searched up and down the bank without progressing any further.  Several times we looked down into the creek and along the steep bank that lined the creek.  I began personally searching for blood, but couldn't come up with anything.  Finally a yell from my buddy got my attention, and I proceeding to the edge of the creek.  It took me several seconds to see what he was so excited about.

The deer's hind end floating up in the creek was the only thing that helped us identify the buck.  

An autopsy showed that the shot was just a bit further back than the hunter had initially thought, piercing the back lobe of one lung, and exiting though the liver.  This deer would have died several hundred yards closer to the hunter had it not been for the hounds which undoubtedly pushed it.  Jumping off the bluff into the creek was probably this deer's attempt at escaping the pack of loose hounds. It did provide some entertainment for me, since my friend had to swim out to get the deer, and get it back to shore.

Good hunting! Brady