Applications will be first come, first serve. There will be a limit of 5 lines per day. All applicants and dogs must be pretested. Certified dogs will run first. All applications must be received by April 3, 2012.

Free lodging available onsite. Free camping available onsite. Other lodging options available upon request.

For any DSI member wanting to certify their dog(s), this would be a great opportunity.

For anyone wishing to lend a hand with set up and/or assist with the event – contact Gary Katta. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/images/pdfs/trackfest2012.pdf

March 9,10,11 Test VJP

• Percy Priest - Mike Fortner 423-483-4496 mike@dilmunfast.com
• This is always a great event. Come support all our new puppies as they attempt their first test.

March 9th - Judges Seminar
Title: "Judging the Retrieve at the HZP" Percy Priest
The Southeast Hunter Chapter needs you! Anyone interested in becoming a Judge? In order to begin the process you must meet the following 4 items:

1. You must have successfully handled a dog that you trained through a VJP, HZP, and VGP within the last 4 years.
2. Must have attended the "Introduction to the JGHV" seminar within the last 3 years.
3. Have a Chapter Chairman email a letter of recommendation to the DoJD.
4. Must have been a member of VDD-GNA for at least 3 years.

Think about it! You will enjoy being able to Judge these awesome dogs!

March 10th -Breedshow

• Percy Priest
• It’s always amazing to watch these beautiful dogs in the Breedshow!

March 10th -SEHC Annual Meeting

• Many important news and events to discuss.
• Supper
• Auction/Raffle
• Fun for everyone!

SEHC Annual Meeting

• Chapter Business:
• Old Business:
• New Business:

Information on Percy Priest

DIRECTIONS TO GROUNDS
FROM CHATTANOOGA: 1-24 to Sam Ridley Pkwy (Exit 66) Follow ramp to
right. After the third traffic light be in right lane and watch for ramp to U.S. 41 (2.3
mi) and exit on to ramp. Bear right at bottom of ramp toward La Vergne (U.S. 41
N). At second light (you will see the Exxon station) make a right onto Fergus Road. Go .8 miles to Jones Mill Road and turn right (this is the 6th street on the right). Pass the large Percy Priest sign on the right and keep going- Go 1.8 miles to Old Jones Mill Road and turn left (this is the 5th street on the left). There is a grayish stucco two-story house with a privacy fence on the corner of Jones Mill and Old Jones Mill. There is also a brown colored Wildlife Management Area sign on the corner. Come down the road .3 miles and watch for pavilion and kennels on left.
FROM NASHVILLE: I-24: to second Sam Ridley exit and follow directions above from US 41.
FROM KNOXVILLE: I-40 West to I-840. Exit onto I-840 to Chattanooga. Use
Exit 61 to Smyrna. Turn Right at the top of the ramp. At first traffic light, go right
onto Sam Ridley Pkwy. and follow directions above from US 41.
SEE MAP

CAMPING & MOTELS
Camping on the grounds is permitted. Both water & toilet facilities are available on the grounds.
Rodeway Inn & Suites –Exit 60-(4.5 mi from grounds) 1300 Plaza Drive, Smyrna, TN, 37167, (615) 355-6161
Comfort Inn Southeast (7.5 mi from grounds ), 107 Enterprise Blvd., La Vergne, TN, (615) 793-3600
Fairfield Inn & Suites (7.2 mi from grounds), 810 Expo Drive, Smyrna, TN 37167, (615) 223-8877
Super 8 (7.6 mi from grounds), 110 Enterprise Blvd (I-24 & Exit 64) , LaVergne, TN, 37086, (615) 793-9999
Sleep-Inn (7.3 mi from grounds), 2689 Highwood Blvd. (I-24 & Rt. 266), Smyrna, TN 37167, (615) 220-2260
Holiday Inn Express (7.5 mi from grounds ), Exit 64 at I-24 & Waldron Rd., La Vergne, TN 37086, (615) 793-9100

Map of Percy Priest

Emergency Contact Information

VETERINARY CARE
Small Animal
Southern Veterinary Center (Fri. & Sat.) (615) 459-0073
111 Mayfield Dr.
Smyrna, TN 37167
Animal Medical Center (24/7) (615) 867-7575
234 River Rock Boulevard
Murfreesboro, TN 37128

HOSPITAL
Stonecrest Medical Center (615) 768-2000
200 Stonecrest Pkwy.
Smyrna, TN 37167

AMBULANCE SERVICE
La Vergne Rescue Squad Emergency – 911
Non Emergency – (615) 793-6022

POLICE
La Vergne Police Department Emergency – 911
Non Emergency – (615) 793-7744

Best,

Beth, Dea, Gentian and the teckels, Mae Mariel, and Achilles

From left to right: Mariel, Achilles, Mae.

"February 25th & 26th 2012 Multiple trails from just beginning puppies to experienced trailing dogs. UBT testing will run on the 25th & 26th if needed. 2012 Texas Blood Trackers Seminar and UBT Certification Accommodations OK, here are some details for hotel and trailer accommodations. There are a limited amount of trailer hook ups at the actual grounds of the event. It is $20 for trailer hook ups on the grounds. Reserve soon, once they are gone they are gone. The next option of trailer hook ups would be Circle T Arena. You can call (254) 386-3559 to reserve there. Hotel options are as followed: The nicest hotel in the area is The Inn at Circle T Arena. They have given a discount for us and rooms are $109 a night with a strict no pet policy. If you decide on this you can crate and leave your dog in the house on the event grounds. My first option would be The Western Inn. There is a pet charge of $10.00 and a discounted rate of $45.95 a night for a king bed and $49.95 a night for a room with double beds. You need to mention Texas Blood Trackers to get this discount. Contact number is (254)386-3141 The next option is Hamilton Inn. These guys aren’t real fond of dogs but allow them with the use of a crate. If you tell them you have a dog be prepared to show them a crate, just a heads up. There is no deposit or fee for pets here. The discounted rate is $40 a night for a king size bed and $45 a night for a room with double beds. Contact for them is (254)386-8864 These hotels are just about 12 miles from the event grounds."

Texas Blood Trackers Seminar Flier

Some fishing stories are a little hard to believe, But this guy has pictures to prove his story... Tom Satre told the Sitka Gazette that he was out with a charter group on his 62-foot fishing vessel when four juvenile black-tailed deer swam directly toward his boat. "Once the deer reached the boat, the four began to circle the boat, looking directly at us. We could tell right away that the young bucks were distressed. I opened up my back gate and we helped the typically skittish and absolutely wild animals onto the boat. In all my years fishing, I've never seen anything quite like it! “Once on-board, they collapsed with exhaustion, shivering. We headed for Taku Harbour. Once we reached the dock, the first buck that we had been pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back as if to say 'thank you' and disappeared into the forest.” After a bit of prodding and assistance, two more followed, but the smallest deer needed a little more help (that’s him in the wheelbarrow). My daughter, Anna, and son, Tim, helped the last buck to its feet. We didn't know how long they had been in the icy waters or if there had been others who did not survive. My daughter later told me that the experience was something that she would never forget, and I suspect the deer felt the same way as well!"

Deer on the boat

"Hi guys. Congratulations on getting your new puppy . Old Archie received two calls this week. One he found after a long ordeal that I'll call you and tell you about, too much to write in an email and as you can tell e-mail is a little painful for me. The other deer we didn't find due to no blood and it rained all night the previous night, and Archie never could pick up the the line. Also there's a couple of pictures of the hunter with Archie's deer. 

Once again , thanks for giving me the opportunity to track deer, thanks for the excellent tracking dog from excellent blood line that Archie has. He was like a fierce warrior never giving up. You wold have been so proud.

Love Kevin!"

On our conversation Kevin mentioned that the deer he tracked was in Maryland and he had to drive for about an hour.  It was shot with a crossbow and they had to shoot the deer again after bumping it three times. Archie never gave up and he was trying to go into a big patch of briers where Kevin could not see anything, and restarted Archie two times hoping that he would take a different direction. By that time it had gotten dark, and Archie persistently took Kevin and the hunter towards the brier patch where now they could see the deer's eyes shining at the flash lights.

Kevin also send us this cute picture which we could not help but post it here:

Great job Kevin and Archie! Thanks for the update and we expect more to come.

Any breed of dogs is permitted to enter the test. In order for a dog to be admitted to the test, they must  first pass a Pretest which consists of 400 meters or half of the actual line the dog will track. The track is 800 to 1000 meters in length and incorporates three (3) 90-degree turns. The line is 20 to 24 hours old and must be laid in game-rich areas. Two wound beds have to be distinctly marked on the track. A maximum a 250 ml (1/2 pint) of preferably deer blood is to be used.

The dog needs to be on the leash during the track. The  judges follow by observing the dog's working style, the handler, and how the dog corrects himself occasionally. After having lost the line, the dog can be called back twice and when it is more than 75 meters off the line.  Finally, the dog is allowed 60 minutes to complete the blood trail and take the handler and judges to the animal (in this case deer hide). I am not the perfect tracker/handler and Mariel is not the perfect dog either. Thus, I am open to suggestions and feed back you may have after watching the video. BTW, to watch the video in better quality click on the HD button.

Achilles of Trace-ja

Therefore, Achilles is a dream come true for us. I always wanted to keep another dog from Mariel, but it was impossible to have so genetically close dogs under the same roof.

One of the reasons why I went so far to find a puppy when I could very well find one here in the US was because we needed a male that was as far as possible genetically from our dogs. Also, we needed a dog that would add to the variety of the American hunting and tracking wire-haired dachshunds. To get a more professional opinion on Achilles' conformation, yesterday we visited John and Jolanta Jeanneney. After thoroughly observing and evaluating him John and Jolanta came to the conclusion that Achilles looks promising and depending on how he will develop conformation and hunting ability wise, he will be useful to the gene pool of  American hunting and blood tracking wire-haired dachshunds.

Second, I do not claim to be an authority on blood tracking or hunting dachshunds, but I love the breed and use my dachshunds to hunt and track with them the way they were meant to be used. I use them at every chance I get and I document the capability and versatility of this breed by writing about it here on this website. That being said, I was looking for a dog that comes from a hunting background. I was born and raised in Albania, and the closest to my birth country the dog would be from the better, because the hunting culture and approach towards dogs would be very similar to mine. When I found Dragutin's website, www.oftrace.com I was amazed to see wire-haired dachshunds being used to hunt wild-boar, and as an all around hunting dog. It was no doubt then that I would look no further. I contacted Dragutin and, as it is on our side of the woods, he gave me his word that he would sell me a puppy in the future when he would breed. Today, we have a very nice puppy that looks very promising. With Achilles my hunting pack is bigger and I look forward to some great hunting and blood tracking stories to come in the future.

This is what Bob wrote to us about Blue's dove hunting experience: 

"Genti and Beth,

Blue recovered rapidly from her spay surgery two weeks ago. She is back to 100%.
I took her dove hunting last weekend for the 1st time and she had a blast. She did a great job finding downed birds and especially liked those which attempted to escape when she approached. She jumped on them like a duck on a June bug. Although she did not want to retrieve them to hand, I am certain that I can get her to do so.  She even located two that were lodged in trees and brush by winding them. She had climbed about 3 feet off the ground into a mass of brush and vines trying to get one of them before I could make my way through the tangle to help her extract the bird. She also tracked one wounded bird that was attempting to escape through the tall grass. I tethered her next to me while hunting in hopes that she would grasp the relationship between the gun report, a falling bird and a bird in her mouth.

Blue von Tierspur Hunting Doves

By the end of the weekend, she was definitely paying attention to the birds and watching them fall. She still does not estimate the distance to the fallen bird well, but that is typical of young retrievers as well when first learning to mark a bird. When released, she would run in the direction of the bird, but stop and hunt short of where the bird fell. I am sure she will get better at the whole game as time goes on. Oh well, I guess we will just
have to go hunting more in order to give her practice. I don’t think she will mind. The attached photos show her waiting for more feathers to drift her way as I clean the birds."

This is what Jesse had to say about Millie and the two deer she has found so far in Georgia: 

"Last weekend was the opening weekend of deer season and Millie found a doe shot high with a crossbow. It ran about 225 yards with very little blood. She found the deer in about 15 minutes. It ran into a nasty clearcut it's a wonder we all didn't get snake bit. She did an outstanding job. The guy actually tried to give me some money and I declined his offer and said just to call me if he shot another because she needs the practice. I also shot a doe this past weekend and put Millie on it and she found it as well even though I seen the deer fall she is doing wonderful and can't wait to put her on another deer. Just thought I would give you an update and hope all is well. I actually talked with a guy at a hunting seminar that is with the georgia blood trackers org that knows y'all but i can't remember his name. I will try to video a track she does to send to you if I can remember to bring my video camera. Talk to you soon."

We really enjoy hearing from dogs we have bred in the past. It feels like that parent that send his kid to college and they're proud the kid is doing well.

I personally like dove hunting and I dove hunt sometimes. Most of all though I am a big proponent of the abilities of the dachshund as an all around hunting dog, and using dachshunds for virtually any kind of hunting.  It is the dachshund itself that proves this perfectly.