River Bottom Game Recovery

12/03/2023

11/19/2023

Have you ever used a tracking dog to find your deer? How did it go?

I met a guy with a bloodhound earlier this year and learned a lot talking to him about his experiences tracking other hunter's deer. His advice: don't grid search the place with your buddies for for half a day before you resort to the dog. If you think you may need a dog, call him first.

11/16/2023

WHEN IN DOUBT, BACK OUT
We have taken a lot of tracks so far this year that have been unrecoverable because of track contamination and deer being pushed. I understand the excitement and the want to find your deer right away. I understand the sinking feeling after shooting a deer and having trouble finding it, whether it be a big, mature buck or a small doe. That’s why we do this, we want to help other hunters recover the trophy they put all that effort in to take home.

A dog’s nose is an incredible tool we can take advantage of in order to locate your deer. The dog can locate microscopic blood that’s not visible to you along with other scents, primarily the pheromone released from the interdigital gland between the hooves of wounded deer. While some contamination is still manageable, less is better. Let’s make the dog’s job as easy as possible. If you run out of blood, don’t grid search. Back out and call a dog.

After you’ve taken a shot on a deer:
* Take note of where you think you hit the deer (high, low, shoulder, far back…)
* Pay attention to how the deer takes off (runs hard, runs a little way and lays down, was it limping, did it walk off hunched up)
* Try to watch the deer and see where it goes (mark locations in your mind with landmarks before you get out of the stand)
* ALWAYS WAIT AN APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF TIME AFTER YOUR SHOT if you’re not sure of your shot, wait.

When you get to the shot site:
* Take note of blood colour (bright red, dark red, pink and frothy with bubbles)
* Take note of any hair at the site
* Take pictures of blood and hair at the shot site and your arrow
* MARK YOUR SHOT SITE (physically with sticks, flagging tape, toilet paper…and digitally with a pin on your phone or gps)
* IF YOU START BLOOD TRAILING please mark the blood spots. This can help determine direction of travel after the visible blood trail has stopped and help confirm the dog is on the correct trail.
* WALK OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE TRAIL. This reduces the contamination and spreading the scent trail the dog is tracking, think of it as walking on a clean floor with muddy boots. If you’re walking along the trail, particles, blood, pheromones and other scents the dog is tracking can be spread around the area as you step around the area and create a large area of those scents and confuse the dog
* WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF BLOOD mark the area like you would the shot site and back out

Good luck to everyone still trying to fill tags and congrats to everyone that’s filled theirs already.

11/09/2023

11/08/2023

November 6th- I got a call on the Monday morning of the November Controlled Hunt that a hunter had arrowed a buck the night before and had tracked him over 900 yards. The last blood he had found was coming out of the corn field, feet from his truck. After doing some detective work and starting and restarting the track, we finally got it lined out and on our way. We found blood all along the trail but after 2.5kms, a thinning blood trail, 2 bumped does, an incredible amount of freshly used game trails and a looming thunderstorm, we determined the buck was still alive and we called the track.

11/08/2023

November 2nd- After our unsuccessful track to the north, we continued south to track a liver-shot buck from that morning. The area had been extensively grid searched and had turned up a bed before the trail proceeded up a bank into a hay field. Ranger and I tracked across the field, crossing a gravel road and back into another hay field. As we tracked across the field, I spotted multiple live deer feeding along the edge. I made the call to pull Ranger off the track at that point and after 2.5hrs we called it. I checked in with the hunter the next day as he said he was going to continue searching the area, he replied with a picture of the buck and a picture of our track where we had got within 120 yards of the buck before pulling the plug. Lesson learned…as a handler, we need to be able to determine if the dog is on or off the track of the wounded deer but we also need to be able to trust that the dog is doing his job and working the track correctly.

11/08/2023

November 2nd- Ranger and I took a track for a gentleman that shot a buck the evening before. Unfortunately we lost the track after It climbed a bank and went into a gravel pit

10/27/2023

Hey everybody, I hope everyone’s getting out and enjoying the fall so far. My name’s Jon and I’m offering blood tracking and wounded deer recovery in Southern Ontario based north of Woodstock. Ranger has been tracking for the last three seasons and has successfully located multiple deer.

A few questions you should be prepared to answer when you contact any tracker:

1. Do you have permission to track all the land needed to recover your animal?

2. Where was the animal hit?

3. When was the animal hit?

4. What colour is the blood on the arrow (if applicable)

5. Is there blood at the hit site? If so, what colour?

6. Is there fur at the hit site, if so, what colour?

7. How many people have attempted to track the animal so far and have you grid searched? PLEASE BE HONEST! Having a group of people walking back and forth across the track can spread scent across the search area, confusing the dog.

8. What are the current weather conditions?

9. What is your exact location? You may need to guide the tracker to your hit site

PICTURES OF BLOOD, HAIR AND ARROW ARE ALWAYS A BONUS!!

If you’re in need of a tracking dog or have any questions, feel free to reach out by PM

Good luck this season!