Please everyone take note... there has been thread after thread posted of taking up the blood trail too soon and losing another deer. Please don't do that! If you don't see the deer go down... that is 2 hours automatically... minimum. If after 2 hours you pick up the trail and don't see heavy blood very quickly, add two more hours; at least. If you are following a trail and see a puddle, that means he stopped, likely laid down and got up when you jumped him. That's NOW an 8 hour wait. Jumping them NEVER speeds up the tracking job, it extends it. No matter what some archery pro says about your giant cutting broad-head... you still need to give them time. We all get excited, but please stop pushing them. Okay? A hard hit deer WILL lay down almost every time. If you just quietly back out... I can almost guarantee ... you will find him laying dead in that puddle of blood, on the edge of that thicket or that ditch, about 50-100 yards away where you would have jumped him from had you not waited. Everyone got it? Thanks for reading. Trust an old guy... you'll be glad you did.
Great post, shot my first buck on Saturday. He stepped forward at the shot and I hit liver. Spotty blood backed out and found him 100 yards in his first bed. Nothing but liver, no heart no limgs. Just shows backing out can really pay off. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
It's been said... people just get excited and forget.. or listen to people with no experience... or maybe they are afraid of the boogie man.
I think it's also under estimated just how well a wounded deer can hide too though. They will craw under brush, in water and everything else, many times a hunter simply walked right past the already dead deer and simply assume they lost the blood trail and the deer kept going.... What I will never understand is just what the hell a hunter thinks people on a hunting forum spread all over the country can offer as far as help in recovering a wounded deer. If you didn't find it just keep it to yourself instead of looking like a complete idiot.
Have had that happen sometimes... especially in the water, they can be really hard to see. Great point.
Also, when taking up the trail, very SLOW AND SILENT! I think a lot of guys get a buddy, they go stomping around, and "HEY I GOT BLOOD OVER HERE!!!". Never knowing the deer just jumped up 100 yards away and ran into the next county.
I get where your coming from covey but a lot of these guys (especially newbies) may not have friends or relatives to ask for advice about tracking or bowhunting in general. I know there are some "idiots" that post about making a "questionable" shot & taking up the blood trail 30 minutes later but I do think some of these guys are in need of "guidance" & have a future in our great sport. I just wish more of them would read the posts like Muzzy wrote & many other good posts regarding what to do "after the shot". Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
They aren't necissarily idiots but posting a thread titled, "Help, I made a crappy shot and can't find my deer" doesn't exactly inspire any confidence, lol. If a bad shot is made on a deer I don't think any amount of advice from an internet forum will fix the real problem. Accidents happen and deer get lost....either it can be found or it can't....I have never really seen someone have an "aha" moment from thread advice on a poor shot...that's all I'm sayin.
Don't see him go down 2 hours minimum? I don't think so. Too much of a blanket statement. I never see my deer go down and they usually go 40-50 yards and expire. Insert shameless Rage plug here
it all comes down to shot placement period. vitals (heart/lung) deer will expire quickly. anything else takes time for it to expire. hence the backing out and letting it lie. sound advice.
Both of these post perfectly sum up one of my doe kills last year with a shotgun. I shot a doe as she and two others came up on me in a field while I was walking to stand. Made a shot really had no idea if hit good or not, happened quick and was a close shot with a scoped gun, like less than 20 yards. Anyway long story short I went back and grabbed buddy after finding good blood a hour and half or two hours later. I was goin spot by spot tracking blood and my buddy was just cruising through looking well ahead of me. Followed heavy blood for 150 yards and she disappeared. Got dark and decided to come back in morning she ended up being maybe 10 feet from where I was standed when we called it a night, funny thimg was it wasn't real dark just getting to dark to see without a light. Sneaky little critters. Since I've done all my own tracking ha. Sorry this doesn't really go with topic but you guys pretty much summed up this situation I had.
The head is irrelevant. Quickly judging the animals reaction to the shot and reading the blood can and will dictate how quickly I pick up a trail. My son's buck was a good example. I was questioning him on the shot. As I was looking at the arrow he found just a few yards from the shot. He said it did the heart kick. (He's 15)Seeing how the arrow had what looked like good heart blood and it had been 30 minutes, we started tracking and found him about 30 minutes and 100+ yards later. In the dark with a magnus stinger buzzcut blood trail. Last year he shot a buck right before dark. Found little blood and white hair at the point of the shot. Found no arrow and he told me he knew the shot was back. We backed out immediately and found the deer 300 yards later with the same magnus stinger blood trail. Liver hit and arrow stayed in the whole time. (It did get 2 holes) Newbies need to learn the blood and to read the deer. It is best to wait for the animal to lay down and expire. BUT Along the way, learn. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
Actually... you kind of reinforced my point... in a sense. You find them dead in their first bed 40-50 yards away. In two hours... they are still dead. Yes, that is a general statement and those of us with many bow kills usually know what a mortally hit deer looks like. Those who don't know... have lost nothing by waiting. Those who thought they made a good shot... only to find out 10 minutes later that they didn't... just lost a deer. I respect your opinion but am inclined to stand by the 2 hour minimum rule... unless you know for sure.
I agree. I suggest waiting at least an hour before even getting out of the stand. Text people. Read threads on this forum, play angry birds. Do something to pass the time and then get started after giving the deer a chance to bed down. I learned that lesson the hard way. There isn't much that can be hurt by waiting two hours unless you have the worlds densest coyote population. If thats the case then you should hang up the rattling antlers and pick up a dying rabbit call. Other than that, patience is a virtue well suited for bow hunting.
That's always been my philosophy. Not really sure what the rush or indecision is whether to go after it or not is (other than excitement I suppose). It's almost like people talk themselves into taking up the trail earlier rather than later. I always here the ... "that deer is dead let's get him" line. Well.... MAYBE so, but I can assure you one thing...... If it's dead while we are talking about it now there is a good chance it will still be dead in a couple hours. I will agree with one post that some deer, not matter what the case may be.... won't be found unfortunately. But, the bottom line is the single best way to not recover a deer is to take up the trail too early. That you can control and be avoided.
Never bothers me to wait at least an hour'ish....I nearly always have more tags to fill anyway and shooting one deer from the stand generally does nothing to hurt the odds of another deer walking within range. I like two'fers, lol.
