Went pretty well, but did not result in a find. I feel fairly confident that the deer is dead, I just don't know how far she went before she died.

My brother in law shot her with a bow a little high and forward of the vitals. Pass through the shoulder slightly quartering to the rear. There is still plenty of goods there to put one down, just not as optimal as right through the vitals.

BIL, his dad, and my sister searched for roughly a 1/2 hour before Turbo and I got there. There was absolutely no blood where the deer was hit. BIL told me where she headed and Turbo picked the right direction and was looking fairly confident. Honestly, I didn't believe him at first because he is usually a little more wound up when at a new place that is COVERED with the scent of the 5 or so deer that were there. He was keeping himself under control which really surprised me.

About 30 yards or so, and Turbo finds the arrow that no one had been able to find. Still, NO blood, but I'm feeling pretty good with the proof he just gave us. We go a little farther, 20 yds. +/-, and he shows me an eraser size drop of blood. After about 50 more yds., his body language is saying that we are going nowhere in particular, so we walk back to last blood.

After another couple starts, his body language picks back up. He is getting pretty easy for me to read. You have to watch him, or you'll miss the sign. Sometimes he stops for a good smell, and sometimes it is just a head flick. Walk to where he stopped or hesitated, and there is visible blood.

Out of the entire trail, guessing about 100 yds. Because distance is really hard for me to judge in the dark, Turbo showed me about 5-6 blood drops. WAY less blood than our practice trails. The gaps between drops, in the dark, would have been impossible for the human eye to track. Hell, it would be extremely difficult during the daylight.

I couldn't be happier because now I know that he can do this. He was doing most of this with no visible blood. Just enough to prove he was on the right path.

It will be cool this evening, so we called it off because our lights were going dead. I don't think the meat will all spoil, but Turbo will definitely get his share if we find her. We'll get started first thing in the morning. I feel really good about our chances.

Not sure if Turbo will be worth much for a trail that is 12 hours old with that little blood, but he is definitely going back with us in the morning. The others he has found were all by airscenting, so the breeze tomorrow may be what we need. Or the little sucker may well track her down.

Anyway, not a find, but the little sucker worked hard tonight and showed me he knew what he was doing. This was a hard track by my standards, and there is no way we would have gotten that far without him.

Hope to update this thread tomorrow afternoon with good news.:smile:

You're so lucky you can use dogs where you're at. Fantastic job ^.^ Go Turbo!

 Quote: Melissa Thom

You're so lucky you can use dogs where you're at. Fantastic job ^.^ Go Turbo!

There are people out there working on that.

It amazes me that at least a leashed tracking dog isn't accepted.

Guess it is just the few that abuse the rules that screw it up for all of us.

Hey Michael that is really awesome! I bet that Turbo just loves doing this tracking too. I am amazed at dog's scenting abilities and getting to use Turbo to help you find your kill is really cool.
Please let us know more when you find the deer. You always have an interesting story!
ata boy Turbo!

I bet it was fun to watch Turbo working so hard! Hope you guys find the deer before coyotes.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

 Quote: Melissa Thom

You're so lucky you can use dogs where you're at. Fantastic job ^.^ Go Turbo!

There are people out there working on that.

It amazes me that at least a leashed tracking dog isn't accepted.

Guess it is just the few that abuse the rules that screw it up for all of us.

Well the dog tracking ban was passed by citizen's initiative so I'm not hopeful it'll be overturned. There are a lot of city slickers in the I-5 corridor who passed that. It is nice that they did bring back a little cat hunting with dogs but you can only get that by special permit.

AWESOME!! I'm so happy for you Michael. There's nothing better than your dog showing you that he knows what he's doing. It's amazing to see the training turn into practical use.

Keep it up Turbster!

Way cool Michael. There is simply nothing as satisfying as watching a dog perform what he is programmed to do! Best of luck with that doe this AM.

 Quote: Barbara Schuler

Way cool Michael.

Very!

Hope you find your deer today!

Cooooooool.
Nice work Turbster - hope you find that doe today!

I was unaware of laws regarding using dogs to track wounded prey, or is there no distinction between finding a wounded animal and just tracking/trailing in prep for a kill (the former seeming like such a useful and potentially very humane option...)? I'm sure it varies by state, but I've never looked into it.

~Natalya