Game Trailing Recovery Dogs

“… consider what a hound can do that you cannot, especially a hound bred and trained for the task.”

- Roger Page

Four days into bow season my friend Darlene got a shot at a black bear. Her husband Pete and his cousin Mike cut their own hunts short to help Darlene recover the bear, but when they found the arrow the slime on it indicated a paunch shot, and they knew tracking would need to wait.

Mulling over their next move, Mike remembered a trapping acquaintance who was certified to track game with hounds, and the next morning Dave Seeley and his little Dachshund—aptly named Tracker—hopped out of the truck ready to roll.

When Darlene’s eyes widened at the sight of the 9-pound hound, Dave grinned. “Not what you expected?”

“Not really,” she admitted.

But once the little hound hit the ground it was obvious he knew his business. With Dave tending the leash, Tracker followed the trail to a bed where the bear had laid down. Soon they came to another, then another and another.

With Tracker’s tail thrashing wildly in the goldenrod, Dave finally turned to Darlene and said, “Found ’im!”

The joyous eruption that followed those magic words echoes to this day.

Dave first learned about tracking dogs when he couldn’t find the largest buck he ever arrowed. A comrade who was helping him search suggested, “Why don’t you call Deer Search? They’ll send someone with a hound.”

“That’s legal?” Dave replied. New York does not allow hunting deer with hounds, and most hunters don’t realize hounds are allowed for recovery.

Although the subsequent search also came up empty, Dave was so impressed by the efforts of the handler and his Dachshund he told his wife, “I can see us doing this.”

Veronica immediately dove into researching the project online while Dave focused on what it takes to train a tracking pup and also become a certified handler. A few weeks later, they welcomed Tracker into their lives.