West Michigan Whitetail Tracking

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West Michigan Whitetail Tracking Bavarian Mountain Hounds named "Picabo" and “Ketchum” and “Challis a Stabyhoun that track wounded or lost big game for hunters.

Another crazy busy day. Started with a non recovery where first blood was found around 60-80 yards from hit site. Brigh...
10/22/2026

Another crazy busy day. Started with a non recovery where first blood was found around 60-80 yards from hit site. Bright red and vegetation was covered up to about 40” high. No beds a couple creek crossings, no beds finally specking out and track being called.
Next up a track for an 8 year old. Crossbow shot video and a trail cam video showed “dead deer” quartering to hit that had gut matter at hit site. A quick recovery dead on first bed.
A call comes in to track another buck that the hunter found fat on vegetation and arrow smelled guts. Thanks to Matt with
Tag-Out Deer Recovery for giving us this track as we could be there quicker.
Stop by work as I was 4 miles away to get a little bit done and back to meet the hunter and his friend. Small world but on a drop camp elk hunt in Idaho 6 years ago I met the hunters friend when our groups were saddling up to go hunt different drainages. Ketchum quickly walked up to a tank of a mature whitetail. That died on second bed.
Get home change clothes off to church to run sound for Sunday worship rehearsal. Picabo comes along in the booth and after we go run a non recovery blood specking out with again blood found high in vegetation.
What do I consider high? Anything above the belt on a 6’ person. It does not rule out deer isn’t fatally hit but drops the odds of a fatal hit.
This morning I have nothing scheduled.
Only 1 call last night where the hunter could only run it last night has me and Picabo going to work this morning. I’m hoping to not get any calls today and get a break. Well in an hour I’ll probably change my mind and be impatiently hoping. It’s a passion, no it’s somewhat of an obsession.

2 for 3 day starting with a Q2 hit that ended up liver/gut with bolt not exiting. Buck went 325 yards with no blood for ...
10/20/2026

2 for 3 day starting with a Q2 hit that ended up liver/gut with bolt not exiting. Buck went 325 yards with no blood for last 3rd of track. Buck did a big “C” and died 70ish yards from hit site.
Next up was one that ended up like all muscle specking out at over 500 yards and track being called.
Received a call after first track for help. The hunter told me he had contacted another tracking team that couldn’t get to it until tonight. I called Angie with a great tracking team, North River Tracking Service to ask if they were doing the track. A call back saying if you can be there earlier had taking the track within an hour. This was a quick and easy one for Ketchum. The hunter and dad had minimal blood on a path to the creek last night. This morning the dad crossed and went down 2 trails directly across from the path for maybe 20 yards without finding blood made him back out to call for a dog. Ketchum did same as the hunter and dad crossing the creek checking the 2 trails and walked back across the stream to circle and walk maybe 5 yards down the stream to enter again. He walked about 20 yards downstream smelling logs and then turned to jump up into a wall of grass pulling me to the dead buck 20 yards from creek bank.
A trip to the vet for checkups and shots now has us home for dinner and waiting for the phone to ring.

Before work easy find for Picabo with hunter backing out knowing he had an exit out the guts. An after work 587 yard tra...
10/20/2026

Before work easy find for Picabo with hunter backing out knowing he had an exit out the guts. An after work 587 yard track ending at a property line with confirmed blood but from all evidence (hair, arrow, blood) looks like a probable low brisket hit.
Back out at daybreak tomorrow with one scheduled.

8 am - 8:30 pm day spent in the truck, woods, swamps, thickets, CRP , a river, a Milo field and a cattail marsh. Five bu...
10/19/2026

8 am - 8:30 pm day spent in the truck, woods, swamps, thickets, CRP , a river, a Milo field and a cattail marsh. Five bucks tracked with only one recovery on a track I did not expect a find.
Done for the night with several calls already.
Time to sleep until tomorrow.

Last night the grind continued with 2 tracks for bucks shot in the morning. First track did not look promising with a lo...
10/18/2026

Last night the grind continued with 2 tracks for bucks shot in the morning. First track did not look promising with a lot of short thin straight white hair at the hit site. The deer did bed and had a spot of blood the size of a 22 caliber bullet. One more spot found about 60 yards further and Picabo gave every sign it was a graze.
Next up was a simple, fast and easy recovery for a hunter that knew he hit back by sign on bolt. Exhausted and ready for bed , we didn’t stay for field dressing to see if a lung was hit with the exit right in front of back leg the liver and gut were.
Back on the road in an hour…..

This morning we drove to what the hunter thought was a shoulder shot buck. Around 420 yards when Ketchum found the secon...
10/17/2026

This morning we drove to what the hunter thought was a shoulder shot buck. Around 420 yards when Ketchum found the second bed vontaining intestines we knew it wasn’t. 105 yards later Jake had his public land buck.
We also ran a trad hunter I’ve found bucks for before. Only 4” pe*******on shoulder hit run to just make sure it wasn’t more and dead.
Home now with time to get my muck boots on the boot dryer, laundry ( yes we got soaked in a drainage ditch crossing ) and get a nap before our 8 pm scheduled track begins , with one more after to end the days tracking.

After our first day off since opener without a call we head to track #1 of 2 to start the weekend. Ketchum is a happy b...
10/17/2026

After our first day off since opener without a call we head to track #1 of 2 to start the weekend. Ketchum is a happy boy.
Best of success to all of you hunting on this 30 degree morning.

IF you are hunting today when wind & storms start this afternoon please. #1 Be careful for falling limbs & trees. #2 If...
10/16/2026

IF you are hunting today when wind & storms start this afternoon please.
#1 Be careful for falling limbs & trees.
#2 If you do shoot a deer and think you may need a dog to track please physically mark hit site & last blood. Do NOT grid search which moves the scent all around. With leaves on the ground blowing and more coming down, rain diluting, high forecasted winds effecting scent following these things. This will give dog best chance to follow the line and problem solve scent gaps.
Best of success this weekend !

10/14/2026

THIS POST WAS MADE TO HOPEFULLY BE EDUCATIONAL NOT A PLACE TO BASH THE HUNTER AND ARGUE.
(Many inaccurate comments, and vulgarity were removed). Long range shots on whitetail deer is a coin flip on hit location every time.

Thid video was taken with a Vision HD 3-12X crossbow scope. Ketchum and I to track this buck last night and we hit a property stop that had blood at 580 yards on the line. Property permission was granted today and we returned where the hunter showed me the video. Knowing that we most likely would not have a recovery we reran the line and he took it another 200 yards with further found blood eventually seeming to lose interest.
Googling how many decimals is a Ravin crossbow gave us 80-90 db. This is the same as a blender, truck, lawnmower, power saw….
With the speed of sound the deer can hear this before the bolt makes impact resulting very often in shoulder, and high shots.
Reviewing this video by enlarging and slowing it down shows a hit high above spine and not resulting in a pass through.
The scope gives the yardage and drop on the right. ( 65 yards and 21.3 inches ).

10/13/2026

💯% Truth !!

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