So you finally got that old buck to come into bow range, and you make the shot, but something goes terribly wrong! He either jumped the string or you punched the trigger. In either case, you know that the shot was not true, and you probably have a wounded deer on your hands. So what's next?
NOW WHAT DO YOU DO?
YOU'VE WOUNDED AN ANIMAL....
SOME HUNTERS WOULD HAVE
NOT EVEN LOOKED FOR THIS BUCK AFTER THE SHOT. IT APPEARED TO BE A COMPLETE MISS!
IF A SHOT IS PLACED----
ALWAYS ASSUME THAT YOU MADE A HIT!
First of all, any time you make a shot at an animal (either with rifle or bow) always make a thorough examination of the area where the animal was standing and the direction in which he fled after the shot. Even if you feel very confident that you missed---refuse to write it off as a miss until you know for sure. This will require that you go to the place where the animal was standing when the shot was fired. If there is not blood, then look for hoofmarks or "dig outs" in the dirt. Then make an intense investigation---looking for any sign of the animal's retreat. Follow any track or other visible sign as far as you possibly can (even if there is no blood).
A MISS???
About 15 years ago, I took my son hunting, and a nice ten pointer came out into the sendero. It was a far shot for a 13 year old kid, but I was confident in his shooting skills, so I told him to go ahead and take the shot. He took his time and squeezed off the trigger and BAMMM! The buck jerked his head up and then nonchalently trotted into the brush---a "definite" miss! When my son insisted that he had made a good shot, I shook my head because there was "no way" that he hit that deer. Fortunately, AS A RULE, we treat every shot as if it were a hit. We moved up the 220 yards to where the buck had trotted into the brush, and there he was laying on the ground. A shock on my part---but a very pleasant one. This was a lesson-to-learn for me. NEVER ASSUME THAT YOU MISS ANY ANIMAL THAT YOU SHOOT AT!
GAME RECOVERY
QUITTERS LEAVE TROPHIES IN THE BRUSH EVERY YEAR
The blackbuck that my daughter-in-law shot was virtually "untrailable" due to the high density of exotic game traffic in the high-fenced area where she was hunting. After only a few yards there was no visible blood---and all tracks were obscured by hoofprints of other animals. But we kept walking and searching for sign, and then we stopped and prayed. About 45 minutes later (when we were about to give up on our initial search) the wounded buck suddenly came running out of the brush about 100 yards in front of us. He fell down at about 60 yards, and my daughter-in-law finished him off with a second shot. She recovered her trophy, because she did not quit when it looked impossible!
REASONS FOR LACK OF GOOD BLOOD SIGN
When you start out on the trail of any wounded animal, remember that the amount of blood found after the shot often has little to do with the effectiveness of the shot. Usually when a buck is hit hard in the vitals there will be a fairly easy-to-follow blood trail that ends with a downed animal only a short distance away. But there are many factors that can prevent the free flow of blood:
1. What part of the body was hit, and what was the shot angle?
2. What degree of penetration?
3. Was the arrow or bullet a complete pass-through?
4. How high did the arrow or bullet hit on the torso of the animal?
5. What was the reaction of the animal to the shot? Run fast or trot off?
6. What type of animal was shot? Was it a bear or a hog---known to have heavy layers of
exterior fat and very thick hair?
NO BLOOD BUT A QUICK KILL
About five years ago a friend of mind told me about a very large buck that he had "shot at" . He had first thought that he hit the deer, but was not sure. So he sought help from the rancher and when they did not find any blood they ASSUMED it was a complete miss. I asked him to describe the reaction of the buck at the time of the shot and immediately afterwards, and obviously what he had seen was the typical response of an animal to a heart/lung shot. I then told him to go back to the ranch as soon as possible and fan out in the direction that the deer had taken. To his good fortune, his trophy was laying less than 60 yards from where it had been shot. The coyotes and buzzards had ravaged the carcass, but he was still able to salvage the antlers. Many trophies are left laying in the woods every year, because hunters make the same mistake as this man by assuming that a good shot has to produce good blood---incorrect!
THE PROPER MINDSET FOR TRAILING WOUNDED GAME
The second thing that you must do to increase your odds of recovering your trophy is to make up your mind that you are going to do everything it takes to find the animal---regardless of the scenario that you may encounter. You must maintain a an extremely patient attitude while making your search. Convince yourself that you are going to find the animal that you seek. Patience and "good old-fashioned determination" are the two most important factors that you have working for you. When the obvious blood trail stops, you just keep looking until you find some other sign, or a continuation of the blood trail.
I have taken many hogs with a bow, and on several occasions I have failed to find blood for up to 50 yards. A hog has a very thick course hair that clots blood very readily. A hog also has a thick exterior fat layer which can close up a wound immediately after the shot. This problem is compounded when you hit a hog, or even a deer, above the half-way mark of the torso. The higher the shot---the greater the time-lapse for the body to fill up with blood. If the animal bolts and runs after the shot impact, it can cover a whole lot of ground in a very short period. A rapidly fleeing animal may leave little or no blood during the initial running sprint. How far can a wounded deer run at top speed in 10-30 seconds? How about in a minute or two? Pretty far! That is really not much time for the body to fill with blood, but plenty of time to leave a long but very thin blood trail!
There does not have to be a single drop of external blood for a shot to be fatal. An internally-bleeding deer will die just as fast as a buck that is spewing a two foot wide swath of blood from his punctured heart and lungs. Obviously, an internally-bleeding deer is much tougher to track, and unfortunately, there are more deer that bleed this way than what most hunters realize. So if you do not see blood initially, or maybe it is very sparse---your bullet or broadhead could still be doing its job to create massive hemorrhaging. A good shot to the vitals is going to bring an animal down eventually. In all my years of hunting, I have never seen a deer or any other wounded mammal grow wings and fly off after the shot. The animal is somewhere, and if it has been mortally-wounded it is recoverable by some means!
BLOOD TRAILING WHEN THERE IS NO BLOOD
The amount and the type of blood can vary with the location and extent of the wound. For example---a buck that is shot in the belly may not bleed at first, but after 20-50 yards a reasonable flow may begin. It is usually a sporadic dripping of a watery blood serum possibly mixed with small amounts of smelly greenish stomach contents. The exact opposite may also be true. There may be plenty of blood at first, but after a short distance the blood seems to turn off like a faucet. Whenever there is a definite lack of blood---there will still be tracks, broken limbs, or other signs of a passing animal. So trailing a wounded animal is not always simply following blood.
Obviously trailing a wounded animal is a whole lot easier when there is good blood sign to follow, but this is not always the case. My hope when working a trail with little or no blood is that sooner or later the wound will re-open---leaving a renewed outflow of blood that can be easily seen. This is why it so important to stay on a trail and keep looking and looking for sign. A wound that has closed up will sometimes re-open further down the trail, so if you give up when blood sign ends, you forfeit your opportunity to pick up the new blood sign when the wound re-opens.
A PERFECT HEART AND LUNG SHOT WITH A BOW, BUT THE HOG STILL WENT OVER 150 YARDS BEFORE GOING DOWN!
LIVER SHOTS: If you shoot a bit too far back (rearward of the heart/lung area) you can still have a lethal liver shot---which requires a longer waiting period. Most bucks that are hit in the liver will run for a reasonable distance (usually less than a quarter of a mile), but will then go down hard and probably never get up again. There is a lot of internal bleeding with a liver shot, but in most cases still sufficient blood for visual tracking. My son and I once took up the track on a liver shot buck that hunters had given up on. After two or three hours of searching and searching, we found a small speck of blood on a blade of grass. That one speck set us in the proper direction, and from there we eventually picked up more specks, until eventually the blood trail became trackable. We found the deer, but the coyotes had already eaten everything but his head and backbone. The buck was 300 yards from where he had been hit.
HIGH SHOTS (BELOW BACKBONE): This is what I call the "no-no zone"---where there are no vitals, and not enough blood to produce a good visual trail. Unless you graze the bottom of the spine, or somehow catch a major blood vessel, this is a shot that will produce an unrecoverable animal. When you find your arrow and it is covered with deer tallow (or greasy from passing through a hog), you can usually write off this animal as one that will never make it to the taxidermist. Quite often an animal will recover from this type of shot. In some cases the animal will die, but since it is not a vital shot that incapacitates them, they are difficult to trail and recover (even with dogs). I made a high shot on a huge sow several years ago, and found her dead about a half mile away a week later. There was no blood to follow and her tracks were mingled with dozens of unwounded hogs, so I could not follow her any distance at all. As far as I know, it could have been an infection that killed her rather than the actual damage incurred by the arrow itself.
SHOTS TO THE HINDQUARTERS: If you hit a femoral artery in the hindquarters of an animal, it can go down as if it was shot in the heart or lungs. Otherwise, you have a wounded animal on your hands. There are some people who intentionally take this shot at hogs, but as far as I am concerned, it is an unethical shot. Muscle is always going to bleed fairly well, so you can often have prolific bleeding, but if a main artery is not hit it is rarely lethal. A deer can travel great distances after this shot, even if the leg bone was broken.
SHOULDER OR FRONT LEG SHOTS: Not everyone will agree with me, but it is my opinion that a shoulder shot is one of the most risky shots to take at any big game animal with either gun or bow. If a rifle is a slower heavy caliber model, a shoulder shot can indeed instantly break down the animal and even penetrate to the vitals for a quick kill. But a high-speed bullet hitting the thicker bone of the shoulder (especially at close range) will often shatter upon impact---preventing full penetration.
The animal may be seriously injured, but without proper penetration into the vitals, it can travel a long distance after the shot. A friend of mine once shot a nice seven pointer in the upper leg bone (near shoulder). He hit the deer at about 7:30AM, but was not sure of the extent of injury. We got on the trail at about 10AM, and after working throughout most of the day, and jumping the deer from his bed multiple times, we finally put in a killing shot. The deer was very weak from extensive blood loss and would have probably suffered for several days (if not eaten alive by coyotes).
A bow shot to the bony shoulder area is a "recipe for disaster". Even if the arrow does enough damage to eventually kill the animal, it can still travel great distances before going down permanently. A three-legged deer can travel almost as fast as a healthy deer. Quite often on a shoulder shot there is good blood at first---which can produce an initial false hope of a quick recovery. In my experiences with this shot, the blood flow will eventually subside---making the trail more difficult to follow the further the deer travels from the point of impact. I hate this shot, because there can be pools of blood at first---making you think that the deer is going down very soon---only to be disappointed when the blood starts to diminish rapidly.
I once shot a monster ten pointer (right at first-light on morning) with a .243 caliber rifle at a distance of about 15 yards. The buck was knocked down and appeared to be dead, and I knew that I had just killed my buck of a lifetime. While I was chambering another round, the buck jumped up and ran off. I was absolutely shocked as I watched my trophy buck disappear in the brush. When I examined the spot where the buck was knocked down, I found a huge pool of deep red blood, and several large bone fragments from the shoulder. Obviously the high speed of the bullet at such close range caused it to explode on impact---preventing penetration into the vitals. I had plenty of blood at first, but the further I traveled the less blood available. The buck just kept walking after the shot until the blood clotted and closed up the wound completely.
If you want to break an arrow and not get proper penetration, then shoot a buck squarely in the shoulder bone. It is no doubt one of the worst bow shots to take!
NECK SHOTS: You should forget about taking a neck shot with a bow, but it can be a very effective (but somewhat risky) shot with a rifle. If you hit the spinal column in the neck with either a bullet or an arrow, the animal will usually drop in its tracks. If you shoot low (below the neck bone) there are usually enough blood vessels to produce a lethal shot. A jugular vein shot will put a deer down just as quickly as a heart and lung shot. But if you shoot too high on the neck (above the bone) you can get only a superficial wound that will not bring the deer down. Any muscle shot will produce at least a moderate amount of bleeding, and a high neck shot is no exception. But again, a lot of blood does not always mean that the shot is lethal.
ALWAYS MARK THE BLOOD TRAIL
No matter where I am working a blood trail (even in familiar territory), I always use bright orange survey tape or preferably, reflective marking clips, attached to vegetation along the way. Toilet paper works well also, and will not do much harm if it is not removed after trailing efforts completed. Position your markers high enough to be easily seen from a distance or by a flashlight, and double-mark any spot where the animal changed directions or has bedded down.
MORE ABOUT BLOOD FLOW
Keep in mind what I said earlier about the body cavity filling up. It may take up to 50 yards (from point of impact) before a decent blood flow will begin. A low heart shot will generally start bleeding immediately, but not if it came in from behind at a quartering angle. If the bullet or arrow made complete penetration, you will generally see blood sign quickly. Blood on both sides of the trail is usually a very good sign. If an arrow does not pass through, it can be carried by the animal for a long distance---blocking much of the blood flow. It will take some time for the cavity to fill and then leak around the edges of the protruding arrow.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR ALONG A TRAIL
If a deer leaves a site of impact at a full run, it may leave little blood along its path. Look for splatters in a particular direction. The blood of a slower moving animal will leave circular splatters surrounding the drop. If a deer has been running, then it suddenly slows down, and you see evidence of a walk, and then standing blood---start watching out for a direction change or possibly even a downed or bedded animal. Whenever you start to see stumbling marks or places where the animal is blindly crashing into thick vegetation---slow down your search and start looking for the body of the animal itself.
Two of my hunters once lost a buck that was spraying a foot-wide heart/lung blood trail, because they kept looking for blood instead of the deer itself! The buck had fallen behind a clump of brush only a few feet from where the thick blood trail had stopped. They were almost tripping over the deer in their search for his blood trail!
Even on a fairly good blood trail there may be some gap areas where blood is not visible. This is when you revert to the actual tracks or hoofprints of the animal that you are pursuing. Watch for depressed leaves, disturbed rocks, or any other sign of a passing animal. If the last blood sign was located on a distinguishable game trail, then stay on the trail looking for alternate sign. In these gap areas make sure that you always position yourself along the edge of the trail to prevent interference of sign.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE USE OF BLOOD TRAILING DOGS
Many people do not understand the true concept of using a blood trailing dog to recover game. They have this idea that you release a pack of dogs on a blood trail just like a hog hunter would release multiple dogs to trail and bay a feral hog. They think that the blood trailing dog is supposed to track their deer as long as it is bleeding, and eventually run the deer down and engage it physically to either kill it or hold it until it can be finished it off with a follow-up shot. Actually in most cases the dog being used to trail the animal will be on a lead---not released to free-range while working the blood trail. A blood trailing dog is not necessarily a "catch dog"---as many people believe. The handler of a blood trailing dog must use discretion at the end of a blood trail. A handler would only release a dog after a clear assessment of the possible dangers involved with engaging the animal. A crippled (but otherwise healthy) deer is a very dangerous animal. If the handler knows that his dog is an effective "baying" dog, he might release his dog under optimal conditions. But the handler is taking an obvious chance by releasing a single dog that weighs under 25 pounds on a mature wild boar or an antlered buck (especially if it has plenty of life left in him). No hunter that has wounded an animal should ever expect, or demand, a handler to release his dog to engage any wounded animal at any time. This is the handler's call---depending on the handlers knowledge of his dog's capabilities under various circumstances. The safety of the dog is never to be compromised at any time during a blood trailing effort, unless the handler decides otherwise.
FINISHING OFF A WOUNDED ANIMAL
Some animals that are shot will only have superficial wounds---or wounds that do not prove fatal. If the arrow or bullet does not incapacitate the animal, and it is still strong enough to travel with little difficulty, a blood trailing dog may be of little use. A bleeding deer is not always a recoverable deer! Some deer may be able to travel a great distance before eventually dying. As hunters we have a responsibility to do our best to prevent the unnecessary suffering of any animal we shoot. It is one thing to track a wounded animal, but another thing to creep up on a crippled or downed animal to execute a finishing shot. This is where two trackers are needed. The primary visual tracker should concern himself with looking for sign of the animal's passing. The secondary tracker is to assist in the tracking, but should also be on the lookout for the animal itself. The secondary tracker is the one carrying the bow (or other firearm) that will be used if the animal is found alive.
It is very important to always be as quiet as possible when trailing any wounded game. When you are working a blood trail, you are actually searching for a wounded animal that could be anywhere along the track that you are following. So you must realize that while blood trailing---you are also hunting! Every step you take down the blood trail is a step closer to the animal. The closer you get---the quieter you must be---if you expect to have the opportunity to put down a wounded animal that is capable of jumping and running off. Some animals may be fatally-wounded, but if jumped prematurely (before they are too weak to stay down), they can travel a remarkable distance before they weaken and stop again. Spooking an animal while on its trail will only decrease you odds for recovery. I have jumped several animals in the past prematurely, simply because I trailed right up to them without taking the precaution of being super-quiet. In some of these cases the deer ran off, and we never had another chance to put a shot in them, and they were lost. If you treat your blood trailing efforts like you are on a stalk, you will dramatically increase your chance for succes. If you trail up to a wounded deer and it is still standing, obviously you must be especially quiet when moving in to place the killing shot. But even if the animal is down, you can never assume that it is dead. I have seen several "dead" deer jump up and run off. So QUIET is the "word" when trailing a wounded game animal. Most hunters are anxious to find their deer so they will "rush" the trail. This is a terrible mistake!
A blood trail can become a very intense hunting experience in itself. So while on the trail of a wounded animal look for blood sign, be very quiet, and watch and listen for the animal ahead of you. There could be a downed animal only steps away from you at any place along the trail. This hog had to be shot three times after the initial wounding shot before it finally went down. A good rule of thumb when you find a wounded animal---PUT AS MANY SHOTS IN IT AS POSSIBLE UNTIL YOU ARE SURE IT IS DOWN FOR GOOD! Multiple shots may APPEAR to be cruel, but it is actually the best way to prevent prolonged suffering. My son shot his monster buck (grossing almost 165) with two heart shots. The first shot killed him, but the buck didn't know he was dead yet, so my son put a second bullet within two inches of the first one. It's better to be safe than sorry!
SNAKE PROTECTION
While yu are trailing an animal (with or without a dog) you should always remember that there are snakes active throughout much of the year in the southern states. I have added a picture (below) to show you a large rattlesnake that I stepped on while working the trail of an animal with dogs back in the mid-1970's. I was fortunate enough to avoid a very serious snakebite, but this incident did teach me to always wear snake protection if any part of the day rises above 55 degrees. Snakes are not always active in cooler temperatures, but if it has been warm period during part of the day---they can be out---even though they may be very lethargic. But a "sunning" rattlesnake that is half-asleep is just as dangerous as a summertime rattlesnake ---if he bites you! And snakes do move during the warm periods of cool days---even in the wintertime. We once had two cat hounds bitten by rattlesnakes in the month of January!
So if you are working a blood trail during a warm day---make sure that you consider snake protection. No trophy animal is worth a nasty snake bite that could even result in death!
THIS SKINNY RATTLESNAKE WAS OVER FIVE FEET LONG AND HAD TWENTY RATTLES---BUT I WOULD NOT CONSIDER HIM A TROPHY---YUCK!
WHEN MY FOOT ROLLED ON HIS COILED BODY---
I INSTANTLY KNEW THAT I HAD MESSED UP!
WHEN A VISIBLE SEARCH ENDS IN FAILURE---CALL FOR A GOOD DOG!
Undoubtedly, if you hunt for any length of time, you will eventually encounter a serious tracking problem. When you have done all that you know to do without success, you still have some options. You can separate your search area into quadrants and get several people to help you walk the area for a more extensive visible search (but this time looking for the actual body of the wounded animal rather than its blood trail). This is a very time-consuming project that should be the last resort. It's easier and more productive to just call someone who has a good blood trailing dog!
DON'T TELL THIS LITTLE JAGDTERRIER THAT THE HOG THAT SHE HAD BLOOD TRAILED HAD DIED MOMENTS BEFORE SHE WAS RELEASED. TO "ENGAGE" IT!
NO HANDLER IN HIS RIGHT MIND WOULD RELEASE A VALUABLE YOUNG DOG TO FIGHT A MATURE HOG AT THE END OF A BLOOD TRAIL. THERE IS NOT A HOG ALIVE THAT IS WORTH LOSING A PROSPECTIVE BLOOD TRAILING DOG!
MAKING PROPER CONTACTS PRIOR TO BEGINNING A BLOOD TRAIL
When you employ the use of a good blood trailing dog, there are some things that you should seriously consider. First of all, there may be some property lines that will have to be crossed once the blood trailing begins. Before the dog and handler arrive to track your game animal you should contact all adjacent land owners to get permission to enter their land. You might even invite them to meet you at the start of the blood trail, so that they will know that the animal was not poached on their land. It is also wise to contact the local game warden to tell him that dogs are going to be used to track a wounded animal.
THE BLOOD TRAILING DOG AND HIS HANDLER
Once the handler of the dog has agreed to trail your wounded animal, he is granted complete charge of how the operation will be conducted. No one will be allowed to accompany the handler and his dog without his permission. There will be only one firearm, and this single firearm will be carried by a designated assistant. The "one firearm rule" must be strictly enforced, and no shots will be fired except by the specific instructions of the dog handler. I know of a couple incidents where dogs were shot while in close proximity to their wounded animal. A hunter that has his own interest in mind may have a tendency to take a more risky shot to put down and recover his wounded trophy. If the interest of the dog handler---and the value of his blood trailing dog---is not a top priority, then "accidents" like this can happen. You don't shoot any animal with a dog or his handler in the vicinity---period!
As far as the dog owner/handler is concerned, not even a world-record whitetail buck is worth the value of his blood trailing dog. These dogs are not just someone's kennel dog. They are extremely valuable dogs that are life-long pets---cherished as members of the owner's family. Years of training and companionship cannot be jeopardized by a stray shot from an excited hunter. Texas hunting laws are vague in the matter of who can legally finish-off a wounded deer. In a technical sense, the hunter that wounded the deer is the one that should make the final killing shot. But for safety reasons, however, the dog handler may designate a known and experienced shooter. In most cases, only one person will be allowed to accompany the handler and his dog(s) while they are actually working the track. The hunter, landowner, or others in a small party must remain a reasonable distance behind the handler and dogs.
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The hunter that has wounded an animal would be wise to consider what it cost for the owner of a blood trailing dog to offer his "free" services. Obviously, no recovery effort is ever free. Someone is picking up the tab for the actual out-of-the-pocket expenses involved in getting the dog and its handler to and from the hunting area where the animal was wounded. Then if you think even further, you cannot ignore the time and effort involved in purchasing, raising, training, and caring for a kennel of blood trailing dogs. A dog handler takes great pleasure in making a trip to assist a hunter in the recovery of a lost trophy animal. He would naturally expect the hunter to be considerate of all the costs involved. But a lack of consideration on the hunter's part can quickly take much of the pleasure out of the experience---making it very difficult for the dog handler to offer his "free" services in the future. So if you always want the services of a blood trailing dog---be as generous as possible when these services are offered to you.
Texas Jagd Kennels does not charge for their recovery services at this time, but we do expect the hunter to take care of all traveling expenses (approximately one dollar per mile for entire round trip). For local calls we ask the hunter to at least buy one tank of gas for our 10 cylinder Ford pickup (costing approximately $60.00 to $75.00). If the animal is actually recovered by one of our dogs, then a generous tip is appropriate---to help us offset the cost for dog maintenance and training.
TRAINING THIS YOUNG JAGD PUP TO BECOME A SEASONED BLOOD TRAILER IS A VERY REWARDING EXPERIENCE, BUT IT IS CAN ALSO BECOME VERY EXPENSIVE. AT THE AGE OF SIX MONTHS, WE HAVE ALREADY INVESTED OVER $2000.00 IN HER PURCHASE PRICE, TRAVELING EXPENSES TO PICK HER UP IN MISSOURI, VETERINARY CARE, TRAINING AND SPECIAL EQUIPMENT, KENNELING AND FOOD COSTS. SO NOTHING COMES FREE! REMEMBER THIS WHEN YOU CALL A DOG HANDLER TO COME TO TRAIL YOUR WOUNDED DEER!
SOME "DOS" AND "DON'TS"
Treat every blood trail like you would if you knew that someone else would have to start all over on the same trail that you are working.
This means that you should always walk to the side of all visible blood, tracks, and other signs of the animal passing. There will be non-visible blood and body serum present along the escape route that the animal took. Any of this matter that is picked up by boots can be tranferred to other areas by foot tracks---making the job much tougher on the dog when it shows up to work the trail where you lost it. The least disturbance of the track, the better chance the dog has to move the track past the point of your loss (of track). If you examine an arrow for blood, then put it back in its original position and mark it with surveyor's tape or with a stick in the ground.
As soon as you discover that the animal you wounded is going to be impossible to track with the visible eye, immediately call the handler of a blood tracking dog. To reach a blood tracker from the field, you should pre-program their number in your cell phone for easier and instant access. And do not make any decisions based on what you have HEARD about blood tracking dogs. In other words, if someone told you that a good dog can track a 48 hour track, don't wait for 47 hours to make a call. The age of the track has less importance than the climatic conditions, so a very difficult old track can often be worked with relative ease when temperatures, moisture, and wind levels are optimal. But a fresh "easy" trail can quickly become un-trackable when it is hot, dry, and the wind is blowing hard. So do not pre-judge how easy or difficult you THINK tracking an animal with a dog will be. Call the handler and let him, or her, make that determination. Most trackers will be honest with you about the chance for tracking a wounded animal ---after hearing the circumstances you describe. If they tell you that it is a gamble, then realize that your chance of success is limited---before the handler ever shows up with the dog(s). So do not put higher expectations on something that the handler has clarified before he decides to take the call. If you are willing to take care of the handlers expenses and make it worth his while to come ATTEMPT to help you on a low-probability track. then do not be disappointed---or think less of the handler or his dogs---if the attempt proves to be unsuccessful. Some tracks are simply untrackable no matter how hard you try. If the handler tells you that your wounded animal is lost and refuses to bring his dog to try to track your animal---do not get angry or think evil of him. A handler knows when it is useless to try to track an animal. Respect his decision. He does not want to waste your time nor his. An obviously useless track is not good for any dog to work. Even an old seasoned blood tracking dog does not need to be frustrated by a track that he cannot work. A young promising blood dog can be set-back in his training process by putting him on tracks that are not trackable
Tracking is hunting---and in real-life hunting---success is rarely guaranteed! So when the tracking dog and his handler show up, assist them and cooperate with them, so they can exercise their best possible tracking skills. Your wounded trophy has now become the "trophy" sought by the handler of the tracking dog! I can assure you that the handler is just as determined, or even more determined, to find your animal than you are. Your job was virtually completed when you wounded the animal and failed to visibly track and retrieve it. The skills demanded by the handler and his dogs are just beginning to be required when they show up to assist you. That means you need to allow them to have the freedom to use all their skills to seek and recover "their trophy"---which actually is YOUR animal recovered! Anything you do to take away from their success will hinder your success in recovering your trophy. So if the handler tells you to hold down your voice, or stay put, or don't walk somewhere, then do not question him. The handler knows his dog, is experienced in tracking game with dogs, and does not need to be distracted by "having to be polite" or having to worry about your feelings---especially when your actions are hindering his progress in recovering your game. Quite often the biggest hindrance to a wounded game recovery attempt is the hunter himself. As a hunter, you give up all control of the recovery effort the moment you make the call to the dog handler. So if you want success---then do what is expected (or even demanded) of you by the dog handler. As the one who wounded the game, you will usually be concentrating on the animal itself---while the dog handler is dealing with the entire process of blood tracking an animal that is still alive and could possibly be dangerous to man and beast. So only one person can call-the-shots! If a dog handler does not have complete control of all the operations required to successfully and safely carry out his skills and duties as a blood tracker, then such duties are no longer effective. That is when it's time to load up the dog and go on to help a more cooperative hunter find his trophy animal. Success is never guaranteed, but success is enhanced with full cooperation from everyone involved in the recovery effort.
Realize that any specialized service requires a tremendous amount of time, effort and money. It is only reasonable for you as a hunter needing the services of a blood tracking dog to take care of all of the expenses incurred by the dog handler. But obviously the expenses necessary to get to and from your hunting grounds is not the the only expenses involved. It cost tons of money to train, feed, offer veterinary care, and kenneling to any working dog. Then after these expenses are covered there is still the matter of making it personally worthwhile for the blood tracker to assist you. No one works just to break even! Blood tracking is work---it is a specialized service that few can offer. It should be treated as such, so a generous financial retribution is always appropriate. A generous person is usually more thankful---making it easier for the dog handler to return the next time there is a need for a tracking dog.
A general rule to follow is this: (1) consider what you make as an hourly wage and break it down for the time required by the handler to take your call, respond, find your animal and then return home (2) then consider what you would get paid for overtime---or for an emergency call that may keep you up all night or all day---away from family and other means of income (3) then figure what it would take in gas, maintenance, insurance, and wear-and-tear on your vehicle to drive the same distance that the dog handler has to drive to offer his services (4) add up these expenses, then use the total to determine the MINIMUM amount that you will offer the handler for his services. If it is a really nice trophy that you cherish. and you realize it would have been lost without his services---an added tip is recommended (on top of the other items listed). Be honest about it---you would expect the same thing and would be "put out" (upset) if an employer expected you to offer the same services for no pay or a reduced wage. It is not your place to ASSUME that the dog handler has another source of personal income. His services are offered and his services are worthy of adequate compensation.
Few blood trackers will DEMAND such payment for their services until they are forced to. So make it fun and profitable for everyone involved. You will not gripe about having to pay a taxidermist to mount the trophy that you would have never found without a tracking dog. So think of the services of a blood dog handler similar to how you view a taxidermist, and expect to pay a fee so that he can continue to offer his services to you and other hunters! You spend a lot of money to hunt, locate, and shoot a trophy animal---so finding a lost trophy with a blood tracking dog is a great way to preserve your investment and have something to show for all your hunting efforts.
On a personal note---if I have to take away time and finances from my family to sacrificially-offer my services to hunters (that I do not even know) then it is not a worthwhile endeavor. Tracking wounded animals with a proven game recovery dog is a dream coming true for me. Hunters that help me promote that dream will always be on my priority list when things start to get busy during the hunting season!
A HOG WAS SHOT AT NIGHT WITH NO BLOOD AT FIRST. AFTER ROXIE WORKED THE BLOODLESS TRAIL FOR ABOUT FORTY YARDS I DISCOVERED THAT THE ANIMAL HAD BEGUN TO BLEED PROFUSELY. THIS WAS A TOUGH TRACK TO GET STARTED---AND IT COULD HAVE VERY EASILY BEEN LOST WITHOUT A GOOD DOG! ROX FOUND THE HOG ABOUT 120 YARDS FROM THE FEEDER!
NOW THAT YOU'VE GOT A NEW JAGDTERRIER PUP.......
WHAT'S NEXT?
The FIRST THING involved in owning a new Jagdterrier pup (to be used for wounded game recovery) is SOCIALIZATION. For the first week or two after you bring your new pup home don't do anything but pour out a bunch of love and affection. Keep in mind that you are dealing with "an infant". Even though a ten week old pup already has the potential to do a fair job on an easy blood track, there are more important things that need to be taken care of first.
We usually put a new pup in the house for several hours per day, and I recommend that you allow the pup to sleep in bed wth you---or at least prepare it a bed in a portable kennel where it can sleep in the same room with you. The first few weeks and months are critical times in the development of a proper relationship between a working dog and its owner. Do everything you can to get this valuable new addition to your family accustomed to you and to its surroundings. Introduce the pup to all the family, the family pets, and to everyone that visits your home. There will be plenty of time for blood tracking once the pup has developed a confidence in you and its new home.
So when do you first start to work your new pup on blood? The general rule is TEN WEEKS, but this can and should vary with individual pups. Some young dogs are all-business, and they seem to thrive at being put to work at a very young age, and they learn very fast. Other dogs simply enjoy being pups. Their attention span is super-short, so they would rather chase a grasshopper than "work" a track. My two year old granddaughter does not mind me asking her to pick up her toys and return them to the box, but it would be foolish to try to force her to vacuum the carpet and do her own laundry. She is a baby---just a toddler---and that is what any young blood tracker is, also!
So when you first start WORKING your young pup on blood---THINK AGAIN! At first it has to be PLAY---so make sure whatever you do is short and that it is whole lot of fun!
Now let's talk about items and equipment that you need to get started.
BLOOD---Before you ever start a young pup on blood, you first have to have some blood on hand. Which opens up an interesting subject---what kind of blood do we need to be training with? Everyone has their opinion, but from my experience, I can only say that "blood is blood". Some types of blood are easier to deal with, but obviously you should try to gather blood from the same animals that you plan to be tracking. I prefer to use a variety of species, so my dog learns to follow ANY blood.
I have an easy system for gathering blood from deer or hogs. I always carry a few items in my hunting backpack for this chore. (1) a small oleo-margarine (butter) container to be used to dip blood from the body cavity (2) a couple ZipLoc Twist Top containers (3) a large ziploc plastic bag to prevent spillage in your backpack
When you make the cut down the chest and abdomen of your deer or hog (or whatever critter you are gathering blood from)---do your best to prevent any blood that has filled the body cavity from spilling out. So with the animal's feet in the air, and its back on the ground---dip the flexible margarine container deep into the body cavity during the entire gutting process. Anytime you see some blood accumulating, use the butter container to gather it up---then transfer the blood from each "dip" into your Ziploc Twist top container(s). When you are finished, put the butter container and your Ziploc Twist top containers in the Ziploc bag to be transported back to the house in your backpack. At home, just wash off the Ziploc Twist Top containers and stick them in the freezer---or you can transfer the blood to smaller containers for more efficient use (to have smaller amounts of blood that has to be thawed out per training session). If you are not pressed for time upon your return home, you can also prepare your blood for use (to be discussed below in the section on "preparing blood").
If you do not have access to the blood of deer or feral hogs, then I suggest that you contact a local livestock slaughter house and ask them if you can purchase blood from them. Cattle blood is very thin and it clots terribly, so ask for hog blood. Most slaughter houses will have a specific day designated for butchering hogs, so ask them if you can bring a lidded 5-gallon bucket the day before---to catch blood that drains from the hogs they kill. They can simply put the lid on your bucket, wash off the outside, and stick it in the walk-in cooler for you to pick up. Blood can stay in the cooler for a couple days with no problem. Don't forget to offer a generous tip to those who were kind enough to gather the blood in your bucket, so that you will always have access to hog blood in the future.
You can purchase these very handy sealable containers at your local grocery store for a very reasonable price. Buy different sizes for different blood gathering projects. These containers can take a moderate amount of jolting in a backpack, and they can be washed off and placed directly in the freezer when you get home..
Actually I prefer Nalgene bottles, but they have to be ordered. They come in various smaller sizes, so are more convenient to use (with less waste).
PREPARING BLOOD---Blood that is clotted is impossible to work with, so something needs to be done to convert most of it back to its liquid form. There are chemical anti-coagulants available, but they are expensive and hardly feasible for field work. So when I am gathering blood from game animals, or from a slaughter house, I do not worry about clotting. Last year I pulled out my wife's old blender (promising to buy her a new one) and wrote "blood only" in large visible print. When I am ready to prepare blood, I simply pour it from the Ziploc Twist top containers---or dip out portions from my 5-gallon hog blood bucket---into the blender. I mix it for 30 seconds on slow speed. Once clotted blood is blended, it does not clot again. I then take the blended blood and put it in smaller containers for freezer storage. It does not take a whole lot of blood to prepare a short track for pups, so the smaller the container the better. I prefer 2-4 oz. containers, so that only a small portion of blood has to be thawed out each time. As the pup starts to catch on to the idea that it is supposed to follow a blood track, less quantities of blood will be needed (even for longer tracks)---so the smaller containers can be used on a permanent basis. When laying artificially-blood trails for my older more experienced Jagds, I use much less volume, so a couple ounces of blood can go a very long way.
An old-fashioned blender can easily be converter into a "blood mixer". I marked it so that in the future no one will accidentally use it for preparing food for human consumption. !
I use a mixture of bleach and water to sanitize the mixer after each use, nevertheless, I do not think that I would relish the idea of my wife using it to mix cake ingredients after I have used it to blend feral hog blood---yuck!
I dip the blood into the blender, and the mixed blood is easily poured into whatever container that I prefer for freezer storage.
Blood that has been blended will generally maintain its consistency, so there is no need for chemical anti-coagulating agents.
METHODS OF DISPENSING BLOOD....
Whenever you need blood for laying an artificially-laid track, just thaw out one of your freezer containers and you are ready to go. It is hard to regulate the amount of blood that is being poured out directly from a freezer contain, so I use a plastic squeeze botte (or a large livestock syringe, or a syringe used for basting) to actually dispense the blood along the trail I am laying for my new pup. Some people use a stick with a rag tied to it to dip into the container. The bloody-rag end of the stick is then dragged on the ground. Do what you prefer---but for me---I would rather regulate the amount of blood that I am leaving by using a syringe.
EARLY BLOOD TRAINING---Now that you have blood on hand---and a syringe to dispense it with---how do you get started? Before your pup (or older dog) is ready to be put on its first blood track, there is some basic equipment that you will need to purchase. First you will need a small harness and then a lead of approximately 20-30 feet length. Choose a lead that is fairly light-weight material. I have purchased some small diameter DRY rope (used for mountain climbing) and it works very well. You do not want to have any loops or knots in the rope, so that it will easily slip through brush.
The first blood track for a pup should be very short and with fairly heavy blood. I generally lay out a 10-15 foot track with a piece of cheese or a thawed out hog's ear at the end of it. For this reason, you should pick a time to train with blood when your pup is a bit hungry. Some pups will respond better to food rewards as "targets" at the end of the trail, but my Jagds have always preferred the fur, feet, or ears of wild game. So after they locate, and play with their animal part, I let them eat it or at least chew on it for awhile.
We took Brigitte off feed for half a day before putting her on her first blood track. After working the short track (with no hesitation), she was very glad to find her favorite snack as a reward for a job well done.
After working Brigitte on her first short track (with cheese as a target) we then put her on a slightly longer track with less blood. She put her nose on the ground like a hound and worked out the track with only one or two brief distractions. You always want to have your pup on a lead, so that you have control over it when it get distracted. Within seconds of leaving the bloodline, she returned on her own and proceeded to find the pigfoot target.
MAKE SURE IT IS FUN! Waco "worked" his blood track only to discovered that "finding the game" at the end of the trail is a blast! I let him pull on the hog foot, run and chase it, and then finally he was allowed to sit down and have a good chew.
Brigitte was allowed to work the short thick blood trail with a loose lead dragging behind her. I am following as far behind as possible holding onto the rope to direct her only if she gets distracted. She works the track, locates the target---and then we have a fun game of tug of war---followed by a short game of chase. I had as much fun as she did! (NOTE: The target was hidden behind a bush so that she would not be able to find it visually.)
Again, it is very important to always keep your dog on a lead when training. If the pup gets distracted, then pick it up and place it back on the bloodline. If it is off-line of the blood, but still appears to be searching, then give it a few seconds to hunt on its own. If it continues to veer away from the bloodline, you can gently guide it back by using the lead rope. If the pups loses interest in tracking, then just pick it up and take it back to its kennel (away from the track). Never give the reward to a pup that has not completed the track and located the target. When the pup successfully finishes a track and finds the target, make sure that you offer as much praise as possible. I will really get fired up when a pup does well. I want it to know the we have done a good job AS A TEAM. My enthusiastic praise for working a track successfully is critical in the development of the pup as a blood tracker. The pup must learn to cooperate with its handler throughout the tracking process, and when the track is finished, it is a time of mutual celebration and reward.
I believe in the "soft hand" approach to training any hunting dog. I have owned some hard-headed hounds over the years that required some very stern discipline. But I have discovered that if I can win a dog's heart at an early age, I have far fewer discipline problems. I am very affectionate with all my young Jagdterriers---just as I am affectionate to my young granddaughter. She knows when she has crossed the line with Poppa, and a smart dog will learn the same thing.
Praise for a job well done goes very far when training your young Jagdterrier!
EXTENDED TRAINING SESSIONS....
As your young pup starts to respond (and successfully finish) the easier blood tracks, you will need to increase the wait time and distance each time. Eventually you will also decrease the amount of blood while adding a few curves. The degree of the increase in track difficulty will depend upon the progress of each pup. You do not want to make a track too hard (to avoid discouraging the pup), but neither do you want it so easy that it gets bored. Trickling the blood at greater distances between drops will make the pup learn to "hunt for blood" rather than just walk down an easy trail that any human could follow. As your pup progresses add sharp right angle turns and obstacles like logs, fencerows, or narrow roadways.
When I feel like a young dog is getting close to the point of actually working the track of a wounded animal, I will take all my training sessions to my hunting areas to get it accustomed to different types of terrain. I also want it to be able to smell the scent of other un-wounded animals that may have crossed the blood trail that is being worked. Everything is still done on lead, so there is no need for an electric training collar to correct a dog for leaving the blood line, or to chase a rabbit, or sniff at a tree where a squirrel just climbed. All of these smells are "learning experiences". Hopefully, I have worked enough tracks under controlled circumstances---that when my young dog is put afield it is pre-programmed to concentrate on what it is doing. So when I graduate a young dog to the "real woods", I usually revert back to shorter easier trails. Their attention span is limited, so making the track easier at first will prevent the pup from becoming overwhelmed. To get a young dog ready for such a blood track that is "spiced" with many other scents, I take my young dogs on periodic walks in the woods. If they chase something that I do not approve of, I simply turn away from them and start walking away. A young pup will soon learn that you are not enthusiastic about their little escapades. They will learn quickly to watch you while they are in the woods. This is great practice for what is to come when they are actually working a blood track. A tracking dog must learn to respond to your visual body language---just as you need to learn how your dog responds to different situations when it is tracking. I can usually tell you when Waco or Brigitte are getting off a bloodline, because I have been watching them work blood since they were young pups.
As you start to work your young dog on blood in an actual hunting-type environment, you should pick areas with thick brush or taller grass, so that the young dog cannot see for great distances. I made some mistakes with Brigitte, by worked her too much in open areas. She began to hunt for the target by sight---rather than by using her nose. When a young dog starts to get too "sight-minded", it may be good to start working it on blood during the nighttime.
We allowed Brigitte to run a few cottontails and jackrabbits when she was young, and before long she reverted to "sight hunting"---even when she was on a blood track. Instead of getting frustrated, I put my head together with my wife (and a couple other blood trackers) and we decided to limit her blood tracking to the nighttime for several months. We also allowed her to run a few coons to get the wild edge off her---and fortunately, it worked. We put her on four consecutive wounded hogs at night, and she located each of the them.
Again---while training a dog to blood track, you want to keep it on a lead at all times. You never want to allow a dog that is blood tracking to leave the bloodline to run un-wounded game. If your dog does ever try to jump live game while tracking, you should immediately respond by a good jerk on the rope---or whatever it takes to convince your dog that this is a definite No-No!
DISCIPLINING YOUR JAGDTERRIER WHILE TRAINING IT TO TRACK....
When my son was a boy---and now with my granddaughter---I have been a fairly strong disciplinarian. I believe in correcting children---and I also believe in correcting dogs that are misbehaving. But HOW to discipline is the issue! As I stated earlier---socialization is the first priority in training any young pup. If I build a good working relationship with a pup from its earliest days, I will be way ahead when serious training begins. Brigitte would sit, roll-over, and give me sugar (kisses) before she ever became a serious blood tracker. I work my dogs in the yard almost everyday, so they have contact with me and are influenced by me on a continual basis. Regular contact with my dogs in the house and in the yard will have a significant influence on my dogs when they are out in the field. That does not mean that a dog will not run unwanted game just because I say "no". But putting any kind of handle on a dog at an early age will pay great dividends in later months of training.
Remember that working your dog on lead will either resolve, or at least keep some discipline problems to a minimum. But whatever you do---DO NOT USE AN ELECTRONIC TRAINING COLLAR on your young Jagd when training to blood track. A beeper model may be put to some use, but avoid ever putting the electricity to a young Jagdterrier---for any reason. They just don't respond well to harsh tactics. Most experienced Jagd owners will agree that a dog should be at least a year old before ever being subjected to an e-collar. And then any discipline should be administered at the lowest levels possible.
Brigitte was about 4-5 months old when Roxie came into our kennel. I wanted to make sure they got along with each other before turning them loose unaccompanied. So just before feeding time, I released them in the yard together. Once they had run off some energy and were ready to socialize with me, I called them and began to hand-feed of them together (while sitting down at their level). Any growling or other aggressive behavior was discouraged by a gentle "be easy". They would soon be tracking hogs together, so this simple "yard discipline" helped them to become acclimated to working together--and show them that I exercise control over both of them at all times.
Many future behavioral problems can be avoided by administering light discipline in the yard---where you have more control---as opposed to out -in-the-field where things can become more chaotic!
BLOOD TRACKING IS ACTUALLY A NATURAL INSTINCT THAT CARRIES OVER FROM A DOG'S CANINE ANCESTRY. A LITTLE TRAINING IS INVOLVED, BUT MOST OF WHAT A GOOD GAME TRACKING DOG DOES IS DUE TO INSTINCT AND EXPERIENCE. SO "TRAINING" A JAGDTERRIER TO TRACK GAME IS REALLY JUST LETTING THE DOG DO WHAT COMES NATURAL IN THE FIRST PLACE. YOU ARE BASICALLY TRYING TO PRODUCE THE ENVIRONMENT WHERE POSITIVE EXPERIENCE WILL PULL OUT NATURAL GENETIC ABILITY.
GOOD TRACKING!
Dennis
I will eventually write about WHEN to release your blood tracker from the lead to bay a wounded animal---along with many other interesting subjects---so please keep checking back for more information. If you have a specific question about training your Jagd to track wounded game---please contact me and we will try to include your answer in this section.
(BOTH PHOTOS BELOW WERE TAKEN AT NIGHT)
Roxie tracked this hog for several hundred yards, and we soon discovered that the animal was still very much alive, and able to move. Getting a "finishing shot" at this hog was not going to be easy, so I dropped Roxie's lead, and she immediately went to him and bayed up.
This is a decision that only a dog owner can make. When is it appropriate to release one dog on a wounded boar?
THE CRITTER YOU ARE TRACKING IS NOT DOWN....
WHEN DO YOU RELEASE YOUR BLOODTRACKER
FROM LEAD TO BAY THE WOUNDED ANIMAL?
For some people---the answer is---NEVER! And there is nothing to be ashamed of if you ever decide to hold back your dog from engaging a large dangerous animal like a mature wild boar, black bear, or white-tailed buck. Training a blood tracking dog is a long and tedious project. And in most cases, there is such a strong bond between the dog and the handler that it may be very difficult to put the dog in any type of life-threatening situation.
Here at Texas Jagd Kennel, we feel that every dog in our kennel is part of our family. Losing a dog (or getting it seriously injured) by turning it loose to bay a large wounded big game animal would be a devastating blow. However---after owning several breeds of tracking dogs---we feel that the Jagdterrier is more suited to this task than any other breed that we have ever owned. Some of the hound breeds may have a far more superior nose than the average Jagdterrier, but the advantage of the Jagd is an agility and tenacity that enables it to hold at bay even the largest of game animals. A larger hound or cur will not be able to move as fast from the tusk or antler of a charging animal. If the Jagdterrier is actually hit by the wounded animal---its lighter weight allows it to be thrown---thus reducing many of the deeper serious wounds that are inflicted upon the heavier breeds.
The Jagd excels in the NOSE CATEGORY (as for as terriers go)---but nose alone is not all that is required to FINISH OUT a wounded animal track. In the majority of the animals tracked by dogs---the wounded animal is already dead, or extremely incapacitated. But in some cases the animal is still very alert and able to move away from the tracking team (of dog and handler) when approached. It is very difficult to "slip in" on these livelier wounded animals with a dog on a lead. Tying a dog back---then slipping in with a firearm to finish off a wounded critter---will work occasionally. But in most case---you will be tracking an animal and suddenly things just start to happen! A buck jumps up a few yards ahead of you, or a big old boar busts out of a brushy thicket---and you do not have time to react. In such cases, I try to listen for signs that tell me more about the condition of the wounded animal as it flees. Was it limping severely? Was it breathing loudly (wheezing for breath)? Or did the animal appear to simply be busted from cover as a normal healthy animal?
I will say this now, so that it is clear how I feel about turning one of my Jagds loose in a dangerous game situation. First of all, if I am the one that wounded the animal being tracked, I've already made the decision that I will do all that I can to recover it. If I am using one of my older experienced dogs, I will usually not hesitate releasing it on any animal that I am tracking. If it is a pup, I probably already know (or think I know) that the animal is hit hard and will not have much fight left in him. If I have miscalculated the condition of the wounded animal, and I have a very young blood tracker behind a lively boar or deer, I may opt to stop where I jumped the animal, and go back to get an older dog to finish off the track. But if I am using an older seasoned blood tracker---I will (in most cases) release the dog the moment that I discover that I have a moving critter ahead of me.
WHEN NOT TO RELEASE A BLOOD TRACKNG DOG FROM LEAD (TO GO IN AND BAY A WOUNDED ANIMAL)---
FIRST---when I feel that the animal has a good chance to cross a property line where I have no permission to enter. SECONDLY---when I am tracking for someone else, and the person that has asked me to track their animal has been uncooperative . I owe no one the life and health of any of my dogs. I release my dogs when I decide to do so. If someone is trying to force me to do something that endangers my dogs, I will pull them off the track immediately. THIRDLY, when I know that the animal I am tracking has too much life for one dog to handle it. For instance---if I see that a "250-lb. plus" boar has a peripheral wound, then I will think twice about releasing a single dog to attempt to bay him. If I have a back-up dog available to help in baying a more dangerous animal, I may bring it in at that time. Even if it is a 300lb. boar that is hit hard, still moving (but laboring to do so) I will normally release my dog to go in to stop the animal. I will also consider other factors like thickness of cover and time of day. A dark night in a dense thicket is not my favorite scenario, but again that is a decision that only the dog handler can make. This leads me to the FOURTH reason I may decide not to release a dog on a wounded animal---personal safety or the safety of other humans with me in the tracking party. I realize that anytime you are dealing with a dangerous big game animal---there is a risk factor. But if the RISK is too excessive, I will keep the animal on lead and just count my losses and back down. No animal---regardless of its trophy status---is worth the loss of life or possibility of serious injury to any human being. As much as I love my Jagdterriers, I do not esteem them above that of human life. In other words---I realize that my dogs were bred for doing what they do. I purchased them because they could not only track a wounded animal, but they are also superb bay dogs. Loosing a dog---while it is doing what it was bred for---is nothing compared to endangering the life of another handler or hunter.
There is nothing that is cut-and-dried when it comes to choosing when (or if) you will release your blood tracker to go in to engage a wounded animal. Every situation is unique, and every person has their way of doing things. I hunt alone most of the time, and I also track alone in most cases. I have to take care of me and my dogs---so I do what I can do to make every reasonable effort to recover an animal that I have wounded. I owe it to myself, to the animal involved, and to my dogs---that were specifically bred for this purpose!
I know when to back down, and when to proceed on. If I make the wrong call, I am personally responsible for my own well-being and for the welfare of every dog that I own. If other people are involved in a very dangerous situation, I may proceed alone, or with a shooter, to assist me. But it will be someone who I know has experience and that will not freeze up when things get tough. Things can happen fast when you are coming in to a yaupon thicket to put a final shot into a tough critter. Expect the best, but be prepared for the worse. I've been knocked down by a buck before, and have had a hog run over me as well. I escaped serious injury both times, but it did make me more cautious and much wiser!
Dennis
WHAT IS THIS?
I was tracking with Roxie when I heard the young boar grunt ahead of us. I released her immediately and she stopped and engaged him after a brief run. I wanted some good photos for our website, so I moved in as close as possible . I knew this was a young boar, so I let caution fly-to-the-wind, and suddenly I had a spotted boar in my back pocket! As I was knocked down, I accidentally took a picture of the ground. The loop you see is the end of Roxie's lead. She came to my rescue, and I quickly dispatched the hog---but not without my feelings getting hurt! Ha ha!
IT WAS JUST A YOUNG BOAR, BUT HE WAS BIG ENOUGH TO KNOCK ME DOWN!
HE WAS DISPATCHED QUICKLY AFTERWARDS BY A SHOT FROM MY .22 PISTOL TO THE HEAD.
I have discovered that a shot between the eye and the ear is the best place to stop a hog in its tracks.
...through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. (Act 13:38)
