Christmas of 2020 was a stellar Christmas for my kids. Stockings were full, toys were laid out from Santa, and gifts under the tree from mom and dad for the children. Out of all the gifts, there was a puppy that the kids loved the most. We named the puppy Dude, which is an inside joke from the guy we got the dog from.
Dude was as cute of a puppy as you’ve ever seen. He was energetic and playful and was the joy of the
kids’ lives. However, Dude got a little too rambunctious as he grew with age and his aggressiveness towards the kids was a bit alarming. We spoke to the dog trainer and she let us know this was not the puppy we wanted to raise our kids with, so with some help, we sent him to live happily with another family. Their children are older & it was a much better fit.
The kids were devastated so we had to punt quickly. I’ve always been a black lab guy, but my luck hasn’t been that great with them, so we decide to check out local shelters. We found a litter of puppies that showed some promise. We made a site visit and were greeted by 8 beautiful puppies from the same litter. 3 looked like labs, 3 looked like curs, and the other 2 looked like dumpster mutts.
Allegedly, the mother was a chocolate lab, and my eye was set on one of the “lab” puppies. We played for 30 minutes, and I see Anders enter the kennel to pick up the only puppy who was too scared to come greet us. He said, “This is the one.”
This puppy was the absolute last dog I would’ve chosen from the group. There were beautiful labs, curs, and then this little dog that looked like a kangaroo. She seemed scared, had no energy, but loved affection….you could see it in her eyes. I spent all night trying to talk him out of his decision. I wanted the black lab-ish pup, but he wasn’t budging. Ridge & Mae didn’t care which one was chosen, as long as we got one. As parent’s sometimes do, we gave in.
The next day, Rachel & I go pick up this puppy & surprise the kids in carline. It only took about 5 minutes before we were all in love. We named her Reese because she had the same coloring as a Reese’s peanut butter cup. I’d never seen a dog that was so calm and loved to sleep all the time. We took her to the vet and figured out why. She had intestinal parasites that were causing her to be lethargic. After a few rounds of medicine, the true puppy came to life.
Reese became an instant hit to the kids, but especially Anders. He loved this “dumpster dog” more than I think I’ve ever loved an animal or possibly a human. His life revolved around her. He took responsibility for anything that needed to be done and has loved every second of it.
Fast forward to the column I wrote about Stoney and Maggie and the deer tracking team. He read the story and told me he wanted to join the Louisiana Blood Trailing Network with Reese. I told him to pump the brakes, but we shall see. She had no training, but I knew that the lab/cur bloodline in her could actually be a good combination.
In December, we realized we were low on ground deer meat, so Anders went to the barn for a doe hunt. We brought Reese with us, just in case he shot one. As luck would have it, he shot a doe and we put Reese on the trail. She immediately put her nose down and found the deer about 100 yards away. Hmm, we might have something to work with, I thought.
I called Stoney and got some tips on how to train her, and we began doing simulated tracks dragging deer legs through the woods. We did multiple drags per day and each time, she found them. We probably did close to 100 drags and she never failed. It wasn’t pretty but the result was the same; Reese at the end of the trail with the deer leg in her mouth.
As the season progressed, we put her on every deer track we had. Every time, same thing…. Reese was at the end of the trail, licking a downed deer. Anders could not have been prouder. He kept bugging me as to when we could join the LBTN so we could start taking calls. I told him we needed to get some more deer under our belt; maybe next year.
At the close of the 2021-2022 deer season, we took her to the hunting camp in Mississippi. Anders shot a doe and it ran about 200 yards. Reese found the deer in less than 60 seconds. It was her longest track and that gave me the confidence that we might have a bonafide tracking dog. This was deer #7 for her in a short 6 weeks.
The following morning, we finally got our first call. My neighbor had shot a deer the evening before, and they found no sign at the shot site. He said the deer reacted like it had been hit and wanted to know if we could put our dog on it. Anders was ECSTATIC; this was the moment he has been waiting on.
I was a little hesitant but told my neighbor that if the deer was dead, Reese would find her. We put her on the shot site, and she took off like a rocket. We could not keep up with her, and there was no visible blood on the trail she went down. I kept bringing her back to us, and I finally looked down after 400 yards and saw blood. 17 hours after the shot, she had found the trail.
We tracked that deer over half a mile, ran out of blood, and Reese eventually jumped the deer. I had concluded from lack of blood and the way the deer reacted, that it was not mortally wounded so I pulled her off the track. Reese looked at me like I was an idiot as she wanted to keep going.
Her first “unsuccessful” recovery was a bummer for the hunter, but really showed what we had. Reese is a great deer tracker. She has the drive; she lives, eats, and breathes to find a deer. All these AKC registered labs that I’ve had in previous years didn’t compare to the “dumpster dog”. Reese is a workhorse, in addition to a wonderful addition the family.
So, the next time you are looking for a dog, don’t overlook the rescue shelters. You never know what gem you might find. And looking forward to the fall of 2022, if you find yourself needing Anders and Reese to help locate your deer, they will be happy to do so.
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Dusty McGehee is a native of Downsville and a 2006 graduate of Louisiana Tech University with a bachelors in wildlife conservation. He is currently employed by WestRock and serves as an environmental engineer at the Hodge Mill. Dusty is an avid hunter and crappie fisherman, fishing crappie tournaments with his son when he is not in the woods. He and his wife Rachel have three young outdoorsmen/women: Anders (9), Ridge (7) and Mae (5). If you have a story idea or question about the great outdoors, you can reach Dusty at dusty.mcgehee@westrock.com.
