Tell us all your story about the longest tracking job you have done - where you just didn't give up...or the hopeless trail with very little blood. Might help keep somebody on their blood trail this year a little bit longer! Mine was a Halloween night...'97 I believe. Only been hunting a couple years, some buddies and I were meeting that night at State Park to camp for the weekend. I hunted a neighbors farm that borders park on the way out. After a truck drove under my stand and spotted me then got out and chewed me out for hunting there because he just leased this spot (sorry buddy - I just spoke to the landowner)...he took off mad as heck and some deer began to move. The first big doe walked through my shooting lane too fast - but the next two stopped (was so jacked up didn't even think that these two were obviously fawns). I shot the bigger and shot looked good. As I prepare to climb down, crazy hunter/guide guy returns and threatens to sue me...told him good luck, but I have to go now...he drove right over my arrow in the bean field as he sped off. Got my buddies, and as we began to track realized the hit was lower than anticipated (and with steep angle), not much blood. We jumped the deer from it's bed. We proceeded to jump this deer 2-3 more times, each time only following pin drops of blood to it's next bed. We crossed 2 blacktops while doing so (all Public ground at this point). Along the way we even came across the Conservation Officer on the one blacktop, he was very understanding and told us to keep on the trail as rain was coming. We finally came upon deer again in it's bed and it wasn't running this time - a quick finishing shot put this button buck in the bag for me. If it wasn't for crazy youth energy and the fact that we lived for tracking jobs (and had nothing better to do that weekend)...not sure if we'd have found this one. Get Help - and stick with it!
shot a doe two years ago with rage 2 blade, she ran down into the bottoms. The broadhead didn't deploy like it should have. She had a small blood trail for about 200 yards and finally started showing better signs after that. I finally found her about 400 yards from my stand, so that meant about 600 yards of dragging her up to the field edge after I field dressed her. I was so mad, I didn't hunt the rest of the afternoon, I was too sweated up anyway. I went home!
Last year I shot a doe far back on an early anterless hunt. Tracked her forever, doing circles in a cornfield. The blood trail was very faint, at times I was on my hands and knees to find blood. I tracked her for about 3 hours until I finally reached a river that ran through the property. This river was too wide and deep for her to cross. I walked the edge of river and shined it with my flashlight. I walked about 50 yards and noticed her in the river, snagged by a down log!!! This log was the only thing keeping her from going down stream. A buddy and I ended up very carefully dragging her out.
I made my first archery kill in 2002 on a 7 point buck. The buck was chasing a doe and jumped over a creek. He came directly under my treestand and I thought, "if I shoot right down between his shoulder blades then I will blow out his heart". Man was I an idiot. I shot him at 1 yard directly downwards. He ran like heck. I picked up the trail only 30 minutes later, not waiting like I should have with that type of bad shot. I followed blood off and on for hundreds of yards, over several hours. The the blood just stopped....I was sick. The sun began setting and my time was up as I have to check back in on the place I hunt. I could not sleep that night and made the decision to call out of work the next day, something I normally never even think to do. I woke up the next morning prior to sun-up and made my way into the woods. I got back on the trail on my hands and knees for a good 2-3 hours and could not find anything, zip. I then started walking small circles from the point of last blood..nothing for another 2-3 hours. Then I remembed reading somewhere to look for water on gut shot deer. I was exhausted at this point as the terrain I was hunting was deep and I think I was just mentally worn out. I walked deep in the woods and got on the main creek. I walked slowly and looked at everything, turned over rocks, scuffs in the dirt....I found nothing over another hour or so. I began to give up mentally and just started to act like a sissy man. My legs were burning and I was hungry but when I get stubborn on something I do not quit. I got within 40 yards of where I shot that buck and I see an antler sticking out of a tree overhanging the creek! That buck had circled hundreds of yards around and came right back to the same spot. He then crawled up under a hollowed out old tree overhanging a creek. I was on cloud nine and so began the bowhunting addiction in my life.
Many years ago, before I knew better, I shot a nice 130's 10point DEAD IN THE CENTER of his chest, from the ground as he came down a path at me. He bucked and ran, with about 14" of arrow stuck in his chest, the rest he snapped off as he spun and headed through the woods. We tracked that deer round and round and round, for what seemed like MILES, probably 3/4 mile or so through thick stuff, uphill, downhill, etc. Never found him until 3 days later when the crows showed me where he was..... Lesson learned that night, NEVER take a frontal shot. The arrow was lodged in his chest only getting into his left lung, and ribs, and I'm sure that deer died a miserable death. More recently, when my dumb arse peaked last year while shooting a nice medium sized doe, I gut shot her, also got liver, and just very back of her lung, but for the most part it was PURE GUTS...... I left immediately after retrieving my arrow, and headed home, returned about 5 1/2 hours later as this was a stand I'd killed a coyote from and seen more than a few coyotes in that area, and wanted to make sure I got her before THEY got her. I followed that trail for 250yds or so and it just plain stopped. I could SMELL that deer, urine smell, not guts, but couldn't locate her for nothin' I finally decided to do concentric circles and in the middle of my forth or fifth circle my buddy that was with me called my name..... I left him at the last spot I'd found blood and sure enough, she was right next to him up under some multi-flora and a down osage tree, not even 15 ft from him, sadly, still alive. I circled around behind her and bumped her, she ran about 50yds, and layed down again, and I left her as she was only about 20yds from a highwall that if she'd went down, the drag would have gone from 400-500yds to half a mile through some really thick nasty stuff to the nearest road...... The next morning at about 7:30, I found her right where I'd left her, still slightly warm, and dead as could be. Fortunately, the coyotes must've been off on another ridge as they never bothered her..... Her meat was still just fine fortunately, and tasted just as good as any well hit deer to my surprise. I kicked myself for a while after that one, and was lucky enough to redeem myself with a BIG old mature herd matriarch a couple weeks later that I heart shot. And was able to let my 5yr old get a little practice tracking deer on that nights.... In hunting, unfortunately, bad shots occasionally happen, and we have to learn from them as best we can to prevent a future recurrences.
I rushed my first shot on a deer and took a chance through some brush. I thought I hit a little high but wasn't sure. Tracked the deer for 3 hours and nothing. Started off with lots of blood and ended about 300 yards later after seeing drops every 10-20 yards. I ended up spooking him up about 4 hours later from being bed down in some trees, I saw him stand up and start walking away. I got my brother and we both had our bows ready and tried to sneak in for a shot. My brother had him at around 30 yards but had too much brush in the way and couldn't get shot in. I circled below and had him walk by me at 50 yards. Fearing I had him fatily wounded I took a shot and went just over his back. I than saw that I had hit his back leg. Must have changed direction at the last minute. Having it be my first ever shot at a deer I got tunnel vision bad and made a terrible first shot. I than left and came back 2 hours later hoping he would bed down again. I had me, my brother and my dad searching and found a few drops separated about 100 yards apart than nothing. It started getting dark so we gave up. I ended up seeing him walk with a little limp about a month later. I couldn't sleep after that shot til I saw him still alive and moving good. The deer I killed I hit a little back and spooked up from being bed down. All of this happened before I became a member here and knew better. I left and came back a hour and a half later. Followed his blood across a field for about 200 yards and lost his blood at a fence. Couldn't find any blood across the fence but couldn't find a direction he walked after that fence. Feeling like complete crap for potentially wounding another deer I started losing my mind. I walked in some big circles for about 2 hours and finally found a blood trail along the fence about 30 yards away in a area I walked by several times. I than found him about 30 yards from there nice and dead. seeing the path he took I knew he had a fairly fast death after I spooked him up so I felt a little better. I really need to learn to be more logical and less upset when tracking deer.
I can honestly say I would of never found that deer. Glad you found him Brett and congrats for not giving up.
This happened years ago. I was 15 or so years old and hunting with my 12 year old brother. It was his 1st year bowhunting and we were hunting from the ground. We were set up 60 yards apart from each other. What appeared to be a doe came walking down the trail about 20 yards away from me. I drew back on her and hit the end of my draw cycle and a small tiny branch got In between my peep sight and my eye's. I thought sh!t!! I some how bit the tiny branch with my teeth while drawed back and got It out of the way and settled the pin on the lungs and released the arrow and It slowly slid off of my finger tab. The shot looked high. The deer ran by my brother at about 30 yards but he had no Idea I had just shot this deer. We gave her a couple hours and called a few people and jumped back on the blood trail. The blood trail wasn't a typical lung hit trail so we called It quits quickly. My dad was In Colorado elk hunting so he wasn't with. The next morning we got back on the trail and took her about 100 yards with a not so good blood trail. All of a sudden there she jumped up 10 feet away from me and ran between me and another guy. Neither one of us could shoot being we would've been shooting at each other. We let her go for 30 minutes and got back on the trail. We took the trail another 80 yards to the river and couldn't find anymore blood that day. I looked the next day too with no luck. The next day (3 days after I hit her) dad got back from Colorado and I told him the story. He then said I think we should go back out there and look being he thinks he knows where she went to bed down and nurse the wound. Back out we went and sure enough he hit the nail on the head. He jumped her In the thick stuff and up she went. She ran about 30 yards from my brother and tried crossing the river. He shot her on the run while she was In the river and nailed her In the lungs, the shot was awesome!! Specially for a 12 year old kid!! My brother kept firing arrows and emptied his quiver although there was no need to. My Initial shot was high In the shoulder blade which did bust the shoulder blade In half. It turned out to be a doe fawn, a nice sized one at that. The moral of the story Is I never would've gotten this deer If It weren't for my dad and also my younger brother. To this day my brother gives me sh!t about this deer and says you still owe me yet. I'll gladly pay him back some day.
Not my hardest recovery in terms of effort, but in terms of mental stability, it had to be last years buck I took a little longer than desired shot (my mistake in ranging) on a nice 9 point. He was slightly quartering to when I released, and he bolted down out of sight. I listened for a crash, but I couldn't hear anything. I got out of my stand, and backed out. At dark, I went up to find my arrow, and when I did, there were small traces of intestinal matter on it, and only a few drops of blood where he was standing. Now I was concerned...very concerned. My dad and I backed out, and I called Ben. He and Rob came up a few hours later, and we went back to the site to examine for anything I might have missed. We could see where he ran down over the side of the ridge, but no blood, not even 20 yards into the woods. We decided to back out, and I would wait overnight. With the temps not reaching exactly ideal conditions overnight, I was worried about the meat (that was if I even recovered him). Come to find out in the morning, I had to go into work (subs are hard to come by for my classes for whatever reason). Luckily my dad was planning to track with me, so he went on the trail at first light while I sat at work trying to pretend like I wanted to be there. While we're not supposed to have our phones with us during classes, mine was right by my computer waiting for any messages. Around 9:30, my dad called to tell me he found him dead 150yds straight over the ridge from where I shot. Not a SINGLE drop of blood in between where he fell and where I shot. My dad only had the turned up leaves to go by. I one lung/portion of the heart, but it quartered out through part of his intestines, and that plugged the exit hole. He bled "out" internally.
