The pup is doing great man. I read some where that using stomach contents and the liver from a deer is a good method too because alot of times when a dog is needed, thats just what your dealing with, a gut shot. I know I have trailed deer before when we would find chunks of corn or acorn between the light blood drops so I guess it makes good sense. Idk but it may be something you might want to mix in the training later. It may help her be more familiar with what she could encounter if you really really need her. Good luck..
Well, Sadie May is 1 for 1 on recoveries.....
Saturday I shot a deer and had no idea how or where it was hit. I had to turn completely around in my gunslinger to even get on it. With the cloud of smoke I could not see anything and had no idea where it went. I waited a few, climbed down and found very little blood, and it was dark. The blood was spotty at best. I followed it about 20 yards into the edge of the woods. Found where the deer ran into a tree with a big smear on it, and did not see any blood past that. The hammock opened up and I did not see the deer laying anywhere, so I decided to back out and go to camp and get my dog. A friend was staying at my place that was hunting his property. He was getting in from the morning hunt and I told him not to take his boots off just yet.
We loaded up and went back out there. I walked her in there to the blood and she went right to work. Problem was there was 3 deer together and I wasn't for sure she would stay on the one I shot.(Plus some turkeys had walked thru there a few minutes before. She smells our pet turkey all the time here at the house so she may have been on that too) She got off the trail twice( I am sure on the other deer), so I walked her right to the tree where the smear was and she sniffed it out and took a straight line. I let her go for a little bit and I could see walking deer tracks in the mud. I pulled her off of that and walked her back to the smear on the tree. She kept wanting to go to our left from that spot and I couldn't figure out why. Finally I dropped the leash and let her work. Had no idea where she was going as she was almost doubling back the way we came in. We went about 50 yards and I looked down and saw blood so I knew she was on it. Went a few more yards and she picked her nose straight up in the air. I looked straight ahead and saw the deer laying about 25 yards ahead of us. The deer had somehow made it 100 yards total. No idea how as its lungs were liquid
I was very proud of her. This is the reason I got her. I have spent many hours working her on mock trails. And to see her find one on her first try is one of my happier moments
Great work for her! I know you are proud!
That dog will hunt. Great job!
That's great to hear! My 1st experience with our "blood trailer" came as a result of shooting a little buck and seeing him pile up about a 100 yards from where he was shot. Went back to the house and got the dog and put her on the track where the deer was standing when he was shot, blood and hair on the ground. She found him and I have done this each time that it has been convenient to put her on the track, especially when hunting here at home. (The avatar I'm using is her checking her 1st "find".) Most times I see the deer pile up from the shooting house and she's not needed but doing this still allows her to remember what to do if it was a real "lost deer". She has found 2 really "lost" bucks that I had no idea where they ended up after being hit. She is a February born dog and she began blood trailing before her 1st birthday. Consider letting your pup "find" all the deer she can, it's still real to her.
Treefarmer
