Dickey's Deer Recovery

Dickey's Deer Recovery With the aid of a dog named Hazel let us help you recover your buck or doe and fill the freezer

09/27/2025



Day four of the ETHIC countdown.One of the most unfavorable calls we trackers receive from a hunter in need is, the frontal or quartered to shot.

Please do not attempt the frontal or quartered to archery shot on a deer, yes even if you have a crossbow! While I'm sure there are a few out there that will say that they have killed deer with a frontal shot or quartered to shot with their archery equipment, those type of shots are not an optimal shots. I can tell you for myself and from what many other trackers have encountered, we almost never recover (I never have) the frontal or quartered to shot deer. Almost every tracker I know would highly advise against such a shot, especially with archery equipment. WAIT for the deer to turn to expose its vitals to optimize your shot placement. If the deer does not turn, simply let it walk! Tomorrow is another day!

A couple of days ago I made a survey post on a closed network FB page of trackers that reside from all over. In the survey I had asked trackers to their opinion on the frontal/quartered to shot. The results were unanimous to the almost 100 comments, NO DO NOT TAKE FRONTAL SHOTS!!! Some of those commenting had many more years tracking experience than myself. It’s from experience that the voice of reason speaks! This post is meant to be shared.

Hunters!! It's down to the final week befor the 2025 hunting season! Unfortunately, due to my work schedule I will be ou...
09/09/2025

Hunters!! It's down to the final week befor the 2025 hunting season! Unfortunately, due to my work schedule I will be out of town for the first couple weeks. Hazel and I will not be available until after September 26th. Until then feel free to reach out to any of the proven tracking teams over at WDTN or you can shoot me a text and we will try our best to get you some help! Goodluck to all of you and I hope you have a safe, fun and successful hunting season!

With the end of October approaching fast things are going to start heating up! With the cooler weather and the rut right...
10/14/2024

With the end of October approaching fast things are going to start heating up! With the cooler weather and the rut right around the corner things can happen fast but dont panic just give us a call and we can talk through it. We are going to try our best to help everyone that we possibly can but it happens every year and we can only get to so many in one day. Between myself and the rest of the Wisconsin Deer Tracking Network all of us will be tracking as much as time and energy allows. I know I'm excited and I hope all of you have a safe and successful hunt!

What a great day to be out tracking deer! Kurt messaged me last night and said he arrowed this buck and after looking at...
10/14/2024

What a great day to be out tracking deer! Kurt messaged me last night and said he arrowed this buck and after looking at the arrow saw gut matter and decided to let him lay over night. Hazel showed up and after 580 yards and little to no visual blood we were standing over this public land buck. The best part about this track is Kurt shot this buck with a long bow.. not just any long bow but one he built himself. I was also informed that Kurt is starting a long bow business so if you ever thought about hunting with a long bow get a hold of Kurt over at Intrepid Longbows (link in the comments)

What better way to spend my birthday then to follow Hazel around tracking down public land whitetails!? Emily gave us a ...
10/05/2024

What better way to spend my birthday then to follow Hazel around tracking down public land whitetails!? Emily gave us a call last night informing me she hit her arm taking a shot at this buck causing the arrow to hit further back. We talked for a bit then agreed to let him lay over night. It was all handled perfectly by Emily and giving this buck enough time to expire he was found in his first bed a short distance from where he was shot. Congratulation Emily on a beautiful public land whitetail and thank you for trusting Hazel with the recovery!

Another one for Hazel! 16 hours after the buck was hit Hazel showed up and made short work of the 330 yard track. Congra...
10/01/2024

Another one for Hazel! 16 hours after the buck was hit Hazel showed up and made short work of the 330 yard track. Congratulations Jodi and thank you for giving us a call!

This is a track to remember.. Brian arrowed this buck on Friday night 9/20/24 after tracking him 130 yards he lost all b...
09/25/2024

This is a track to remember.. Brian arrowed this buck on Friday night 9/20/24 after tracking him 130 yards he lost all blood he looked a little while longer then decided to have a drone come out and see if they could find it. With the drone having no luck Brian looked for hours on Sunday just trying to come up with something still no luck. Then it was Monday still no sign of the deer. Tuesday rolls around and I get a text at 1:45 p.m with the info on this deer and Brian asking if i would be willing to come out or if it was even worth it. At first I was thinking about not even giving it a chance. Then I remembered what a few veteran trackers told me. "you don't know unless you go". We decided to meet up around 8 p.m Tuesday 9/24/24 96+ hours after the shot to see what we could do. I took Hazel in to where the deer was shot. It took her a minute but then she slowly started working down the known trail the buck traveled after being shot. She took us down the trail up to where Brian said they had last blood. It was all up to Hazel now. Tracking slow and not super confident but still pushing forward we followed. across a road down along a shore line to where Hazel stopped and wanted to go out in the water. I looked up and couldn't believe it.. There he was floating in the water 10 yards off shore. 25 min from putting Hazel on the track and 550 yards. It's a track I'll never forget. Thank you Brian for the call and glad we could help you find your beautiful wood county buck!

Hazel with another one on the tailgate! Frank called me around 12:30 today saying he arrowed this buck last night around...
09/24/2024

Hazel with another one on the tailgate! Frank called me around 12:30 today saying he arrowed this buck last night around 5:45. After trailing him for a little ways and coming to a bed decided it would be a good idea to let him lay and pick it back up today. After going almost 400 yards and blood becoming sparce he decided to call for Hazel. We showed up 23 hours after the shot and covered the known trail in short order. After going past point of loss Hazel went right picked her head up spun around to go back left and Franks friend says there he is. 50 yards past point of loss laying in a drainage ditch. Although Frank could have found this deer without us he did the right thing. If that deer didn't happen to be where he was and went another 2-300 yards but Frank would have decided to grid search the deer may not have been found. So thank you for backing out. Congrats Frank on a heck of a buck and thank you for giving us a call!!

we are off and running! with 6 calls coming in the first week of bow season and 4 of those ending with a dead deer at th...
09/22/2024

we are off and running! with 6 calls coming in the first week of bow season and 4 of those ending with a dead deer at the end of them we are looking forward to see what the rest of the season brings us. Congratulations to those of you that were lucky enough to harvest a deer and goodluck to the rest of you that are still hunting. It's the best time of year!!

With the Wisconsin hunting season about to kick off in the next few short weeks Hazel and I are ready to get back out in...
08/24/2024

With the Wisconsin hunting season about to kick off in the next few short weeks Hazel and I are ready to get back out in the woods doing what we love! If we are not available or not in your area just send me a text and we will get you pointed in the right direction with several other great tracking teams willing to help. I hope everyone has a successful and fun hunting season but most importantly be safe!

10/27/2023

How does the dog track the “correct” deer, even when there is no visible blood?:

When a deer is shot, the stress level causes the interdigital gland to secrete large doses of hormone/scent. This scent is unique to each deer, similar to our fingerprints. The higher the level of stress (mortally wounded) the stronger the scent. Our dogs have been trained to track SCENT- Not just blood. HOWEVER, if the deer is Not mortally wounded, as it calms down, the hormone excreted wii be reduced. After a lot of exposure to tracking, an experienced dog will usually be able to tell the difference between tracking a “dead” deer and one you’ll never catch up to.

Whitetail have numerous scent glands but we only concern ourselves with one.
Interdigital gland: Forty-six volatile compounds are secreted by this gland, and the varying evaporation rates mean the smell changes over time.
Location: Between the toes.

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Vesper, WI
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