These are the tracks that make teams.

By Tebo Creek Tracking

I had been called to track this big drop tine buck. No pressure, right?? But I was confident by the hunter’s description of shot placement that this dude would be dead and that Scarlett could find it.

The area had been searched over, but that didn’t seem to bother Scarlett. I followed her past the hunter’s last blood to a small creek, about 300 yards. Scarlett got into the creek and got a drink and cooled off. I was honestly confused about what she did next. She seemed to me like she needed a restart and since I hadn’t seen any more blood, that’s what I decided to do.

We walked back to where I’d left the hunter at last blood and started over. This time she went a different direction a couple hundred yards in. We found more blood, then a bed, and another bed, and another eventually finding 6 beds. I don’t know if the buck was pushed by coyotes or if he was chasing around a doe, but there was a maze of blood scattered everywhere. She continued circling around in that small area and then even farther out. Just as I was wondering what in the heck she was doing she’d show me a speck of blood.

Finally she took a line out of that mess and took me the same path she had before, this time stopping along the way to show me blood, until we came to the exact spot at the creek she had taken me the first time. I hollered at the hunter to catch up, as I was confident now that she was on the right track the first time. She wanted to go up the hill across the creek and the hunter asked, “Are you sure? Do you really think the deer’s up there?” I told him that’s what my dog is telling me and after what she just showed me I definitely think so.

Not far up the hill we found a little more blood, so I knew Scarlett was right on. What a rush (and relief) when we walked up in this big guy a couple hundred yards later!

It turns out that, as she often does, Scarlett cut off the track and bypassed that mess of a bedding area. She knew right where she was going the entire time and the dummy on the other end of the lead (me) didn’t pay attention.  I definitely learned to listen to the the expert after that!

Congratulations to the hunter on a brute of a buck! Thanks for letting us be a part of your story!