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Best Effort Recovery and Bloodhounds

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Flat Rock, IL
Best Effort Recovery and Bloodhounds

I've been tracking deer with my Bloodhounds as a service to the local area since 2017.

01/06/2024

Pixie and I can't take full credit on this recovery. I got the call last evening and after hearing the scenario of the shot recommended waiting till the morning to try tracking the deer even with the rain and snow in the forecast. The deer had been gut shot and I didn't want to risk pushing him into Indiana before the storm hit. Gut shot deer normally bed fairly directly if given the opportunity and left undisturbed. This morning the area was covered with a layer of heavy wet snow and Pixie really struggled to lock onto the track for some reason. Normally snow on top of a blood trail is not an issue. She did eventually get on a line and showed us some blood. The however was spotted from a high bluff about 200 yards from the hit sight before Pixie even crossed the creek at the bottom of the bluff. I think she would have found him eventually but it would have taken at least 30 minutes longer this time. Congratulations Steve what an awesome deer.

01/06/2024

Do my hounds bay while tracking? Only if we are in hot pursuit. You don't want it to happen. It means we have a live deer in front of us. I left this doe alive but bedded 1.5 miles of tracking from the shot sight. It's a high lung hit if not back straps. Started the track 12 hours after the shot and jumped her twice. My hunter will check the area I left her in the morning to see if she lived or died.

01/02/2024

Pixie found another doe. We started the track evening of the first. The sign I was seeing was telling me I should wait till the morning to track this one. I was seeing both bright and really dark blood. We found several beds and eventually jumped the deer. I hadn't seen blood in several hundred yards and when the doe ran off she took a couple bounds out of her bed before trotting out of sight. I also couldn't find any blood in the bed. I was starting to doubt my dog and wonder if Pixie switched deer on me. She took me back to the same spot this morning and working her way through briers and a tall grass field till she eventually found her. There were several times she missed a turn a struggled to require the line. The only blood we found this morning was in a bed 10 yards from the deer. Congratulations to this young lady on her first deer. What a way to start the year!

12/31/2023

Well it was a short track that needed a follow up shot. When Pixie comes up on a live deer and there is a weapon amongst us she will tuck her tail and come slinking back to me. When she did that today I knew what was going on but had to look for a bit before I spotted the deer only 25 yards away. Deer number 34 for this season. Track number 107. Congratulations Jordan.

12/31/2023

Happy New Year

12/29/2023

Well, I'm bumbed. I'm not sure what happened with that deer last evening. I'm thinking now I may have hit him lower than I initially thought and got only one lung. We found the first bed about 600 yards from the hit and from there Pixie didn't track with the same diligence as before. We walked almost three miles looking for him. I'm sure the coyotes didn't do me any favors either. The only bright spot is Pixie did great tracking in the snow.

12/29/2023

Guys I'm feeling your pain. I shot one through the liver tonight and look at the weather. I'm waiting till the morning, crossing my fingers hoping the coyotes don't beat me to him.

12/26/2023

When the deer tracking gets slow the blue dog gets to sing. He's not the best hound around but he made 3 legitimate trees tonight. One had two big boys in it. Who has a c**n problem? Let me know. I need more room to run.

12/21/2023

Most of you all aren't too bad though. Lol

Merry Christmas

12/13/2023

Trifecta !! Yesterday morning I was starting to wonder if I'd get more calls to track. This morning we put three more deer on the board. The neighbors son shot one deer out of a group of three and lost track of it in the mix as they ran off. He and his brother and there dog looked for it last night but didn't have much blood to work with. The dog followed the live deer and the wounded one deer cut off to the right and died 65 yards from the shooting house down in a ditch where the spot light couldn't light him up. Pixie made short work of the track but had to sort a few things out before she found what turned out to be a button buck instead of a doe.

12/13/2023

We scored again this morning! I started tracking this liver hit doe 8 hours after she was shot. At about 300 yards Pixie went hot and took us on a run through the brush. Since I wasn't seeing blood along the way I was starting to doubt my dog and actually stopped her and was fixing to take her back to last blood. As I was making my way to the edge of the woods Pixie let out a few squeaky whines. This caught my attention because it's not her usual M.O. A glance around and a look at the ground payed off with some fresh blood and proof we were still on the right deer. I let Pixie get back on track and followed the deer out of the woods, along the field edge till she reentered the woods. Here I stopped the track, marked the spot both physically and with my On X maps. Plans were made to restart the track at 5 AM. This morning we found her in 15 minutes about a half mile from the treestand.
The blood trail was very scarce and according to Mr Langley the deer would never have been found without a dog. The key to this track was Langley's observation of the deer after he shot her. She ran a short distance then stood for a long time hump backed, head down, and mouth open. All classic signs of a liver hit.

12/13/2023

There's still a couple good ones out there. Jordan Kocher shot this stud from the ground with a crossbow. He didn't know where he hit the deer and didn't have the bolt. The blood trail ended about 200 yards from the shot sight. I was told the blood was watery towards the last so I was expecting a possible muscle hit. I arranged to track the deer 6.5 hours after he was shot. At the shot sight I soon realized we weren't dealing with a muscle hit. The blood was splattered along the trail like it was being shook out of the belly as the deer ran off. As we left the corn feels and entered the woods I noticed bits of corn and grass in the blood. Now I knew we had a stomach hit plus with the amount of blood we had I expected the liver and possibly the very back edge of the lungs. Six hours is the minimum wait time for a liver hit deer so I decided to proceed with caution. Pixie matched us down the line past last blood across a wide open field through a treeline across the second field into a patch of thick cover. I could tell the scent line was getting fresher and expected the deer to be laying behind any bush or briar patch. Once when the deer turned to the left and Pixie was doing her little check I caught his eyes with my light. He was hiding in the brush 20 yards away. I instantly backed out to avoid pushing him from the bed. I tied Pixie to a tree next to Jordan's buddies and took Jordan to show him where his deer lay. When we returned and tried to confirm it was the deer we were after it turned out to be a reflective piece of trash. This action got Pixie all excited and as soon as I let her get back to work she was off and away. We followed blood out of the woods across the third field with nothing but treeline fence rows for cover ahead of us. I still hadn't spotted a bed. As we broke through the first tree line I scanned the fourth field with my spotlight and saw him laying a 100 yards ahead of us. We stopped and observed him for a few minutes and it became apparent that he was at the end of his journey. Total track was 1.03 miles and I don't think he layed down once till the end. Very unusual for a gut shot like this. If you can't tell Pixie didn't want to hold still for the pictures. The only thing on her mind was sinking her teeth into that deer's flank to make sure he don't get away.
Congratulations Jordan, that is a beautiful deer. Also thanks for giving us a call and allowing us to help find this fine deer.

12/08/2023

Good luck to all the muzzle loader hunters out there this weekend. It's hard to know what happened after shooting a deer with the smoke pole and a second shot takes a bit to load. Don't hesitate to call if you need help tracking your deer. Don't forget to wear orange or pink if you are hunting this weekend.
618-553-1639

11/30/2023

Found another Nanny goat for the freezer. The first blood we found looked like gut or liver blood, it had grit and brown fluid mixed with it. As the track continued the blood looked like muscle blood. When we found her we had an explanation. According to the hunter the deer had to have taken a step and turned toward the sound of the crossbow that had been fired 50 yards to her left. The entrance was by the last rib and exit right infront of the opposite hip bone, the source of the bright red muscle blood.

11/26/2023

Remember my little buddy that shot 2 deer the same morning? We found one but not the other. Here is the reason why. He wasn't dead. This is a picture of him less than a week later. I love the proof of life photos. Keep them coming.

11/25/2023

I'm sorry for some of you guys. Things happen.

11/23/2023

24 hours 0.75 miles mostly open fields. It was tough but we got done just now. Pixie alerted 100 yards before she found him. She just keeps getting better.

11/22/2023

Brad Hamill's son had an exiting hunt yesterday morning, 11-21-23. He had bucks all around and managed to arrow two of them. The first one was just a touch back and likely caught both lungs stomach and liver. I brought Pixie in 11 hours after the shot and started her on this buck. In short time we came to the spot where the second buck crossed the first bucks path and it got just a little confusing for Pixie but she figured it out and continued the track and got me within 10 feet of the live deer. He got up and walked away. We could hear his labored breathing and knew he was in trouble. We made plans to come back this morning and find him dead.
Deer number two, the bigger one, had a very heavy blood trail but it was accompanied with long white/gray hair. This told me he was hit in the arm pit or very low on the chest. When I saw that I was almost certain how the blood trail would end. As we progressed the track the volume of blood we were finding had me thinking there was a possibility of having a dead deer. Then just like that there was a final pool of blood several small drips to a bed and the trail eventually ran cold. Lots of blood doesn't guarantee a dead deer, only a bleeding one.

This morning Pixie led us 386 yards to deer number one and our little buddy got some relief from the disappointment he was felling after tracking two of his deer and not going home with either one last night.

11/22/2023

I managed to get one good recovery in the first firearm season. The sinus infection I came down with kicked my but and I was only able to do a few tracks close to home. This deer was gut shot and made a circle back to his home before he couldn't go anymore. There was an, on again off again, blood trail showing both bright red and dark red blood. I've run so many tracks this year that didn't lead to a dead deer that I was telling myself this deer won't be dead. Since Pixie was still tracking, we were good with tracking permission on the properties we were on, and there was blood, I kept going. Finally at 7/8 mile we caught up to him. This is Sonia's first buck off her property after 30 years of living there. Congratulations, glad we could help.

11/17/2023

Guys use all 3 of those slugs if at all possible. I caught a severe head cold and have to get some rest before it turns to something worse than that.
Best of luck to you all.

11/17/2023

11-15-23 this buck took a step just as the crossbow was being fired and received a bolt through his intestines. He immediately hunched up and walked off through the woods over the ridge and out of sight. Henry called me right away and told me what happened and where he hit the deer. I made plans to track him 24 hours later. Pixie picked up the track and in 45 minutes and 675 yards later had us looking at the deer. According to Pixies body language we had pushed the coyotes away from him after they had already filled their bellies full. While we were taking pictures a coyote started barking at us letting us know he wasn't to happy about us being there. Had this deer not been left alone for as long as he did it's hard telling where we would have found him. If you hit back give them at least 12 hours to die before tracking. Once again a deer recovered with a dog that would have been lost forever with out that amazing sniffer.

11/17/2023

Pixie was able to get us to this deer 55 hours after he was shot. We had pretty much given up hope of finding him till she started taking interest in a deer crossing along the road on the way back to the truck. The wind was in her face and the deer was giving off a lot a scent. 5 minutes later we had located him. She didn't really track him to his final bed but showed interest along the way to get us down wind of him. A true trophy measuring over 190 inches. Too bad we didn't get there in time to save the meat and the cape.

11/16/2023

This was the second recovery of 11-11 2023. I've tracked for this group of Alabama hunters before and they have been impressed with Pixie's work each time although we never recovered a deer for them. This buck was shot and ran for about a hundred yards then turned and walked out of sight. The buck had been shot morning of the 10th. On the morning of the 11th before I showed up the second buck was shot only 3 feet feet from the first hit sight. Thankfully he ran a different direction and didn't mess up the first one. Pixie got right to work and was soon giving me a proximity alert. Just at that moment I noticed a buzzard leave his perch in a tree ahead of us. Not wanting to build false hope I didn't say a word and continued tracking. Sure enough I soon smelled the deer myself and we found him only about 200 yards from the spot he was shot at. The hunter had done the right thing and given the deer plenty of time after the shot before pursuing his trophy. It made for a quick and relatively easy recovery when the dog showed up.

11/15/2023

The third recovery for 11-11-23 was a lung liver gut hit. I had tracked for this hunting party earlier this year and told them that if they ever jump a their while tracking to back off and give it more time. We'll it happened. The deer jumped and ran across an open field and was expected to be in a waterway leading into a patch of heavy cover. The deer was given time but the hunters forgot to mark anything digitally or physically. When I showed up it was dark and the hunter had a tough time finding the shot location and first blood. This resulted in excess trampling of the area and unnecessary stress. We did however find the starting point and the blood trail and after one restart and a lot of patience as Pixie sorted out the trampled woods finally came clean of the contamination and found the deer in short order. Approximately 15 hours had passed after the shot and rigor mortis had not set in yet indicating the deer had only recently expired.
Take aways from this track; physically mark the blood trail. It prevents major contamination problems if a dog is required. Digital pins and waypoints are great for getting you to the general location but a man made object marking the spot is the key.

11/14/2023

Pixie found one 55 hours after the shot last night. Story comes later. Big pig!

11/13/2023

Second recovery and fourth track of the day resulted in a grip and grin.
I was close to being booked for the day when I got a call for a gut shot deer between my current location and my next scheduled track. Since I didn't set a specific time and the scheduled track was supposed to be a gut shot deer as well and needed plenty of time to die I squeezed in an extra track. The deer had been shot 32 hours before I arrived on scene. I started Pixie at the spot where the deer had been jumped from the bed. I'm not sure what time the deer had been bumped. No worries Pixie locked on in short order and led us to the deer hiding in some tall grass about a hundred yards from the truck. Congrats Phil Gingrich.

11/13/2023

I'm running behind on my story telling.
November 9, first track of the day, I met with Jerry and reviewed the hunt and inspected his arrow. Jerry was hunting with a crossbow and shot the buck through a small opening at 25 yards. The arrow pass through and had a light coat of blood on it, maybe a hint of fat as well. At the hit sight Pixie was a bit slow in getting started . First she back tracked the deer. Then she made a false start. I was getting a little nervous but she soon chose a line and worked it down the woods slowly curving to the left. At 250 yards we found the deer just the way we like them to be, dead. High lung hit with no blood. Congratulations Jerry.

11/10/2023

Happy Happy Happy

11/10/2023

Happy Happy Happy!!!

Usually I wouldn't get to track a deer hit like this one was. I believe the deer was walking when the arrow was released, so the hunter was unsure of his shot placement. The deer was bleeding like a stuck hog so it looked like he was hit near the front leg. The hunter has had some not so good luck before by going in too early to track his deer. A bill cap was dropped at first blood and the search for a tracking dog began since the deer had run a good 200 yards before ducking into the woods. Since the shot was well infront of the diaphragm I showed up 3 hours after the shot and put my apprentice Tony on the line to see if he could find the deer. He did great till we got to the spot where coyotes got the buck back on his feet and he started down a trail to the left then turned around and took the trail to the right. I know this because I took Tony back to the car and brought out the big gun, Pixie. Pixie hit the tee in the trail and made an immediate right turn 60 yards later we found him. The coyotes had already started the field dressing for us. The deer had been shot in the neck and had bleed a solid trail till he bedded. Thanks to the coyotes he wasn't dead in the bed. Congratulations Christian Seaton! Thanks for the call. It was a pleasure.

Note: please mark blood, hit sight, and last blood with something more than an onX pin. The digital pins get you in the area but blood can be super hard to find if it's not marked with a man made object. Hats, gloves, toilet paper, arrows with lighted knocks.

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Flat Rock, IL
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Happy New Year

Product review These boots took a beating. Well worth the money. Has any of you guys tried these boots?

The last track for Nov. 5th we found Big Fatty. The Tennessee hunter, Mitchell, made a shot he is still proud of and hit the deer right behind the leg about 6 inches up from the bottom. The deer was slightly Quartering to the hunter when he was shot. After several hours Mitchell and his son start tracking the deer. Low and behold he jumps and runs after about a 150 yard blood trail. They continued tracking and suddenly the son says," Dad your deer is laying right there." A second shot was taken and the celebration began. After 30 minutes or so they resumed tracking and jumped him again and watched in disbelief as he charged through "the thickest briar patch in Illinois". At this point I got the call and we decided to treat it as a liver hit. Mitchell decided to drive back home to Tennessee with his wife and kids so the kids could go to school the next day. Mitchell then turned around and drove back to start tracking at 6:30. Pixie took one wif of the blood trail and I could see she was going to go till she found him. She usually avoids briars if possible but this time she was pushing through them. I had to trample a path for her through the thickest spot but she was showing me where to go. Once through the briars she crossed the road and a bean field through a buch of tree tops to Big Fatty. This deer wouldn't have been found for a while without a dog. Congratulations Michell, thanks for the opportunity to help you recover your deer and make some good memories for your family.

First track of the season! Wish us luck.

Pixie is working a 72 hour old practice track in this video. I didn't know if any scent would be left at that point or not. Obviously there was. She had to search for it in places and I had to reset her on the line a few times, but she did make it to the end. I was happy with how she handled the rabbit at the beginning of the video. She would have loved to take off after him but knew better than to try.

Tracking deer in the snow. One thousand yards from start to finish. Just the occasional drop of blood showing through the snow #thenoseknows #coldnose #bloodhoundsrock

Wild turkey hen defending her young.

Deer Tracker training. Old and cold scent line.

Take advantage of these beautiful spring days and practice shooting your hunting weapons. Accuracy is gratifying.

Timothy the handsome hound impressed me tonight. He struggled finding the line at the last 90* turn but finished strong. He tracks like his daddy, old man Frank the Hammer.

The tail end of Tony's track. He has so much enthusiasm when he is on a track. I'm working on getting him to slow down and track tighter.

A training video with Ginger. I share it to show a little of how I handle and read a dog. If you are new to tracking hopefully you can learn something. If you are an expert tell me what I did wrong.

Wow what a year. Although I wasn't able to help all the hunters that called I was able to help 95 of them and recovered 31 deer. Here is a slide show of some of the photos and videos I took. I believe every deer we found is pictured but not in order. I saved the best till last. Thanks again to all of you for letting us find your deer. Tell your friends and neighbors about us and our service. We are already anticipating the fall of 2023.

Timothy working on a track wearing a harness and lead for the first time. He did pretty good as well as the rest of the puppies. I still have 4 puppies left. Timothy, Anthony, Jimmy, and Kaitlyn.

I took the puppies on a walk in the woods. They loved it. They best part was when they had to cross a log.

Puppies practicing their tracking skills. They are getting better at it with every track. They need to start being worked individually.

We tracked a brisket hit , possibly one lung, deer this morning. He was shot yesterday at 2 PM. We bumped him out of his bed and chased him for at least a mile and a half. He showed no signs of being close to the end. I thought I saw him through the brush a few times but never was able to confirm it was him that I saw. I only know we bumped him because of how Pixie's body language changed. It was a nice morning to be out. Track number 91 for the year. Can we make it to 100?