Cory & Keira Deer Recovery

09/06/2025

Time to knock that rust off I guess and get ready!

INTRODUCING OUR TRACKING TEAM FROM CADDO COUNTY 📢

Do you know of someone who hunts in or near this county? Be sure to tag them below or share this post!

🐶What is your name and your tracking dog's name?
We are Cory and Keira Deer Recovery!!

☎️Contact Information is:
(405)829-0020, or message us on our tracking page.

🚘How far will you travel for a track?
Varies throughout the season, but an hour drive is common.

🐶What breed do you track with?
Keira is a 6 year old British Field Lab.

📌What county do you live in?
We live in Caddo, but track to all the counties around us and more.

⏳How long have you been tracking with your current dog?
She started with friends and family as a pup, but have been tracking for the public for the last 5 years.

🦌How many tracks do you typically take a season?
Also varies greatly. Last year was the slowest year by far, but we still take as many as we have the time and energy for.

🤔Why did you start tracking?
I’ve always helped other people every year find their deer, so when Keira came along it was just an easy decision to train her to be another tool in the box. Once I realized how good she was at it, it would have been a waste to keep her to myself. She’s made a lot of people happy over the years.

⏰What hours are you typically available to track?
We track a lot at night when it’s cooler during the early season, but we track 24/7 at times.

💭 What's a favorite memory from tracking so far?
Just all the cool people I get to meet. And obviously all the kids deer we find, that’s the best seeing them get excited.

💬What is one piece of advice you would give to hunters?
Most of the time people track wayyy too early. If you aren’t 100% it was perfect, wait as long as you can. And once on the trail, if you haven’t found the deer in 200 yards, leave. Something isn’t right, so don’t keep pushing. You can always call a tracking team with details and we can probably give you some great advice on your next steps to take. Chances are we’ve seen multiple situations like yours and have a good idea where the deer is hit and how long it’ll live. Just reach out.

💬What are some words of advice you would give to those interested in tracking?
Realize from the start that you can’t find them if they aren’t dead. Too many people get discouraged by their dog if they don’t find every deer (me, at times). But a large percentage of these tracks are for non-fatal wounds. That dog usually knows when they start if it’s dead, it’s us humans that need the convincing. Trust that!

09/03/2025

Season is getting closer!!

Top ten things hunters who are most likely NOT going to recover their animal say:

#10. I can drive tacks at 400 yards with this rifle.
#9. This crossbow is 10 ring all day at 100 yards.
#8. It’s the only shot I had.
#7. It’s only a doe.
#6. The 4 of us only searched for 5 or 6 hours.
#5. Is your dog any good?
#4. Grandpa taught me to always go for the head or neck shot.
#3. I always shoot the shoulder. It anchors them.
#2. He mule kicked so it’s definitely a heart shot.

And the number one thing hunters say who most likely won’t recover their animal:

“I hit him good. He HAS to be dead. We just can’t find him.”

Have a great season everyone.
Stay safe!

12/09/2024

Keira finishing up a long track.

12/04/2024

We are still out there getting after it! It’s been busy the last couple weeks between hunting, tracking, holidays etc. Keira had to work hard today for this one but she got it lined out and put a hunter’s first buck on the tailgate!

11/23/2024

Rifle season is THE BUSIEST TIME FOR TRACKERS! Be patient. If a tracker commits to helping you at a certain time, don’t call around trying to find another one closer. It’s hectic and our phones don’t stop ringing! On top of that believe it or not, we like to hunt and see our families also.

That being said, I will be taking my son hunting everyday to try and shoot a buck. My tracking will be limited because of this until he tags the one he wants. I will do my best to find someone else for you, but like I said everyone is pretty busy.

Key points for rifle season:
•High shoulder is NO GOOD! If it drops immediately, put another round into it. No such thing as “too dead”. These deer WILL get up and run off, and no trackers are going to track this one.
• With a rifle especially, if you track blood more than 150 yards, stop. Start assuming something is wrong here and reevaluate your options. Backing out and waiting longer is probably the least you should do. Calling a tracker if blood was getting thin is the best you can do.
• A grid search can always be done AFTER you try a dog. But a dog should always come before the grid.
• Did I mention to stay away from the shoulder?!

Cory and Keira
(405)829-0020

Link to the map of reliable and vetted trackers is in the comments.

11/23/2024

Pretty much every single track we take we hear “great lung blood”. It rarely is. Y’all heard “bubbles in the blood” when you were younger and have been saying it ever since. Bubbles form as the blood splatters, drips, gets pushed through the hide/hair, etc. Don’t put too much faith in whatever blood you find. Take a picture and relay that to your local tracker and they can tell you way more about what it looks like. Some tracks have a mix of liver, gut, lung, and muscle blood all at once. What we really want to pay attention to is how far that deer has traveled with that “great blood”. Is it walking or still running, has it bedded, is it limping, etc. If you’ve gone 500 yards on your “great lung blood”, go ahead and assume something is wrong and you need to back out and reconsider. Don’t keep going and pushing that deer out of the country.

Something we trackers hear ALL THE TIME is “we have tons of blood” and “lots of lung blood with bubbles”.

This picture is from a deer that was shot a couple weeks ago. The hunter tracked this deer 600-700 yards and there was blood like this almost the entire way. They lost blood and called in Boots.

We showed up and tracked the deer another 1,000 or so yards. Similar blood for most of it. My inclination when I got the first blood pic from the hunter was neck or brisket.

The “bubbles” you see in the blood is from the blood “frothing up”; not lung blood. We pulled off this track without a deer. Unfortunately it was a GIANT and the hunter was pretty torn up.

Well, about a week later he showed back up on camera seemingly fine. FTR, the amount and color shade/appearance of the blood rarely means much. Don’t get me wrong, more blood is better than less when it comes to tracking, but more blood really only means there’s more blood and nothing else.

🦌🩸🐕

11/17/2024

Somebody bring us a burger 😅🦌

11/15/2024

The rut has had all the deer tracking teams busy busy this past week. It will probably only get busier leading up to and including rifle season. If you call us or text, be patient. We are trying to get to everyone. And remember, we don’t come running when you call. We get an idea of where the deer is hit first, and adjust our tracking time for when we think the deer is dead. Might be asap, might be the next day. If he’s dead, he’s not going anywhere. Be patient

11/13/2024

We get these calls every single day of rifle season. He’s not dead. Shoot them again if they drop like this, we aren’t going to find that deer if he runs off.

11/11/2024

Pop quiz… how many of yall would think this was a lethal shot if you made it? This buck bled well for almost a half mile. We found his bed where he had been jumped, and took it a bit further with Keira but had to call it off. Two days later and he’s already back!
>> explanation: This shot is actually above the spine. Forward in the shoulder the spine dips way low to connect with the base of the neck. Nothing up there besides meat that typically bleeds well for a while then clots. These shots are very common in rifle season where you see the deer drop, flop around, and get up and run off.

11/08/2024

This was so fun! Hunter was slow stalking through the brush, and got a shot at a buck from the ground! Rain showers were washing all the blood away so the hunter and his friend weren’t finding much to follow. They made it 90-100 yards or so and called me. He was confident this deer was hit in the shoulder, so we were prepared for a long tough track. But sometimes things work out different than you’d expect 🤣 He was an awesome sport about it and gave permission for me to post the video.
REMEMBER! Rain will wash the blood away so you can’t see it, but it doesn’t wash the scent away!

11/07/2024

Shot was Q2 and exit guts. Hunter did the right thing and didn’t push him last night, we found him in his first bed this morning. Coyotes had already gotten started. It sucks when the coyotes beat us, but tracking too soon could have meant pushing this deer completely off the property and never making the recovery. So with questionable shots it’s just part of the game. The brush knocked my GoPro crooked, so enjoy some video of leaves as we make the recovery. lol.