8-week-old pup helps track down a buck in Harrison County.
Scio, Ohio -- The deer hunting stories were flying fast and furious around the campfire at Matt McCann's Crooked Horn Deer Camp on Sunday evening in northern Harrison County, but the best hunting tale occurred on Monday, the first day of Ohio's deer gun season.
McCann's longtime girlfriend Jennifer Prusa, an accomplished hunter, had taken a shot at a buck from her stand a few hundred yards behind the McCann lodge. The buck tumbled, and Prusa was sure she had scored.
"I saw where the buck fell, but when I climbed down from my stand and walked over to the tangle of brush where I'd seen it land, the buck just wasn't there," she said. "I searched the immediate area, but no buck was in sight."
It was time to call in the experts. McCann, a Macedonia sportsman, and Justin Richins, a Henefer, Utah, big game hunting guide, led the search party. Richins has had plenty of opportunities to round up white-tailed deer and mule deer, and he brought along his new assistant. It was Ammo, a tiny guy with a very talented nose.
Richins owns a Teckel, a type of European scent hound that weighs in at 17 to 25 pounds, and relies on the feisty dog when tracking wounded deer. McCann and his father, Charles, had seen Richins' dog in action in Utah. As a die-hard deer hunter, McCann knew he wanted a Teckel of his own.
"We had a litter of Teckel pups, so I came to Ohio to deliver Ammo to Matt McCann and to hunt Ohio whitetails," said Richins.
While everyone searched for the faintest of deer sign, little Ammo spoke up. With a high-pitched bark, the 8-week-old tracking hound discovered a drop of deer blood. Richins put his nose to the ground as well, trying to spot clues to where the buck had gone. Slowly but surely, he figured its circuitous path.
McCann knows every inch of his property and determined the deer crossed a dirt trail and either headed to a small ravine along a nearby creek, or to a brushy tangle where the deer often bed down. Underneath a tangle of branches along the little creek was a seven-point buck, ready to be field-dressed.
"That's my job," said Prusa, who teaches youngsters at the Lake & Trails kids' camp in nearby Carrollton County the fine points of field-dressing a deer. She quickly had the buck ready to load on an all-terrain vehicle for the ride back to the family lodge.
But first she tucked the precocious Ammo into her jacket.
"We need a few photos of Ammo's first deer," she said, with a laugh.
Deer are more than a hobby for McCann and Prusa. They donate a lot of time, energy and funding to the Whitetails Unlimited conservation group, focusing on the Tinkers Creek Chapter in Bedford and the Conotton Creek Chapter in Scio. They also are involved with the Lake & Trails movement that teaches youngsters outdoor skills, an award-winning program headed by Karen Metzger of Medina. McCann has been the group's treasurer since its creation a decade ago. Prusa is a volunteer instructor.
McCann's annual party the night before the deer gun season attracts friends from Cleveland, rural Harrison County and from around the country. Mountains of fries, chicken wings and local canned delicacies are featured, highlighted by a salsa concocted by Vinnie Gliozzo, a Ford plant worker from Sagamore Hills Township.
The characters included Robert Hendricks, the mayor of Scio and vice president of the Harrison Community Improvement Corp.
"That title means that I just try to make things better for everyone around here," said Hendricks, from behind his long, gray beard. Hendricks is likely the most notable resident of the little town where his parents still live, and where we sighted shotguns Sunday.
Hendricks regaled the crowd with his mandolin and fishing and hunting tales from Scio to Alaska. His serious side is working with kids. Hendricks dotes on his parents and still likes to farm but donates all of the income to the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and Lake & Trails.
"The kids need mentors," he said. "I mentor special needs kids. They need the most help."
After the recent Lake & Trails hunt camp weekend, Hendricks and other volunteers took a dozen boys and girls deer hunting during the Nov. 17-18 youth gun season. The kids tagged eight deer, including four bucks.
"Bob's a modern-day Will Rogers," said Whitetails Unlimited regional head Dennis Malloy. "He does so much for so many, and yet he's such a humble guy."
Stan Glover of nearby Bowerston, the chairman of the Conotton Creek Chapter of WU, helped put together Saturday night's Deer Hunters Ball in his town, a way to bring together hunters and landowners. But he said he couldn't miss McCann's annual party, bringing along his son, Mike Glover of Independence, and brother Brad Glover of Charlotte, N.C.
McCann's bash was lit up by cellphones displaying photos of large-antlered deer, and there were a barrage of deer stories around the campfire. But after Monday's adventure with Ammo, those tales will have to take a back seat for a while.