Blazer Deer Tracking

What a weekend memory! My 6 year old grandson Sterling went on his first ever deer hunt with me and Harley. With 10 minutes of legal light remaining, Sterling saw deer… I shot, then got a request from a hunter just 4 miles from us! We left, did a track of 150 yards and were back to find my doe 1 hour and 25 minutes after the shot. Quickest coyote destruction I have experienced! Told Sterling, I was disappointed because we were going to donate a”the deer, and he just looked at me and said…”but Papa , coyotes have to eat too”!!!!! The 2nd night in the stand I asked him what he wants to do when he grows up. He looked me in the eye, smiled, made a sweeping circle with his arm and whispered….”THIS!!!!” Man, I love this boy… and this dog!

Congratulations Paul Barnard on another great Kay county buck! Man, I love this dog!

Zero blood track…. It happens. Hunter had no sign of where the deer ran after 30 yards so he backed out and called for Harley and me to come the next morning. 4 hours later, Inola got over an inch of rain. We showed up yesterday morning and Harley went to work. He made 3 giant 200 yard diameter circular patterns, nose to the ground and then head up,scenting the air. 30 minutes later, deer located!! Most of the time when we find the deer, there will be some blood at the expiration spot, but in this case there was none. The arrow was still sticking out of the deer and the Grim Reaper brand mechanical Broadhead had not expanded, and there was not even any blood on it!after all these years are still amazed at what Harley can do! Man, I love this dog…

Hunters get a form of PTSD when they keep reliving poor shot placement on a deer. This is a difficult post for me as I’m beating myself up and reliving a poor decision on my 2nd track yesterday. Harley spent about 20 minutes fighting through an aggressive grid search area from last blood. The hunter is not in good physical shape, so he and the ranch manager went back to the trucks. Finally, Harley broke out of the false track and began serious tracking… he was on it. He made a giant loop and after about 15 minutes, we were within 50 yards of the trucks. He took me to the front of the truck parked next to the fence, and I had already DISTRACTED FROM THE DOG and begun talking with the Hunter and the ranch manager who were both standing AT THE FENCE! I told them Harley was on point, but because they were standing there talking, I thought Harley got distracted because he thought they may have known something we didn’t know. I told them I wanted to do a restart and I begin the 150 yard walk back to the hit site. Again they stayed at the truck. THREE MINUTES after I started back, he called and said they found the deer. About 30 seconds after I left them, the ranch manager looks at the fence, WHERE HARLEY TOOK ME, and saw where the deer had jumped the fence about 10 feet away. He crossed the fence, and the deer was 50 yards away just inside the tree line. I HAD TAKEN MY EYES OFF MY DOG AND LET MYSELF GET DISTRACTED! I can’t make this up… this happened and I am still kicking myself over this. I refused the money from the hunter and have apologized over and over to Harley. I wrestled with posting this, but putting it out there, so others DON’T quit paying attention to their dog!!!!! It was tempting to just post the photo and say “another one found.” That would’ve been one of those “half truths”situations! Harley did his job, I didn’t, but what a weird set of circumstances! Oh, one more thing we could have driven on the dirt road right up to the hit site… What are the chances that we would park 10 feet from where the deer jumped!

Between playing rock ‘n’ roll at some private gigs and Tracking this weekend I haven’t had time to post until now!
No grid search vs grid search….
When the Hunter on my first track saw minuscule evidence at the hit site and where the deer went into the woods, he left the scene and called me. We decided to begin the track three hours after the shot as he was unsure of shot placement as it was just after legal light. No blood for 300 yards, and then started seeing some blood and some intestines on shrubs. 200 yards later, we jumped her. Took a two hour break at that point and restarted where she jumped. She had clotted at that point. Harley took us 200 yards to a huge pond and would walk into the water and go to a different point of the pond and go in and swim short circles and come back out and kept doing that and I was afraid she had sunk. He continued working the bank and took us to a small inlet where we found her. She had swam across, leaving odor in the water and was unable to climb the opposite ridge. Man, I love this dog! 

My second track was grid. Search on steroids. Youth rifle hunt. There was bone at the hit site, after last blood after the buck left the woods into a huge field. Three people grid searched for two hours and then took a pick up and drove back-and-forth in the field! After about 40 minutes, Harley FINALLY broke out of the grid search area and took us back into the woods approximately 15 yards from where we had come out of the woods and 75 yards later we had wet, fresh blood for about 15 yards or so and then nothing. They now are convinced it was a leg/brisket shot. I was so impressed that Harley was able to get past such a massive grid search. Have I ever said that I love this dog? When in doubt, back out!

Finally able to let my wife be alone for a few hours while she recoups from surgery. Took a track outside of Catoosa today… This was a deer that was gut shot yesterday morning. Took about 10 minute boat ride down the Verdigris river to where the deer had jumped yesterday and swam across the channel. We started there. They had grid searched, so I had to restart Harley one time after he followed where the hunters had assumed the deer went yesterday, but once we did the restart, Harley took us straight up a steep cliff to him. Hunter was amazed and so was I!!! Man, I love this dog! Thank you, Jeff for the opportunity to work with you. 

Haven’t posted on here the last two years, going to start today. Harley and I have now accomplished 500 tracks together. My wife had knee replacement surgery on opening day this year! Wow, I got to finally take a track!!! The physical therapist came to the house to work with my wife around the time I got the call, so off we went on what ultimately became a full 2 1/2 hour track. Had blood for 200 yards then nothing, 300 yards later, new blood and shortly after, jumped the deer. Took a timeout and a water break in the heat and off we went. Very difficult, steep terrain in Osage County with large boulders and lots of drop off areas. Just under another mile, Harley found new blood. Another hundred yards and jumped the deer a second time. Called the track and headed back. 1/2 mile later, approximately 200 yards from the truck Harley went nuts a third time. We had jumped him again and found the best blood of the day.  There were four men following me on the track and they were absolutely amazed at what Harley had accomplished. Man, I love this dog, but not August heat in October! Thank you, AJ and Alvin Fletcher for the opportunity to work for you! Harley and I both slept really well!