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Bottle creek wounded game recovery, Evergreen, AL (2024)

11/22/2023

We’ve been behind on keeping y’all updated on our recoveries this year and we apologize but it has been BUSY! This deer was shot with a crossbow quartering to at roughly 30 yards. The arrow went in in front of the left shoulder and exited the bottom of the belly under the rear legs (pictured). Even with such a good hit and the arrow running through lots of vitals, this joker didn’t want to quit. We took the track 594 yards to a DOA

11/22/2023

This one was tough! Me and Cody Kelly pair up from time to time to shake some bushes with these yard dawgs and it’s always something to hear about! We got a call on our way back from a track in the lake Martin area that a friend of ours needed a hand recovering a deer which had been shot the evening before. It was said the the track left little blood. We show up to show out and begin getting an idea of the scenario that lays with this situation. At this point it’s been nearly 24 hours and it’s HOT!! We hit the dirt working hard. Griz and diesel took the track through an old cow pasture that was grown in vegetation anywhere from 4-6ft high some being taller and more thick. Lots and lots of green briar. Griz and diesel have shown serval solid hits but we get to a point where the dogs are hitting in serval different directions. Diesel and Griz split up and start grid searching around the 250 yard mark. I’m reading Griz and he’s hitting here then hitting way over yonder then coming back and hitting there. It was obvious that the deers interdigital scent was everywhere. Me and Cody converse for a short period and decide to reset at the shot sight. We make it 50 yards or so in the direction of the truck when diesel and Griz both take a hard left where they showed treed. We make our way in and there lay the buck that had been found by the coyotes. The coyotes had tracked that deer scent all over gods green acre, but those yard dawgs worked it on out! Congrats to the hunter and to these dogs for working it out and getting the job did!!

10/17/2023

Call us! Even if we can’t get you taken care of we know people that can!

02/12/2023

This buck had been shot the evening before at roughly 100-120 yards slightly qauarted away with a 30-06. The buck dropped in his tracks however as minutes pass he saw the deer get up and struggle out of the food plot. The deer would have met his demise in the field but the hunters gun had jammed the first shot! The hunter called in a tracking team and they tracked the deer down to a creek where the dog lost the track. Knowing it may take a bay dog with more experience, we got the green light to shake the bushes! We arrive to the food plot where I assessed the blood and start the questioning that takes place at every track. I concluded in my head that based on the info from how the other dog had taken the track that the deer may be still be alive. I leave the hunter and a good friend standing at the hitsite as I return to the truck to put Griz out. Griz hits the dirt and takes the track the exact way the last tracker had went and stopped at the same creek. At this point I can tell Griz is having a hard time but only for a few short minutes. He returns to the hit site resetting himself to start again. This time he followed the same track for about 50 yards before making a sharp right turn and heading into a swamp. Im watching how fast he was moving on this path compared to the original path telling me that the business is about to get started!! I turn to the hunter and begin to explain “if you hear him bark, he’s looking at your deer and he’s alive” no sooner than the words left my mouth Griz let out some business barks mixed with low tone aggressive growls that we could hear from over 350yards away. I take only a couple more seconds to explain what we were hearing was griz putting teeth in that deer to make him turn around and stop. I beat the bushes as fast as I could until I closed ground around the 40 yard mark. I can see the hind end of Griz baying but can’t see the deer, so I start shifting left and right around the trees and brush to get a shot. Our eyes meet and the buck knew he couldn’t stick around to find out what was about to happen and breaks. If you know my griz, you know he’s not a quitter!!! This time Griz had enough of the run around so he came up with his own plan! As the deer was doing his best to escape, Griz saw his opportunity and seized it!!!! He reached up and grabbed the deer by his family jewels which naturally stopped him dead in his tracks and caused a quarrel. I navigate through this thick nasty swamp to reach 30 yards from the second bay where I still can’t see anything but Griz and he’s hammering down! I shuffle to the left, find a clear line of fire, and seize my own opportunity! The chaos settled and I started my exam of the bodily injury of the deer. His hind quarters where blue and missing hair and his jewels were barely hanging on from where Griz was putting the business to him. What a wild ride with some great people! We thank everyone that allows us the opportunity!!! More soon to come!!!

02/11/2023

PRIME example of what to do if you find nothing at the hit site!!!!! We got a direct call out of butler county where the hunter had made a little over 200 yard shot from a ladder stand with a 300 winmag and found absolutely nothing that showed signs of a hit. Even knowing how mature the deer was, with all the excitement and adrenaline, even though he felt good about his shot, he still immediately backed out and called us. Just behind the vine covered log in the background is the food plot where the deer was standing when shot, he DIDNT GO 20 yards!!!

02/11/2023

The deer had been shot with a .243 at roughly 100 yards while facing away. The deer was tracked a couple hundred yards with occasional blood and had been jumped twice. After the second time the hunter backed out and gave us a call and glad he did! The deer had back tracked from the way the hunter had last pushed him and crossed a small creek where he only made it some 60 yards to his death bed. We meet more and more great people everyday while doing what we love!

02/06/2023

‼️PSA‼️
WHEN IN DOUBT, BACK OUT!!!
With hunting season winding down, we know fingers get more and more trigger happy! We hope you drop the deer but if you don’t, please trail a little piece and when in doubt back out. It makes it extremely hard at times to recover a trampled track. We understand the excitement of course, however your odds of recovering that deer are GREATLY increased when you back out and call on an experienced handler and dog. 2512272002 call us if we can’t get you we know people that can!

02/06/2023

My sons first track! The deer had been shot at about 120 yards broadside. The hunter had his scope zoomed in so it seemed that the deer was a lot closer. We started at the 60 yard mark from the hunters stand. Griz found nothing and was some what piddling around us. My son was tagging along for his first live track and he walked down the road to find some good soft dirt to play in. Griz was following him when he hit the brakes in the middle of the road about 60-80 yards away from us. I see his peaked interest and go to see what it may be. Here we find definite scuff marks from the deer and a few drops of blood. We stand there where we now know the hit site is while Griz is on the track. In a couple minutes he had came back. I cast him back the way he originally went and he stopped at the same place he had before. This time he stayed for a couple of minutes. I look at the shooter, “come on man, Griz has your deer”! Sure enough, Griz was chewing on this Boon and Crocket buck! My son got to see what it’s all about first hand. It’s about recovering the deer, however what means more to us is showing up to communicate with good people who show you 100% hospitality and greatfullness that we showed up at all much less recover the deer. These guys had seen Griz in live action with a bay last year and ever since, they instill their trust in us EVERY TIME to come shoot the bull, crack some jokes, and bring their deer back to camp. Thanks again guys, we look forward to your company again some day soon!

02/05/2023

We thought we had to work hard before, this one proved to be one of the toughest so far! The hunter had shot the deer 38 hours prior to our arrival. The deer was broad side shot with a .260rem at about 150 yards. After a short wait, like most do, the hunter had got down to assess the track. Once he had discovered blood, he called for some help and began to track down the deer. About two hours after the shot, they jump the deer and back out. They give him three more hours and return only to jump the deer again. They wait another couple hours and try again. This time it has started to rain and they had tracked/pushed over 400 yards from the shot site. They track on a little farther to hear the deer get up again and that’s when they finally backed out. Now in the 38 hours before we arrived, it rained steady for 6-8 hours over the first night, up to 26 MPH wind gust the same day (before and after the rain), and three people had pursued/jumped the deer three times. The odds are no where near our favor to say the least. Griz hits the dirt and goes to work. He takes track for 140 yards and returns to check himself. Once he had the reassurance, he left out again taking the track roughly 534yards before coming to a road. Keep in mind it’s taken roughly an hour or more to go this far. Once he reached the road the track had seemed to run dry. He worked up and down the sides of the road and across the road until finally, after an addition 30 or so minutes, I decided with the way Griz was still interested that the deer had likely back tracked. I continue to push Griz giving him as much motivation as possible. I knew my boy was tired as we had laid down a couple miles on the sepulga river earlier. It’s getting somewhere around 10:00pm ish. I take Griz back the where he came out in the road crossing wanting him to back track every step the deer had taken. He did just that with a little time. The deer back tracked little over 100 yards before hooking a right turn and cutting some small circles almost as if he knew his time was getting short. Watching how Griz is working on the garmin and seeing the amount of drive he still had this late in the game gave me chills! I knew if we continued to press on, we may have a better outcome. The deer went an addition 200 yards crossing another road and heading into some larger timber. It’s close to 11:00pm now and we’ve been pushing this track for almost 3 hours. *BEEP* Finally what we’ve been waiting and working so hard for! Griz was standing over the success of a long journey filled with dedication, determination, and hard work. Now this is something to be proud of, however something happened afterward that would make that pride in my chest boil a little more. We return to their camp, now 11:00pm, to discuss the findings of our journey and shoot a little bull before heading home. We were all talking and cutting up when I caught a glimpse of the hat on the fellow beside me. It immediately catches my attention with the bold letters FHGF on the front. This was FLY HIGH GOOSE FOUNDATION. My college roommate and good friend Adrian Johnson AKA Goose, had passed away from a terrible car accident just before his birthday and our graduation in Jan 2019. I asked about the hat and turns out, I had been with Gooses brother-in-law tracking this deer nearly the entire time. After we had talked about Goose for a minute or so, I told the guys that I had some guilt from not purchasing anything from the FHGF because it was something that I was not comfortable with. “Hold on, I’ve got something for you”, he walks into the dark as me and the other guys continue on with some golden Goose stories. He comes back with this FHGF hat and I tell ya, it took me everything I could do to hold back the gator tears. This means nothing to most, but for me, it made this track so much more special! The oldest track to date with a twist on the end makes for a long lasting memory!

02/04/2023

The buck had been shot that morning with a .308 facing the hunter at roughly 207yards. We are only about 700 yards from the sepulga river and man this place is a swamp! Mass amounts of water! Griz hits the ground and works it checking himself a couple times before really leaving out on the track. In just shy of 4 minutes, he has covered that 700 some odd yards to the banks of the sepulga jumping the deer around the 500 yard mark. Can you guess where the deers best plan of escape would be? The river!! Like lots of river tracks we take, the buck was certain Griz wouldn’t tread the river on his heels but boy was he mistaken! Griz takes the buck across only for the deer to jump back in the river once Griz was on the same side. The deer has swam back to side he had originally left with Griz just shy of grabbing tail hair. This time he had a surprise watching and laying wait. The deer finally reaches the dirt with a few high leaps to reach the top of the steep bank. Once he had done the work for us and reached the top, he was successfully dispatched and his story was being etched in stone in my memory. This was our second track for the day and had laid down nearly two miles on the banks of the sepulga. BUT THAT WASNT ENOUGH FOR GRIZ!!! He later went to show out lastnight on an amazing journey that ended in a recovery. Stay tuned for the oldest track to date!

02/04/2023

This one was a little different. The hunter had got down out of the stand and walked into the woods where he stumbled up on a doe, he then fired at the doe and as she runs out of sight he realizes there’s a buck. On the fly, he makes a shot only to see the deer fall but gets back up and walks out of sight. By the time we get there the rain is coming in pretty steady and we are having a hard time finding our way to the hit site. We stumble upon some blood which is where I turned Griz loose and he goes to work. About 15 minutes and 346 yards later Griz led us to this buck DOA!

02/02/2023

Griz put in work for this reward! We arrive at the hit site making small talk while looking for sign before putting Griz on the dirt. A small piece of muscle tissue and a small piece of bone were recovered at the hit site but nothing further. Looking at the piece of bone, I was sure that it was a piece of shoulder plate but could possibly be upper leg. Griz hits the dirt and in seconds he’s strolling. It didn’t take but about five minutes for him to jump the deer 460ish yards into track. They had gone 743yards to a pond where I thought surly griz would bay. I was wrong, they swam across the pond and covered another 200 yards to a small thicket. I’m inbound as fast as I can get there! I was about 50 yards from the bay when they broke. I could see the white flag turn to run with a black shadow on his heels. With the direction they were headed, I knew I had a small window of opportunity. As the buck reaches my window, my bullet connects. To my amazement, instead of falling to his death, he wheeled around and shifted his attention back to Griz. As they quarrel I get closer and when in position, I give Griz what he was waiting for, relief!! After examining the deer, we determined my first thought was correct. The hunter had made a perfect shot center of the shoulder, however the ballistic tip projectile exploded on impact and never entered the body cavity. It stopped on the shoulder plate preventing any damage to the vitals. Once again a track with great folks that we will never forget!

01/30/2023

“I’m 100% sure I missed” were the first words spoke when asked about the track. This is another case of “LOOK ANYWAY”! Roughly 100-120 yard shot through some brush with a 30-06 left absolutely no signs of a hit. The bullet struck a tree limb just before the deer causing the bullet to split. A large portion struck the front leg missing the bone with another piece striking half inch before the rear ham. Would the deer have lived? ABSOLUTELY!! Griz takes the track hard for about 400 yards where the deer crossed the creek pictured. Griz stays on the opposite side from us working it hard. We get across the creek in time to see Griz working the track out of sight. At this time there is really nothing we can do other than listen and lay wait for a bay. Ten minutes goes by as we stand still talking hunting, when Griz let’s out a couple barks. Simultaneously we can hear something running our way. It was the buck we were looking for, and he was closing ground inbound. No track is the same as the next, the options of what can happen are always endless!

01/27/2023

It never hurts to look despite how you feel about the shot. Even if there’s no signs of a hit, look anyway. This hunter had made 150 yard shot in low light and found no signs of a hit. After looking for about 50 yards with no luck he backed out and made the phone call that made the difference. Griz took the track a couple hours after the shot to go 90 yards to find the hunters best deer to date DOA. It NEVER hurts to look and if nothing is found, the best option is to back out and call an experienced dog!

01/27/2023

A good friend of mine and I decided on a mid day hunt in hopes of changing his luck. At 11:30 and just before the rain, my buddy pulled the trigger. It took us a couple hours to assess the track, get out of the woods, and return with Griz. By this time it has rained steady for those couple hours and the blood trail is completely gone. Griz takes the track only to make a short loop and return giving us a look while wagging his tail. I asked him “what are you doing man, get back in there and get him up!” With an almost “yes sir” nod he hit the trail again going an additional 50 yards to deliver some business tone barks. They were bayed roughly 80 yards from us. This marks the first time that anyone has ever beat me to the bay but being the good man he is, he never fired a shot and waited for me to get there. The deer was dispatched and the real work was about to start!

01/27/2023

This buck was shot about 300 yards from the hunter and was hit in the rear ham with a 7mm mag. A couple hours later Griz hits the track while me and the hunter stand on the powerline where the hit site was. Only maybe a minute and a half goes by and we hear something crashing toward the powerline. A bigger buck was in the immediate area that Griz had entered looking for the wounded deer. The buck shot across 50 yards in front of us as we stood waiting to see if Griz was after him. Griz knew, and always does, that the deer that ran by him and us was in fact not wounded. A Few short minutes later and Griz bayed this fella about 120 yards from us for a clean dispatch.

01/25/2023

The deer was shot around 6:30am and was quartering away at roughly 150 yards with a .270win. The hunters looked for a little piece only finding a small puddle of blood about 100 yards into track. Griz hit the ground 13 hours later taking the track 700 yards before finding the buck DOA!

01/14/2023

We worked hard for this one! The deer was shot that morning and we made it there a little before lunch. Upon arrival, the hunter had a double handful of bone bits and I knew then we were in for a ride especially since the sepulga river ran around the area we were in. Griz struck and in minutes those business tone barks were echoing off the banks of the sepulga. The deer had no interest in a quarrel and decided he would swim instead taking Griz across the river and back 3 times! *Beep* Griz is at bay, but according to Garmin, he’s in the middle of the river. He was letting out some whines and howls that I had never heard from him and with good explanation. I get within 60 yards of them and took a tumble down the river bank stopped by a tree. When I got my marbles back together I look up and Griz and the deer are swimming up stream in the middle of the river with Griz only maybe 20 feet behind the deer. I start yelling to spook the deer to the opposite bank and that’s exactly what happened. Once his hooves touched the sand he was dispatched and finally the chaos was settling.