Rosie Works Out a 54½-Hour Velvet Buck Track

Some recoveries stay with you. Travis Gordon’s velvet buck gave Rosie and Merlin one of our toughest challenges yet—and gave Travis, his hunting partner Trey Heaster, and our team a finish worth the effort.

Travis and Trey had followed the deer 655 yards by eye before bumping it from its first bed about 14 hours after the shot. They backed out and gave it more time. When they returned, they found only a few more spots of sign.

We started from that known bed because we already knew the deer had made it there alive. Merlin worked the suspected line well and skirted the upper edge of a steep valley. Then it was time for Rose the Nose to take over.

Rosie worked approximately 1,150 yards from the jump site before reaching the biggest challenge at the end of the track: a valley filled with scent. Heavy fog and mist hung in the air, and the odor seemed to spread across an area the size of several football fields. We could smell the deer ourselves, but finding the line out of that pool was another matter.

Rosie kept working. She paced through the area, checked its edges, and finally found the exit that put us on the buck, 54½ hours after the shot. The deer had traveled approximately 1.02 miles in total.

A huge thank-you to Travis and Trey for their persistence and for trusting the hounds. They put serious effort into this recovery, and we were proud to help bring it to an end.

Need help with a difficult deer recovery? Call or text Send in the Hounds at 859-300-9693. We serve Kentucky, Southern Ohio, and Southern Indiana.

Don’t let one get away… Send in the Hounds!