Janna Rist Big Game Recovery

11/21/2025

For John Jeanneney's blog and book

Tracking dogs for finding wounded big game. Also dachshunds for blood tracking, field trials, their breeding, training and more.

11/21/2025

For anyone interested in learning more... please join the United Blood Trackers

United Blood Trackers is dedicated to promoting resource conservation through the use of trained tracking dogs in the ethical recovery of big game. United Blood Trackers United Blood Trackers (UBT) welcomes you into the world of tracking dogs for the recovery of wounded big game. We are all brought....

11/18/2025

Interested in training and testing?

This is likely the only Canadian event next year.

Alberta Jagdteckel Association, Caroline Alberta June 17-19, 2026

TLGDA Blood Trailing Seminar, Concan TX – February 15-17, 2025 Contact: 210-288-0553 Scenic River Dog Tracking Trials, Macomb MS – Feb28-Mar2, 2025 Contact: 225-333-9251 Nose To The Ground North Carolina, Charlotte, NC – March 28-30, 2025 Contact 704-677-6711 Missouri Blood Trackers Symposium,...

11/17/2025

Otso's first recovery! We got a call from an archery hunter last night who had hit his buck a little far back and had come to the end of the visible blood trail. He agreed to wait until morning to give the buck some time to bed and expire. Otso picked the correct line into the bush but his tracking felt inconsistent. It was a hard track with swamp, a lot of fresh deer sign and some deeper spots of water. After about 800m and clear signs of lost interest from Otso I decided to call my mentor Tara to talk through options. We settled on a rest and restart at the last good blood. The hunter and his wife were very patient and understanding. A short while after the restart we found another good blood patch and now Otso was off and tracking enthusiastically. He did another 150m or so and there was the buck!

Congratulations to the hunter on a beautiful buck, thank you for being so great to work with and for trusting us with your track.

Lessons learnt. Trust what your dog is telling you - if it feels off then it's off. Tracks can be messy and take time - be patient and problem solve, restart if needed. Flag the blood trail - the hunter and his wife did a great job of this, allowing us to refer back as needed. Lastly, sap can look a lot like blood when you desperately want to see some!

Thank you to Lindsay for planting the seed, to Tara for breeding the best dogs and being the best friend and mentor a new tracker could hope for and to AJA and UBT for the expert training and welcoming community.

11/10/2025

For those in Alberta

Hunters! We have teams that will be in the area of St Paul, Alberta starting Sunday morning to Tuesday evening (Nov 9 to 11). If you need us, please call Tara at the information on the United Blood Trackers 'Find a Tracker'. If you shoot something Saturday, and need help, we can chat by phone and make a plan.

If you're in another area of the province, we have other WONDERFUL teams listed on the same page.

Even with snow on the ground, tracking dogs are sometimes necessary. We will help you determine wait times based on all the information about your hunt. Before the shot, during the shot, and after the shot. We want to help you find your animal!

11/10/2025

We got our first call of the season this past Monday. An archery buck. Hunter called as soon as blood and light ran out and we started at first light the next day. Otso tracked like a machine for just over a km until loosing interest at a road. My best guess is that this was a non-fatal hit based on the hunter's information, Otso's behaviour and a thorough debrief with my mentor in Alberta. Thank you to the hunter for trusting us with his track.

09/10/2025

Hunters!!! We are getting a lot of calls for liver, stomach, and gut shots. We have trained and tested teams, but most of the requests are over 4 to 8 hour drives one way. That is too far for most of us.

Please follow the wait time chart below. Once you have sign that indicates a liver, stomach, or gutshot, back out. Wait and be patient. If we are able to come, we follow these timelines or wait even longer based on the totality of information. If we can't come, this is your best chance of recovering your animal. You must let them bed and relax from being pursued. This is your best opportunity to recover your animal.

Big game are tough. Be patient, please!

09/01/2025

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7Hln9CdlbiaMKKT0lHNhUh?si=JH6wafzsRjKmBV51q_3CPg&fbclid=IwY2xjawMi0aBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHoYPnZR6E9_QnAI8ZDEpuvPe8oOg-gbSb5yC1SPsMTanMzOUGQFzJTTH3Muf_aem_8a_dZhwnga8BxUZf_mGMnQ&nd=1&dlsi=01050842af174dd3

One Track Mind · Episode

08/30/2025

08/23/2025

A great article by my good friend and mentor, and Otso's wonderful breeder, Tara Normand. You can find this article in the 2025 Alberta hunting regulations, page 82 onwards.

08/21/2025

Otso got called out by the nice folks at FLED - Find Lost & Escaped Dogs Vancouver Island yesterday to track a wounded dog. The dog was hit by a car on Saturday evening so it was an old track with lots of contamination from other people and dogs who had been out helping. He made a promising entry off the highway but then didn't really pick a clear direction after that. We tried in a couple of other spots that the dog had been sighted but Otso was more interested in mousing and following a hot deer track. This was our first call of this kind and while we hope it doesn't happen again, we would be happy to help in the future.