Dennis Menendez gets another nice 6-pointer, but it took Odie's nose to track the deceased animal. - Angelo San Fratello, Falling Creek Outfitters
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18 months old Tranevang's MA Tashatax, born in Denmark and living in Louisiana, is already a very talented deer tracker. I very much look forward to meeting her when our paths cross, Cliff!  Tasha goes out on track number 25 tonight. To make it just a little bit better it was for a good friend of mine. This was the first deer that he shot off his new property. I was very happy to be part of it. - Cliff Shrader Tasha got to track two deer last night. The hunters both shot straight and we were able to recover both of the deer. These were two very nice bucks. - Cliff Shrader, LA Double Congratulations to Cliff and Tasha!
 Stan Wenner harvested this great 8-pointer however, Odie found it as there was no blood trail for Stan to follow. The 8-pointer came in at 191 lbs.
I like seeing "throwback" pics and want to post one of my own. Don't have much time today though, so instead of scanning and posting a much older photograph, I looked for something in my digital files. Don't believe I have ever posted this one anywhere.
It was taken September 2007 and 3 year old Owl had just passed the DTK (German Dachshund Club) SchwhKF blood track test in Reading, PA. I am holding the markers (articles) that Owl found on the track in the forest. Owl is the first, and so far only, USA longhaired dachshund to pass this test. He was also the only one of four dogs to pass the test that day, and he did it on the last track. If (ha!) I look like a zombie, it is because I'd worked the evening before, driven all night, and arrived at the hotel meeting place in eastern PA at precisely the start time of 8 am! It proved to be a warm and muggy day and by the time we ran our track, I was beyond much more than hanging onto the tracking line. But Owl had it all very well under control and I basically just went where he went. This was fine with Owl; he likes to tell me where to go. Laura Knoll and Ochre were participants at the well-attended tracking workshop conducted by Lois Ballard. Held at a community park in Roscoe, Illinois, it was one of the Harvest Moon events and essentially an Intro to Tracking affair. Neither Laura, Ochre TDX, or myself are new to tracking, but we can always learn something. Especially from Lois!
Ochre was very happy to be back in harness and given some tracks to run! This made Laura happy, too. Can you tell?  Tasha and I went on our first track of the year last night. The track was about 12 hours old and there was no blood after the first couple of hundred yards. After we were convinced that she was leading us on a wild goose chase, she brought us to the deer. This was her tenth recovery out of thirteen attempts. I'm so proud of her. Congratulations to Cliff and Tasha!
Thursday evening I was relaxing around the house when my phone rang. It was one of my best friends Donnie and he asked if I wanted to make a track. I was excited like a little boy waiting on Christmas. I grabbed my tracking bag and while I was opening up the gate, Tasha jumped in the truck. Donnie said that he thinks that he made a good shot...right about 100 yards with his 444 rifle...an accurate but primitive weapon. He was surprised when he saw the deer after the shot and she was still standing there. She left the shot site trailed by at least one other deer. Donnie found pretty good blood that appeared to be lung blood leaving the shot site that went about 15 yards to some shallow water. Donnie has a Blue Lacy dog named Lucy that he uses for tracking. She has been up to her chest in water and it doesn't bother her a bit. Donnie knew that I had been wanting to let Tasha track in some water because we have so much of it in South Louisiana, so he backed out and called me. It only took us about an hour to be at Donnie's lease.  Cliff's talented and beautiful tracking partner Tasha, 8 months old [Svante is Multiple Champion Red Top's Klatjofs, Finland's standard longhaired dachshund of the year in 2011, also father of my Viljo. Svante is owned by Jarkko and Tia Eskelinen, Finland.] Tia writes: We have been tracking a deer, it had been hit by a car yesterday morning. We were tracking for two hours yesterday evening and went back this morning. It has been snowing the whole night and during this morning too, there was about 10cm fresh snow in the woods and it was quite hard for a dachshund. But Svante did it, he found deer still alive after two hours of tracking! Deer was young and its back leg was broken. Well done Svante! Well done, indeed, in four more inches of snow on top of what was already there! Congratulations on a super and successful effort!  Photo by Tia Eskelinen [Pie is ABS FC Dackeldorf American Pie SL TD, owned by Christian and Julia Stock, Upper Arlington, Ohio.] Pie, 6.5 years old, is a daughter of Owl. While I am posting new photos, I will tell the story of Pie earning her Tracking Dog title. Pie was only seven months old when she passed the Tracking Dog test. It was the first tracking test for both Pie and her handler Julie Stock. An interesting thing happened on Pie's track during the test. Some men working on a little bridge in the area drove their construction truck across the third leg of Pie's track. They were headed back to the equipment barn and had decided to take the shortest route which was overland! Pie, already on track, had done some zooming around at the start, as puppies often will. When she settled down, Pie leaned into her harness and became all business. She made the first two turns flawlessly. When Pie arrived at where the truck had gone diagonally across the track, she began drifting off track in the direction the truck had traveled. We who were up on the road watching and pacing like crazy, had a few seconds there where we stopped all motion and willed Pie to correct herself. She did! Good little tracker that she is, Pie quickly realized that she was not where she needed to be. She went straight away back to the actual track, made the third and fourth turns easily, and indicated the article at the end of the fifth leg. Julie cautiously crept up on her, saw the article, picked it up and waved! Yaaaaay, Pie! The judges came up to Julie and heartily offered their congratulations. One of them, who tracks German Shepherds, commented that Pie had looked like a "wiggle in the grass." Ha ha! It was a memorable occasion. Back to the present, here are some photos of Pie taken by her owner this week. Like so many longhairs do, Pie loves snow!    [Odie is Axel Odin von Dorndorf, a talented deer tracker for Stan and Alecia Wenner in North Carolina.] Today, Alecia sent me this photo of "Odie's last buck for 2012" which is a nice nine-pointer. Alecia and Odie are pictured with Angelo San Fratello, owner of Falling Creek Outfitters in Mount Olive, NC. Big congratulations on a great year of tracking!  [Odie is Axel Odin von Dorndorf, 8 years, owned by Stan and Alecia Wenner, North Carolina.] Here are some highlights from 2012!
Angelo San Fratello, owner of Falling Creek Outfitters in Mount Olive, North Carolina: I took this 8-pointer on a clear cut. Odie the magnificent trail dog tracked the buck for 1.5 hours Saturday night. The buck kept getting up and running. On Sunday morning, Alecia and Bruce assisted Odie and they found the buck. The coyotes had eaten the hindquarters.  November 9 Alecia took this 160 lb. 8-pointer on a morning hunt.  November 18 with Alecia Wenner
Dennis A. shot this 8-pointer on an evening hunt. Quite often a deer will not leave a blood trail. So Odie went to work on a cold trail. Odie started sniffing around 7:30 PM. Odie spotted the deer still alive around 9:30 PM. The deer was shot two more times before it expired. Out of the woods we all came around 10:15 PM, cold, wet, and tired.  November 28 with Stan Wenner  December 6 Stan took this nice 8-pointer on the Joyner Farm during an evening hunt. His four-legged son Odie had to help track the buck.
Brady M. takes his first buck, a beautiful 6-pointer with a 12-inch spread, 135 lbs. on a Saturday evening hunt. Odie "the magnificent trail dog" helped Brady retrieve his buck. Many thanks to Alecia and Angelo for the photos. I really appreciate having them. I am very proud and pleased with the mighty great tracking work that Odin is doing!
Big Congratulations to all of you! 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! 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. Ha ha! Thank you, Cliff, for a great report!  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.  Taya in Ohio at nine weeks and already an international traveler. 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.  Red, Cliff with Tasha, and Samantha with her wonderful doe 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. 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.  [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 |
