The Importance of
Accuracy
With persistence, and a Tracker, Jerry
Johnson proves you can find your dog just
about anywhere
The Search
In November of 2007, Jerry Johnson was on a night coon hunt with his friend Steve in the East Tennessee Mountains. About an hour into their hunt, Steve’s Walker, Buckshot, took off, hot on the trail of what Steve and Jerry thought was a bear. Jerry unfolded his Maxima receiver and dialed in Buckshot’s frequency to find his signal. Finally picking up a signal, Jerry determined that Buckshot had run over the adjacent mountain. They decided to head back to the truck and follow Buckshot from the road.
After three miles of driving, Jerry and Steve finally arrived at a site where Jerry was picking up a strong signal. Unable to hear Buckshot baying and with the collar not moving, Steve assumed that the bear that Buckshot was trailing had killed him. Steve, fearing for his and Jerry’s safety decided to end the search there.
Unfinished Business
Nine days later, Jerry convinced Steve to return to the hunting location to get Buckshot’s tracking collar. Jerry said, “I told him he should go back and get the collar since it’s worth quite a bit of money and if he didn’t get it someone else would Steve didn’t believe that I could find it but I told him, with my Tracker I could find anything.”
The Rescue
Jerry and Steve returned to the familiar area and headed out on foot. Using his Maxima, Jerry was able to locate the signal to a large boulder grouping. Standing on one of the largest rocks Jerry told Steve: “My Tracker’s telling me your dog is under this rock.”
In disbelief, Steve began looking around the rock for any sign of Buckshot. It took a while since the rock was so big, but after seaching, Steve noticed a burrow hole. Jerry and Steve started digging and soon found Buckshot, tired, scared, and dehydrated ,but very much alive.
Jerry and Steve determined that Buckshot had gone after a coon who had burrowed under the massive boulder and Buckshot, being the good coonhound that he is, followed the coon into the burrow and got trapped under the huge boulder. |
