Thoughts on Dogs for Blood Trail Work!

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I was recently on a Forum  where someone suggested a Jack Russell would make a perfect blood trail dog. I have quite a bit of experience tracking crippled deer with a dog so I decided to offer some of my insight and what I have learned on this subject.

A Jack Russell is a great little dog and might make a good blood trail dog but there are better choices.

Everyone will have a different opinion on this and there are always exceptions but the Jack is a little on the hyper side as a rule. A great blood trail dog is steady and deliberate, and has a track to track trail style. Some gods can switch from winding to track without issue but a dog that has a tendency to hunt with his nose in the wind is not preferred. The size of the Jack is a good quality but only in fairly open woods. Remember, by law you have to keep the dog on a lead. A shorter dog is more difficult to handle in thick gallberry and palmettos, etc. A crippled deer is headed to the thickest place he can find. Water is another issue where the short dog comes up, short.


One of the best short legged dogs for blood trailing is a wire haired dachshund but in the South has some of the same limitations as the Jack.

Another top blood trail dog is the Lab but you need to find one that is out of hunting stock such as a duck hunter. The problem with Labs is that they have been bred to death by the pet people without concern to hunting qualities.
I personally, really like a bluetick but also has some draw backs, He is a big dog with fierce drive and will pull your arm off while dragging you to death. However, sometimes that drive is a plus as well as the height and stamina. One of the best things I like about this breed is that most all will bay unlike beagles, walkers, etc.
Another great blood trail dog is a german wire haired pointer. They are incredibly versatile and you can hunt a bird with him in the morning and blood trail a deer in the afternoon.

If you have plenty of spare cash and can find one, a Bavarian mt. blood hound is as good a blood trail dog as you can get. They don't like being yelled at but are incredible trail dogs and about perfect size.

Then there is the choice of male or female. Personally, I prefer a female but try to get one that will not be in heat during hunting season. Females seem to be a little more no-nonsense, learn quicker, etc.
With all that said, most any of the hunting breeds have the potential and equipment to get the job done but some are much better suited than others.
One of the biggest mistakes people make with a blood trail dog is not building a bond with the dog where he has a desire to please you. If you don't spend a lot of time with him and teach him everything you can, don't expect him to be the brightest crayon in the box. Keeping him in a pen 24/7 and just taking him out when you need him won't cut it either. A dog kept like that just wants to go nuts when you let it out and has no control.

Remember, you are going to have a lot of time invested in this dog. Select your dog very carefully. Consider where you hunt and your needs. Then spend every minute you can with him. Take him every where you go. Put him on [U]every[/U] track, not just the ones you can't find. Teach him everything you can. Do this and you will have a dog whose abilities are nothing short of incredible.
Here's a few pic's of my Bluetick Lacy and some of her finds:

Larry Stephens

Florida Bow Hunting Report #5 - Oct. 7, 2011

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Florida Bow Hunting Report #5


Monday, Oct. 3, 2011

I hunted the pond stand this morning but it was a bust. The trail cam had pitiful few pictures on it. The deer activity has really gotten slow there.



I am expecting big things this week as the moon is coming around to putting the feed times at dawn and dusk. I have always found the best hunting to be on the quarter moon phase.



I headed for Cabbage Creek this afternoon to hunt my Kill zone stand. As usual, work made my arrival later than I wanted. The conditions were right but There was no deer activity for my effort.

Tuesday, Oct. 4
Lacy, my bluetick and I had cold camped so we could make the hunt this morning before heading for work. Again we saw no deer activity.

The deer activity on the trail cam at the Kill Zone stand has been good so that was the plan for the afternoons hunt. If I could keep hunting this spot undetected It would be just a matter of time before I crossed up one of the bucks using here.

Little did I know today would be the day. However, the outcome was not to be the one I was wishing for.

I had arrived late due to having to stop for gas, ice, food, corn, etc. all at different locations. I parked the truck, told the dog to stay, grabbed my gear and took off. I must have looked like a guy that just crawled out of another mans wife’s window. I was hustling down the road trying to don all my cloths.

When I got to the stand I tied off my bow and climbed into the stand. As I was pulling my bow up I started to hear a deer pushing thru the thick palmetto flat behind me. I hurried and knocked an arrow. The deer was making so much noise I knew it had to be a buck. I’ve noticed bucks seem to make a lot more noise than does and yearlings.

Well, after 6-8 minutes the buck finally hopped over some high palmettos with a crash into the back of an old cutover about 75 yds to the west of me. It was the little 5 pt I had missed the first weekend.

He walked over to a clump of small bay trees and started whooping up on them. He had them swaying back and fourth with a fever. It looked a little funny as there was no wind and at that distance, without the binoculars you could not see the deer, only the bushes moving. He would stop periodically and smell the limbs, even nip a bite or two off some edible plant besides. Finally, he started heading my way. He turned to start down a trail and I decided I would try to let him stop on his own if possible but he walked thru the first two spots without a pause. When he reached the exact spot I had missed him before I made a low bleat that got his attention and he stopped. I was at full draw, put the 30 yd pin on him and loosed an arrow.

When the arrow arrived and the deer bolted I heard a small ping and remember thinking I did not like the sound of that. The second bad sign was the way the deer was pitching high and slow through the thick. A fatally hit deer plows, he don’t pitch or high hop. When he reached the back of the chop he stopped and looked around, twitched his tail and slowly walked back into the thick palmetto flat. I had just missed the same buck for the second time, standing in the same exact spot! What the heck is going on here!! I can’t remember the last time I clean missed two deer in one season.

I later ranged the spot again and realized it was further than I had thought. It ranged 41yds and I thought it was 39. I figured the deer was a couple yards closer than the 39 as that was to the far side. I deducted 4 yds for the 20’ stand hgt. And put the 30yd pin mid hgt…..shot right under him and apparently the ping was his foot or knee hitting the shaft when he ran. Damn the luck!

Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011

I saw zero deer in the morning and the afternoon would prove to be only slightly more eventful.

The highlight for the afternoon was a rat in the palmettos below my stand. I was pretty convinced there for a minute that it might be an approaching deer. Being straight below the stand I could not course where the sound was coming from. Finally, I figured it out….just a rat.

Well, There was one other pretty interesting event. I had let Lacy out of the truck to smell around and relieve herself. I have to keep a close eye on her as you can imagine. I was getting my cloths on when I started missing her. I called…no Lacy, I called her again….no Lacy….crap! Now I’m yelling for her….no Lacy. I ran down the road towards the stand to track a sandy spot but could not make anything out. Back at the truck I cranked up and ran down the road to the high fence to glass down the straight a way…no Lacy.
I was already late before all this started and I could not waste any more time. I would have to catch the dog later. I parked the truck again and jumped out to grab my gear to leave. To my surprise, here comes Lacy down the road from the direction of my stand! My first thought was, she just tracked me to my stand looking for a blood trail. She has learned when I let her out that she can back track me to the stand and the head of a bloody deer trail. I have seen her do this countless times. Without a word said, she will pull me right to the stand without missing a step.

Lacy's butt on my trail cam!

Well, I scolded her for running off and loaded her up. The hunt was a bust. The next morning I hunted the stand again and when I was done I pulled the camera card. Guess who was on the camera in front of my stand…..Lacy! It had been over 10 hours since I left the stand, in about 12 minutes, Lacy had tracked me over a quarter mile right to the stand and the trail camera, got her picture taken, found there was no blood trail and came back to the truck! Pretty incredible. I learned a few things there. First, I had no idea I was leaving such an obvious sent trail. Second, what an incredible nose a dog (and deer) really have. You cannot over estimate it.

The smaller 7pt I've been hunting showed up about an hour after both Lacy and I had been there and it did not seem to bother him. He picked up corn for about 20 minutes before leaving. He didn't seem to be bothered by our stink. I've probably hunted it so much he thinks I belong there.

Wednesday’s hunt was not a great deal better. I saw half a deer in the morning cross the fire break up ahead of me 75 yds or so and in the afternoon I saw zip.

Thursday morning was a bust also and I did not hunt the afternoon hunt.

The season is about to slip away without me taking a deer. I did not think it was possible.

Larry

Lacy My Blood Trail Dog, tracks #4 & #5, 2010

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Lacy Tracks #4 & #5 for 2010 Bow Season!


I hunted at the Cabbage creek club with my buddy Steve Bailey this weekend for the last weekend of bow season. The weather couldn’t have been better if you had ordered it. However, the wind was a quite a problem and blew from all points of the compass on every sit.

Steve had a great closing to the 2010 bow season except for loosing one of the two bucks he shot this weekend.


Track #1, Thurs. Oct. 13, 2010

Well, Steve was just about to dial my number when I pulled in to camp this evening. He had shot a 6-7” spike type buck and needed some help looking for it. We packed up and headed back down to the deer pen to put Lacy on the track.

Steve had recovered the arrow. It had considerable blood on it but I did not like the chunks of meat stuck to the shaft. That is typical of a mussel shot and not really a good sign. He also related that the impact had a pretty good crack to it so I assumed we were looking at a leg bone hit. I think this assessment was correct but was probably very low. Possibly even below the chest cavity. All the blood we found was very low in the bushes and there was not very much of it.

We hiked back into Steve’s stand in the dark with Lacy leading the way. I could tell she was back tracking Steve to the stand. It is so important not to pre-track the deer if you are going to put a dog on it. That really messes them up. Especially if the dog has an issue with wanting to use you as a crutch.

Even though the track was several hours old Lacy took right to it and was pulling extremely hard and after about 100yds started opening on it. That’s very unusual for her and typically means the deer is alive and we are not far behind it. I have never actually seen her open like that while tracking. There was probably other deer involved in this but unassociated with the buck. We found some minor amounts of blood out to about 100 yds and none beyond. With Lacy opening on the track and pulling so hard I could not believe that this was the right deer so we restarted her 3 times and spent an hour and a half in the dark with flashlights looking for blood. We did eventually find a little blood on the trail she was opening on so obviously, she was telling the truth. With so little blood Steve finally pulled the plug about 10:30 and we decided the deer was not recoverable. If it had been legal and we put a tracking collar on Lacy and let her go, she could probably have run the deer down and kept the wound bleeding but that was not an option. I believe this is either the deer that I let go the first morning or maybe the one that got by me last Sunday morning.



Track #2, Oct. 16, 2010:

Steve ended up back at the same stand that he had lost the buck from on Thursday. When I got back to camp Steve was about to wet his pants he was so excited. “Stephens, I just shot a m o n s t e r buck! We need to go put the dog on it.” Once again, we loaded up in the dark and drove all the way back to the deer pen. On the way down I would tell Lacy….he’s dead girl! We got to go find him! Lacy would answer back with a whine, so high pitched I could hardly hear it.

Well, Steve had made pretty much a perfect shot and the deer had only gone about 50yds. I let Steve work the dog so I could film but when we got to the head of the track Lacy took off pulling poor Steve so fast they were there before I could catch up to video it. The track was about an hour and a half old and took Lacy maybe a minute to get to the deer. He was a rank buck, I could smell him 15yds before I got to him. Steve will probably need a couple days for his shoulder to recover. I probably should have worked the dog so I could have tried to keep her from pulling so bad. This is a bad habit for a tracking dog.

The deer was not all that big in body but had a perfect 8pt set of horns, very symmetrical. This is a buck I have been hunting real hard in the next block over. I have a bunch of trail camera pictures of him but It looks like I took his last photograph tonight with Steve holding him by the horns! That was one happy hunter!

We forgot to get Lacy in the photo. Sorry Lay.

Another interesting development in Lacy's learning curve showed up this weekend. All of the deer Lacy has tracked have been bow shot and I always let her investigate the bloody arrow. Now when she sees my bow she immediately goes to the quiver to smell the arrows.

Sunday evening it was after dark when I got to camp. When I let Lacy out of the pen, she took off for the truck. I had the passenger side truck door open and she jumped in. I took off running as I thought she was headed for parts unknown the way she took off. When I got to the truck she was leaned over the seat checking my quiver!

When I get home at night Lacy meets me at the gate. First she checks my hands, then she runs to the back of the truck and checks the tailgate! That's pretty smart for a hound.
Larry S.

Lacy the Blood Trail Dog, 2 for 2, 2010

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Lacy’s 2 nd tracking job for 2010!

Well, I put a shaft thru to boiler room of a nice forked horn buck this morning and it was time to give Lacy a little track job.

As usual, without a word she back tracked me right to the stand and we were off on the deer track. She learned real quick as a pup that daddy’s back track leads to a dead deer. That is something you need to remember if your going to train your own blood trail dog. By the time I got Lacy out there the track was aged a little over 4 hours.

It was a pretty easy track except for the three deer that had crossed the blood trail about 15-20 minutes after the buck had run off. Lacy faded a step or two off on their trail but got back on the right deer without me correcting her. That was pretty awesome. I don’t know for sure if she just got lucky on that or if she really got it right and knew what was going on with the distraction of the other 3 deer. It looked like she knew which track was which.

It was a short 50yd or so track and she went right to him and we made successful, recovery #2 for the 2010 bow season.

I need to go back and see what her record is to date. I can only think of 3 deer and a hog she did not recover and I feel one of the deer was not hit at all. One was apparently shot in the lower foreleg and not recoverable. The third deer is a mystery! There were a pile of other deer and hogs in the area and I think this really confused her on which was the one she was supposed to be following. She was just a year and a half old at that point. The hog was the same situation. There was a half a dozen of them and they had been all over the area like rats. We just never got it straightened out from the other hogs. She has probably found 20-24 deer successfully. I will research that and confirm the exact number. I will try to get those tracks posted as soon as I can.

Larry S.

Lacy, My 12 Week Old Bluetick Pup Finds First Deer!

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Sept. 22, 2007

This was so incredible I had to share it with everybody.

Lacy, my new blood trail prospect just found her first deer! Absolutely incredible!

I shot a 90# doe on the afternoon of the opening day of bow season in s stand of flooded pine trees. The deer splashed off thru the flood water and out of sight. I had been waiting for this moment, although I had not planned for such a difficult track for her first live exercise. Lacy and I have been training just about every day on short blood tracks I have laid for her.

Well, she just turned 12 weeks plus three days and sucessfully recovered the deer on her first real track in belly deep water! Pretty remarkable for such a young pup under those extreme conditions. I could hardly believe it!

There was another deer involved in the deal and Lacy made one loose and got off on the wrong deer. I recognizing her mistake and I took her back to the last blood and she straightened it out from there and went right to the deer.

The doe was literally floating in an old flooded pull trail, 2/3 submerged and Lacy was all but swimming by the time she found the deer! A 100 yd track in flooded conditions the whole way! Had I not seen it with my own two eyes I would not have believed it.

I gave Lacy some well deserved praise and began rafting the deer out to the hill. When we got back to the truck and started getting ready to take some pictures I turned around and Lacy was eating my our deer! I don't mean just licking it, she was tearing into the thing like she was half starved to death. It was a sight to see. She LOVES these things!

Here's some pictures of her first find

She sure looks like she is going to make one fine blood trail dog.

Best of Hunts,
Larry S.
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Lacy & Her Pet, Rosie!

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Here's a few pictures of Lacy i thought everyone would enjoy.

I have been working her on short tracks almost every day and I pack her everywhere I go. What a pain that is becoming! However this is very important and builds a bond between you and your dog that will return big rewards in the future. Additionally, the dog will learn so much more than a dog that is kept in a pen 24/7. That is not the way to go if you really want to develope a serious tracking dog.

Oh! the little brown dog in the picture is Rosie, Lacy's pet. Technically, I guess that is Rosie's bed but The "monster" as my girls refer to Lacy, has claimed posession of it at this point. Really pisses Rosie off!

Larry

My New Blood Trailing Hound, Lacy!

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I have been considering getting a new tracking dog prospect for tracking crippled deer.

Well, here she is.....Her name is Lacy, she is a full blooded Bluetick Coon Hound. Time will tell if I made the right pick. It's only been a day and she is about to wear me out. She better make a good one is all I can say!

I really wanted a Bavarian Mountain Bloodhound but they are quite proud of them and they start at about $1,000.00 if you can even get on the waiting list.

In an effort to keep me from buying a thousand dollar dog my bride Tammie, alerted me to an add in the local paper for some bluetick pups that were a third of the cost of a BMH.

We called the number in the add and setup an appointment to see the pups. I took a deer leg with me to see if i could get any reaction out of any of the pups and it came down to two females and we finally ended up with this one.

I had already decided I wanted a female as from my experience I feel females are a Little smarter and level headed. You have the issue of heat cycles but all in all I prefer a female.

The training process will start immediately with short deer blood training tracks and a regular diet of raw deer meat. I have been prepping for this and have enough blood, liver and legs to train 10 dogs.

Deciding to take on the training of a blood trail dog is quite a commitment if you expect results. It's going to be a pile of work and a lot of aggravation but in the end it will be worth it.

Here's a few pic's

Larry S.