“WHEN ONE BECAME TWO”

Why have a trail dog? Let me tell ya one of the many reasons….

Evening fell on my food plot as I watched a big doe feeding at the far end. Dark came, I gathered my stuff and headed to the truck to check and see if anybody had done anything that evening. I returned to the truck and noticed on my cell phone that there were two missed calls. Checking the caller ID, I discovered it was my boy, Jimmy. I surmised that he must have shot something to have called out to me twice, and I knew he was in his tree stand about five miles from me, on the other end of Blackwater Forest.

I got in my truck and went to an area where I could pick up a better signal to retrieve my voicemail and call him back. Meanwhile, informing Papa and Andy of what was going on, and finding out all they had seen was a bunch of does and yearlings, and I think some hogs.

On the message Jimmy says very excitedly, his voice shaking, “JEFF, BRING KLINGER. I SHOT A BUCK AND HE RAN OFF”….. and the story begins….

He informed me that he had two bucks come out on him from a little head below him, out onto the pine flats and they started sparring about 100 yards away from him. They backed off to spar again and choosing the larger of the two bucks…he shot. Both of the bucks broke and ran into the gall berries. He said he had obviously hit him good when he broke and ran. Shortly thereafter, the smaller buck emerged at a run from the other side of the gall berries. He shoots. Thinking he had missed, he climbs down and begins to look for the first buck. Then dark falls and he returns to his truck.

Knowing I had Klinger in my truck, he calls me. Klinger is our German Shorthaired Pointer. He is trained to trail wounded deer and has retrieved numerous deer for me, as well as other clients. I offer a service for a nominal fee of retrieving game if they can’t find them. I charge a fee to ensure it is worth it to the client, as well as Klinger and I to venture out late at night, sometimes in the frigid cold and rainy nights.

Back to the story! Jimmy knew he had a good shot. I met up with him, we found blood, and proceeded to put Klinger on the trail and he took right to it. Going about 100-120 yards down the trail, there he was…..piled up. I yell, “yeeeee hawwwww…there he is Jimmy”. Jimmy was behind me, staying on the last trail…we always like to confirm that we are going straight and that we know where the last sign was.

Jimmy runs to the deer and says “that’s not the buck I shot, that’s the second one”. “Naw”, I said. “Yep” he replies, “the second one!” I said “well you must have hit him too”. He explains the happenings to me. This buck was down the trail from where the first buck was. Ciphering this out….we deduced this was the second buck (the smaller buck). So, I said “Let’s go back. You know you hit the first one and this is the second one, let’s go back to where you shot the first one and try him again”. Sure enough, we went back and Klinger took to him. This time he went about 50 steps down the same original trail and just caved off into the gall berries. I mean, gall berries so thick, you couldn’t see Klinger five feet in there. I crashed in behind him and all I could see was his stubby little tail wagging. We finally got through the gall berries…..and there was the first buck….the 8 point.

After all the excitement died down, we brought the deer out and loaded them up for pictures and stories……

This is one of the many reasons to have a good blood trail dog. We might have found the first one in the long run because he was on the main trail. The second buck, however, had diverted from the main trail through the thickest of gall berries and probably would not have been found until a week later when the buzzards were circling him. He had shot the second buck “Texas heart shot” (as some call it) and had piled him up right there. When he shot, the buck disappeared over the ridge; but in reality, the deer had fallen right there. The first buck was heart shot, just like he should have been, but he caved off into the gall berries…gall berries as thick as peanut butter. Anybody that has been hunting long knows how easy it is for one to get away in a situation like that. If it had not been for a good blood trail dog, we would not have gotten those two bucks…..thus “when one became two”.

Congratulations to my boy for two fine bucks…..the day he got two for one (and a big thanks to Klinger).

Look for more stories on the many-a-time Klinger has saved one for me and other folks….many-a-time, many-a-time!