Ritter Tracks

11/28/2024

With archery season closing, tracking has slowed down for us.
I want to tell about some non-recoveries but still interesting stories.

On Wednesday November 13th at 8:00am, a Cowansville area hunter called me from the stand. He hit a deer, but was unsure of the entrance/exit.
He was in a climber stand, about 25-30ft high in the tree, the deer made it's way towards him, turning broadside at 11yds. At the shot, the hunter was unsure of what happened. The deer ran 50yds and walked off quickly out of site.
The hunter expected the deer to fall within sight. What should have been a chip shot, turned out to be something different.
We met up at 1:00 and made our way into the shot site. At the site, there was a large amount of white hair (usually not a good sign), and a small amount of blood. At around the 50yd mark, where the deer quit running and started walking, the blood trail was heavy.
The hunter is color blind, but when I pointed out the blood trail, there was enough that even he could see it. Ritter had no problem trailing this deer. He was locked on and so we started through the woods to see where this deer went.
I run a GPS on myself and on Ritter for every track that we do. I can see exactly how far we go. Throughout the tracks, I also flag blood, hair, etc. as I see them on my handheld GPS unit.
From the shot site, this deer went through a fairly open woodlot, up over a steep embankment across a flat top and down over the other side, across a road into and through a patch of mountain laurel and onto a hillside where he had his first bed, at 0.90miles.... the bed had a coffee can spot of blood/hair/clots amongst the matted leaves. At about 60yds past that first bed, was his second bed. This bed had two small quarter-sized spots of blood, still wet.
Ritter was going crazy at this bed, so I am sure that he was just there, we just jumped him. The deer was still very much alive 6.5hrs post shot and almost 1 mile in.
With the evidence that we were given, we determined that the shot wasn't fatal. We did due diligence on trying to find this deer and the hunter can sleep well knowing that he didn't leave it in the woods.
6 days later on Tuesday November 19th, I took a call from ANOTHER Cowansville area hunter. He hit a deer and was just reaching out for advice, some guidance, and to possibly get some help with the recovery if things went south.
He hit a deer around 10:30 am. He felt like the shot was true, but decided to give it some time. At 1:00, he went in for the recovery and found the deer dead!
With some conversation, we determined that this was the same deer.
I selfishly wish that he would have had us come out for the recovery....it would have made this story even better. We didn't realize that it was the same deer until that evening, but everything lined up.
Here is the crazy part, this deer was killed over 3miles (line of sight) from where it was shot 6 days prior.
Not a great ending for the first hunter, an awesome ending for the second hunter, and Ritter & I were thankful to take part in it.

11/18/2024

Sunday November 17 th

On the way to our first track this morning, I took a call from a Kittanning area hunter. He shot one of his target bucks and wanted us to come out for the recovery.
Ritter and I met the crew at 11:00 and made out way to the shot site. The blood trail was non existent but the evidence on the arrow looked good. We slowly started in and Ritter was tracking to the left. I asked the guys to stay put and span out on the gas line that they were on and look for any blood where the buck may have crossed.
I got 75yd into the wood lot when the excited yelling of congratulations started. The crew spotted the buck dead in his bed. Everybody made their way to him before Ritter and I did. The guys were pretty excited!
The shot was textbook, and the buck only made it 100yd. I was happy to be there with them to share the recovery. The pictures don't do this one justice. He was a tank, easily the largest body deer of the season so far for us!

11/17/2024

Sunday November 17

We took a call from a Shelocta area hunter that shot a buck on Saturday morning.
The deer was within 45yd and bedded down by his stand. For 3 hours, the hunter and his son watched and waited for him to stand up. At around 10:00, the buck got out of his bed and presented him with a 40yd broadside shot. The hunters son was videoing and when the shot went off, the hit was back into the stomach cavity. They backed out and gave him 4hrs. At 2:00 they returned and took up the track. There wasn't any blood, they couldn't find the arrow, so they preceded to walk around looking for him. Nothing came of that, so they went home and got ahold of me.
We met up at 9:00am Sunday morning and set out on the track. Ritter worked it from the shot site, across a power line and into a creek bottom. He crossed over the creek, back and forth a couple times and eventually found a dead deer...but it was a doe. Not what we were after.
We've came across this situation a couple times this season, and I have to pull him off and get his mind off of the deer that he just found in order for him to restart. We restarted at the shot site and he just didn't want to track. He continued to pull towards that doe. I took him in the opposite direction, up the creek and at about 100y in, I noticed him tracking again (got lucky).
He tracked 250yd up stream and made a hard right uphill. We climbed the steep, thick hillside and he made another hard right back towards the power line. 50yd in and we were standing over this buck. I think that the deer ran through the creek bottom and J-hooked back to watch his backtrail. He was dead in his first bed 425yd from the shot site. Luckily, the hunters didn't make it in that far on Saturday when they were body searching. They definitely would have bumped him.
Wait times are critical and advice is free. If you are unsure about a shot, call a tracker and discuss it before heading in there.

11/17/2024

We definitely get invested in your hunt. Ritter and I probably want to find your deer as much as you do.
It's hard to pull off of a track sometimes.

11/17/2024

Saturday November 16

Friday morning my phone rang and a Kiski area hunter needed some advice. His dad just shot his target buck and he thought that the shot looked back. We discussed wait times and what would need to happen to give us the best chance of recovery. I advised them to back out as quietly as possible and stay away from the area. We came up with a plan to meet up 24hrs after the shot.
Wait times are extremely critical during the rut. Bucks are running around super-charged right now. During our conversation, we determined that the shot was most likely in the intestines. He was fully broadside, so there was a very minimal chance that the liver was hit as well.
We met Saturday morning at the hunting area and started at the shot site. The arrow was clean, without much sign on it at all. The shot site had a few specks of blood and some white hair indicating a low hit. Ritter started on the track and within 90y, the deer started to open up with a consistent blood trail. We followed through a thicket of vines and briar where I was sure he would have bed....but I was wrong....
The trail continues on through that and into a fairly open woodlot. Ritter was tracking his usual speed (FAST), but I was trying to keep things slow. I had it in the back of my mind that this deer might still be alive. The hunter was staying close behind me in case of us coming onto a live buck at the end of this blood trail.
We crested a hill onto a small open flat and I could see his rack 80y ahead of us.
The deer made it 1/2mile and was dead in his first bed! Ritter was on him solid the whole way. The rain of the previous day, and the 24hr old track didn't slow him down!
The hunter told me that he didn't sleep much Friday night, he was pretty shook up. I am happy that we could find his deer!

11/17/2024

Monday November 11

We occasionally track doe too!
We took a call from a Ford City area hunter that needed a little help with a doe.
She made the shot at last light and it looked slightly back. After the shot, the doe ran into a nasty thicket of greenbrier and autumn olive. She backed out and called. We discussed the shot and decided to give the deer 4 hours to expire.
At 9pm, we met the recovery crew at the hunting area and Ritter set out on the blood trail. About 1 minute later, we were standing over her doe!
Ritter made quick work of things as the deer wasnt pushed and he found her dead in her first bed.
I don't mind these quick tracks, especially at night time.
Ritter likes them too!

11/13/2024

11/10/2024

Saturday November 9th
We LOVE finding bucks for kids!
We took a call from a Kittanning area hunter. His son shot a buck at 10:30am. They felt as if the hit was good but with minimal blood, decided to back out. We were already heading out to a track about 1hr south when he called, so we decided to meet up when Ritter and I got back into the area.
Around 2:30 we made our way to meet up with them. A short walk into the shot site and Ritter was locked in on the trail. The buck looped up higher than the hunters originally thought but Ritter found blood right away. He stayed locked in for the 189yd track. This one died on his feet, but I'm so glad that they waited for us to get there. It's so much fun to see the excitement of the whole crew!

11/10/2024

Thursday November 7th

We took a call from a Worthington area hunter to help with a recovery. He felt as if the shot was good but the deer was quartering to and the shot was slightly high. We met him at 2hrs post shot and Ritter took the track at the shot site. He worked through a small thicket towards a stream. I noticed him searching and felt like he overshot the track and we had to back up and restart. After restarting, he made a left into the creek where before, he went straight. The buck wasn't far. As soon as he noticed it, he went swimming. This was a first for him, finding one submerged under water!

11/10/2024

I am far behind on updates. We've been going hard, burning the candle at both ends....
I can't update on every track that we take. I'll highlight the recoveries and I'll choose some non-recoveries that I think hunters can benefit from.

Thursday Oct 31
We took a call from a Lower Burrell area hunter that shot a buck Wednesday morning. He thought that the shot looked good, and shortly after shooting, he started tracking the buck. He quickly realized that he made a mistake, jumping the deer out of his bed within 200y of his stand. He backed out and decided to wait until the evening. The hunter came back Wednesday evening, this time with some help of his family members. They worked past the first bed and jumped the buck again from his second bed! They left again and decided to wait until the morning.
Thursday morning, he went back in and couldn't locate the deer. The blood trail ran dry and the hunter made the call to bring us down.
Ritter and I waited until noon to arrive. We started at the shot site and he quickly worked through the first two beds. He continued on and found a third bed with a little bit of blood, but no deer. At this point, we were 1 mile from the shot site. Ritter continued to work. I could tell that he was locked in, so we stayed on the hunt.
I was starting to get worried when I looked at my GPS and saw that we were 3 miles past the shot site. A few more yards and this is what we found!

3 miles, 32hrs post shot, no blood, jumped twice...he was definitely fueled by adrenaline to make it that far.

Ritter impressed me with this one. Definitely had to trust him and pay attention to his body language. Both the hunter and myself were happy with him!

11/09/2024

11/09/2024

Tracking Seazzzon
Truck Nap

11/08/2024

Good advice here! Read it!

🚨RED HAS A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT🚨
We are officially done taking shoulder shots for the year. We just cannot do it. We aren’t making this decision to be rude to anyone or punish anyone for making a bad/shoulder shot, there’s just not enough time or energy to run them all year. We take our share before the rut. Once the rut is on we have to focus on deer that are likely mortally wounded so they don’t go to waste, shoulder shots aren’t usually mortally wounded and they are non recoverable. There’s only about 6 or 7 ways to kill a deer with a bow (unless weird s**t happens) and a few of those you won’t need a dog. Heart, DOUBLE lung, DOUBLE is the key word there, or a major artery you likely won’t need a dog. If you hit the paunch, intestines, liver, diaphragm area, you will likely need a dog. In those cases you should not even think about tracking the deer under 12+ hours and if you do, go alone or with only one other person. Stay on track and if you lose blood mark last sign and LEAVE the way you came in. If it’s not one of those we cannot take the track. A few things to keep in mind- hit em high wave goodbye, hit the shoulder they will live to grow older. I know everyone says “I’ve killed deer in the shoulder blah blah” Well you got lucky, keep pushing that and your luck will run out. Stay off of the shoulder and do NOT shoot a deer that is angled towards you no matter what. I’ve put on more miles this year already than last year including rifle season and have seen so many bloody shoulder shot deer wounded that will not die but suffer. It’s our duty as hunters to take good shots, shoulder shots are not good shots. Teach your kids to stay away from the shoulder with any type of bow. I understand nobody means to hit the shoulder but why chance it. The lungs are huge! Aim back a bit. Good luck out there‼️PS. The deer in the picture was not a shoulder shot, that’s why he’s dead. Just a great picture 😎

11/07/2024

Just taking an early morning swim

11/05/2024

Stay off that scapula!! Someone had a real bad day!

11/03/2024

Thanks for everyone who reached out today.
If you leave me a voicemail or text I will get back to you ASAP.
We have been going non stop and I don't think it will slow down any time soon

724-525-6190