State legislature considers measure to allow the use of dogs to track wounded deer. Kevin Lutz, of Columbia, and his wire-haired dachshund, Archie, are already an experienced team.

P.J. Reilly/Sunday News Kevin Lutz, of Columbia, works with his blood-tracking, wire-haired dachshund named Archie von Tierspur.

“State legislature considers measure to allow the use of dogs to track wounded deer. Kevin Lutz, of Columbia, and his wire-haired dachshund, Archie, are already an experienced team.

“Hunters’ wives are a special lot.

“Though they might be squeamish about such things at first, they grow accustomed to finding “special presents” in their garages, yards and freezers.

“‘I saw there’s a whole duck in there,’ my wife said matter-of-factly last season after she returned from the grocery store and had to stuff frozen vegetables in our kitchen freezer around a canvasback I had shot.

“Ever since Columbia resident Kevin Lutz dove into the world of deer-tracking dogs two years ago, his wife, Debra, has learned to share the family’s freezer space with some odd training tools.

“‘Yeah, my wife is real happy with me,’ Lutz said. ‘In the freezer in the basement I have quite the assortment of deer feet, livers and containers of blood.’

“In 2010, Lutz found himself yearning for a new challenge.

“Along with his wife, the then-55-year-old electrician at Three Mile Island had raised two kids, who were now grown up and out of the house.

“So he suddenly had some extra time on his hands that he hadn’t had in three decades.

“Lutz had always been — and continues to be — an avid hunter, who loves the outdoors.

“He thought he’d like to take on something new in that arena.

“But what?

“One day, he read an article in Bowhunter magazine about blood-tracking dogs trained to find wounded deer.

“‘That tweaked my interest, because I’m a dog guy,’ Lutz said. ‘I like working with a dog, and I always enjoyed the part of the hunt where you track a deer — even before I got a dog.’

“Not long after, Lutz read another article right here on this page in the Sunday News about Deer Recovery of Pennsylvania — an organization lobbying the state government to make it legal to track wounded deer with dogs.” To continue reading this Lancaster Sunday News article, click here.