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J&M Whitetail Recovery, Staunton, IL (2025)

07/04/2025

Just a friendly reminder, we don’t track missing fingers or limbs! Be safe everyone!!!

Happy Independence Day everyone!!!

07/03/2025

Well, here it is. With Clyde, settling in and learning his place. His nose is starting to hit the ground out of curiosity. He has done well with obedience training so far. I felt it was time to introduce him to a hoof for the first time since he has came home.

I started by playng tug of war with him and was a little concerned as he did not show much interest at all in the hoof. Being the hoof was thawed I decided to lay him a short line through the yard. I used far more blood than anyone would for something that short, but wanted to give him something more to work with. When I brought him out to the beginning, his obedience was on point. He started and took the line like he’s done 100 times which I was completely blown away by he ran half of it with zero issue until it semi stopped next to us and then it was game over. I tried to restart him, but he did not show interest. Therefore I threw in the towel and I did not want to push him any further.

My take away from this is Clyde needs a little extra socializing to be exposed to new sounds, visuals and scents. I am extremely excited to get him out away from distractions to see what he is capable of it is such an early age.

“Now, you just tell me what was wrong with that car.” -Clyde Barrow

07/02/2025

And the fun has begun!

One of my favorite things about dogs is working a puppy for the very first time and seeing what they do. Clyde completely surprised me! And well, Scarlett learned why Clyde made his way to our home and it lit a fire under her!

06/16/2025

Breaking News!!!

It has been a long wait for me! 3 puppies made their way home today! I was one of the 3 along with Dylan and Gary. We are all members of the Illinois Deer Tracker’s Network.

Ron Slifer was one of the first people I ever talked to when I got into tracking. Ever since then I have always admired him, his work, his knowledge, his dogs and occasionally one of his novels (if I have 3 free hours to read a post.). For several years I have always wanted a puppy that came from him after watching and listening him. The passion and love he has for his dogs has always drew me in.

Next, Marissa Rosentreter… I cannot thank you enough for this opportunity. From laying pratice lines for Scarlett and I. Riding along and pulling an nighter for back up on a track.. The time and effort you put into us all and the network.. Coming up with amazing April Fools jokes… Helping make other events happen… And everything in between.. I’m blessed that our paths crossed! I guess getting out of tracking was never in my cards with you around. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Gary…. You never know what he is up to. Climbing trees to save kittens.. Running fishing lines… Working… Baking some of the best cookies you could ever dream of… Helping run dogs… You stories and knowledge don’t go unheard by me. If I’m being honest, I’m a little jealous I don’t have a Gary for a teammate in tracking!!

Dylan Johnson.. I’m really not sure where to start on this. Dylan is one of a kind. He will do just about anything you tell him to with little to no convincing. But he will also do anything he can do to help a stranger. Over the past few months Dylan has grown to be an extremely close friend to me. Our puppies names are a bold statement so it’s time to put in the work.

Lastly, I want to thank Kacie Miller. She puts in ao much effort behind the scenes. Support, vet visits, making sure Garmins and head lamps are always chraged, food food is always stocked and taking over Scarlett to the point I had to get another dog for myself All joking aside, I could not do it as smoothly and as organized on my own!

Everyone, meet Bonnie and Clyde. I’m excited to watch these dogs grow with the potential they have. I will still be running Scarlett for the more advanced tracks this hunting season as the puppy is going through the training process and he is fully developed with a strong healthy body.

“There’s nothing more powerful than love, and there’s nothing that can break what we’ve got.” – Clyde Barrow

11/02/2024

Meet Chris or “The Chris” if you’re talking to our youngest kiddo.

Chris has been a close friend well before I got into tracking. Yesterday evening he called and being we are friends, I didn’t know what he needed or wanted. I proceeded to answer and he asked me what the availability of the dogs were. I told him that we had one track to do and then after that I had nothing. He replied “perfect, a little extra time isn’t going to hurt him”

He had told me that the original shot the deer was a relatively short shot and he did not like it. The arrow entered in high and to the rear. He knew as soon as it hit, it was in the gut. The deer ran about 10 yards or so and stopped in some brush. He said being he didn’t like the first shot and he had a small window in which he could see only some of the front shoulder region he decided to knock another arrow and fire it. Sometime after the second shot he climbed down and gathered his two arrows. The second one looked good but being he was not 100% sure about it, he backed out and head home to give the deer some time and treat it more of a gut wound.

We arrive to the hit sight roughly 7 hours post shot (because I felt confident in the second shot) and I started Delta. Had this been a gut wound only, this deer would have far more time. She worked well. There were moments that I had to take a deep breath and remind myself that she’s a pup. The second wound ended up being double lung. The total track was roughly 70 yards.

Tracking wise there is not too much to brag on but at the end of the day Delta recovered this deer and there were a few take aways. One being that it was a huge confidence boost for Delta. The second one is that this is a good reminder to me that I’m working with a puppy and patience is everything right now. The third is beyond tracking. As life has gotten busy for both Chris and I as our kids get older, we don’t get to talk or do as much anymore. Chris doesn’t have “prime ground” to hunt and has passed countless bucks over the years. This was the first set of horns he drew back on in over 10 years. It was nice to get to hang out and be apart of this even if the drag out of the timber sucked!

10/29/2024

An arrow that looks like this doesn’t usually make a handler jump for joy. Then when you see a few pictures of the deer on the hoof you get excited..

Today at work I got a text from a hunt with a picture of his arrow and thought “oh boy, here we go…” he also included several trail cam photos of the deer which may have swayed my thoughts a little.

I spoke with him on the phone and during the interview process I asked him if he reached out to any other handlers and he said he did. I then reached out to the handler he spoke to and compared notes. He said that he had other things he needed to do. I told him if he wasn’t able to make it that I would go, just let me know either way.

I heard from him later on and he let me know he was going to back out.

I got stuck at work about 4 hours longer than I hoped. Finally at 8 tonight I was headed over an hour south. Given the short time frame I had to work with I decided to run Scarlett. Not that I didn’t have confidence in Delta but she requires far more time and patience due to the lack of experience. This evening I did not have time nor patience.

I met the hunter and we started. Right off the bat we were hit with a hurdle or what I thought out be a hurdle. The deer made a 600 yard dash across a stubble field. Wide open areas aren’t the best for scent. Then you add on warm, dry and strong winds.. I had my doubts but Scarlett changed my mind on this whole situation in this stubble field. Even in 15mph wind she locked on held the line tight making it across the field flawlessly in a very short time. I then felt confident that we may just find this deer.

She then took us through a hedge row into thick crp for several hundred yards. As we went through the crp when I saw blood it wasn’t too high and it wasn’t too low and the best part it was sprayed out.

We came to thick brush with a couple ditches. I start to feel more confident yet. Here Scarlett needed a break. After sitting her for a few minutes and having her drink water I restarted her. At this point we were in this track at roughly 1,300 yards and it was a straight line. At the last blood we were resting at she made a hard left and it was a straight line that way for 50 yards or so. She then slowly started looping to the right. Once we made 180, I thought “J hook, he’s dead and we are about to find him”. Right at that thought, I walked up to his first wound bed. I leaned down to look at it briefly and when I looked back up at Scarlett a few yards in front of me I saw a kicker just over her head.

I screamed “good girl, Scarlett” I turned around to see the hunter jumping for joy. Tonight, another hunter was made a believer in dogs.

Thank you Derek for reaching out and trusting us with your trophy! This one is another “you never know until you go”

10/26/2024

It’s hard to believe how slow season has been in our area. Hopefully as we close in on the end of October things start to pick up here are a few things to remember.

1) Wait times are critical. Especially as the rut takes off. A mature buck can potentially live longer from the shot due to high testosterone levels. Make sure to give him plenty of time to expire. A dead deer goes no where, a live deer goes somewhere. Even if you have an issue with coyotes, unless they find him, they will not make him die any faster. A coyote will track a wounded deer just the same as our dogs. If you bump your deer you only have that much more of a scent line for a coyote to run across.

2) Pay attention to every detail after the shot. The reaction reaction of the deer to the hit is a big clue for us handlers to try and make an educated guess as to what happened and come up with a game plan to help you.

3) Rain in the forecast? No issue for a dog. Contrary to belief, moisture actually refreshens and holds scent.

As things start to heat up in the woods.. Good luck and stay safe! I can’t wait to hear everyone’s stories to go with their pictures!

10/20/2024

We had a busy day yesterday tracking 3 deer and recovered 2 of them.

I loaded both Scarlett and Delta in the box. I had one track lined up and Marissa had one lined for Delta and I to run after the first. I was on the fence on whether or not to run Delta on the first track. I felt that since the opportunity presented itself, I felt it was fitting for Marissa to be there in hopes of seeing her dog make her first recovery.

The first deer we tracked was a gut shot and the hunter handled the situation perfectly. The only thing I would have changed is that it would have not been in a residential area. I started Delta at the hit sight and she worked flawlessly for the first 75 yards. Once the brush opened up into a back yard and she saw a swimming pool and toys…. She went from working dog to puppy real quick. After several down sits and restarts with no change, I made the decision to get Scarlett out of the box. I started where we left off and after locking on, Scarlett took us right through backyards within spitting distance of swimming pools, garages and houses. Once we crossed the yards she confidently took us back into a small patch of timber where the deer laid. Unfortunately, coyotes had already did their thing but we educated a hunter and made them a believer in dogs.

The second track we had went on we had high hopes for but morale quickly dropped as we had no clue where the hit sight was nor could we find where the deer entered the timber. Delta struggled on the start as any dog would have being it began in a dry open field. After many restarts she took a line into the timber and seemed more enthusiastic about it than she did before. We let her go even without seeing any sign the deer actually took that path. As Marissa and I were both trying to muster the never to tell one another we give up…. Delta showed us blood about 200 yards in. The blood was sporadic for another 75 to 100 yards and then dried up along with Delta. We didn’t see anything along this track that lead us to believe it was a mortally wound deer.

The last and final track. The HONEST Hunter..

While following Joel and Marissa to the previous track, she texted me and said I may have another one after this. Turns out she did. The only information we had on this deer was a picture of the bolt which was covered in nothing but fat. That in itself was alarming to me. When we got to Katie’s we walked into her garage and she could not have been more honest. “There’s the bolt. I did the opposite of most of everything you guys preach. She ran that way. That’s about all the information I have” We got to the hit sight and we started Delta. Quickly she put us on a spec of blood and then a chunk of muscle. I thought it was pretty close to over at that point. However, Delta proceed to show interest in continuing into the stubble field. It was not long and Delta Dawn was standing over her first recovery. Upon further investigation, the bolt never touched the chest cavity, stomach or neck. The bolt grazed the front leg and just a tiny bit of the brisket. This deer was killed by severing the femoral artery. When leg wound is mentioned, I am the furthest thing from excited. However, this deer was not as fortunate and most leg it’s. This track only backs “you never know until you go.” Congratulations Katie on your freezer queen!

I felt bad that I may be the one to see someone else dog make either first recovery but I’m glad that it worked out that Marissa, her husband Joel and her best friend Katie were there to witness it.

10/03/2024

So, we have all heard of Door Dash but have you heard of Delta’s Deer Dash?

Lastnight at 9, I was laying in bed when my phone rang. It was an unknown number and I usually don’t get spam calls at that time so I quickly answered. It wasn’t someone calling me about solar, debt relief or even my cars extended warranty. It was a hunter that needed help! From the details I got, it sounded like a muscle/shoulder hit but you never know. Once I got there and ran the track, I’m confident in saying that.

Sadly, this did not end with recovery pictures and high fives. However, Delta blew my mind for being her first real track. She worked out a couple creek crossings, 3 back tracks and one circle before jumping the deer right at the one mile mark. That’s right, if had been dead, Delta would have recovered her first deer on her first run. Not only that, it would have been a challenge for dogs with some experience. With that being said, in this case, this screen shot of her work means as much as a recovery picture to me.

09/27/2024

As some may know things are going to be switched up a little this year. Every year Scarlett has some bad luck. This year we have had a couple health issues with her that hit the pocket book hard. It has been decided that because she is also a family dog we are going to let her live her best life walking around slinging slobber around the house. I will let her stretch her legs a time or two this year but sadly her tour of duty is done.

What does that mean for me and tracking? I don’t talk to as many handlers as I should. But, thankfully, I talk to the right ones. I have been working with a dog named Delta Dawn. Delta belongs to Marissa with Rosentreter Recoveries. Delta is a young bloodhound who is UBT certified. Delta is the product of two of Illinois deer tracking machines. I will be handling Delta for her first season this year. I feel truly blessed and honored to get the opportunity to behind this dog and see what she can do.

As far as the far future in tracking, it has grown into more of a family thing over the last year. With that being said, we do have plans to get another hound but we are being stingy and waiting for a pup from a specific litter.

09/14/2024

As the crops begin to turn and the mornings start to feel like fall, hunting season is right around the corner. With that being said, I would like to pass on a little helpful information in the case you may be interested in having a tracking team come out and try to recover your freezer queen or that wall hanger.

1) Everything that happens after the shot is just as important if not more important than everything leading up to the shot. I get it, in the heat of the moment you may not know exactly where you hit the deer. However, even just knowing the reaction can be key evidence to where the wound is.

2) Grid searching…. We have all done it, it’s hard not to. This can possibly make or break it for a dog. At the very minimum it will make for a headache for both the handler and dog.

3) Mark your last blood clearly. I like to drop or hang if possible every time I see blood.

4) Be honest with the tracker you call. We don’t judge, we are here to help you the best we can. Some wrong details could mean we decided to track too early and end up jumping your deer.

5) Wait times are critical. I tend to wait on the longer side of the recommended wait times. A dead deer goes no where. I have heard “well I have a bad coyote problem.” Many of us do, but if you jump that deer, you just gave the coyotes that much more a scent line to cross. They track your deer just like our dogs do.

6) Get to know you’re local handlers before you may actually need it. Sadly, not all are honest. Not all have trained dogs and don’t care to. Sadly, some just want your money and have no interest in finding your deer.

7) Advice is free. Almost every handler I know will try to help you over the phone before loading their dog. I have tracked for people in the past and still get calls from them just asking for my opinion. Shortly after discussing the details, I have gotten a picture with them and their deer.

Now that we are in the final days before October. I hope everyone has a great season in which many memories are made and I hope everyone stays safe.

11/16/2022

Nothing pi**es me off more than this!

We did not recover this deer nor have anything to do with it!

It’s not much but I hope the little following I do have can help in some way. I’m sharing in hopes someone can get their deer back! This is just as bad as tracking to a gut pile or a deer with the head cut off if not worse.

Please share and help get Gage his deer back.

J&M Whitetail Recovery

07/04/2025

07/03/2025

07/02/2025

06/16/2025

11/02/2024

10/29/2024

10/26/2024

10/20/2024

10/03/2024

09/27/2024

09/14/2024

11/16/2022

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