Coppers Deer and Game Tracking Service

10/31/2026

🦌🐾 Super fun morning for Copper! Another buck recovered!

Our friends Hunter and Trevor got ahold of us last night after Hunter shot a good buck!

They had done some tracking before reaching out for my opinion, and thankfully, they made the decision to back out and give the deer some time.

This morning, we quickly found evidence that the buck had been liver hit. Luckily, they hadn’t continued pushing him!

In total, we found 5 wound beds. This buck had essentially been pacing in the same general are throughout the night.

After seeing the blood and evaluating the sign, I was confident this deer was either dead or very close to it.

After about 30 minutes of zigzagging, we were standing over Hunter’s buck!

This is a great example of why knowing when to back out can make all the difference in a recovery. Sometimes patience is the most important part of the track.

A huge thank you to Hunter and Trevor for trusting us, and especially to Hunter for giving Copper the opportunity to help recover your buck!

10/31/2026

🦌 READING THE BLOOD, WHAT IS YOUR DEER TELLING YOU?

If you’ve ever talked to a deer tracker, you know we’re always interested in one thing——— THE BLOOD!

The color, consistency, and texture of blood can tell us a lot about where a deer may have been hit and, more importantly, what we should do next.

You may hear trackers use terms like muscle blood, lung blood, or organ blood. Here’s what we’re looking for.

🔴 MUSCLE BLOOD

* Often bright red
* Can be thick, sticky, or jelly like
* May indicate a muscle or shoulder hit

My advice: Don’t immediately push a deer with a suspected shoulder hit. Depending on the pe*******on and location, the broadhead may have damaged additional tissue or vital structures. Giving the deer time and evaluating the other evidence can improve the chances of recovery.

🩸 LIVER BLOOD

* Typically dark red, sometimes almost purple
* May have a mildly tacky consistency
* Usually not as jelly like as muscle blood

My advice: Back out if you suspect a liver hit. These deer can require several hours before recovery should begin. In some situations, a longer wait may be appropriate. 12-18hrs

🫁 LUNG BLOOD

* Often lighter red or pink
* Can appear thin or watery
* Sometimes contains small bubbles

What we love to see is FROTHY BLOOD!

Think of the foam you see when brushing your teeth. Those little bubbles can be a strong indicator of a lung hit.

🟤 GUT SHOTS

* May have a foul odor
* Sometimes contain stomach contents or green/brown material
* Blood can vary in color and amount

My advice: BACK OUT!

If you smell stomach contents or find gut matter, avoid pushing that deer. Gut shot deer may require a lengthy wait, sometimes overnight, before attempting recovery. The timing depends on the circumstances. 18-24 hrs

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER:

Blood tells a story, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Shot placement, the deer’s reaction, pe*******on, the amount of blood, and the direction of travel all matter. Blood color alone cannot guarantee where a deer was hit.

I’ve attached two pictures showing the difference between what appears to be muscle blood and liver blood.

Sometimes the difference between recovering your deer and losing the trail is simply knowing when to back out.

Copper’s Deer and Game Tracking Service 🐾

When in doubt, back out and contact a tracker.

10/18/2026

Unfortunately every track doesn’t end with a recovery. A friend reached out to me about a nice buck that his uncle shot. Without diving into details, It was semi quartered to him. Copper and I came out and the boy did some incredible dog work. Worked our way the woods, hay grass, dirt 2 track, apple orchard, 2 low land tall grass areas, some nasty CRP, thicket that had me on all 4s to get through. In all we tracked the deer for just over 1000 yards on my Garmin. I am comfortable in saying this deer is not dead and has a non lethal hit. We were able to confirm small circles of blood every so often but in the end sometimes they just are not dead.

Regardless of the outcome, I made a new friend, and got to experience some incredible dog work from Copper. It’s a good day.

10/07/2026

Always fun when friends call me to track their deer, even more fun when it’s the friends that always shoot bruisers! My friend Jake Ehlinger called me and shared that he had shot a nice 4 yr old. The deer was quartered away and entry was near the back rib with no exit. Jake did the right thing and backed out and called me. I felt super confident that the shot was lethal it was just going to be the game of finding it. As soon as we got out of the truck copper started back tracking where the Jake exited the woods and I knew immediately it was going to be a successful track. Copper brought us thru the woods where the deer made a perfect 90 degree right turn down a long path then a perfect left turn down another path. Then we got to a point and copper just stopped in his tracks, mind you he was was nose to the ground tracking. This is where I messed up. Copper kept trying to turn back the direction we came but I tried forcing him forward, in the location we were in, it just didn’t seem like the deer would back track. Well after I finished crushing my own ego, I said let’s just follow copper and see what he wants to go see. We walk 50 yards back and slightly off path of how we came in and I caught a drop of blood out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Jake and confirmed with my gps that we had not come thru that area. This confirmed the buck did a perfect 180 and went back the way he came in, contrary to my belief that aliens picked the deer up where we had originally stopped. After the spec of blood, copper pulled me into some saplings at Mach 10 and behold, the most beautiful sight to a tracker, the white belly.

Jake, thank you for having us out, it’s always fun catching up with you and seeing all the cool things you’re doing on your property.

If you haven’t met or heard of Jake, Jake owns Habitat Solutions 360. Jake is a master mind of all things dealing with whitetail management. Check out his page or give him a call if you want to make your property the preferred location of those Monster Bucks.

09/29/2026

The season opener is just around the corner, and Copper is ready to go! 🦌🐾

We’re happy to take both known and unknown tracks this season.

If you know the deer is down and just need or want help locating it, we’d love the opportunity to get Copper’s nose on the track, free of charge. You will love watching him work.

If you’re not sure about the hit or where the deer ended up, give us a call. We’re happy to come out and help work the track.

Good luck this season, shoot straight, and remember, when in doubt, back out!

09/11/2026

Friends, Be sure that when you use a deer tracking team that they are properly registered with the DNR. If they are not, you could be put in a bad spot with the law.

I spoke with several folks who had called me after their friends brought family pets out, this is illegal if they are not registered/licensed.

(Below is a photo of what they should have)

Notes for after the shot,

Burn into your brain what the deer did, where it was standing and what direction it ran.

If the shot is known to be liver, guts or other questionable areas, back out and call a tracker. Anything other than heart and lungs will take 12+hrs to die.

If you are tracking and you lose blood, do not grid search. Just because you cants see the blood doesn’t mean it’s not there, these dogs are smelling tiny spots of molecules that human senses cannot identify.

When in doubt, call the tracker. Always leave a text as we are receiving multiple calls per day. We will get back to you.

Our advice over the phone is always free and if we can’t take your track we can connect you with someone who can.

💥 Please call us to track even if you know it’s dead, we will do this free of charge, we love dogwork! 💥

09/10/2026

💥 Reminder 💥
Youth/Liberty weekend is free tracking. 🐾 🦌 🐾

💥 PRICING 💥

(Image generated by Ai, I’m not that talented 😂)

09/03/2026

I think this is important to share again. One of the worst experiences of my life have rounds coming towards my own daughter. Always know what is beyond your target. This day could have ended much differently.

💥💥💥IMPORTANT💥💥💥

Today I was contacted by a hunter with a likely gunshot buck. The track was going perfect copper was locked on and digging hard into the track. Copper was around 800 meters into the track when we found ourselves in a ravine and all of a sudden someone on a neighboring property began rapid firing their AR or similar weapon. Next thing we knew we had rounds hitting around us and cracking right over our heads. We saw dirt flying on the other side of the ravine. In between what I suspected reloading I got to the top and yelled as pound as I could. The shooting did cease after that. In total there were 6 of us including 3 teenagers 1 being my daughter. This night could have ended extremely different had we not been protected by the ravine.

It is so important that you know what is behind the targets you are shooting. A 5.56/223 has a maximum ranges of around 3,500 meters or just over 2 MILES!!!

Please share this post EVERYWHERE as a reminder to all shooters to always shoot into a backstop.

Tonight I am thankful that nobody was hurt.

Law enforcement has been notified and is working on the incident.

08/31/2026

💥 PRICING 💥

(Image generated by Ai, I’m not that talented 😂)

08/31/2026

26 hrs 3 down pours and random sprinkles during that time and this guy was on it. I forgot to track the distance but I would guess he’s between 400-450 yds for this one.

The best part is when he got to the end of the line he started to air scent it because I put it in a tree to keep the critters away. Fun fact, Coppers mom and dad are both champion c**n dogs, it was cool to see his genetic instinct come out for a moment.