Ungrateful SOB!

[Finfeatherfur]

I'm sorry, but I have to vent, so please bear with me. I can't hold it in any longer and don't care who sees this.

This past Saturday, we had a hog hunt in which we took some hogs, one of which was a big ugly boar that tore up two dogs good. We ended up calling the hunt to care for the dogs after that and didn't end the day until about 5 that afternoon.

After getting cleaned up and eating supper w/ the wife, my phone rings. It's a guy that has some friends in the woods at their lease in Krotz Springs that has shot at two deer and can't find them. It is 7:20 on a Saturday night and somehow he has gotten my number and knew I had a tracking dog. After a short conversation, I tell him I will go out there, especially since we are still in training with him and need the time in the woods. However, I tell him we need the hunters to get out of the woods to allow the human scent to thin out, and wait for us to get there. I also learn the deer were shot with buckshot, which I am not a fan of.

After loading up, and hitting the road, I remember that my brother in law is on his way back from his lease in Jackson and has his dog w/ him. I call him and he says he wants to come also, since they possibly have 2 deer down. We arrive at the site at 8:35, and after a 200 yard wallk through the woods, we get to the hit site. The blood they show us is minimal at best, not much more than what you would find in a workshop when someone cuts his finger. The dogs both run the same line of track and turn hard right 100 yards from the hit site and bring us to a slough about 10 yards wide and 2-3 feet deep. The only blood we found was at the hit site, but the dogs both come to the slough in the same exact spot. The hunter tells us the deer sounded like they were further north and doesn't think the deer crossed there. Now, he tells us he is not sure if he hit one, or both, or which one was standing where the blood was.

I tell my bro-n-law, those deer crossed there and we need to get to the other side. Neither one of us had waders, so he gets escorted back out to the road where they bring him around to a foot bridge and put him on the other side of the slough (more like a bayou). It was a jungle and absolute horrible walk for him in some real bad stuff. He finally gets across from me and tells me, "dude - I got blood right here". Sure enough, the deer crossed there! I have a pair of bib overalls on top of warm ups so I decide I would bring the dogs over by walking through after shedding the bibs. I get over to the other side and immediately the dogs run the track back to water. The land on the other side of the bayou was low and incredibly flooded. It got so deep, my dog was actually swimming at times and stopped tracking. I brought him back to high ground and returned to where he stopped. I continue another 20 yards past his stopping point and find a fat doe about 130# dead in the water.

I drag the deer back to the ridge, get the dogs back across the slough, then drag the deer across to the "good" side of the woods. We walk out, I get my dry bibs back on, and we load all our dogs and gear up. The only thing we did not do was drag the deer to the truck!

Here is my beef! Not a six pack, or a $20 bill for gas, or a gift certificate to Chuckie Cheese. Could not believe that! I was raised different I guess. I don't charge for tracking a deer, unless it is on a paid hunt, and then I charge the outfitter, not the shooter. I wasn't charging for this track either, and that was discussed before hand, but I mean throw a brother a bone! I don't need the gas money and have my own beer, but found it strange! We both left feeling like the ugly girl w/ the wet spot after prom if you know what I mean!

All I'm saying is if you get help from strangers, let them know you appreciate it!