We received another tracking call in Kansas on yet another big buck shot over a feeder. Once again there was deer scent everywhere, and Elkie didn't know which trail to follow??? Unlike her training tracks, hunters had walked after the wounded buck, spreading scent everywhere. Elkie finally selected a trail, and we were off! We plowed through thick brush, crossed a field and entered a woods. Once in the woods I couldn't hang onto the leash and follow as Elkie went under fallen trees, so the hunter and I took turns hanging onto Elkie's 16 foot blaze orange leash.... then the hunter released the leash before I could get in position to get it.................. suddenly Elkie was GONE!
I searched for Elkie until almost dark, and then I left notes on farmhouse doors in the area. One kind hearted farmer drove me around on an ATV until almost midnight, and the fear was that coyotes would kill her, after all Elkie was dragging a 16 foot leash. I finally drove to the nearest town and rented a room for the night, but I couldn't sleep. So at about 4:00 A.M. I was driving the roads and at first light I was back in the woods. That afternoon I knocked on doors offering a reward for Elkie, before departing for home in Missouri.
My wife and I were in shock, and were inconsolable! The next morning I called the kennel that sold us Elkie, but all of the puppies were sold long before birth, so the best I could hope for was a future breeding, and I thought about my poor little baby... all alone in the coyote woods. I was told that there was little chance that she survived two nights with the coyotes. :-( It appeared all was lost and my brief stint with deer tracking had ended.
Then the phone rang! A lady in Kansas said that she thought she had my dog, saying it was on a very long orange leash! For the longest time I couldn't even speak, and I was afraid the lady would hang up! Three days and two nights of emotions... thank God, thank God, thank you GOD! I told the lady I'd I was leaving immediately, and I was lucky I didn't get a ticket, I drove so fast!
When I arrived, I learned that the lady had a 200 pound Black Lab, and the Lab found Elkie wrapped around a fencepost. The Lab normally slept indoors, but the lady said that it wouldn't go in the house for two nights, and on the third day it coaxed the Lady to follow, and lead her to Elkie. That Lab had stood guard over Elkie for two nights, saving her from certain death... what a dog! Of course Elkie went nuts when she saw me... we had our baby back!
I was told that Elkie refused to eat, even though she hadn't eaten in three days.
Lesson learned the hard way........ maintain leash control. Elkie comes when called, but I don't think I could call her off a track, and I don't want to use shock. I tried shock once and it was as painful for me as it was for Elkie.
