Muddy River Deer Recovery

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Warsaw, IL
Muddy River Deer Recovery

Professional deer tracking and recovery. We offer deer tracking with highly trained dogs even when there is minimal blood and the track is difficult.

We at Muddy River Deer Recovery are here to provide you with the absolute best chance to recover your deer, whether it is your child's 1st deer, meat for the dinner table, or the trophy buck you have been waiting for. Most hunters have experienced the loss of a big trophy buck due to a lack of blood. Before you lose all hope give us a call to find your deer and pick up the trail! Please call or te

xt for more information to 217-440-3983. Good luck with your hunt and remember, Muddy River Deer Recovery is available to find your deer.

11/21/2025

Sunday was a long day of tracking going 1 for 4 on recoveries. With one of the non recoveries back on camera already. Our recovery was our last track of the day. Good friend and fellow tracker Gary Blessing called and ask if I could cover a track for a relative hunting in my area. Of course I would was my answer. After talking to the hunter who knew he hit further back than he wanted but saw a lot of blood at impact he was not totally sure how to handle things.
Generally with a shot back I like to wait 24 hours this time of year, but with this hunters work schedule and having to 3 hours home with someone else in camp we needed to track sooner. We let the deer lay for as long as we could being 11 hours.
We took a side by side ride to the hit site where we were able to find the arrow and blood immediately. I gave Tipper the find him command and off we went. She was step for step with him on blood for 80 yards or so and that was the last blood I was able to see. But we did not have to track far to find this great 8 point. The total track was 164 yards but patients was key. The hit was indeed back and the exit was gut, but I think he must have clipped the main artery along the spine the deer appeared to have expired quickly. Had it not and been tracked too soon could have resulted in a much harder track. Congratulations Chaser Ellison on your great harvest.

11/08/2025

Track 2 for Tuesday also resulted in another recovery. I was contacted that morning by a hunter that had called earlier in the season but due to property lines we were not able to track his deer, if I could help his friend. While at the same time the hunter was in contact with fellow tracker Gary Blessing who referred the track to me since I was much closer. The shot was Monday evening and video showing a gut hit deer we pushed the track to as close to 24 hours as we could to give time for the deer to expire. I showed up at 22 hours post shot in a picked bean field. The bean stubble did not hold the scent well with the wind and sun beating on the line all day. Tipper worked a loose line to the area where the hunter last saw the deer.
Here we went into some tall grass on the field edge and Tipper locked on. She took a line where the deer entered the brush and popped back out to the beans for a short time and then back to the brush. Shortly after going back in the timber wen found first blood. A short while later Tipper was standing on the edge of a steep ditch bank working back and forth around a decent sized tree, I eased up to where I could see to the bottom of the ditch and spotted the buck laying in there. Joking with the hunter I told him he was bedded right there, as he was sneaking up to get a follow shot i told him he was dead and the relief came over him. As we start to celebrate the deer kicks his back legs surprising us both. He was too weak to get up but a follow up shot was needed. All in all the deer traveled 425 yards to his first bed. Congratulations Hunter on a dandy buck.

11/07/2025

Tuesday morning we picked up right where we left off Monday night. The hunter contacted me Monday afternoon knowing his shot was back. He wisely did not track initially give it several hours before checking for his arrow. We decided to wait until the 24 hour mark to take up the track.
We met at 9:30 for what was a quick 300 yard track to this great Iowa buck laying in his first bed. Congratulations Adam on your harvest.

11/06/2025

Well we had a real slow start to the season with only 2 tracks before this week. Then the switch got flipped, we took 3 tracks on Monday. The first track was in Missouri that end with us jumping the buck 1.25 miles into the track onto property we did not have permission on. Tipper was really locked on, I expected to find a dead one there. The second track was for a repeat client and was most likely a shoulder hit deer that is going to be fine. Tipper would track for a short distance then loose interest. We did several restarts with the same out come. We eventually did a body search where the hunter had watched buzzards that morning and located an old button buck that had been likely hit by a car. (Bonus find).
Our third track was a 24+ hour old gut shot. The track was handled perfectly by the hunter. He knew the shot was back and got out of the area. We made plans to meet after my first two tracks to give as much time as possible for the deer to expire. This was a short and sweet track. The deer was in his first bed roughly 80 yards from the shot sight with no visible blood along the track. We walked by him twice while working out his scent pool.He was still warm when we found him. Congratulations Travis on your great deer.

12/05/2024

Absolutely tough animals

11/18/2024

This hunter contacted me last Sunday knowing he had hit back. We made plans to meet at 8:00 in the morning on Monday.

We decided to start on the opposite side of a creek with steep sides. I started Tipper close to where the hunter saw the deer cross with a controlled search since we were not on a known blood trail. She stared down towards the direction the deer was seen going. Tipper started to vear left of the line but was in her proximity alert. After a few checks into the brush next to the creek I spotted the tail of a deer freshly pulled off by coyotes. Now we needed to find the rest of him. We walked a little more and found him on the edge of the brush finger that the hunter saw him head onto after the shot. He had only gone 200 yards and was on his first bed. He was still warm on the underneath side, he had not been dead long. The coyotes had beat us but not by much. The meat was still wet where the were eating on him and they did not eat much. Congratulations on this great buck.

11/09/2024

This track is from our second run on Tuesday. The hunter called on Monday evening after he hit his deer in the liver. With rain coming in all night he wanted to get a look at the deers first be at 80 yards. He lost sight of the deer and thought he had walked off, un known to the hunter the deer only went a few yards and bedded back down.

When the hunter went to check the bed he bumped his deer. We made plans to meet after my first track. We arrived at the hit sight at 12:30 around the 20 hour mark. With all the rain the night before we knew there would likely be no visible signs. I put Tipper at the hit sight and off we go into some rugged deep draws along the Mississippi River bluffs.

Instead of trying to cross the big hill the deer went around the end if each ravine and back down the points and back up the other side.

At around 600 yards there was an empty bed with no visible blood but Tipper took time to investigate so I took notice. She worked her way confidently for close to 200 more yards to a property line. We call the land owner and leave a message. At this point we are a little over 800 yards into the track.

While waiting for a response from the land owner,who happens to be an outfitter I have tracked for in the past, we decided to restart to confirm that is in fact the right line. Shortly after the restart while Tipper is working through an area we get the call. I tell him where we were and that we had heard him drop off hunters to there stand while on the track. He told us we didn't need to track the deer through his property because he spotted it floating in another neighbor's pond.

We walk out the the easement lane and walk to where we can see in the pond and sure enough we have a floater. Now we have to track down the next land owner. After making a few call to people in the area we were able to get permission to retrieve our prize.

The hunter had to go for a little swim which make a great twist to his story. We were about 200 yards from the pond dam when we stopped at the property line. Thankfully the neighbors were kind enough to let us cross over to get the recovery.

11/06/2024

How much impact does a trained tracking dog have on your property. Obviously not much. This is a deer I tracked on Sunday evening. He was back on camera the next day. We put in almost 2 miles on this track.

11/05/2024

I got a call Saturday from the hunter asking for my availability. He shot his deer Saturday morning and waited until 3 to track knowing they hit back. They lost blood after 40 yards or so. They did a few circles trying to relocate blood but could not. Having to work over night and needing a little sleep we agreed to meet at 12:30 around the 30 hour mark.

With the rain over night I knew there would likely be no visible blood so a total trust the track. At the hit sight Tipper went to check a brush pile to the left of the known line she came back to the line and went quickly to last blood. After last blood she checked the edge of a deep draw that the hunter checked and then took a line working quickly with her head up mote than normal. Not knowing if she was on a hot trail or just really locked in we started down a massive ravine, not wanting to head down there for no reason I decided to restart to confirm. I over shot the hit site a little and Tipper went back into the brush pile before I pulled her back to the start.

On the restart She once again goes into the pile this time I followed. She takes a line on the other side, this time head down and working a slower pace. After about 100 yards she starts to circle back(classic J hook)and comes to a large bed. As she is working over the bed, i look down and find a single drop of dried blood that is starting to wash away with the water dripping from the trees. That was the confirmation we needed.

From the bed Tipper worked down a steep hill side. We make it 150 yards or so, from behind me I hear the hunter shout there he is. I still haven't seen him yet thinking maybe we went up wind and past him I ask" where?". The hunter tells me in the bottom of the ditch. I look down about 150' and he was laying belly up. When we got to him you could see where he tumbled down the hill getting up from his second bed.

10/29/2024

We got a call Sunday evening from a hunter not too far from the house. He shot his buck at 800 that morning and watched him walk slowly about 40 yards and stand for a few minutes facing away not offering a follow up shot. The deer then eased up another 40 yards and bedded down. He stayed bedded for a half hour before wandering off towards a cup field. The hunter left the area after that a different direction and waited 6 hours before returning to track. Hom and a friend came in to look for the trail but could only advance blood for 10 yards or so. The walked to the crp and tried to find where he entered the field but couldn't determine his path. I showed up at the 12 hour mark. We put Tipper on the trail. She blew past the last blood and straight to the crp as suspected. There were 5 heavily used deer trails in this little nook of crp Tipper would start down one a few steps and back out. She di this down 4 of them on number 4 she went in probably 15 feet then circled out to stick her head into trail number 5. She quickly backs out of that trail then heads back into number 4 and committed to it. We make it 20 yards into that line and I find a bed with about a goofball size spot of blood. We go about another 100yards and Tipper starts to air scent walking in a circle. At this point I know we are close. She keeps circling and puts head down. She take a few more steps and the deer throws his head up. We were right on top of him, luckily he was too weak to get up. I was with in 3 steps of the deer when she was working her scent pool and never saw him. The hunter was able through end things quickly with a knife. Congratulations on a great deer. Be safe out there everyone.

10/21/2024

It's been a slow start to the season. I've been in a walking boot with a hurt foot since early September. With getting released later this week I decided to take a track this morning. This was a great first track of the year. 16 hours after shot. Ended up being single lung/liver/gut. Not a single drop of blood past the hunters point of loss, they only went 30 yards or so. It was a quick track 170 yards in 6 minutes. With these conditions I will take it.

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Warsaw, IL
62379

Telephone

+12174403983

Website

http://www.DeerRecovery.com/

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