Tracking Wounded Deer. (Thanks to Camoham)

[camoham]

here is a general article that is helpfull. picked up off the net a few years back.

Tracking Wounded Deer

Good subject for this time of the year...

TRACKING WOUNDED DEER

Less than a minute has elapsed since you've shot one of the biggest bucks you have ever seen. It happened so fast it's hard to believe. What you do now may determine whether or not you'll recover your buck.

Your first impulse is to bail out of your treestand and take off after him. Depending upon your arrow placement, this could be a big mistake. If a deer is not hit well you could spook him and make recovery next to impossible.

Knowing where the animal is hit makes a difference in how you track him. For this reason, a bowhunter should use brightly colored fletching, such as orange or red.

The chest of the deer contains the lungs and the heart which, when hit, produce the quickest kill. The lungs are easily reached by an arrow, protected only by vulnerable rib bones. The heart is low in the body and somewhat protected by the deer's leg bone.

The following describes types of hits and how you should track for each.

* A lung-shot deer will run hard 50 to 65 yards. After that he will
usually walk until he falls. The blood will sometimes have tiny bubbles in it. This blood trail usually gets better as you track the deer. However, if the deer is hit high in the lungs, the blood trail may sometimes become light and even disappear completely. The deer could be "filling up" inside with blood, showing very little external bleeding. The hair from the lung area is coarse and brown with black tips. The deer will usually go down in less than 125 yards. Give the deer 30 minutes before tracking.

* A heart-shot deer will sometimes jump wildly when hit. The blood trail may be sparse for the first 20 yards or so. A heart shot deer may track as much as a quarter of a mile, depending on what part of the heart is damaged. The usual is less than 125 yards. The hair from this shot will be long brown or grayish guard hairs. Again, a 30 minute wait is advised. But, if while trailing you find where he has bedded back off and wait an hour before taking up the trail again.

* A liver-shot deer. The liver lies against the diaphragm in the
approximate center of the deer. It is a definite killing shot. The blood trail will be decent to follow and the deer should bed down and die within 200 yards, if not pushed. A one-hour wait is best. The hair from the liver area is brownish gray and much shorter than the hair from the lung area. If you push the deer out of his bed, back off and wait another hour.

* A gut-shot deer is probably the most difficult to recover because of the poor blood trail and the hunter's impatience to wait him out. A lot of bowhunters want to hurry up and find the deer. Since the liver and stomach are close together, it is possible that the deer will go down and die quickly if the shot also penetrates the liver. If the deer is dead in an hour, he will still be dead in 4 hours. Have patience, he will not go anywhere. Wait him out for at least 4 hours. Wait overnight if the deer is
shot in the evening.

When a deer is shot in the stomach area, he will usually take several short jumps and commence walking or running. His back will usually hunch up and his legs will be spread wide. The hair from this wound is brownish gray and short. The lower the shot is on the animal, the lighter colored the hair will be. The blood trail is usually poor with small pieces of ingested material (stomach contents). If the intestines are punctured there will be green slimy material or feces Take your bow with you because a second shot might be required.

* A spine-shot deer will usually drop in his tracks or hobble off. Either way, a second shot will probably be required to finish off the deer. If a spine-shot deer hobbles off, wait a half-hour and track slowly and quietly. Look for the deer bedded down.

* A neck-shot deer will either die in 100 yards or he will recover from the wound. The lower portion of the neck contains the windpipe, neck bone (spine), and carotid (jugular) arteries. If the arteries are hit, the deer will run hard and drop in less than 100 yards. The blood trail will be easy to follow. A shot above the neck bone will give you a good blood trail for about 150 to 200 yards before quitting. The deer will more than likely recover to be hunted again.

* A hip-shot deer. A large artery (femoral) runs down the inside of each deer leg. This artery is protected from the side by the leg bones. The femoral artery is most often severed from the rear or at an angle. If this artery is cut, the bleeding will be profuse and the deer will usually be found in less than 100 yards. The ham of a deer is also rich in veins with a lot of blood. A hip-shot deer should be tracked immediately. Track him slowly and quietly to keep him moving (walking). If you jump him and he runs, back off for a few minutes then continue trailing. You want him to walk, not run. A walking deer is easier to trail.

* An artery-shot deer will almost always go down in less than 100 yards. The aortic artery runs just under the backbone from heart to hips, where it branches to become the femoral arteries. The heart also pumps blood to the brain through the carotid (jugular) arteries.

Sever any of these arteries and you've got yourself a deer. There is one catch, these arteries are tough. It takes a sharp broadhead to cut through them. A dull broadhead will just push them aside. Keep your broadheads sharp! Give the deer half an hour before tracking.
GENERAL TRACKING TIPS

* After shooting the deer, stay in your stand and be quiet for the
recommended time. A noise might push your deer away. He could be bedded down less than 100 yards away.

* I have found it very helpful to tie a piece of pink surveyor ribbon around my stand tree at eye level from where I shot. After noting several terrain features near where the deer was standing and where it ran too, I tie on the ribbon before coming down. From the ground looking back up to the ribbon, I can get a better visual for locating exactly where the deer was and went.

* Before beginning the tracking, mark where you shot the deer with a piece of white toilet paper hung on a branch.

* Mark the trail periodically with more toilet paper as you track. This will give you a line on the deer's travel.

* When you find the arrow, check for hair, tallow, blood, etc. This will give you a good clue on how to track. Example: Tallow and slime means you should wait 4 hours.

* Check for blood carefully, walking off to the side of the run.

* Look for blood on trees, saplings, and leaves that are about the same height as the wound. Blood will sometimes rub off the body.

* If tracking as a group, spread out a little. Keep noise to a minimum. In tracking, sometimes "too many cooks can spoil the stew." It would be better if only 2 or 3 people tracked the deer. If the blood trail runs out, you can always get more help to search for the deer

* While tracking a deer that you have shot and you jump a deer and it flags its tail, it's probably not your deer. A wounded deer will very seldom "flag." BUT - check it out anyway.

* Gut-shot deer have a habit of going to water. If you lose a gut-shot deer's trail, check out the water holes in the area. He could be down by one.

* Tracking at night presents special problems with visibility. The blood and the deer will both be hard to see. A Coleman gas lantern will help a lot in both cases. If the deer is not hit well, and no rain is forecast, wait until morning. If he is dead in 10 minutes or 4 hours, he will still be dead in the morning.

* Take a compass bearing to where you last saw the deer, and another one to where you last heard any noise from it's flight. It might prove very helpful.

* It helps to have someone who did not shoot the deer to help with the blood trial. Many an experienced hunter in his excitement misses things.

* Stay off of the blood trail, and use a small piece of tolled paper to mark each spot

* Get down on your hands and knees when a blood trail is hard to see it helps. From this angle while night tracking you can shine the light in the direction of travel and often see blood that does not show when standing over it.

* Look at the bottom of leaves on branches at deer body height. Sometimes as the branch slides along the body of a deer it is the under side of the leaf that picks up the blood.

* You will often find a gut shot deer or liver shot deer dead in the water not just beside it. so look for an ear or the side of the deer in deeper water too.

* Some shots that look good may be one lung or a poor liver hit because of the angle. These deer can take several hours to die. Be careful about pushing them to soon, since they will rarely leave much blood sign if they are jumped when bedded.

* Look ahead as you blood trail for deer parts and movement. Your deer may still be alive and you might be able to get a second shot or back off with out spooking it.

* Look for disturbed leaves and broken twigs as well as for the blood sign on hard to follow blood trails.

* It is often hard to follow a blood trail in grass. It seems that the blood can fall all the way to the ground without hitting a single blade of grass.

* Look for clusters of ants, flies and daddy longlegs. You can find small drops of blood because these bugs are feeding on it.

* Often times when the blood trail seems to end you will find the animal off to one side and not in the same direction of travel.

* Listen for birds like magpies, jays, and crows. Sometimes they make a ruckus where the animal lies dead.

* Be persistent!

* A dog can often prove very useful if legal. Even your house pet. They can see with their nose what we can not see with our eyes.

* Use your nose. sometimes you can smell a deer you can't see. A gut shot is even more likely to have a smell.

* When trailing at night use a couple of the Chem Lights that you can get at WalMart for less than a buck. You don't use these as lights to see blood, but they are hung on limbs at the last blood found. That way nobody has to stand on the last blood and everyone can easily see where the last blood found is at




print off a copy. put in your pack. read it over during your wait.

camoham
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[BamBam]

For 4 years of reading on this forum, it breaks my heart to hear Brothers and Sisters on here loosing they're game animal. In my early part of 33 years of bowhunting, I too have lost game due to the lack of tracking/waiting knowledge, and then throw in some poor judgement.
If I had known half of the stuff in the above post, I might have recovered most, if not all of what was thought of as a lost deer
If this post can help even 1 member here recover there animal, to me would be worth it.
What I mean about poor judgement is I am also reading a lot of "Missed Deer" threads. Knowing your skill level with your bow, will reduce having to track a badly shot animal. I personally checky my accuracy before heading into the woods every year, most of the time limiting it to a 25 yard shot. If you can't consistantly hit a 3-4 inch group, at specific yardage, then don't take the shot. You owe it to the animal, and to the sport of "Bow Hunting", and to exhaust all efforts in tracking your game.
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[camoham]

thanks for sticking this one. i will re-iterate that im not quite sure of the original author.

the only thing i can add to it is that deer will sometimes go uphill.

reading the section about about 'when to follow immediately' was important too.

also mentioned previously.................checking the nock for blood can be helpful too.

camoham
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[Indychris]

Thanks for the post, Camoham!

I read that a few years back and thought it was one of the best posts I've seen on shots/tracking/waiting. Unfortunately, I lost track of it, but now I'll save a pdf copy to keep on hand.

As for the author, it is Woody Williams who I think lives here in Indiana.

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.flinginarrows.com/information/tracking.php

Thanks again for posting this!
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[hocktl]

THis is a great article!!

THe only thing I would add is on more then one occasion I have had a deer stop, reverse direction for various distances of say 20 to 40 yards and turn off the path at a 90 degree angle. Literally they back tracked and went a different direction. You would loose the blood trail only to find it cut off in a different direction. One went down a hill and at the bottom the blood petered out and I saw tracks in the dirt going both directions in the blood trail which led me to back track and find where it veered off halfway up the hill and go across the side of the hill. I've often wondered about this. If they actually stopped and thoguht about it and decided to just go another way or if it was a strategic manuver to get something off their scent trail.

One was a deer I hit too far forward and the other was a deer a buddy wasn't sure where he hit it but it was probably too low. In both cases the deer was never recovered and probably survived. These deer we hunt are incredable and never cease to amaze me.
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[Bowhunter1960]

Perhaps the most useful information I have EVER been presented with as far as bowhunting is concerned. I too lost a very large buck because I know I didn't wait long enough. Excellent blood trail but it ran out, I believe when his adrenalin kicked in, and I got too close and who knows where he got off too. Thanks for the post.
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[shmecky]

Great article and very true. how many deer are lost due to rushing in on the animal too early.

[BamaBuckKiller]

i always give time even if i see them crash
i lost a nice 6 point last year cause i didnt give enough time

[CANEWTON]

very, very, good information. this is half of the hunt. if you don't give the deer time after the shot, it will break your heart. thanks

[alimoche]

Nothing like a good blood tracking dog!
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[stringcannon]

Love the part about if he's dead in one hour he will be dead in four hours...

Great article

[gcdcpakmbs]

Waiting periods are important. When possible, use 3 trackers. Never more. With 3 people:

you leave one person at last-blood
one-person tracking meticulously with nose to the ground
and one person as a jumper...10 to 20-yards ahead looking for sign or deer

No more than that because the trail can be destroyed by traffic. With trail tape you can cut it to 2-trackers.

[develobear]

I once told an old timer a sad story of a lost buck I shot with my bow. I shot it slightly quartering away and centered horizontally a couple inches behind his leg. But the entry was 2 to 3 " inches high of center. This deer was hit hard with a new 100 gr Muzzy and had only 12 " of arrow sticking out. But it ran the way a large buck runs about 100 yds across a flat to a creek and across it. It then either paralelled that creek for another 500+ yds or went at least 100 yds UP a hill on ~15 degree slope. An old timer told me the deer would never have climbed any kind of hill after being hit like that. I guess I hit just above the lungs but after him telling me that I wished I had kept looking focused on the creek rather than wasting light on the slopes. Anyway, when you have no exit wound and no blood and it is in a full run 200 yds away and out of sight I must have just hit meat. He died that night for sure. Best buck I've shot in the woods left to the wild made me stop bowhunting for 7 years.

My point is that I did not see this seemingly true fact in the very good writeup posted here.
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[Keith156]

Every deer i've hit that didn't drop in sight went downhill towards water

[Dusty Britches]

Bowsite offers interactive, realistic blood trailing challenges. They now have 25 different challenges. I like them because they give you a starting scene, ask questions, and go through with your choice. Make a bad choice, and you will have to go back to where you made the bad choice. They explain every choice, too. It is the best learning tool I've ever seen.

http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/bloodtrails/interactive25/

[Predator]

I hear a lot of people say deer will NEVER or ALWAYS do something. The only time NEVER applies to hunting is that you can NEVER predict for sure what a deer will do.

If you keep hunting long enough you will see something you've NEVER seen before.

[GregDu4]

This strategy helped my to retrieve a buck that I shot on Nov 1st. He came in at 5 PM and forced his way through some vines and brush to my shooting lane, he lunged forward at the same time I shot. It was a really bad hit in the lower intestines.

I sat the rest of the afternoon until sunset, and went to find my arrow. The arrow was not there so I headed northeast where he went until I found blood, my arrow was on the ground about 40 yards from my tree stand, the back half of the arrow was covered in blood an stomach matter, so I went back to my truck. I took a little break and ate a sandwich and a cold drink.

I headed back out to mark the blood trail. It was pretty hard to follow, so I used orange tape. The trail lead me to a thick clump of brush where I heard him staggering around. I stopped tracking and headed home.

The morning hunt was uneventful as all I could think about was retrieving the first buck that I ever shot! As soon as the clock hit 9:00 am I climbed down and found the buck 5 yards past the thicket...




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[Bowhunter1960]

Oct 26 2008 I shot a huge buck. I knew it was an excellent shot. The buck ran 75 yards and laid down. I wait 1 1 /2 hours to go claim my trophy. What a suprise when all I found was 2 HUGE piles of blood foam from where he blew out his lungs. Awesome bloodtrail, no deer. Searched for 5 hours, no luck, went back the next day, no luck. I watched and searched the area for 1 week, watching for birds or any sign that there was a deer laying in this area of woods. 1 week later November 3rd 2008 I went back in 1 last time. I found what was left of my trophy buck. He would have dressed out around 160-180. But I got his rack. Never give up on an animal. If you put all that time and money into a season, why give up if you don't find your deer right away. I've attached a pic of what I found. Wish I could attach the smell to but the pic should do.

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[bass]

So i shot a deer recently. Arrow a little far back, a little high, but under the spine; complete pass thru. No gut material on arrow so i suspected a liver or diaphragm hit. Buck ran about 60 yds, stood for a little while and collapsed. Struggled to get up and fell again. Laid for several minutes, struggled to get up again, hunched back as if it were gut or liver shot, then laid down again. I could see him the entire time. After about :30 minutes, something scared him and he got up slowly and walked away along a hedgerow out of sight.

I backed out of the woods and came back 6 hours later to start to track. Followed trail about 500 yds into a thicket, down hill, across a creek into thick but relatively small patch. (Area is mostly open agric.) Lost blood trail in the thicket as it was leading to open field again. Tracked 4 hrs and 4 more hours next day. Searched 2 add'l days covering a LOT of land.

So, he either lived or he's right under my nose somewhere. My queston for anyone is can a deer hit like that, collapse like that, hunch like that survive? Can a sudden loss in blood pressure result in the collapse, and the deer regain its composure and blood pressure to get up, walk away and survive? I believe it's dead, but I read some of these forums about deer surviving seemingly good hits and I just don't know. Thoughts?

[vtmtnman]

bass wrote:

So i shot a deer recently. Arrow a little far back, a little high, but under the spine; complete pass thru. No gut material on arrow so i suspected a liver or diaphragm hit. Buck ran about 60 yds, stood for a little while and collapsed. Struggled to get up and fell again. Laid for several minutes, struggled to get up again, hunched back as if it were gut or liver shot, then laid down again. I could see him the entire time. After about :30 minutes, something scared him and he got up slowly and walked away along a hedgerow out of sight. I backed out of the woods and came back 6 hours later to start to track. Followed trail about 500 yds into a thicket, down hill, across a creek into thick but relatively small patch. (Area is mostly open agric.) Lost blood trail in the thicket as it was leading to open field again. Tracked 4 hrs and 4 more hours next day. Searched 2 add'l days covering a LOT of land. So, he either lived or he's right under my nose somewhere. My queston for anyone is can a deer hit like that, collapse like that, hunch like that survive? Can a sudden loss in blood pressure result in the collapse, and the deer regain its composure and blood pressure to get up, walk away and survive? I believe it's dead, but I read some of these forums about deer surviving seemingly good hits and I just don't know. Thoughts?

May have clotted up and lived.My buddy shot a four point back in oct through the hind quarters with a rage two blade.The first 50 yards looked like a horror movie scene.Then it petered out to nothing.Called the dog tracker...nothing.Then during rifle season we seen the same deer out in one of the cow pastures chasing does,running all messed up but alive.
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[vtmtnman]

Predator wrote:

I hear a lot of people say deer will NEVER or ALWAYS do something. The only time NEVER applies to hunting is that you can NEVER predict for sure what a deer will do. If you keep hunting long enough you will see something you've NEVER seen before.

This is the only post that's definate about what a deer will do after the hit.

I've heard the old gut shot deer run down hill to water theory...yeah my old man gut shot one this past oct and it run uphill and away from water.There's no way to know what an animal will do after shooting it.
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[Trev D]

this deer was shot from about 450 yards away, but was hit poorly bullet just entering the right ham and exiting behind the right shoulder kinda just skimmed him, believing i had missed the deer i had to go check for blood anyway and sure enough there was a pile of white hair so i just took a few steps to look where he ran back into the hedge thicket and he was standing in the creek in about 4 ft of water, he jumped up out of the creek into the hedge thicket so i was gonna go cut him off on the other side was a field and before i got to the field there he was standing beside the creek with a doe broadside. this time i put him down. just wanting to add i think a alot of times deer wil try to stop bleeding by going to water
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[dirk911]

Many deer, not just gut shot ones will head for water. The biggest reason for this without getting to medical about it is when severe truama with blood loss occurs deer become thirsty.

[sw1woodde]

This is an excellent post!

If i had anything to add, it would be after the shot to remain in your stand. Many hunters say I will get a cup of coffee and come back. Bad choice

Often deer that are shot with a bow are surprised and they have no idea where the arrow came from. They will run run maybe 30 yards and look back. Although you may not see them, when you climb out of your stand, or call your buddy on the 2 way, they hear you and will now flee in the opposite direction. This often will make a simple tracking job into a more difficult task. I have often seen deer that have been shot return to the area they were shot at within 15 minutes of the shoot if not spooked

[alimoche]

Nothing can beat a good trained bloodtracking dog! they can work amazing trails.

Here is a video training mine. The trail was 9 hours old, but he made a good job!
http://www.youtube.com/v/4GYZ45DkBFc&hl=es&fs=1












Good luck in the woods!
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