Second Call Out.

[Tremplin du Chante]

After my last post which was met with mixed emotion. (partly my fault for not being clear)
I thought i would write to say that i received a call this evening from somebody who was hunting (legally) with a bow, for red deer in France. Please, before i get too many replies saying ''it is unethical cruel etc etc'' i do agree and only hunt with a rifle. But fact is, it is allowed here and animals are injured with bow and rifle.

We cannot track at night here because it is deemed unsafe for tracker and dog and to be honest unless beast was dead and not too far would be impossible and probably do more harm than good to try and track in the dark. (If we were to track at night with firearm we risk loosing licence large fines etc.)

The reason i have been called upon is because the registerd trackers are unavailable or commited to other tracks in the area tomorrow.

Having met with the hunter this evening, i asked some questions and found that the arrow had passed through (he thought) the ribcage of the animal in the lung area and he had followed the blood trail for approx 70m where he discoverd the beast lying under a tree. It then got up and ran into thick cover as it was virtually dark this is when he called me. I assume as the arrow which was fired from above passed through the edge of the animal otherwise would have connected with the spine.

My dog has only done artificial trails so far apart from one boar track which i wrote about before and a failed attempt at a wounded hind which we followed for around 4 miles eventually loosing the trail. He has also found 10 or 12 runners shot by me between 20m and 100m from site of shot 5 or so mins after shooting.

Any way out at first light tomorrow, will let you know how we get on.

 

[centralbeltstalker]

hi am,

i believe i was of those who hijacked you last time so this time go get em mate
i wish you and the dog the best in your endeavours.

atb frank

 

[Tremplin du Chante]

Cheers Frank.
We had around 6 inches of snow overnight and i awoke to pouring rain which didn't fill me with hope. After setting out the hunter took me to the spot he had shot the deer and after looking at signs and finding some hairs we concluded it was almost certainly gut shot. The dog had no problem getting on the trail after one false start going after a fresh hind track. After around 600m we found two large patches of blood where the deer had been lying up. The tracks after this were very fresh and i think we must have pushed it on as we had approached. As we continued the dog started to get very excited and was straining at the leash, as the terrain was extremely steep at this point and i kept slipping over on the snow i decided to release the dog as although i have never trained him to bark on finding or putting deer at bay he did seem to do it naturally. I also had another dog with me that i could use to continue the track and follow either the deer or dog.
As we were tracking in snow it was easy to follow the dogs tracks and after another 1000m or so through very thick cover and with allot of sliding about i came upon my dog next to the dead deer completly silent looking at me as if to say''what took you so long." Think some training is required there!
I learned some good lessons from this track:
I should have tried to approach much more gently and quietly as could have perhaps got a shot at the first lay up spot.
I probably wouldn't release the dog with a gut shot unless i see the beast really struggling then get up and enter thick cover. This animal could well have continued much much further and been lost. In future in a situation like this i would continue almost a stalking pace hoping to get within range.

 

[centralbeltstalker]

Am,

well done mate and well done to the dog.
From your post you say you found the first layup point that the injured deer used, you then followed on, do you reckon it was alive and moved with your noise or was it just moved on.
once you found the animal it was dead, in your opinion did it just expire or was it dead a while.

there is some good points in this thread and i am sure you as i have learnt from it.

again well done, and as previously stated i apologise for the hijack on your initial post.
look forward to your next endeavour mate, i hope its not for a long long time, meant in the nice way

frank

 

[Tremplin du Chante]

Pretty sure the deer was at the first lay up point and i pushed it on by being too noisy and expecting it to be much further away. This was when the dog scented the fresher trail and got excited, when the dog was released i think it chased the deer which then expired from the last bit of exertion as it was ''only just dead when found.''
It was a shame that the deer had to go through that last bit of being chased by the dog, but at least the meat didn't go to waste.

On my training sessions with the dog whether it was me who laid a trail or a friend, i had never taken into account doing it as quietly as possible, i would usually crash about a bit the complete opposite to when stalking. Hopefully when i get called out again or search for my own animals they can be found with the minimum amount of chasing or suffering.

Any way if and i'm sure, it will happen again will let you know how i get on.