Question About Use of Tracking Dogs

[EarleyBird]

Say you stick a big deer---big enough to employ the use of dogs right away(i.e. you know right away to leave it alone and come back tomorrow)---that, from the stand, you already know you might not have hit him as well as you should've.

Should you go to the spot(s) where you have blood and dig that ground up and preserve it so that the tracking dog you bring in the next day has a "Ground Zero" to work from?

I've been fortunate enough to have only lost two deer that I've shot, and on the second one (Big SOB) I got off the bloodtrail as soon as I saw he was running his arse off, despite a very encouraging blood trail. The next day I got my best bay dog (not trained for blood-trailing deer, but jam-up on any kind of scent trail), a 5 y/o Cur with an outstanding record of finding hogs and getting cows through the trap, and took him to where the big toad was shot. The problem (I think) is that it rained between me sticking the Beast and me getting my dog out there on it the next day. We never found the deer.

This was about 5 years ago and this question has been on my mind since. Especially with the mainstream popularity in recent years for using dogs.

So, should we preserve the last-known sight of blood if we plan to come back later with dogs?

[Bowtech08]

Good question. I have no answer but leaning towards no

[jeepntx]

Least amount of disturbance in the area, the better. If you're preserving it b/c of (hard) rain... it wouldn't make a difference. Most of the trail will be washed out anyways. A good tracking dog will still hit the trail, but alot won't.

[M16]

If I had a good set of dogs I would put them on the trail as soon as they could get there. No need to wait till the morning.

[DrenalinJunkie]

Leave things alone....... Believe it or not, the rain (as long as it isn't a flood) will help the dog out.

Mark the spot of the shot, mark the direction the deer went, and back out. The less you disturb things, the better.

As said before, depending on what time the shot was taken, there may be no need to wait until the following morning. I have run alot of trails in the dark.

[EarleyBird]

Leave things alone....... Believe it or not, the rain (as long as it isn't a flood) will help the dog out.

Mark the spot of the shot, mark the direction the deer went, and back out. The less you disturb things, the better.

As said before, depending on what time the shot was taken, there may be no need to wait until the following morning. I have run alot of trails in the dark.

Man, I have too. I've helped guys find deer a few hours after dusk with spotlights---even getting a bunch of guys to walk grids. But what about a liver-shot deer that you know is gonna take hours to die? My question was centered around the assumption that bumping him would push him. We all know from experience that that's a tough call: when to track hard or wait.

And jeepntx, you bring up a good point. If a blood trail is gonna be washed away by a storm, what good would it do to be able to offer a dog a blood sample from/at the site when he's got nothing to follow now anyway? Good point. It's a top-shelf dog can follow a trail after much rain---at least I can't recall having a dog that good! My bow-range gets reduced by 5-10 yards when I'm sitting a stand in the rain, so yeah.

[M16]

If you have good dogs keep the pressure on the deer and keep him bleeding. Why wait for the trail to get cold? If the dogs don't catch the deer then it wasn't hurt that bad to begin with.

[Atfulldraw]

If you have good dogs keep the pressure on the deer and keep him bleeding. Why wait for the trail to get cold? If the dogs don't catch the deer then it wasn't hurt that bad to begin with.

This will depend on how big the place is, whether there is a good (high ) fence, how close to the property line, etc.

Leave the shovel at home . As Forrest said, don't disturb the area any more than you have to.

[Mike Murphey]

The least amount of human presences the better for a dog to work properly...On a liver hit, the deer should be dead in about 20-30 minutes....If you know you will need a dog, back out and make the call to the dog person. Get them out there as soon as possible to get the best trail. A good dog will take up the scent and if needed will start smelling the air to scent the deer to find it...I like a big dog to find deer so if the deer is still alive the dog can bay it....

[Playa]

Say you stick a big deer---big enough to employ the use of dogs right away(i.e. you know right away to leave it alone and come back tomorrow)---that, from the stand, you already know you might not have hit him as well as you should've.

Should you go to the spot(s) where you have blood and dig that ground up and preserve it so that the tracking dog you bring in the next day has a "Ground Zero" to work from?

I've been fortunate enough to have only lost two deer that I've shot, and on the second one (Big SOB) I got off the bloodtrail as soon as I saw he was running his arse off, despite a very encouraging blood trail. The next day I got my best bay dog (not trained for blood-trailing deer, but jam-up on any kind of scent trail), a 5 y/o Cur with an outstanding record of finding hogs and getting cows through the trap, and took him to where the big toad was shot. The problem (I think) is that it rained between me sticking the Beast and me getting my dog out there on it the next day. We never found the deer.

This was about 5 years ago and this question has been on my mind since. Especially with the mainstream popularity in recent years for using dogs.

So, should we preserve the last-known sight of blood if we plan to come back later with dogs?

First and foremost any and all deer is "big enough" to employ the use of a tracking dog. A trophy's life is no more valuable than a doe or scrub buck.

As others have said leave the area alone. There is no solution for hard rain.