Ugly Dog Deer Tracking

08/18/2024

Archie and I are back and ready for our 4th full season. Call if you need help finding your deer or bear. UBT-2 certified with over 100 recoveries.

03/11/2024

Always neat watching these videos. I like how it shows how low the top of the rib cage dips down as you move forward at the shoulder leaving nothing but meat behind the shoulder blade above the spinal cord. More reason to back up from those big shoulder bones.

Video #8 in Brian Johnson Anatomy SeriesCopyright Brian JohnsonPlease email us at [email protected]

02/14/2024

Archie finally got to hit the ice a few times this past weekend.

01/11/2024

Archie’s first ever coyote hunt resulted in a hat trick. 3 shots, 3 yotes, in the first 3 minutes. He met the first big male at the call and proceeded to get bit in the ass but when they squared off, I dumped the distracted yote. The second coyote left at the shot but turned around with the pup in distress sound. Archie engaged it and stopped it at 75 yards. I shot and it took off to my left with Archie on its tail. Things went quiet for a minute or two when I finally noticed Archie coming at me from straight away. Once Archie got to me I noticed the third coyote coming up the hill on his ass. Archie rushed out to deal with it and had it stopped at 40-50 yards. I shot it, it dropped, got up and Archie ran it down 200 yards away.

01/07/2024

The dreaded high shoulder shot. 👎🏽

12/22/2023

The hunter described a “low hit” and saw a “bloody front leg” yesterday morning 9am. But what caught my attention was the deer’s reaction after the shot. She trotted a bit, stood for 5 minutes, walked a short distance and bedded. Got up on her own shortly thereafter and walked/trotted away and over a hill out of sight. I received a couple arrow pics that confirmed my suspicion of a stomach/gut shot. We gave the deer 10 hours which in hindsight wasn’t nearly enough but being close to home and on a huge property with no fear of “bumping onto the neighbors”, we went on the early side of wait times. Archie tracked quickly 200 yards from the hunter’s last point of view to her bedded. I tied Archie to a tree and was able to dispatch her with a knife. Normally we give these hits 16+ hours but after considering all the factors, which there’s about 5 I run through my head, we pushed the envelope and got the deer pretty quickly.

12/20/2023

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/JDByW72qwj9F8wQ6/?mibextid=roAVj8

12/11/2023

Archie had a good, busy day yesterday. He went 2 for 3 on deer tracks with really nice, accurate, nose work on all 3 deer. He also did great on his pheasant hunt.

12/09/2023

***MILESTONE ALERT***
***100 RECOVERIES***
Archie got his 100th recovery last night on this stomach/intestinal hit doe. It was the hunter’s first archery deer and we were super happy to be able to help with recovery. Archie tracked 710 yards at the 15 hour mark to this deer that was not quite expired. Fun night in the woods!

12/02/2023

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/7V1pZjS9nAnsUS37/?mibextid=roAVj8

12/01/2023

Archie turned 4 today!

11/28/2023

This buck was shot with an arrow quartering to behind the shoulder according to the hunter. Bled for 100 yards and quit so hunter called us. We tried tracking at the 16 hour mark with zero confirmed advancement in a mostly dirt picked bean field. Couldn’t find the field exit and we searched a bit in the cold that night. We came back the next morning to cover all nearby (within 800 yards) bedding cover. We were down to the last thicket ringed pond at the farthest corner of our search area when Archie head snapped into the wind and took me into the willows to the hunter’s buck. Not a tracking recovery but if deer don’t dump the scent that Archie needs to track, we will resort to basically a grid search downwind of any likely bedding areas to recover deer in these type of cases.

11/25/2023

With snow in the forecast tomorrow morning don’t worry about it covering up your blood trail. Tracking dogs have no trouble smelling through up to 6 inches of snow or possibly more. Wait times still need to be followed or you risk bumping your marginally hit deer out of the county.

11/24/2023

Archie got to help this hunter put his hands on this wide heavy buck. Arrow hit low belly and hunter watched the deer trot off, stop for a bit, and continue slowly over a hill. He wisely waited to grab his arrow and snuck out of the area. Tracking at the 24 hr mark, Archie found the field exit and first blood. His first line took us to a creek crossing 400 yards from the hit site and the hunters confirmed a few drops of blood behind us. The deer went another 150 yards past the creek before dying in his second or third bed.

11/22/2023

The hunter knew the hit was back, waited a couple hours before checking the trail, didn’t like the tiny amount of blood he saw, and wanted to make sure he got his buck so he called. All textbook measures to help ensure recovery. He was rewarded with a short track by Archie and his fine buck the next morning.

11/20/2023

Deer turned as hunter shot and took the 200 yard 30-06 shot up the rear and out the side. The hunter watched it run 200+ yards across field and enter the woods where he found blood and tracked from there a little further before blood fizzled out and he called. We tracked at the 19 mark and Archie took us the next 300 yards to the deer freshly expired in his 4th bed.

11/20/2023

This was a liver/gut hit buck tracked at the 16 hour mark. Still hot n loose as you can see by the jiggling. 650 yards.

11/17/2023

We tracked this deer at the 15 hour mark. It was a low belly muzzleloader hit deer that gave the hunter another shot. 2 more shots actually, and it’s a good thing the hunter took them. Both follow up shots hit, one just a graze on the neck, but the other got the ham and probably was the reason this deer didn’t go further than the 440 yards it went. If ever given the opportunity to take a follow up shot, take it. Especially if the deer’s reaction is a hunched up walk.

11/16/2023

Archie got his first Argo ride of his life on this track. The hunter and his wife backed out after the bloodtrail went thin and wanted to wait til dark as not to bump the buck. Archie made quick work of the short remainder of the track.

11/14/2023

Archie got to find this buck twice. Slug to the high shoulder dropped this buck for over 5 minutes before the hunter watched it get up and scamper away. The hunter, along with some of his friends and their dog, looked for the deer that evening with no luck. Archie and i were in the area so we stopped to help. First line into the swamp Archie located the bedded buck 200 yards away still alive but sore in the front right leg. It jumped from the bed, stood there for a while, blew, and took off. Knowing it was hurt pretty bad we made plans to locate him 14 hrs later the next afternoon. We picked up the track the next day and located the buck once again 400+ yards away from first bed and the hunter got to put his hands on his deer. Archie was happy to chew on the joker that ditched him the night before.

11/14/2023

This young man shot this buck with a shotgun the afternoon before and it laid there for over half an hour. As he got out of his tree at dark, the buck got up and trotted off across a small swamp. I got the call that evening snd agreed to meet him the next morning to see how bad the deer was hurt. Archie was able to locate the buck and back out so hunter could move in and dispatch it. The original hit was high in the neck and caused spinal shock which temporarily paralyzes the deer. It’s very common during gun season. Always keep your gun ready to shoot again if deer drops immediately and has its head up.

11/10/2023

Archie’s shortest track in his 3 years. 10 yards. No passthrough so limited amount of visual blood had the hunter, being careful, put in a request on the TRAKR app. Archie covered the 10 yards from point of loss to the buck in 2 seconds. If the hunter would’ve been taller than 4’8” he would’ve surely seen his deer laying there in front of him. Nonetheless, Archie was happy to chew on it a bit and we helped gut and drag it out since we didn’t do much else there. 🤣 Fun 5 minutes in the woods!

11/08/2023

This buck was hit a bit back and the hunter knew it. The arrow showed obvious sign of liver and gut. The hunter called for advice and I told him to sneak a peak at the 4 hr mark to check the initial blood trail a few yards and report back since I’d rather the hunters find their own deer whenever possible. Seeing only a drop of blood and some brownish liquid where the buck entered the woods, he snuck out and wanted us to come in the morning. We arrived at the 18 hour mark and Archie went 280 yards straight to the buck legs tucked in his first bed watching his back trail. Anymore than just careful peeking the night before would’ve bumped this deer. Smart hunter making smart decisions makes a tracking dog’s job easier.

11/08/2023

Trying to find time to post some recoveries lately has been tough between tracking and hunting. This buck was a crossbow mystery hit, which most are because of the speed. The hunter, who 6 months earlier had open heart surgery, had a speck of blood at the hit sight and a general direction of travel. We tracked the next morning and Archie took a minute to work through the thicket the buck had dove into and on the other side 70 yards away found some blood. He took us 475 yards through solid bedding swamp to the buck.

11/04/2023

Archie didn’t waste time leading us to this buck. The track was 24 hours old and unpressured by an educated hunter who, when retrieved his arrow, knew he’d hit back further than he wanted. The deer went 285 yards and died in his first bed in the first available thicket. If tracked too soon, this deer makes it to a huge willow swamp and recovery then gets more difficult.

11/03/2023

Archie finished his day yesterday by helping Jim (Possum) find his buck. Jim made a good shot but the high entry and quartering to angle prevented a low exit and hence, left very little visible blood. Jim backed out quickly and called sounding a bit nervous and I told him we’d meet him after our next track. We arrived at the 8 hr mark and Archie had the buck quickly after a 180 yard semi-circle through the hilly thick buckthorn. Very little visible blood on track, it was all inside. Broadhead hit the very back of one lung and angled back towards the low flank/thigh on far side. Fun day in the woods! Congrats to Jim on a dandy buck!

11/03/2023

Did a track yesterday morning in which the hunter wasn’t present. He had hit a buck back on Wednesday morning at 9 am and saw the deer leave slowly with his arrow back by the haunch. He stayed in his stand for 3 hours before peeking at the hit site where he found some stinky p**p juice. He texted and said he wanted help and I said we’d be there the next morning at 24 hours being it was a far back gut shot. He said he had to work the next day so I informed him I could track without him since I’m a licensed bowhunter. He sent gps coords to his stand and marked the hit site with his rattling antlers along with a butt cushion for a direction of travel. The hunter did everything correct after the shot staying away from the scent trail and not poking around the area. Archie and I got there at 9am Thursday and found the stand, antlers, and butt cushion easily. There were also 50 turkeys yelping, kee keeing, and gobbling like crazy. Archie thought those were neat. Up by the turkeys about 300 yards to the south of the stand, I could hear crows making a ruckus. We made our way over there, not really tracking, just going to check it out since sometimes coyotes open the deer for an easy meal for crows. We got up over the hill and see the carcass of a spike buck that looked to be around a week old and eaten extensively. Back to the hit site we go and this time I actually started Archie on the track and he took me ESE 300 yards to the correct deer in no time. The deer was bedded in a thick buckthorn thicket with his back to the wind and facing his backtrail towards the hunter’s stand. Good thing the hunter knew better than to tromp around and spook the bedded buck. It died sometime overnight. Not a drop of blood to be seen. Super proud of Archie on this track. The distractions didn’t phase him. When hunters do things right post shot, it really makes things easier for the dog. I gutted and and carted the deer to the road for the hunter and let him know where he could find it when he left work.

11/02/2023

Archie worked the nightshift to recover this liver hit doe. 5-6 beds and 4 sharp turns and he didn’t miss a step.