Last week I received a call from a fellow tracker asking me if I could take a track. The timing was good for me so I called the hunter and did a quick interview. The hunter said that he shot a buck about 90 yards away. The rifle he was using was a 45-70 which shoots a really big bullet. He said he knew he hit the deer solid because he was looking through the scope and saw water fly off the buck's fur when he shot. The hunter and two friends attempted to track the buck but they only found two smears of blood on grass almost waist high. There was no sign at the hit site. Their hunting camp was about 45 minutes away so I loaded up Tasha and headed out.
When we drove up to the camp there were four hunters waiting for me. I got out with Tasha and the laughing started. It was pretty funny to see their reaction. They were expecting a tracker with a lab, pit bull or maybe even a cur dog but instead they saw a fat man and a dachshund get out. One of the hunters asked....are you serious? On the way to the shot site, we passed a guy that could have been an enforcer for Hell's Angels. Instead of black leather he was dressed in camouflage complete with a camouflage bandana. As he passed by the truck on his four wheeler he looked in and saw Tasha standing up looking out the window. If you could have seen his face, you would have hurt yourself laughing.
We arrived at the hunter's stand. When I put Tasha down at the shot site, she put her snout to the ground and started hunting. After a couple of minutes she pointed out two spots of blood. One of them looked to have some lung in it. These spots of blood were 20 yards from the hit site in the opposite direction. Tasha meandered around hunting but she never really seemed to lock on to a scent. The cover was a very thick pine cutover consisting of waist high grass and briars growing between small pine trees about six foot high. There was a breeze blowing from the cutover toward us. After about ten minutes Tasha had still not taken a definite line and started tracking like I am used to her doing. She seemed rather unfocused. I even asked her if she was going to hunt. Tasha kept putting her nose up into the wind and took her time sampling the air. I never saw her do this before. As the three hunters and I began to lose faith, Tasha started easing me into the cutover. She never took a direct line but weaved back and forth. Tasha brought me about 50 yards into the cutover directly to the dead buck. He was tucked into some really thick brush. The buck was dead about 70 yards from the hit site. I called over to the hunters.....hey guys, your deer is over here. One of the hunters said...and I quote.... "You are shitting me!" I assured him that I wasn't and they came over to investigate. After a round of high fives,we dragged the deer out and took a few pictures. The hunters could not believe that the deer had been found there. They assured me that they had more than thoroughly searched this area at least four times. The shot had been true and struck the buck as he was quartering toward the hunter. The big 45-70 bullet entered at the shoulder and lodged inside the hide at the opposite hindquarter.
At the cleaning rack the hunters took the bucks measurements. I'm sorry that i didn't write down their names. We laughed at their initial impressions of Tasha. I asked the foursome of hunters to take their picture with Tasha and the deer. They were more than happy to oblige. We even got a chance to talk to the Hell's Angels enforcer and confirmed that his thoughts were just what his expression had conveyed.
This was deer number eight for Tasha and she continues to learn. She wind scented this deer which was unlike anything we have ever practiced. As Tasha has adapted and learned new techniques she has taught me to be flexible, keep my faith in her and above all pay attention. She lets me feel like I am an important part of the team. I never told Tasha, but I really saw that deer before she did!
Seven month old Tasha has been doing some terrific work on deer! This deer call took place on December 19 when Cliff sent a short email and a photo. Here is the full story on that track. It is a very great post to begin the new blog year! Ha ha! Thank you, Cliff, for a great report!
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Siiri is Taya's grandmother :
C.I.B FIN CH FIN WCH-C FI WCH-W SE CH EE CH LV CH FINW-06 MAXI-TAX HESTIA bred and owned by Ilse Kokkonen Kennel Maxi-Tax, Finland Sylvi is Maxi-Tax Nirvana daughter of Siiri's sister FIN CH FIN WCH-H MAXI-TAX HERMIONE bred by Ilse Kokkonen Kennel Maxi-Tax, Finland Received this report today from Cliff who has been super busy lately. Thank you, Cliff! I took a track on Christmas Eve during the afternoon for my cousin's good friend. I called my brother in law Andre where he could get his new pup Aleah some OJT. Lise-Lotte Schulz has written that she is planning to repeat the mating that produced her Terra, my Taya, Cliff's Tasha, and Derek's Thor. You can see more about the Tranevang T litter by clicking on their names under Categories in the sidebar. If you desire a dachshund with excellent temperament, tracking ability, size, coat, and game voice you will want to consider a puppy from this litter. Lise-Lotte's email address is at the end of this post. And certainly you are welcome to contact me for more information about the T litter and my experiences with importing dogs from Scandinavia. I am expecting to mate Longhair standards in January or February. Tasha recovered a nice buck for this hunter this morning. Story will follow later. - Cliff Shrader I replied to Cliff that I am running out of adjectives for all the great reports on Tasha! Looking forward to this one!
Tasha, 6.5 months, is Tranevang's MA Tashatax. Friday evening I received a text from one of my buddies asking if I want to make a track. One of his daughters had shot her first deer and there wasn't any trail. In fact, they had conflicting opinions on which way the deer ran after the shot. There were three deer feeding when Samantha shot and they split up after the shot. Her dad Red checked out the site and found some belly hair and a small amount of gut at the hit site. After we talked, Red and his son Matt backed out of the area where they had been searching for blood and waited for Tasha to arrive. It took about an hour and a half for us to get there. Awesome work! Congratulations to all of you!
[Tasha is Taya's sister. They turned six months old on Sunday.] Tasha is pretty indifferent after we have killed and recovered a deer. She is interested in the tracking and after that is very passive toward the deer. She will lick on it some but as long as it isn't moving, she is content. If you grab the deer and shake it some, she gets pretty vocal and will bite it. My old hound Thibodeaux would attack the deer and would jump around never allowing you to catch him all the while pulling hair out of the deer. Boudreaux on the other hand (kind of reminds me of Owl and the groundhog) lays claim to the deer and will defend it aggressively. I am reminded, though, that Tasha has already evidenced some "possessing" of a deer when another dog was close by. It will be interesting to see the puppies behavior when they are older.
Good going in class! I'm glad that one of the sisters is learning some obedience! It was a fairly good size doe that my neighbor shot on my property this afternoon. Jimmie had already field dressed it and dragged it for a way in the woods. When he was walking back to his house to get his ATV and a line to drag it with is when I saw him 'cause I happened to be outside at the time. When he told me that he had a deer in the woods is when I ran in to put on a jacket. Taya was already with me, as usual, and I wanted her to see the deer.
Following Jimmie, we went down the ravine into the woods. I inspected the doe and ran my hand through her beautiful thick hair. Taya was mildly curious about the deer but for the most part was surprisingly uninterested. I thought she would investigate it and want to taste it, chew on it a bit but she didn't. What she WAS interested in was the blood line that was there from Jimmie having previously dragged the deer about 50 yards. Taya was going from leaf to leaf licking the blood. She followed the scent line up and down. Jimmie remarked, too, on how she was interested in where he'd dragged the deer. But the deer itself she was not impressed with. Not scared (she came up to it okay), not excited, not sniffing, licking, or biting it, she just wasn't that interested. She pretty much acted like she has seen a dead deer every day so what's the big deal. haha! The blood on the other hand, and there was a decent amount of it, really drew her attention. Wouldn't you love to know what they're thinking sometimes! Jimmie tied his rope around the deer's neck, I grabbed a front leg, and we heaved and pulled the doe straight up the ravine to the edge of the woods. Jimmie went to get his ATV which he'd parked by the pond and Taya followed him. When he started the ATV up, Taya ran back to me. Which was good because I did not want her running around in the tall grass while he was driving it. (Although I do think she would have stayed clear of it, still...) That was the thing that bothered her some, the ATV. It's a small old Kawasaki that makes a lot of noise. I was still standing by the deer and was holding Taya then when Jimmie drove up. Taya did not like the ATV coming right at us and up to us! But when he tied the deer to it and began dragging it across the field toward his house, then of course Taya followed him. Or should I say followed the deer. She did not continue following Jimmie once he left my yard and went onto his own place. I was happy that she knows where she belongs! She is such a good girl. So, I would say all in all it was a good experience for her. Jimmie said that he would give me a couple of parts and some meat when he is done cutting his deer all up. Later, since he doesn't have a computer, I helped Jimmie report and tag the doe online which was cool. Houston, we've had a problem here. In fact, all across the United States, we've had a problem. A big problem. There is no question that US exhibitors, breeders, and judges care about this breed. The question that I find myself having to ask is - do US exhibitors, breeders, and judges KNOW this breed? Well, we are supposed to know! The information is available. And it is more easily accessible than ever before. Unfortunately, many statements being posted on the internet, and even published in magazines, is surprisingly misleading and simply not congruent with facts. For all intents and purposes, two more questions underlie the one above. 1. Is the dachshund an earthdog? I really do not know anyone who would say no. 2. Is size important in the dachshund aka earthdog? Well now, here comes the dichotomy of all dichotomies. It is absolutely amazing how many LONG TIME exhibitors, breeders, and judges assert that it is not! "A good dachshund is a good dachshund." Well, what makes a dachshund GOOD? In part, it is the ability to do the WORK of a dachshund. And not a thing about a dachshund's structure helps him "do the job" more than his size! Why is it, pray tell, that so many of us talk and act like dachshund size is totally irrelevant, when it is COMPLETELY relevant! I tell you this thing, there is not a badger or fox hunter in the world who will say otherwise. This longhaired bitch is one of a mother/daughter pair of bitches that is regularly and successfully used to hunt the European badger (aka Eurasian badger) in Finland. Guess how big she is and hold that thought. We will come back to it. Please see below each of 20 different earths, nearly all entrances. Entrances! If a picture is worth 1000 words, then maybe we can consider this little album a virtual encyclopedia on earthdog size. All photos were taken by me in an 11 hour badger hunt with three men, another woman, and three standard longhaired bitches in Finland on August 10, 2010. Earthwork photos are not unique. There are many like them on the internet. But, ahem, apparently American dachshund enthusiasts are not looking at them! Note that with one exception I have not included photos with badgers or the evidence of the taking of badgers. The singular purpose of this post is to give the reader clarity, in pictures, on what seems to be a very muddied (ha!) concept of earthdog size. I sincerely hope that it helps do that. If not, well I tried. I really tried! 20 reasons why dachshund size is important There has been some discussion on a tracking dog list lately about trapping (as well as hunting) being allowed in state parks. State parks are where people often train their tracking dogs, and more than a few tracking tests are held on park lands.
The discussion prompted one list member to post a worthy link Removing Your Dog From A Trap Or Snare. With sources being the Wisconsin DNR website and the Nova Scotia DNR, Wildlife Division, this information from the Lincoln County Humane Society, Merrill, Wisconsin is very well done. There are a number of trappers in my neck of the woods so I am glad to have the info. I just hope I never have to use it. This weekend, dachshunds and terriers assisted in a major hunt to control wild pigs in Bohemia. Here is the hunt in pictures!
All photos are the property of Michaela Přibáňová who has graciously allowed me to post them to my blog. Many thanks to you, Michaela! The longhair by himself in the bottom-row photo is Wilko who turns nine years old in a month. Wilko von der Weidewiese was bred by Anja Pusch in Germany. He is owned by Hana Spalová in the Czech Republic. [Odin is Axel Odin von Dorndorf, owned by Stan & Alecia Wenner, North Carolina.}
Received this really nice photo from Alecia tonight. It is Odin, who is brother of Owl and their five accomplished littermates. Odie tracks deer for Stan & Alecia in North Carolina. Alecia wrote in a previous email, "I was telling folks how all Odie’s siblings have at least a FC by their name. We could add a MTD by Odie’s. When you view this site you will see 'Odie, the Magnificent Trail Dog.' He has fans..." Alecia was referring to the website of Falling Creek Outfitters. Odin has tracked and located more than a few deer for them. Thank you, Alecia and continued success with Odie! [Tasha is littermate of Taya; they are five months old. It is always good to hear from Cliff.]
This weekend was youth weekend in Louisiana. Donnie, a good friend of mine who also has a younger tracking dog called me last night and said his son had shot a doe pretty close to dark. When he went to mark the spot he heard the deer get up and run. He marked the spot and backed out. There was also a shot made on another doe but it was not known if it was a hit. The hunter tried a head shot and said that their deer ran around in a circle right after he shot and then ran down the road into the woods. It was cold last night in South Louisiana so we decided that we would track together in the morning. We had talked about tracking together but we were not sure how the dogs would tolerate each other. Donnie's dog is a Blue Lacy. Ruby is three years old and was started when Donnie got her last year. He never really had a chance to track with her so he was wondering how she would do. Ruby runs practice lines with ease. We were also concerned if Ruby would think that Tasha was something to eat....there is a difference in size. We met up at The Spillway Sportsman at 6:30AM and headed over to the hunting lease. We were able to drive the truck almost to the shot site. After we unloaded we let the dogs meet each. Ruby didn't even think about eating Tasha...what a relief. Both the dogs had their tracking collars on and knew it was time for business. We decided to start Ruby on the track while I let Tasha check out the road where the other deer was shot. As soon as I got there with Tasha, I looked over to see Donnie and Ruby on the road. I headed over. Ruby had found the deer on the way in. I took Tasha to the start of the short 30 yard track and without incident she tracked to the deer. The deer was 8 feet into a briar thicket. It was so thick that I couldn't even see Tasha at the end of her 12 foot leash. Ruby and Donnie came back where we could get the deer out. I heard a threatening deep guttural growl and I knew Ruby was growling at Tasha. Ruby was between me and Tasha and if I pulled on Tasha's lead it would force her to pass right next to Ruby. I told Donnie that Ruby was growling hoping he could help me protect Tasha. Donnie got down on his hands and knees where he could see up in the thicket. He said, Pal, that is Tasha growling....not Ruby! I have never heard her growl like that before. I am glad that Ruby didn't take it seriously because Tasha would have only been a bite or two for Ruby. We got the doe out without incident. We took the dogs over to the road where the other deer had been shot at. We worked the entire area where the hit would have been and the open section of woods where the deer had run. I looked at my GPS and it had a fine looking grid where we had searched. I am impressed with how good the dogs worked together combing this area. The scenting conditions were great, a cool 47 degree morning with dew all over the grass. With two dogs and two handlers working the area, I am convinced that the shot was a clean miss. We had a great morning, spent some time in the woods with the dogs and even recovered a deer. This is one that would have been easy to find without a dog but I'm glad that we got a shot to work it. Tasha and I have been working on her obedience training. A day in the woods tracking just kills leash training. In the woods, Tasha's job is to lead me around. At home, I am supposed to get to be the boss. It is a challenge to get her to walk with a loose leash. She tries to keep her nose on the ground and take me for a 4 block long track! She can be stubborn but so far I have hung in there with her. Everything else is coming along just fine with her obedience training and I'm overjoyed with her tracking. Cliff and Tasha Sent somewhere from woods or water in South Louisiana [Svante is father of Viljo.] Multiple Champion Red Top's Klatjofs, owned by Tia Eskelinen, located this moose for hunters after an hour-long trek in Finland. Good going, Svante and Tia!
We are still bow hunting in Southern Illinois. This morning I got a call from my friend Ricky saying he had shot a doe. Tasha has had great success on her first three tracks ever, recovering all three with one being extremely difficult. This has surprised everyone here including myself. The farmer that owns the land where we hunt had heard Tasha stories for several days so he came along to witness the recovery attempt. When we got to Ricky's stand, he was on the ground and had good blood at the site. His shot was broadside at 20 yards, crossbow and Rage broadhead. Ricky said there were 10 to 12 deer and they ran everywhere when he shot. Several deer made a loop and ran back by him but he didn't know if that was the deer he shot or not. Tasha started the trail in her usual fashion pulling hard on the leash tracking 100 miles an hour. The track was through a thickly wooded area with brush piles and briar patches. I think she drug me through every one of them. The blood trail was light but steady little spots as you would expect from a lung hit. After about 75 yards we came to a big waist high grass field. The blood trail was drying up at this point.
Tasha turned from the field and came back toward the stand as Ricky indicated several deer did earlier. We worked the side of the road for a while but she couldn't pick up the track. Because it was so thick and full of briars, I picked Tasha up and carried her over the barbed wire and back through some of the thicker stuff. I put her back on the trail at a blood spot. She picked back up the track and continued back to the field. This time she took me into the field. She worked this track a little slower and checked herself a couple of times. I never saw any blood or sign again. I continued to follow her out further in the field. Tasha brought me straight to the deer laying in a slight depression over a hundred yards in the field with no visible sign. This little hound continues to amaze me. The shot was good but without a tracking dog, this deer would probably have been lost. Someone could have accidentally stumbled across it but more than likely it would have been lost. [Tasha, sister to Taya, went with several hunters to Illinois and is doing an Awesome Job on her first experiences tracking deer!] Today Tasha got the call for her first real track. My friend Ricky shot a doe and wasn't sure of the hit. We got to the stand with a group of four hunters, one tracker and one four and one half month old dachshund. The blood trail was good at the hit site and all the hunters took to the track. Tasha never took control of the track. She was content to follow the trackers and even found time to chase a couple of butterflies. After about 30 yards the blood trail dried up. This is where Tasha took control. Tasha started tracking at a rapid pace which had me concerned because there wasn't any blood. After about 70 yards we found a small drop of blood. Everyone jumped in behind Tasha and marked the blood along the way. This terrain was tough. This was a steep hillside that was thick and rocky. I think everyone lost their footing at least once during this track. There were also lots of sharp sawbriars around. I was bleeding almost as much as the deer. The trail would have some blood and then go dry. Tasha was intent on tracking at a faster pace than I could keep up. I was glad that I had a wide collar on her or she may have choked herself. After about 300 yards we found a pile of intestines. We tracked little blood for another hundred yards and we jumped the deer. With what we knew, we decided to back out and come back after lunch. After lunch we went back and started tracking. Of course all the hunters saw the deer get up earlier so they took to the blood trail. When the trail went dry, Tasha took control again. She led us up a steep hill that was really too steep to comfortably navigate....but we followed her. We found blood up the hillside. Tasha tried to bring me back down the hill but I stopped her and brought her back to the blood. Twice more she got off the blood trail and tried to bring me down the hill. I brought her back to the blood. On the fourth try she went downhill again so I followed. Tasha went to a brush pile near the bottom of the hill. There in the pile was the deer, dead and concealed. This is one deer that would have gotten away. Total track near 500 rough and tough yards. I can't describe how gratifying this experience has been. Tasha's tracking has exceeded my wildest dreams. Later this afternoon Tasha tracked and recovered her second deer. Once again she was slow starting with hunters tracking in front of her. After the blood played out, Tasha took over the track. There was very little blood on this track either. You can see her confidence level has gone up ten fold after two real tracks. She tracks very fast and on these steep hills it is all I can do to keep up. I have learned almost as much as she has on the two tracks. I will keep y'all updated. Cliff |
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February 2015
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