Any guesses where this deer was hit?

[Pedernal]

I think mostly they are scenting blood that we can't see. A good dog can find a drop of blood in the dirt very easily. Also, a deer with a brisket or leg wound or a deer that has bedded down usually has blood on one or more legs. Every step he takes through brush and tall grass is transferring that odor to the vegetation and ground, even if he's not leaving a visible blood trail behind him.

Airborne scent, which consists of body odor and blood is pretty easy to detect by the dog when it's fresh...but dissipates quickly...within a couple hours... unless conditions are favorable for keeping it fresh longer.

After airborne odor is gone, all that's left is the track scent...the interdigital gland odor and blood that touched the ground or surrounding vegetation. Interdigital odor alone isn't very reliable because you have other deer crossing the trail so the dog is really having to discriminate between the track of a wounded deer and a healthy one. That's why it's important that there's enough of a wound the dog can smell it.

Yesterday we trailed one up going off of what the hunter described as a "swath of white hair" that was left under the feeder. We never found a drop of blood. To make it worse, a good steady rain moved in before I got there. It rained enough to wash away the buck's wheel marks. I just walked Rowdy in the direction they last saw the buck running. It took her awhile to line him out but she picked up his trail in the tall grass, went straight to him and bayed him. I guess once he got to the safety of the brush he slowed to a walk and left enough odor for her to follow. He was shot low in the gut and it exited through the ham on the opposite side. We've also trailed up a lot of gut shot deer that left only a drop of blood or no blood at all. I can't explain it. I assume as they travel through the brush, that wound on their side occasionally makes contact with vegetation.
The toughest stuff for us to track on is just bare rocky ground.

Thank you very much for the info. I have a four year old lacy that I am trying work with. I started him as a pup and he did great, unfortunately life got in the way. I could not acquire enough blood and time to work with him always seemed to end up devoted to other chores. Changes at work have afforded me more time so I am determined to work with him. I can see he loves to scent for trails.

Every time we go for a walk his nose is to the ground. I was recently told by our k-9 instructor at work that the hardest part of training our K-9 units to track is getting the dogs to keep their noses on the ground. Well, my "Blue" keeps his nose to the ground 99% of the time. Not sure if it's to late for him to become a great tracker but I really want to take the time to give him a shot at it. Thanks again for the thread and the invaluable information.

[Kdog]

Thank you very much for the info. I have a four year old lacy that I am trying work with. I started him as a pup and he did great, unfortunately life got in the way. I could not acquire enough blood and time to work with him always seemed to end up devoted to other chores. Changes at work have afforded me more time so I am determined to work with him. I can see he loves to scent for trails.

Every time we go for a walk his nose is to the ground. I was recently told by our k-9 instructor at work that the hardest part of training our K-9 units to track is getting the dogs to keep their noses on the ground. Well, my "Blue" keeps his nose to the ground 99% of the time. Not sure if it's to late for him to become a great tracker but I really want to take the time to give him a shot at it. Thanks again for the thread and the invaluable information.

If you ever get around San Antonio I have some blood in my freezer or could probably even get some for your if you were willing to meet me in Brackettville after I kill something (typically on a Sunday). A lot of times when I kill deer I will save the blood, but haven't done that much lately since I have blood in the freezer and don't do too many mock trails for my dogs. I just try to put them on every deer me or my son shoots that runs more than 20 yards.

[mjbtexas]

Corner of Main St. and 5th.

ha!! made me laugh