A Good Dog’s Tracking Saves the Day - By Larry Taaffe

Mag’s Tracking Skills Save The Day

This morning I received a call from my stalking partner to suggest we go for a stalk in the afternoon. I reminded him of the weather forecast but we decide we could get a few hours in the ‘dry’ before the rain, which was forecast arrived.

Alas, as we drove in the gate of the forest the promised rain began, just what we needed.

Martin went to the low ground and I began a slow climb to the top of the forestry. Within 100 yards of my stalk I spotted a stag, his backside to me so I could not make out his antler structure. Unfortunately, at that point a change in the wind direction as I prepared to get into position alerted him and away he went at speed..

As always when I go stalking for Sika, I bring my Bavarian Hound with me. She was fully aware of my change of attitude when I had begun to close on the stag, she is now beginning to read my body language. This is a vital mental connection between dog and handler.

‘Mags’ the author’s Bavarian Hound is used for tracking

Stalking on for another hour or so with no other sightings, I decided to retrace my steps. Rain was now spilling out of the heavens and I was getting wet. After a few hundred meters, I decided to stand and wait, just in case a deer came along the forestry track. My position was looking up a forestry roadway, forward visibility of about 200 yards before the track turned a corner.

I was now tucked in, with a Sitka spruce behind me to break my outline and with the wind in my face. I was waiting for the possibility of a wandering hind. Rain was still pouring down. My dog had positioned herself under me to get some shelter from the rain, but not completely. Ten, twenty, forty minutes went by still raining. The dog gave an occasional shake to remove the rain dripping from me on to her coat.

The stag stopped and looked in my direction

Then, just as I was about to call it a day, I spotted a movement at the furthest end of my visibility and peering through the binoculars, I saw a sika stag walking in my direction. Steadily he approached my position, a nice young six pointer, ideal for venison for my table. I now had him in my scope; ‘just turn broadside please,’ I heard my self say. But at that exact moment my dog gave herself a shake. The stag stopped and looked in my direction, but did not appear to be upset at the sound - even ignoring it. Then he turned broadside, but kept walking but slowly. My brain was in overdrive: I reckoned he would soon disappear into the young forestry in that short distance - but would he come out again…?

I decided that wouldn’t be very likely, and promptly sent a 6.5x55 in his direction. A solid impact sound told me I am on target but apparently no reaction from the stag as he went forward into the cover, but almost immediately he was out again and running back down the road. He went 100, then 200 yards and was out of sight. He was gone! Several words were uttered by me, not for printing here and my dog did not understand any of them!

So we waited, as best practice is to wait when the deer has been shot in the heart and lungs area, commonly called

the engine room. Deer will usually make for cover; the plan was to let this animal do just that, make cover and lie down and bleed out.

Body hair meant an exit wound

Waiting for 20 minutes my dog and I then walked to the shot site, it was still raining heavily by the way. At the shot site there was plenty of hair. It was body hair, so that meant that the deer had sustained an exit wound. But there was no blood or tissue visible, possibly because of the heavy rain.

My dog reacted instantly as she hit the shot site, but she was still on her stalking lead. I calmed her down with a few commands and removed the tracking gear from my backpack, and then fitted her with her tracking collar and lead. That sorted, I gave her the tracking command and off she went at a pace and, unlike her normal pedantic rate, she almost ran the track showing signs of great enthusiasm.

After 200+ yards or so she slowed down and began to concentrate on the right hand side of the track. Hunting with great urgency, she was indicating great scent - but finding nothing. I decided to release her tracking lead from my grasp and this would allow her to be tracking free from me.

She went back up the road we had come down by about 10 yards or so, still hunting with urgency.

She then entered the forestry on the opposite left hand side of the road. I could see the long lead sliding into the young plantation and watched it begin to disappear into the trees. Then it stopped moving!

It was necessary to get down on my hands and knees to gain access to the ground level under the young trees, and I followed along after the long lead, to find my Bavarian with the expired stag. The shot was good, straight through the lungs.

This stag had run about 250 yards and then turned into the tree line, but was another 30 yards inside the tree line itself. I believe I would never have found the stag without my BMH. At the shot site the constant rain had washed away all traces of blood, but the dog’s ability to find some tiny trace was enough to find my stag. Full marks to my dog: she always gives me total confidence in her ability to find her quarry, even in really poor scenting and tracking conditions. Yes, I firmly believe that deer would have been lost, especially in those conditions, without my tracking dog.