Specially-trained dogs help track recover wounded deer

Friday, March 3, 2017
Shawn and Chareese Daffer of rural Indianola share their home with bloodhounds Gus and Annie and 11-year-old beagle Ruger. Shawn and Gus, and eventually the puppy Annie, track and help recover wounded deer. Ruger is affectionately called "the ol' man." (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

INDIANOLA, Neb. -- Call Gus as your first course of action, not as your last resort.

When Gus, the dopey-looking, floppy-eared, lovable black-and-tan bloodhound, puts his nose to the ground, he'll most likely find that trophy deer you shot and then lost track of.

But if you and your hunting buddies tromp through the bushes and across the pasture looking for the wounded animal, the chances of Gus finding that deer before the coyotes do are cut down drastically.

Shawn and Gus share a moment. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

Gus-Gus's quiet, gentle-giant nature belies his "doggedness" when he's tracking a wounded deer. Dragging Shawn Daffer of rural Indianola along behind him, Gus sniffs high and low with the determination of a trained and certified blood tracking dog.

Shawn thinks Gus may be the only dog in Nebraska officially certified by United Blood Trackers, a New York organization "dedicated to promoting resource conservation through the use of trained tracking dogs in the ethical recovery of wounded big game."

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette Chareese and Miss Annie. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

UBT members across the nation recovered more than 1,000 wounded deer last year, as well as wounded bear and moose.


Five years ago, Shawn's wife, Chareese, was looking for a puppy to join the family and be a companion for Ruger, their beagle. She was thinking maybe a Lab puppy until Shawn suggested they look at bloodhound puppies raised by a friend of his living at Scottsbluff.

Chareese says, "I fell in love with the breed," and then she fell again at first sight of their new puppy. Chareese named the 8-week-old puppy "Gus," after an adorable, chubby mouse character in the Disney animated movie, "Cinderella." "The puppy was roly-poly and so cute. That's just how Gus-Gus Mouse comes across," Chareese says.

As the droopy-eared, wrinkly puppy grew, Shawn realized he had some natural talents, and that he would also need something to keep him occupied. "Dogs mind better if they have a job," Shawn believes.

Shawn started training Gus for tracking wounded deer, using what he learned through books and videos. When that appeared to have potential, Shawn and Gus started attending training seminars. "Gus didn't appreciate the cactus in Texas," Shawn said, with a grin.

At a United Blood Trackers training seminar in Atlanta, Ga, in March, Gus and Shawn worked with some of the nation's top dogs and handlers. And Gus earned his UBT-1 certification as a blood tracking dog.

Last fall, Gus and Shawn had a successful track, starting their search the morning after the deer was shot and lost. By the time Gus found the deer, the trail was 31 hours old.

Shawn said that Gus "air scented" another wounded deer. "Gus got out of the pickup, lifted his head up and 'scented' the deer. He found it 600 yards away," Shawn said.

Shawn said there doesn't have to be blood for Gus to track the animal. He says that every deer has its own scent. Once Gus sniffs the area where hunters have lost the deer, Shawn tells him, "Find it." And off Gus goes -- nose to the ground, ears flappin' and flyin' back-and-forth. And Shawn's trying to keep up at the end of the long lead required by law. Gus wears a harness rather than a collar -- there's no pressure on his neck that way. Shawn also equips Gus with a tracking collar -- just in case he breaks lose -- that will give Shawn his location, by satellite, up to nine miles. And Gus has started wearing fluorescent green protective goggles. "He looks like a bug!" Chareese laughs.

Tracking dogs have better luck following a scent in the shade, Shawn said; it burns off in the sun. Shawn said they will track deer at night when it gets cold, "so we don't run into rattlers."

It's hard for a tracking dog to stay focused on a track, Shawn says, if, for example, eight hunters have walked on the deer's trail performing a grid search. That means that now 16 tracks branch out from the deer's original track. "It's best to call Gus as a first response, not as a last resort," Shawn said.

If the track is just too old and too cold, Shawn won't put Gus to work. "I don't want to set him up for failure," Shawn said.

Shawn and Chareese have added to the family just recently with "Miss Annie," a liver-and-tan bloodhound puppy they've waited for almost three years. Puppies from Annie's parents are eagerly purchased for Dallas, Texas, search-and-rescue, Shawn said. Waiting for a female, with which to ultimately breed Gus, took almost three years.

Annie is named after "Little Ann," the female redbone coonhound in Wilson Rawls' 1961 children's book, "Where the Red Fern Grows." Chareese got to name Gus; Shawn named Annie.

Annie's 14 weeks old, and shows promise. "She's good at tracking the farm cats," Chareese laughs. Annie tugs at the end of her leash, investigating every scent within nose-reach and playfully tormenting her big brothers, Gus and Ruger.

Shawn trains Gus with deer hooves mounted on "tracking (scent) shoes" that he wears as he walks across the terrain in the evening, and Gus tracks it in the morning. For Annie, he drags a deer liver through the grass, letting her "food drive" kick in. Eventually, she will track only scent, like Gus does. "Right now, for Annie, it's all just a game," Shawn said.

Shawn and Chareese won't have "Gus and Annie" puppies for a couple years. They won't breed Annie until she's at least two years old and certified without hip and joint problems. Even then, they won't breed her more than once a year. "More often than that puts too much stress on the female," Chareese said.

Shawn and Chareese are building heated kennel facilities for Ruger, Gus and Annie at their home north of Indianola.

Shawn and Chareese have fun with Gus and Annie, and especially with people's reaction to their bloodhound characteristics. It's the ears, and the wrinkles, the goofy face, the gentle nature ... Bloodhounds are not common in Southwest Nebraska, Shawn admits, grinning.

"They definitely teach us patience," Chareese said. While hounds are determined dogs, they're also very tender-hearted. Shawn says, "If I raise my voice too much, Gus is done for the day."

Gus and Annie may be working dogs, but they and Ruger, "the ol' man," are ultimately Shawn and Chareese's pets ... their kids ... they're family. Shawn and Chareese admit their dogs are all spoiled, but look into those deep, soulful dog eyes and say that's a bad thing ...


Have dog ... will travel.

Shawn works for Union Pacific, but he and Gus will help hunters find their wounded trophy deer when they can.

But call Shawn and Gus early in the search. "The older the track, the harder it is for Gus to follow," Shawn said. And Shawn's not going to set his buddy up to fail on a track that he knows just isn't going to work out.

Weather will play a big role in a successful deer track. "A little rain is okay," Shawn said. A deluge is a killer. As is a wide-spread grid search by numerous hunters.

Contact Shawn at (308) 539-6968. Check out his and Chareese's Facebook page, C&S Bloodhounds.

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