Wolverine
Well-Known Member
2 natural tracks in a week-long may it continue.Available for more
First one-called out beginning of week on a wounded red stag,stalker said gut shot,stalker was bang on,stomach content at shot site.
I got there around 8 hours later,after dog had been tried on the track already,failed once animal crossed/stayed in river??,dog lost track at river.....
We picked it up 300m downstream,100m out of the river on opposite bank and animal was despatched after a chase of 200m-I was very happy with the baying and bravery of my dog as he is just 15 months old as well as his work on the leash.I was also expecting animal dead-it wasn't but it wasn't full of life.
A good basic track.
Then came the more advanced one.
Called yesterday,again a red stag,different place,different stalker.
Out I went to shot site after being told that beast was shot in chest but could not be located in thick woodland.Woodland which was windblown/clear fell and sitka of around 10 years old.
Shot site said not chest shot but high leg shot.....very like a chest shot though at site and with reaction to shot.
Now according to some-I should have tracked it right away.....I did not.
I came back today,24 hours later,why?
That offered best chance of recovery,through knowledge not "hurry lets find the animal"
The young dog tracked the animal(no dog tried previously on this one)
Stag went over 1km to where he'd laid down,dog indicated wound couch,blood and a little bit of bone found.
At start of track,bone indicated and there was blood on the floor for fully 100m as though it had been painted on with a brush-then nothing.1km on we found the above.(couch and bone)
On we tracked.
A further 0.5km on we found another piece of bone.
At 2.3km we pushed the stag out of wound couch.....bear in mind this animal was NOT pushed previously with a dog yet it travelled 2.3km through thick sitka/clearfell/windblown older timber-a lot of fun following with a dog.Not.
Dog chased stag for a further 2 km,animal full of life.
Bayed and stopped the stag until I caught up with them and despatched the stag after 10 minutes of waiting for a safe shot.
2 animals recovered that may not have been.
Now this is tracking with a tracking dog/handler-not a deer dog which finds a dead deer.
Reason for posting this is not to steal Jamross's thunder but to point out to people the very big differences between the 3 types of recovery.ie Dead,Mortal wound(eventually),survivable wound for over a period of days.
Jamross knows me well and I have congratulated him on his find when he recovered and he also knows my thoughts on the vast differences between the types of recovery.
Saying "that deer will survive" is not acceptable as you don't know that for certain once wounded.
Not every dog will recover the types of wounded animals but ALL dogs will recover dead deer(however Whisky has done very well with certain facets within her recovery,very well)
I wonder which recoveries would be handled by the different breeds and at which level and percentage of recovery with the different types of wounds would be best suited not only to the breeds of dogs but the handlers also.....how many handlers give up and don't trust their dog/don't know if the dog is correct?
How many handlers will admit their dog is NOT up to a certain track and call someone and their dog who is up to it/knows how best to recover the wounded animal with the knowledge of the handler?
Not everyone does.
As said there is a world of difference.There is tracking and there is finding-2 very different scenarios and the 2 should not/can not be confused.
First one-called out beginning of week on a wounded red stag,stalker said gut shot,stalker was bang on,stomach content at shot site.
I got there around 8 hours later,after dog had been tried on the track already,failed once animal crossed/stayed in river??,dog lost track at river.....
We picked it up 300m downstream,100m out of the river on opposite bank and animal was despatched after a chase of 200m-I was very happy with the baying and bravery of my dog as he is just 15 months old as well as his work on the leash.I was also expecting animal dead-it wasn't but it wasn't full of life.
A good basic track.
Then came the more advanced one.
Called yesterday,again a red stag,different place,different stalker.
Out I went to shot site after being told that beast was shot in chest but could not be located in thick woodland.Woodland which was windblown/clear fell and sitka of around 10 years old.
Shot site said not chest shot but high leg shot.....very like a chest shot though at site and with reaction to shot.
Now according to some-I should have tracked it right away.....I did not.
I came back today,24 hours later,why?
That offered best chance of recovery,through knowledge not "hurry lets find the animal"
The young dog tracked the animal(no dog tried previously on this one)
Stag went over 1km to where he'd laid down,dog indicated wound couch,blood and a little bit of bone found.
At start of track,bone indicated and there was blood on the floor for fully 100m as though it had been painted on with a brush-then nothing.1km on we found the above.(couch and bone)
On we tracked.
A further 0.5km on we found another piece of bone.
At 2.3km we pushed the stag out of wound couch.....bear in mind this animal was NOT pushed previously with a dog yet it travelled 2.3km through thick sitka/clearfell/windblown older timber-a lot of fun following with a dog.Not.
Dog chased stag for a further 2 km,animal full of life.
Bayed and stopped the stag until I caught up with them and despatched the stag after 10 minutes of waiting for a safe shot.
2 animals recovered that may not have been.
Now this is tracking with a tracking dog/handler-not a deer dog which finds a dead deer.
Reason for posting this is not to steal Jamross's thunder but to point out to people the very big differences between the 3 types of recovery.ie Dead,Mortal wound(eventually),survivable wound for over a period of days.
Jamross knows me well and I have congratulated him on his find when he recovered and he also knows my thoughts on the vast differences between the types of recovery.
Saying "that deer will survive" is not acceptable as you don't know that for certain once wounded.
Not every dog will recover the types of wounded animals but ALL dogs will recover dead deer(however Whisky has done very well with certain facets within her recovery,very well)
I wonder which recoveries would be handled by the different breeds and at which level and percentage of recovery with the different types of wounds would be best suited not only to the breeds of dogs but the handlers also.....how many handlers give up and don't trust their dog/don't know if the dog is correct?
How many handlers will admit their dog is NOT up to a certain track and call someone and their dog who is up to it/knows how best to recover the wounded animal with the knowledge of the handler?
Not everyone does.
As said there is a world of difference.There is tracking and there is finding-2 very different scenarios and the 2 should not/can not be confused.