Special to The Sun-Sentinel
If you are a deer hunter, you’ve undoubtedly felt the disappointment that goes along with wounding a deer and being unable to find it. Not being able to recover your game is one of the harsh realities of deer hunting, but a local group of dog handlers is working hard to change that.
They say that their group of dogs, trained to follow the scent of pheromones excreted from a gland between the “toes” on the hoof of a deer, can not only find the mortally wounded or deceased deer, they can do it hours and, in some cases, days after the deer is shot.
Tracking deer in Mississippi isn’t new. There are handlers and dogs in North Mississippi that have been doing it for years and their recovery statistics are impressive. In fact, some of those dogs have recovered hundreds of deer in their career.
Some handlers don’t like to take a call for anything short of a trophy buck, but handlers Chuck Darby and Tom Hill say that this isn’t the case with their group, High Caliber Tracking & Recovery. They went on to say that they answer and go to just about every call they get and if for some reason they can’t go, they will connect the caller with a knowledgeable and trustworthy handler who can.
High Caliber Tracking & Recovery is relatively new, but that does not mean they haven’t been around. In the first weeks of whitetail rifle season last year, Chuck and Brandy Darby of the Teasdale community found themselves at a crossroads with their team of tracking dogs.
After some discussion and planning, they created High Caliber Tracking & Recovery with their friend Tom Hill of Water Valley and set out to make a name for themselves in North Mississippi.
When asked why they do it, they both agreed, “The smile!” They went on to say, “There is no greater reward than being a part of someone’s first harvest; it doesn’t matter how old the hunter is.”
Last year, Chuck and Tom, along with their team of dogs, went on many of those types of calls and said they feel blessed to be a part of the memories and traditions being made in the woods.
This year, in addition to offering their services to the public at no cost, they will also be providing tracking services for Hope Outdoors, Calhoun-Webster Chapter Whitetail Hunt.
Hope Outdoors ministers to individuals with special needs through outdoor experiences, such as hunting and fishing, at no cost to the participant or their family. Hope Outdoors is a 501(c)3 organization staffed by volunteers and funded by tax-deductible donations.
High Caliber Tracking & Recovery provides no-cost deer tracking and recovery services in North Mississippi 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of the size of deer starting Oct. 1.
Call track coordinator Brandy Darby at 662-654-9455, handler Chuck Darby at 662-515-6422 or handler Tom Hill at 662-473-6342.
The trackers said they wish best of luck to all hunters and wish for them “a safe and productive hunting season.”
