A story, an outcome, and maybe a change of direction

[rjthehunter]

Tracking dogs are becoming seemingly more popular. I lost a doe recently to her jumping the string and hitting back and high. She was alert and I wish I didn't shoot. It was only 30 yards and she wasn't looking at me. But as soon as she heard the shot go off, she lunged forward. I feel awful, but with the very little blood and her just walking away like I didn't hit her, I'm fairly confident she is alive. Tracked her 100 yards or so finding one or two drops of blood every 40ft or so.

Mother nature is a cruel Son of a gun. Few if any animals in the wild have a quick death. It pains me to see videos of wolves or coyotes eating a deer while it sits there getting eaten alive. I'm not making excuses for bad shots on animals, but it happens. They are also a lot tougher than we think, and there are a healthy number of deer/elk that get shot that survive.

Think of it in the aspect that it's more fair to hunt with archery equipment as you have to have the animal fooled to get a shot at it. It gives the animal a better chance to not get shot and not just shoot it from across a canyon at 300 yards when they have no idea you're there.

Bad shots happen, a good hunter will feel bad because the goal is a quick clean kill. It's okay to feel bad, you should, but don't let it stop you from getting back out there.

 

[woods89]

Agree! Many hunters aren't aware that tracking dogs for game recovery are legal in Wyoming now. Of course, if you packed for two days into the Wilderness Area, calling a dog is probably not an option, but if you can get to cell service, it's always worth it to call a tracker in your area and at least see if one is available. It's amazing how often I hear, "I wish I would've known about you last week (or last month, or last year...)" I received over 80 calls in September alone...so no one has to feel like a bad shot only happens to them! There are a lot of variables in making a good shot, and unfortunately, a lot of those variables are not under the hunter's control. However, trying everything possible to recover that animal IS in the hunter's control! Before you grid search, and before you give up...call a tracking team!! https://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/find-a-tracker/trackers-by-state/?state=wyView attachment 248749

Can you be compensated at all legally? Honestly a roadblock for me would be calling someone away from work/family/hunting for a day and not being able to help them out a bit. Sounds like demand is really high!

 

[kimbertracks]

Can you be compensated at all legally? Honestly a roadblock for me would be calling someone away from work/family/hunting for a day and not being able to help them out a bit. Sounds like demand is really high!

I don't charge, but tips/gas money/dog treats/baked goods, (and of course deer legs for training!) are always happily accepted! The majority of trackers in this area don't charge, but there are a lot of trackers in the Midwest and eastern states who track for a living. It's just up to the individual tracker, so that's definitely something you want to ask when calling a tracker!

 

[DouglasR]

Think of it in the aspect that it's more fair to hunt with archery equipment as you have to have the animal fooled to get a shot at it. It gives the animal a better chance to not get shot and not just shoot it from across a canyon at 300 yards when they have no idea you're there

This.
It’s a much more intimate experience and method of take.

 

[3855WIN]

Can you be compensated at all legally? Honestly a roadblock for me would be calling someone away from work/family/hunting for a day and not being able to help them out a bit. Sounds like demand is really high!

I heard of a tracker in central Texas who was making a couple grand per weekend. Sounded like he tracked late into the night. It’s a big deal in whitetail country where access to the shot location is usually easy.

This is my camp neighbors Bavarian Mountain Hound. He found three deer for us in one night last year.

 

[rjthehunter]

This.
It’s a much more intimate experience and method of take.

Yes, and it's by far the most fair method for the animal. Usually still a quicker kill than they would have in the wild, and the animals make the series of bad decisions combined with good decisions from the hunter that inevitably lands them within range of the archer.

A lot more fair than some dude on a mountain top shooting from 800 yards as the elk is bedded down for the day.

Can you be compensated at all legally? Honestly a roadblock for me would be calling someone away from work/family/hunting for a day and not being able to help them out a bit. Sounds like demand is really high!

Most trackers around here in MN don't have a base fee, they just accept tips. Most of these guys aren't doing it for the money, they like to work their dogs and help fellow hunters.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

@neffa3 I've been around enough jackwagons lately that haven't a fuggin clue or care in the world about spraying lead with SKSs with loose mounted scopes, AR style smoothbore 12 gauges.. Come on, we need more guys like you in the woods.

Also, a lot of the "stone cold killers" only got that way after a lot of poorly placed arrows and heartbreaks.

 

[Khunter]

Tracking dogs are becoming seemingly more popular. I lost a doe recently to her jumping the string and hitting back and high. She was alert and I wish I didn't shoot. It was only 30 yards and she wasn't looking at me. But as soon as she heard the shot go off, she lunged forward. I feel awful, but with the very little blood and her just walking away like I didn't hit her, I'm fairly confident she is alive. Tracked her 100 yards or so finding one or two drops of blood every 40ft or so.

Mother nature is a cruel Son of a gun. Few if any animals in the wild have a quick death. It pains me to see videos of wolves or coyotes eating a deer while it sits there getting eaten alive. I'm not making excuses for bad shots on animals, but it happens. They are also a lot tougher than we think, and there are a healthy number of deer/elk that get shot that survive.

Think of it in the aspect that it's more fair to hunt with archery equipment as you have to have the animal fooled to get a shot at it. It gives the animal a better chance to not get shot and not just shoot it from across a canyon at 300 yards when they have no idea you're there.

Bad shots happen, a good hunter will feel bad because the goal is a quick clean kill. It's okay to feel bad, you should, but don't let it stop you from getting back out there.

I tried tracking dogs for first time. It did not get the recovery completed but was still impressed overall.

 

[Khunter]

This crossed my mind a lot. I love everything about the act of hunting except the trigger part. We have a prof cam that isn't being used anymore, I might try to take it out a bit and see if I can't put it to some use.

I am always trying to get pictures of animals when perhaps many/most wiuld thinking of setting up for a kill. I think it helps me be way more chill and enjoy ythe experience (and resulting photos long after the hunt) and ultimately make better, less buck-fever induced shots. Soemntime I get photos of an animal I kill before the shot and sometimes I get photos and no animal and simply smile and have cool, memorable experiece and photos, and move on looking for another opportunity.

A long-winded way to say focusing on the experience, including photography seems to be a great way to slow and calm things down, and make me a better hunter who enjoys all of it a lot more. I ‘always’ have a crap lightweight camera or cell phone I can be clicking away with in less than 5 seconds. Suggest getting a libght, small camera with lots opf optical zoom versus haukling around a big, clunky slow to operate prof camera. Have a good friend that packs a big camera in his pack and he rarely pulls that heavy clunky PIA to set up and use dead weight out of the pack. Ease of access and small format is critical to being able to truly hunt first and foremost but also get lots of photos.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

This.
It’s a much more intimate experience and method of take.

Your horse…it seems high.

 

[MTLabrador]

Tracking dogs are becoming seemingly more popular. I lost a doe recently to her jumping the string and hitting back and high. She was alert and I wish I didn't shoot. It was only 30 yards and she wasn't looking at me. But as soon as she heard the shot go off, she lunged forward. I feel awful, but with the very little blood and her just walking away like I didn't hit her, I'm fairly confident she is alive. Tracked her 100 yards or so finding one or two drops of blood every 40ft or so.

Mother nature is a cruel Son of a gun. Few if any animals in the wild have a quick death. It pains me to see videos of wolves or coyotes eating a deer while it sits there getting eaten alive. I'm not making excuses for bad shots on animals, but it happens. They are also a lot tougher than we think, and there are a healthy number of deer/elk that get shot that survive.

Think of it in the aspect that it's more fair to hunt with archery equipment as you have to have the animal fooled to get a shot at it. It gives the animal a better chance to not get shot and not just shoot it from across a canyon at 300 yards when they have no idea you're there.

Bad shots happen, a good hunter will feel bad because the goal is a quick clean kill. It's okay to feel bad, you should, but don't let it stop you from getting back out there.

Is it really more fair to kill a whitetail from a tree stand with a bow than to kill a bull elk in the mountains from 300+ yards?

 

[DouglasR]

Your horse…it seems high.

To hunt at this level,
It has to be.

 

[DouglasR]

Is it really more fair to kill a whitetail from a tree stand with a bow than to kill a bull elk in the mountains from 300+ yards?

A rifle hunt is a one night stand with a Portland stripper.
A bow hunt is making conceptual love to your wife.
2 completely different levels of intimacy.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Is it really more fair to kill a whitetail from a tree stand with a bow than to kill a bull elk in the mountains from 300+ yards?

Only on a conceptual purity scale.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

A rifle hunt is a one night stand with a Portland stripper.
A bow hunt is making conceptual love to your wife.
2 completely different levels of intimacy.

 

[westbranch]

To hunt at this level,
It has to be.

You need to start a podcast. Get those ideas out there.

 

[JLS]

It we were striving for fair, we’d use our hands and teeth.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Tracking dogs are becoming seemingly more popular. I lost a doe recently to her jumping the string and hitting back and high. She was alert and I wish I didn't shoot. It was only 30 yards and she wasn't looking at me. But as soon as she heard the shot go off, she lunged forward. I feel awful, but with the very little blood and her just walking away like I didn't hit her, I'm fairly confident she is alive. Tracked her 100 yards or so finding one or two drops of blood every 40ft or so.

Mother nature is a cruel Son of a gun. Few if any animals in the wild have a quick death. It pains me to see videos of wolves or coyotes eating a deer while it sits there getting eaten alive. I'm not making excuses for bad shots on animals, but it happens. They are also a lot tougher than we think, and there are a healthy number of deer/elk that get shot that survive.

Think of it in the aspect that it's more fair to hunt with archery equipment as you have to have the animal fooled to get a shot at it. It gives the animal a better chance to not get shot and not just shoot it from across a canyon at 300 yards when they have no idea you're there.

Bad shots happen, a good hunter will feel bad because the goal is a quick clean kill. It's okay to feel bad, you should, but don't let it stop you from getting back out there.

A couple of years ago I posted a hunt story, on that trip I made some mistakes, was a little green when it came to how to do some stuff and made some bad calls. No harm no foul, but I definitely screwed up.

Posted the story and had a user on here just explode at me via PM. We had a back and forth, I totally owned that I did it wrong, I did.

Turns out the the PM'er had recently made a catastrophic error and was more or less projecting on me their guilt.

@neffa3 wrote this thread to discuss and own his own misgivings and guilt? if that's a fair way to phrase it, @neffa3. It's a valuable conversation to have IMHO.

Killing things is messy and doesn't always go to plan. I've lost 2 animals, both with a muzzy. First one I was using a muzzy during rifle season, I'm quite certain if I'd been using a scoped rifle I wouldn't have lost that animal. I definitely wouldn't have caused it undo pain and stress. I definitely feel guilty about that choice. Second one was just a bad shot.

I'm not going to post about the 'intimacies' of a muzzy, in order to assuage my guilt.

There is nothing wrong with bow hunting.

In aggregate bow hunting has a higher wounding rate than other methods of take.

When you take a bow into the field you have to live with that reality. I'm sure if I keep bow hunting I'm going to lose animals, that's just how it goes.

I think feeling guilty about your mistakes is normal and heathy, but we all have to own our mistakes. Creating a superiority complex to justify our guilt is problematic, projecting on others is problematic.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Is it really more fair to kill a whitetail from a tree stand with a bow than to kill a bull elk in the mountains from 300+ yards?

Both are plenty "fair" and I think arguing about these things is silly.

But, my odds of an arrow not going where I want it on a whitetail from a stand @ 30 yards are probably at least 3x what they are that a bullet doesn't hit where I want it to on an elk @ 300 yards. If that whitetail gets to about 15 yards, we're probably pretty close to being on par.

 

[woods89]

I don't think I buy the idea that the weapon makes a hunt more or less pure. I've had rifle hunts that have taxed me to the core, and I've had bowhunts that were a 150 yd walk to a tree on private land. You can add adventure or difficulty in any number of ways.

Our firearms season here starts Saturday. If I can make it work I'd like to hike in a mile and a half or so, camp for the night and hunt the opener. I'll have my rifle, but honestly I doubt I'll have any shot opportunities more than 80 yds or so, due to terrain. Where does that fall on the scale?