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.

10/13/2026

💯% Truth !!

We started the day just minutes away from home with Ketchum. He took us approx 200 yards in heavy mist fog that had his ...
10/12/2026

We started the day just minutes away from home with Ketchum. He took us approx 200 yards in heavy mist fog that had his nose up more than down and looking like he was struggling to hold line A call to Janice had her meet me on road with Picabo and she did the same. This by arrow pic and story was a jumped liver hit. We knew it was dead. I decided to call track and told the hunter I’d be back after next tracks when sun was up.
Next up was public land track where the hunter found fat hanging on vegetation and backed out. A quick short easy recovery in thick nasty cover was achieved.
Next was a ?? where the buck had went through a cornfield and they lost blood about 300 yards into track. Picabo confirmed blood 4-5 times going against the corn rows and getting 100-125 yards across another cornfield then took us along the field with a couple other drops to her looking like it was not a dead deer. Track called.
Back to track # 1 where Pic’ took same lines and started the same searching in about same area. A controlled circle around this area had us getting to the road side where she went nose up hot and the buck was 15’ in woods next to us.
Headed to work at noon for rest of the day. The grind is real !

Time for a nap….2 for 3 day starting at daybreak and ending mid afternoon. Got wet in a trout river. Got poked, scraped,...
10/11/2026

Time for a nap….
2 for 3 day starting at daybreak and ending mid afternoon. Got wet in a trout river. Got poked, scraped, stinging nettles but had a blast.
Ketchum did some amazing nose work on the first track. A few resets and as we where in a river tributary of the main river a neighbor of the hunter out for a walk asked “are you looking for a deer?”We were moving up the creek and only 60 -70 yards away.

Off to a real ?? track. Broadhead had meat in it. One blade was fully bent. 728 yards later we were celebrating finding the buck. It took multiple resets a time where Ketchum just lost the line in a winter wheat field, a decision to force Ketch on each field edge to look for a pull in. Sure enough blood was found on grass and after a little struggling the buck was found. Shot entrance was neck exiting near shoulder. Only idea how this could happen with the hunter on ground is that the stopped buck spun into the bolt.
Last track ended up showing nothing on a ?? hit.

As I’m typing just got text of buck we tracked with Picabo last week and went back next day with Ketchum to retry has been found in the creek not far from where we tracked to with little blood. The hunter said he must have died and floated downstream a bit. These really sting and for me take away a little of today’s successs. What this will make me do on a future similar track id to do a bank search downstream to be sure.

Busy Saturday had Ketchum, Challis and myself at grandsons last football game at 9 am with one track scheduled after the...
10/11/2026

Busy Saturday had Ketchum, Challis and myself at grandsons last football game at 9 am with one track scheduled after the game. A call at the game made it 2. Hit back carrying the arrow and backed out by the hunter.

We put Challis down and had a bloodless 1-2 minute track right up to the deer. The buck only made it 22 1/2 yards. Arrow hit the dorsal aorta that feeds the femoral arteries in the hind quarters.

Another text showing bolt, white hair and stomach contents at hit site came in. After discussion we scheduled it at midnight 17 hours after hit.

Next up was a crossbow hit where one spot of blood was found. No blades on broadhead and a warped fletching didn’t sound promising. Ketch pulled us into a cattail marsh 380 yards to find 3 drops of blood on the ground. After that another 100 then we watched him start circling , resetting and we called track.

Some rest and Picabo was picked to run the gut shot. 284 yards later with a lot of crawling under autumn olive and a reset had the buck found dead on the 4th bed.

Now I drink coffee with 4 hours sleep and leave with Challis and Ketchum in a 1/2 hour for what looks by video of a dying deer. 2 more ?? tracks scheduled. First track is 15 minute drive , then a 19 minute drive, and then a 17 minute drive.

Picabo: Recharging in the sun is the best! ☀️🪫🔋☀️Take advantage of it Pic, you’re up next and they will be home soon eno...
10/10/2026

Picabo: Recharging in the sun is the best! ☀️🪫🔋☀️

Take advantage of it Pic, you’re up next and they will be home soon enough.

2 tracks yesterday for Picabo that ended with a ? and looking to be almost surely non fatal shots. First was ag land and...
10/09/2026

2 tracks yesterday for Picabo that ended with a ? and looking to be almost surely non fatal shots. First was ag land and only minimal blood was found in soybeans. Many resets and nothing found.
Last night I get text with picture of broadhead/insert and nock with “can you track tonight”. After talking on phone and hearing the shaft is gone. With my mind perplexed I had to try to see if we could figure this out. After almost an hour of Pic’ not finding or wanting to even track we returned to fully inspect the hit site and look for evidence. One pin drop spot of blood on G5 cast broad head that had tip curled, 1 blade bent and cracked and a tiny piece of light colored flesh. Further inspection I saw hair that was a perfect match for outside of leg. This 51 yard long hit has to have hit leg bone perfectly square and I still can not believe did not pe*****te or break it. The crossbow was a Ravin R10
pushing a bolt at 400 plus FPS.
As a team I do not screen hardly ever when it comes to taking a track. Helping a hunter know he or she did everything they could to find their game.
The grind is real ….

Picabo ran a non recovery track with a couple of stream crossings yesterday. After the second crossing she never looked ...
10/08/2026

Picabo ran a non recovery track with a couple of stream crossings yesterday. After the second crossing she never looked to hold a line and just lost interest. No blood was seen by us on other side of creek.
Late morning I took a call from a first year hunter that had shot a doe. Her voice and in talking with her showed the so much respect and ethics that I share. We set up a meet time after work and Ketchum got on a bloodless hit site and took us quickly to find 2 spots of blood around 100 yards. Another 30 or 40 tucked into marsh grass he found the elated hunters gut/liver/1 lung doe. With husband gone I even got to field dress the deer for her.
After that track I took Ketchum back to last nights track. The hunter and friend went back in morning to where Picabo crossed creek. They found 1 drop of blood on a blade of grass. Ketchum tracked to the creeks and crossed. With some circling he took me down a path were I saw a branch on ground that looked to have blood. A quick spray of hydrogen peroxide proved he was on line. From there no real pattern or line was established. This track had arrow in deer, a whack was heard and very minimal blood was seen.
Now we’re back into wait for call mode….

Got home from Maryland Sunday Eve after a 10 1/2 hour drive. 50 minutes a call comes in and we’re back in the truck on t...
10/06/2026

Got home from Maryland Sunday Eve after a 10 1/2 hour drive. 50 minutes a call comes in and we’re back in the truck on the way to a track. Took Ketchum and Challis. On looking at hit site evidence this was a dead deer and going to be easy. Challis ended up quickly finding the perfectly shot buck in 80-90 yards. The hunters husband was 15’ or so from the dead deer but just didn’t see it. We had a great laugh.
7 calls for help came in Sunday night to yesterday morning. Picabo had some great nose work confirming blood, heavy clots and beds way past hunters last blood on 2 tracks but no recoveries. Ketchum ended the night with a first time archery hunting dads 11 year old son taking the leash on a liver/gut shot doe out of a food plot and down into a nasty swamp and us hearing “I see a deer”.
I made a couple of calls to fellow trackers and they covered the other 4 calls.
Only one call last night for a former hunter that we had found a deer before. He was going to give it some time and look first. I woke up to a text with a family pic of his wife and kids with the buck ❤️.
This morning I’m back at work already with Ketchum sleeping on the break room couch waiting…..

Michigan archery deer season opening weekend isn’t over yet. This has been an action packed , whirlwind so far. My phone...
10/04/2026

Michigan archery deer season opening weekend isn’t over yet.
This has been an action packed , whirlwind so far. My phone for tracking calls has been the busiest opener in 10 seasons. We left Friday morning early to attend a close friends sons wedding that was last night in Baltimore, MD. We packed in a east coast seafood feast Friday night after a 10 hour drive. Yesterday morning we visited National monument Fort McHenry the place that Francis Scott Key wrote the “Star Spangled Banner” during the war of 1812. A wedding that will not most likely not be topped. 15-17 course unbelievable meal that lasted around 5 hours. Russian customs, and music that was so much fun. Back on the road at daybreak today with a stop at another emotion evoking National monument, the “Flight 93 Memorial” in Shanksville PN where the hikacked flight 93 crashed on 911. Now Janice drives while I type in Ohio.
A huge THANK YOU goes out to many Michigan tracking teams that I was calling, texting with and helping those hunters I could not help. Some great recoveries and I believe around 12 tracks in my area where directly covered by Dave Dainton, John Stewart, Ron Richter, Austin Avery and maybe 4 others I gave phone numbers out. Some of these trackers did a lot of driving to help.
This is teamwork and while I would have a slight or maybe big UGH the dogs and myself couldn’t go , it was so appreciated the hunters got help.
We’ll be home in about 5 hours and ready to track tonight.

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Rockford, MI

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616-773-0840

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