Toad Hill Tracking Services

03/26/2024

Gunthers fluffy pillow! What do you think he is dreaming about ? 🦌🦌🦌🦌👈🏻

02/09/2024

Who is ready for next for next year!?

2024-25 Deer Hunting Proposals to Wildlife Council.

02/05/2024

And just like that the season is over!

Thank you to everyone that trusted us to track and recover for you this year. We wish we could take all the calls we get.

Gunther is already looking forward to next year! He has his ready to work face on - let’s go find them Mom…. Track on!!!

01/21/2024

Gunther hopes you’re enjoying the snow as much as him!

Hunters enjoy the last few weeks of Ohio bow season!

01/07/2024

Great educational post from another phenomenal tracking team.

Truly illustrates how low that spine dips in “no man’s land”

12/24/2023

🎄Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!🎄

12/22/2023

Gunther is pretty excited about our swag! 

12/11/2023

Have had people ask for video of what Gunther looks like running on a recovery track. Here it is! This is a training track, it was about 800 yards,aged overnight, 10ml blood, hoof/leg in modified tracking “shoe”, (3) 90-degree turns. He had a hide and leg waiting for him at the end!

Sorry for the poor quality and my voice 🤣

12/09/2023

***Trust the dog!***

For anyone that has witnessed Gunther track you know he goes full send on a track like a sled dog pulling me around! However on some tracks he just knows there is not going to be a recovery, he stops pulling and stops working. Its his way of saying not dead Mom. We tracked this buck during youth season and all the sign told us it was most likely a non-fatal hit...then Gunther stopped working. The buck showed back up in front of the hunting party during regular gun season and he was harvested. When processing him they found the non-fatal hit in the brisket!

12/05/2023

🦌 Ohio’s weeklong white-tailed deer gun hunting season concluded with hunters taking 70,118 deer. Last year, hunters took 71,931 deer during the gun week. The three-year average for deer harvest during the seven-day gun season is 71,322.

🏆 The top 10 counties for deer taken during the week of gun season were:
1️⃣ Coshocton (2,441)
2️⃣ Tuscarawas (2,260)
3️⃣ Ashtabula (2,189)
4️⃣ Muskingum (2,076)
5️⃣ Knox (1,880)
6️⃣ Carroll (1,864)
7️⃣ Guernsey (1,798)
8️⃣ Washington (1,582)
9️⃣ Licking (1,570)
🔟 Harrison (1,533)
https://ow.ly/ZBkI50QfBpu

12/03/2023

Hunters enjoy the last day of deer gun season on sunday!

11/30/2023

Hunter made a good shot the deer just did not leave good tracking blood.

Hunter gave us a call and backed out. Gunther made quick work of the track.

We appreciate the devotion that hunters have to finding their harvest regardless, if it has headgear or not.

11/27/2023

🦌Good luck to Ohio Gun Hunters🦌

For gun week- daylight tracks will be limited to private land. All other tracks we be conducted after dark.

Gunther Tip - “Be sure of your shot, nothing is more expensive than regret.”

Tracking dogs are such a valuable resource/ tool they are not a fail safe for known and deliberate poor shot choices.

Respect the game you pursue.


11/22/2023

This is pretty spot on❤️

Join dog trackers Lindsay and Susanne as they help hunters of all ages track mortally wounded large animals across the great state of Maine. Their dogs Fritz...

11/22/2023

We get asked by a lot hunters if Gunther only tracks and lives outside? Nope! Gunther is a member of our family he even goes on vacation with us. When he is not tracking you can find him under my feet or on my lap 🐾❤️. Hard to believe that this little tracking fool holds still but he does.

Very thankful for him and everyone who trusts and allows us to aid with their deer recovery efforts.

🦃Have a wonderful Thanksgiving all!🦃

11/18/2023

We have one job...aid the hunter in finding closure from the hunt.

Sometimes that’s not in the form of recovery or immediate recovery with the dog. Sometimes it means you give the hunter a last known location and they return later to make the recovery. Sometimes we find the sign that it's time to call the track and the deer will live on.

Today Gunther ran a track that did not end in recovery. But we hope that it brought closure to the young hunter and his party knowing we did all we could to try and recover that deer. We confirmed direction from POL , we advanced the line, we found a bone fragment, and then we caught up with the deer who was alive. We concluded by distance and sign it was best to back out. We call that a successful track with as much closure as possible. That hunter and his hunting party did everything right. Them deer are tough!

I think it’s important for trackers to talk about non-recovery’s and tracks that don't end in immediate recovery with the dog. Because we run more of them...

11/16/2023

Bow Hunters -If hunting this Saturday 11/18 -Sunday 11/19 remember to wear orange. This is youth gun weekend.

Gunther and I will only track on private land this weekend
Hunt Safe!

11/13/2023

This young lady made a great shot this afternoon but the bolt did not pass through. So they backed out to give her time and called us in to assist with revovery. Congrats on a fantacic doe! ❤️

11/11/2023

Dog or Drone?

That seems to be the BIG question this year.

Our answer: Depends on the hunter’s preference, ethics, time of shot, environmental factors, and the land that the deer was shot on.

Some things to consider:

A dog and tracker can show you sign on the ground. Tracking by ground with a dog is an investigation, one that hopefully ends in recovery. Finding the arrow, different blood, collection of bone, how far have we tracked, did the deer bed etc. Clues or signs that we have gathered tell us a story. If there is no recovery, it’s possible for us to find the sign that shows us it was not a fatal shot. The signs can also tell us to track on!
Then we have Fair Chase- this is moral gray area for some hunters when it comes to the use of technology. It’s also something to do your research on regarding state laws and record book clubs. A drone can’t be used everywhere.

Both the use of a dog and drone have pros and cons. Both have a place in recovery efforts. Both have limits.

Logically Gunther and his handler are pro dog -We believe that ground tracking has a deeper connection to the land and the game we pursue. To us there is more of a traditional value to recovery with a dog. We feel that tracking with a dog that ends in non-recovery but shows us sign, gives more closure to the hunter.

If you find yourself needing help in recovery do your research and make the choice that’s BEST for YOU and the factors at play. Feel free to reach out to us were always happy to give advice and help.

Hunt safe.❤️🦌🐾

11/10/2023

Gunther and I were able to aid in a recovery this morning on this beautiful buck.

Yesterday afternoon the hunters arrow connected a little further back than we like to see. His arrow confirmed his suspicion so he backed out and gave us a call. Giving the deer the time that he needed made him recoverable and easy work. Congrats to the hunter!

11/07/2023

UBT has a great find a tracker tool on their webpage. Gunther’s mom has a day job and as much as he would love to track 24/7 -it’s not possible for us. Ohio Whitetail Trackers 2 FB page and the TRAKR app are also great resources!

All UBT members are eligible to be listed on the Find-A-Tracker map.A listing on the map does not represent The UBT’s endorsement of a tracker’s ability or business practices.Dog and handler teams will have varying levels of experience and training. OR Or, do a more general search by state: (sel...

11/05/2023

📢 NO -to the grid seach! Please….

Tracking dogs work off the interdigital gland scent left by a deer's hoof. The sent is like the deers fingerprint unique to that individual animal. A wounded deer puts out a different scent this is how dogs are able to lock on and track an individual deer. 

- Check out these two photos -

Left - represents what a dogs nose is picking up when tracking a wounded deer on an undisturbed track.

Right- what a dog needs to try and sort out after you grid search or have multiple people trying to help you track. They pick up the sent and spread it all around.

Give a tracking team a call our advise is free. Most of us did not start this to make bank. Most of us work off tips or donations. We do this because we want to help with recoverys and help hunters find closure. We believe in fair chase and ethical hunting. Let us be your first call not your last.

11/05/2023

Congrats young man on your first buck!!!

❤️This right here is why we started tracking❤️

Gunther was very excited to aid in this youths recovery as you can see by the photos.