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Hank's Season 2012-2013

hickslawns

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Yesterday, Hank got to do his "thang". No, not that "thang." He jumped in the dog box and tracked a couple deer. Hank is my German Shorthaired Pointer and we use him to find deer.

I will start with the doe I shot. I won't exaggerate. Hank was a bit rusty on my doe. He wasn't staying on the blood trail really well. He kept walking downwind of it and "cheating" by winding the blood trail. I would prefer him to keep his nose on the ground and follow the blood along with the interdigital hoof scent. Not making excuses here, but I will simply call it like it is. Hank was originally trained for police work. I think his training has him a bit skittish in confined areas. We were in the corn and he was really nervous with all the stalks making noise and tangling him up with the leash. He was more concerned about getting out of the corn than he was following the blood trail. Once out of the corn field my doe made it 50yds walking the edge of the field. I would love to tell you he put his nose to the ground and went after the deer hard but he was still winding the blood trail and walking to the side of it. Fortunately, this deer spilled more blood than a horror film and I would have never needed Hank to find her. However, his rustiness and hesitation yesterday left me a good bit disappointed. Shame on me for not working him at all prior to the season.

Fast forward to last night. One of my buddies (and a lurker on the site that never posts anything :smiley_chinrub::smiley_crocodile:) shot a doe with his crossbow. In all fairness, there was a good blood trail and there would not have been any issues finding this doe either. However, "Slushdog" has been fighting some health issues with a bum foot and I told him to give me a shout whenever he got one down. Always good to help each other out, and good to work the dog whenever possible.

Slushdog put a great shot on this deer and we started Hank at the point of impact. We walked in downwind to the point of impact and he was chomping at the bit as he winded the scent. He kept trying to pull us down into the low area along a creek. I have no doubt Hank was trying to go straight to the deer going off the wind. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I wanted to do in efforts to work him. Once at the shot impact site, Hank was shown the arrow and first blood spots. I had him lick the arrow and Slushdog pointed the direction the doe ran. After we were started on the blood trail, Hank was like a tank! He kept his nose to the ground and hunkered down following this blood trail like a tank. I was literally leaning backward to hang onto him. It is amazing how strong a 70lb GSP can be! He kept his nose to the ground and drug me to where she rested. I was extremely happy with his performance on this blood trail. After we found her was a different story. Hank was without manners and a pain in the butt. lol We had a heckuva time getting this doe out and Hank was without manners. He just wanted to lick the blood up, chew at her butt, eyes, and fur, and generally be a pain in the rump. He certainly would not have won any awards for being a well mannered dog, but his nose to the ground tracking job was one I was proud of!

Deer tracked: 2
Deer found: 2
Deer which would have been found anyway: 2

Now the rust is off. Maybe we can help another hunter to find one which might not have been found otherwise.
 

hickslawns

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Here are some pictures of my doe with Hank. She was what I would have considered a medium sized doe around here. She had milk and probably has had one birth and possibly a couple.

uploadfromtaptalk1349785988625.jpguploadfromtaptalk1349786005822.jpguploadfromtaptalk1349786019389.jpguploadfromtaptalk1349786048491.jpg

I thought my doe was "medium sized" anyway. Then my buddy, Dean (Slushdog), shot this doe last night. I called her Doezilla. To quote Deuce Biggalo, "That's a huge bitch!"

uploadfromtaptalk1349786206636.jpguploadfromtaptalk1349786217920.jpguploadfromtaptalk1349786234525.jpg

For some reference, Hank is around 70lbs and his head is around my waistline. I am 6' tall. His shoulder is around my hip. This Doezilla had a brisket on her like a buck would. She literally looked like a 3.5yr old big bodied buck. I don't know how old she was or how many fawns she has reared, but she was a big ol' gal.
 
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"J"

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Good deal Phil..... Like any prize fighter who hasn't been in the ring in a while you need a couple of warm up bouts just too knock the cob webs off.... These were his..... Good luck with Hank and the remainder of the season.....
 

Buckmaster

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Sounds great Phil. You have a nice asset in Hank. I do wish you were closer though. My camp could give Hank lots of practice, needed or not.
 

hickslawns

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Guys, I am seriously thinking of giving Izzy a try at this. She is the beagle we got for the kids. When she is outside it is nose to the ground the whole time. I just don't know that I have time to train and work 2 dogs. I am also not sure she has the brains to do it. She loves to please and minds well but she is not the smartest. Lol

My point here: any breed with a good nose can do this. It is deer season. Next kill, grab a couple of bottles to gather the blood and some ziplock baggies for the heart and especially the liver. Now you have what you need to start training your dog (assuming you have a leash).
 

Buckmaster

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I believe a hound would make an excellent tracking dog. They are built for it.
Now how are you going to stop a beagle from chasing rabbits Phil?
 

hickslawns

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By law she would have to be on a leash. Plus I really don't know if she has ever been hunted. The fear would be her getting off the leash and running deer. How do you explain to the kids? "Well kids. I tried to train her to bloodtrail deer and she took a liking to chasing deer. Now go dig a hole." Lmao
 

hickslawns

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Short on time today but I will give a brief update here.

Yesterday I used Hank to recover my doe. Arrow said: No blood, only stomach matter, better back out until morning. Only thing I can say in hindsight is maybe it was wiped clean from the massive amounts of fat on this doe? Someone mentioned going thru the gall bladder, but I truly don't know if they even have one or where it would be if they do. Hank took me to her. Good boy Hank.

Yesterday afternoon: Hank went to work on the track of a buck a guy had shot the night before. This track was close to 20hrs old. The hunters had bumped the buck and knew it was hit back. Hank found blood right away. There were very very very few drops of blood found after the initial discovery. I had zero clue if he was tracking or just dragging me thru the briars. This area was so absolutely littered with deer trails, tracks, sign, and bedding areas I was just following his lead. He did NOT take me directly to the deer. What he did was take me darn close to the deer. I am not sure if he picked up the trail where the deer came in on at some point which sidetracked us or just what was going on. I made it back out to the point of impact and by this time a friend of the hunter (that helped him track the night before) was waiting. Maybe I should add, the hunter was at work and a third guy showed me the last location they found blood. Once he showed me this point he left Hank and I on our own to track. We were truly going into this area blind.

So myself, Hank, and the hunter's buddy talked it over. We went back on the path Hank took. We found miniscule droplets of blood on some fallen logs or a leaf here and there for maybe 50-100yds. After that we could only follow Hank's initial path and get in the area. Hank had led me within 20-30yds of this buck at one point but I didn't see him. There were at least 10-12 times I was on my hands and knees crawling thru briars and blown down trees while hanging onto the leash. I simply couldn't see the deer and we had to re-route a couple times in places I couldn't fit thru. If we weren't required to track using a leash in Ohio, I think i could have put a GPS tracking collar on him and followed him to the deer. It was pretty amazing.

With this, I give Hank credit for one recovery and one alley-oop pass for a slam dunk yesterday!
 

jagermeister

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Hank is on a roll man! And best of all, the more of these tracking jobs he's involved in, the better he's going to get!
 

hickslawns

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Thanks Ric and Jim. We have gotten some good practice so far this year. I would say in all truthfulness, my doe would have been found easily just by following the direction she was headed. My first doe this year looked like a horror film so he truly would not have been needed. The bohemoth doe he found for my buddy would have been recovered as well. However. . . I am not sure this buck would have been found. I mean, they may have found him eventually, but they were able to salvage the meat. Hank definitely was tested on this one. Although he didn't take me straight to the deer, he put us right there on the path the buck traveled and within a very close distance to him. I am proud of that one for sure.
 

hickslawns

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Came up empty tonight. Got a call from a friend. His buddy had shot one, tracked it over 1/2 mile and lost blood. Long story short, we did not recover it. I let Hank work it and he kept taking me north (into the wind). He was not following the hooves or blood with his nose to the ground. I just couldn't make him track "nose to the ground" tonight. He kept winding it in the air. Circled back to last blood a couple times and each time he took me straight north into the creek. Eventually we found a spot to cross the creek and he was all over it again. Followed him at least a 1/4 mile more. No luck.

We called my other buddy and he brought Tucker out to track. Same thing happened. Kept heading north. Also refused to track nose to the ground.

Shot was from a tree stand. Said it was high. Deep red blood on a pass thru shot. Never saw any air bubbles in the blood. My opinion is this is an alive deer. Going to be sore in the morning, but I think it is still alive. Not sure how with the loss of blood but given the paths both Hank and Tucker took, I feel this deer lives another day or year or whatever.

Quite the bummer for me and the hunter, but sometimes it happens. Just hate it when Hank fails to find success. I think this is the first one he hasn't found for me.
 

hickslawns

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This is good stuff Hicks! Always thought it would be cool to find some big ones for heart-broken hunters.

It is quite a reward Rick. I just don't think this deer is dead. I could be wrong. If I am I hope the hunter ends up with it in his hands eventually.
 

hickslawns

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I have since talked to the friend of the hunter from the buck we didn't find. The hunter went out 2 more days looking for that deer and never found another drop of blood or any sign of the buck. Given the fact that deer had gone well over half mile without bedding and we never bumped him. . . .I am confident the reason Hank failed to find him is because the deer is alive. Possible infection has gotten to him and consumed him, but I am confident the deer was NOT dead the night we were looking for him.

Last night I got a call from the game warden. There was a disabled veterans hunt taking place and they had trouble finding a doe. Hank and I went to work. The area had been trampled by dozens of volunteers already. I knew it was going to be a difficult track. I started at the impact site. Hank and I followed the track to the last place the volunteers had found blood. From here, Hank led the way. He led us down to a river. Took me to a specific spot and wanted to jump in. It was dark and I used the head lamp to scan the river but saw nothing. I backed up to the point of last blood and let him start the track over. He took me down to the same area. Not the same spot, but within 10yds of the same tree. Now I am debating what to do. He no longer has his nose on the ground but rather is "winding it". I decide to let him go on and continue searching nose in the air to see if we can end up downwind of the dead doe. We continue on another 100yds or so before I end the search. A third time I take him to last point of blood and tell the volunteers I am following him until he stops. He led us down the same path more or less. Might have veered 5-10yds off the path here and there but essentially the same line. He is a bird dog by breed, so in my eyes it is the same path. So I allow him to continue. He hangs up by the river again. I am fairly certain that deer took a swim. I take him beyond the spot in the river I feel the doe jumped or fell in. His nose is up and he winds something else. I told the volunteer with me "Let's trust his nose and see where he takes us. We proceed a couple hundred yards until we run into another ground blind which was setup for another hunter. The volunteer is doubting Hank's abilities. I told him with all the foot traffic, it was not an easy track. I told him I try to trust Hank's nose, but at that moment I was doubting him. We decide to call it, when I look down. Well whaddya know? There is a leaf soaked in blood. I look at the volunteer and he lights up. Then he turns around and sees the other blind and has an "oh crap" moment. He said they had killed another doe out of this blind which was several hundred yards from the first one.

We call it a search and are walking back toward the truck. We get to close to the point of last blood from the first search and Hank tried to yank my shoulder out of the socket. We looked at each other and I said "Let's give him one last try. He is hot to trot and wants to track this way." They waited and I followed Hank. He took me to the same exact tree again right along the river.

Our conclusion: Hank tracked the first deer to the river where she went for a swim. From this point, I forced Hank past the river swim location at which point we were down wind of the second blind. He winded that second deer all the way to the blood trail of the second hunter. Overall, we didn't come up with a deer, but I am pleased. Hank followed the same course 4 times to the same general area along the river which leaves me certainty the doe took a swim. From there he winded the second doe and led us all the way to physical blood on the ground. I would call it success.