Blue Bagheera Tracking

06/14/2025

This is the video I promised showing how I use the buckets to condition her mind. When I say “can’t trust me” that’s in reference to my knowing where the “search start” is. She’s the boss on a track. If I try to pull her off I want her to KNOW that she knows more than me and it’s her game not mine and that no matter what she’s SEES- it’s her nose that counts.

06/10/2025

We discussed the “small things” scent work that you can do with your dog during my and Tebo Creek Trackings session at the Illinois Deer Tracker’s Network Event. Here’s a short exercise that we do regularly. It was way too easy but you get a sit stay, our search command, the “you’re a winner” voice and that HEAD SNAP that says everything you need to know. We had worked on buckets down by the roses yesterday so I figured she would beeline down there, and she was gonna, but she caught the smell and made short work of it. She’s conditioned to use that nose! She knows her job so we don’t need 3 long lines a week or a month (not that she wouldn’t be better for it but I’m a working girl with a big life and limited time) so we do daily small things like search for our breakfast or a short line and she LoVeS it! Not only is it fun but it’s also CONDITIONING the MIND to use that NOSE. I’ll video some bucket work later today for anyone that’s interested in that.

06/02/2025

Two of the best folks I know repping team Jinx at the Illinois Deer Tracker’s Network event. Tebo Creek Tracking and Blue’s Wounded GAME Recovery.

05/25/2025

We head out to another training event in a few days. I plan to pick up some new skills to help Jinx do her job. I should be training a new dog right now but I’ll be sticking with this little beauty until she’s done. Love her too much to leave her behind.

04/22/2025

Real excited to hang with these gals again. Not only talented in the outdoors and tracking but also some of the most genuine, kind, beautiful (inside and out) ladies that I am blessed to call friends.

Can women track deer? You betcha they can, the proof is in the pics! At the Illinois Deer Trackers Network Symposium, May 30th through June 1st, there will be some of the best and knowledgeable female trackers attending/participating that will be sharing their wisdom and experience.

Ladies are you interested in possibly taking the lead and tracking deer with a dog? Guys would you possibly want your "better half" to track your deer for you? If so, the IDTN event is the place to attend and learn. Again there is no need to bring a dog just come, observe, and learn.

Some of the most elite female trackers within the nation will be attending this event, shown here in the pic. Starting in the top left corner and going around clockwise is the two Swamp Witches, Crystal Gainey and Lindsay Kiefer. Both of these FL ladies are very outgoing and a wealth of knowledge about tracking deer. Next in the top right corner is The Show Me State Trio of Melissa Harrelson, Mary Wilson, and Kayla Ross, all who take the lead themselves. These three track all over the state of Missouri, having tons of experience to share. Down a pic is another neighboring state tracker, Rachel Crume, from Kentucky. Rachel can handle em all, she runs both big and small dogs. Bottom right is SBS own, my wife Tara. Tara sometimes gets to go with me on tracks, but always is hard at it taking care and helping training our hounds. In the lower left is Oklahoma's own, Melissa Saylor. Melissa is a social media guru and along with her husband, Jon, the two run several different breeds of tracking dogs (including a BH from us, Hoosier Daddy Dio). In the middle left is Illinois very own, Marissa Rosentreter. Marissa runs bloodhounds in West Central IL. and is the backbone to the Illinois Deer Trackers Network (IDTN). Finally in the center is yet another Oklahoma gal, Katie Sanderson. Katie is very dedicated tracker and ambassador to the tracking community who is very knowledgeable and always willing to educate others about tracking and handling a dog.

These are a few of the lady trackers attending pictured, but there will also be the spouses to male trackers that share the same passion and sometimes handle/help train the dogs, such as my wife Tara. There is no doubt ladies (wives or girlfriends) play a huge part in assisting their male counterparts when it comes to tracking deer! Hope to see ya there!

Registration and payment: https://near.tl/sm/R6fEiWNR0

Event Page:
https://www.facebook.com/share/187MqJY8S6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

04/01/2025

We’ve been spending the off season attending events, getting educated, talking tracking and hanging out with our tracking family.

Oh- and collecting more tracking swag than I can possibly ever wear lol! 2025 is gonna be our best season yet- bring on those big bucks!!

02/24/2025

Shirts are available NOW. Black color short sleeves.
The proceeds from these Ts will help pay for Jasper’s surgery and care. As yall know I don’t charge what Jinx is worth. I never want someone to not be able to afford us, we love what we do and if we could do it for free- we would but sadly we have expenses too.

Anyway, we’ve got size small to 2X. $20 a shirt plus flat $5 shipping (if you order more that one shirt you only pay the $5 NOT 5 per shirt) If youre local I will happily drop it off to you. Venmo me your payment along with your sizes and your address. I’ll get them out to you within 24 hours. As always we appreciate you all.

PS Jasper is doing really well and so much happier since his eye was removed and he’s pain free!!!

01/17/2025

Jinx and I will be signing off for awhile. We have a couple of events that I am are booked at to assist in training and judging tracking dogs this spring. I’ll also be posting some of our training videos after the temps warm a bit but a break from socials is due.

We tracked 35 deer. Of the 35 we recovered 17. Of the 18 not recovered, 15 were either jumped by us while tracking or were seen later. 2 we have no closure on. 1 we left dead in the woods thru my error.

Calls were way down this year but man did I have a ton of fun and we met some FANTASTIC folks! Thank you, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your hunts! We appreciate you allowing us to assist -so very much!

01/15/2025

Since I received questions on our snow track I’ll give you the story and my thoughts.

Doe shot Sunday evening. Shot, ran, then walked off. Lots of visible blood at hit site. Took up track two hours later. There was a ridiculous amount of blood that went to drops. When we realized that she was seen 45 minutes post shot we decided to wait until morning. Jinx had NO Problem tracking this deer at this point! It was 37 degrees, snow was deep but had been melting all day. Conditions were GREAT, honestly in the initial area there was almost too much scent and she was amped.

We resumed in the am. Temps had dropped to thirteen over night and everything that melted was froze tight. We are now primarily walking on ice and all that blood is under ICE. (Freeze a small piece of onion in an ice cube and see how well you can smell it). There isn’t much scent accessible, still Jinx picked up the trail well but whenever there was an intersection she would always chose to go forward. Maybe she would’ve corrected herself in 30 yards but as soon as Ian would say he had blood to the right/left I would turn around.
(I have Raynaud’s disease and getting cold can result in serious problems for me so I wasn’t wasting time.)
We finally just ended up leading Jinx as she was struggling to even walk in most areas. It was quite a workout for us all.

Now if you shoot your deer and it snows OVER the trail, it’s insulated and it’s just a soft fluffy covering but this situation was the worst case scenario for us since it MELTED and then FROZE, creating the barrier. Are there dogs that could have meticulously picked this track apart—Yes, there are, but I’m very honest about our abilities and we are not your best option in this situation.

Ian and I were able to eye track her for about a half mile. Then we used the sxs to check every levee and standing corn. We did our due diligence in trying to locate her but came up empty-she ended up being spotted by a neighbor and he confirmed it was a brisket shot but Ian still went back to check and make sure she was healthy enough to make it. She got up and moved off well so hopefully she does recover.

In closing, as I said yesterday- I’ve got friends… five actually that have Labs. Labradors are bred to work in icey waters and are a great option in 15 degrees. We will call one of them!!!

Sublime Tracking
Bear The Big Black Dog Tracking
smelly benelli wounded game recovery
Rest Easy Tracking Deer Recovery
Lab Tracks Deer Recovery
Labs to the front… in ice.

01/09/2025

Jasper’s story.

I won’t show anything graphic, he had his surgery a few days ago. He’s doing well, way better than me.

I got the call 6 years ago on Nov 10th that he had been born. He was imprinted on deer at birth. He was trailing deer scent by the time I got him at 8 weeks old. He was a freaking MACHINE! I’ve seen a lot of dogs track and by 2 years old he was one of the best. Slow and methodical, he would shut out the world and only that line would exist. He was going to be one of the BEST.

He was also a little s**t! No sweets were safe left out on the table or counter. He was a freaking cat and could scale anything and had an insane vertical jump. Fasted dog I’ve ever seen. He would nip Jinx and run, she would give chase but he could spin and nip her again without losing stride. His athleticism was unprecedented. He could do it ALL… water retrieve, track, loved holding cattle- anything you introduced to him he would excel at.

January of 2021 - I noticed him squinting and his eyes were a little red. I was headed out the door and stopped to look at him. As a handler of a working dog you are so bonded… I just knew something was wrong, really wrong. I could feel it. I canceled my plans and called the vet, jumped in the car and drove straight there.

It was bad, inflammation, for some reason his body was attacking his eyes and a ton of damage had already been done. He was sent to a specialist and the appointments were enough to break me. It was during Covid so I would have to take him in, clip him to a table and walk back out. Go sit in my car and sob. We literally call Jasp “sweet baby boy” or “the prince”. He’s our eternal baby and honestly I just love him so much.

We fought hard to keep some vision and for awhile he had about 10% left and he knew the yard so well that it didn’t really faze him. We would just make sure nothing was ever out of place but eventually, within a year, he went completely blind. It was a rough time, I know there are worst things but there are few people that I love more than Jinx and Jasper. I won’t SAY they are on the same level as my human children but…🤔 lol. It’s no secret, my kids are well aware.

My youngest daughter Shea and Jasper have always been very close. He would sleep with her and was as much her dog as he was mine. She was in college but again bc of Covid had to come home (which made Jasp happy) when she went to England for a semester he would cry and howl whenever he would hear her voice on the phone and was beside himself when she returned. She moved to Tower Grove 2 years ago. We agreed to share custody of him but it got to be too much on him trying to recall his path at both places. Not just that though- he had become very reckless and was running into trees, cars, falling off things. He still wanted to do all the things the other dogs did. He wanted to run with his pack but was no longer able.

So I made the tough decision to let him live with Shea, which made her very happy but broke my heart. I still get him several days per month or when Shea is out of town—and now that he’s not as comfortable here it’s slowed him down some. He generally stays next to me and I take him to the back pasture where he can full out RUN. Then we go do some water retrieval at the pond. He still LOVES doing that. He’s always trying to be the big dog and can have a naughty attitude but he’s easily kept in check. He loves to guard, loves it, wants to guard everyone. He gets overwhelmed when I come to visit him and immediately has to grab his toys and bring them over for me to see all his “stuff”. He loves his walks in the city because there are so many smells, and dogs to fence fight 😂. He LOVES babies!!! Any kind of baby, he loves them!

Anyway, his eyes have continued to die off and due to the pain we opted to remove the one giving him trouble. Let’s pray we can keep that left one healthy!!! He may be blind but he’s still very valuable. Forever our Sweet Baby Boy.

01/03/2025

As most of you know my sweet baby boy went blind 4 years ago. Sadly his right eye has deteriorated to the point of needing to be removed and he will have surgery in a few days. I just wanted to ask you all to cover Jasper, Shea and I in good vibes and prayers for strength and healing.