NEED A TRACKER?
I am a United Blood Trackers certified tracker with a team of dogs trained to track wounded white tail deer and black bear based out of Harris, MN.
I travel up to one hour outside of Harris in all directions but spend a lot of time tracking on the western border of Wisconsin near Grantsburg, Frederic, Luck, and surrounding towns.
My fee to come out is a flat $50. After that, tips are greatly appreciated.
BAUER
Bauer is a versatile German hutning terrier called a Jadgterrier. He started tracking in 2020 and is my most experienced tracking dog. Bauer and I passed his UBT 1 the summer of 2022.
KAMIKAZE
Kamikaze began training for tracking in 2022 and passed her UBT 1 this summer as well. She will begin her official tracking career this Fall!
WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT NEED A TRACKER
I hope you never find yourself in a position to need me but if you do, here are the important things to do before we arrive.
Save my number in your phone. If you hunt in my area, go ahead and just put me right in your phone and give me a call even if you think you might need a tracker. If I'm not near where you hunt, visit Minnesota Tracking Dogs on Facebook to get hooked up with a tracker or two in your area.
The first and most important thing to do is back out of your track as soon as you realize you might need a tracking team. Using bright and easy to see marking tape, mark your hit site and while staying off the scent trail as much as possible, mark any blood you can easily see. Do not extend past last blood! It can be tempting to grid search a little on your own but doing so significantly reduces the likelihood that a dog will be able to recover your animal. When you grid search, scent particles are picked up by your shoes and carried with you on every step. What starts as a clear, easily tracked line, turns into a mess quickly. Our dogs are good but they aren't magical. Tracking out of a grid searched area is challenging for even the most experienced dogs.
Staying out of the woods also reduces the likelihood of bumping your animal. A flighty and wounded animal can run further than you'd expect. They need a few hours to just lay down and die. If we go into a track too early and the dog bumps your animal, not only can it be dangerous to be face to face with a wounded animal, we may never see it again. If you're not sure how long to wait, ask me. I can help.
Be honest with us. If you grid searched a little before calling us because you didn't think you'd need a dog or didn't know that would make things harder, just let us know right away. We have ways we can try to work our dogs through it if we are prepared. Be honest about where you think you shot your animal as well. We aren't holding anything against you. The more information we have the better the chance of recovery we have.
Get permission. If there is a chance we might have to cross property lines to track your deer, call those neighbors before we come out. If we get on a roll and the dog is confidently pulling us along, we don't want to pull the dog off to wait for permission. Do that ahead of time so things run smoothly. We will NOT cross property lines without permission.
Tell your friends. Tracking with dogs only became legal in Minnesota within the last three or so years. Many people don't even know it's an option. Because of this, we are usually called in as a last resort after the area has been heavily grid searched and all other methods of recovery have been exhausted. Animals have a better chance of being recovered when a dog is called in early. Keep these things in mind and save some trackers in your phone just in case you need to give one a call. Tell your friends to do the same!