So you take a shot at a deer and now the real fun begins. If I share one thing and one thing only it would be to make sure you watch where it runs. Before all of that though there are some things you can do to make tracking a lot easier on yourself. First, make sure you spend a little extra money on equipment especially broad heads. Second, take a good shot. If you're going to take an animals life you owe it to that animal to make it as quick and painless as possible. With that said and with the animal in mind sometimes things can go wrong and the animal can run a considerable distance. Now if that happens we can't lose sight of the fact that we need to consider the suffering of that deer. I have been on countless blood trails that went down to a trickle. When that happens it is almost inevitable for someone to mention that the deer will survive. I don't mean to be a downer but I am going to tell you that if you put a projectile through the mass of that deer, it isn't going to survive. That is like saying if you were shot with only hooves and a tongue to care for that wound you would survive in woods. I think people say that to make themselves and others feel better but the reality is that animal will die. Now that we know it is going to die it is up to us to make it worth while.
Tracking your trophy starts the second you take the shot. Watching everything that deer does and every where it goes is crucial to the retrieval. So when the shot is taken, watch to see where you hit the animal. Next watch how the animal reacts to the shot and how it runs. Finally watch exactly where the animal goes. Some terrains make it very hard to know exactly where it ran but there is a trick to make this easier. Instead of celebrating in your tree stand, take that time an attempt to pinpoint exact trails that wounded deer traveled using landmarks like a tree or rock. Now if possible you can be even more accurate if your able to use three reference points. One being where you are sitting another being an obstacle in line beyond the point of interest. The third reference point would be directly to one side or the other of the point of interest in order to establish distance. Watch the attached video below. This video is of me shooting a buck from one of my best bow stands. When you watch the video you will see the deer run through a soybean field. Look to see if you can see what I used as landmarks or reference points. Footage Of My Hunt Now that you watched the video did you see the obvious reference points I used? Well I used the row of soybeans that didn't grow as one reference. The other reference I used was the light colored tree directly beyond him when he stood at the edge of the field for awhile. It was very difficult to get an accurate triangulation but I was successful using that said tree and the edge of the tall grass he entered the tree line at.
So now that you have established a possible travel route and key points of interest it is time to exit your stand. I always go to the point of the shot first if it is close by. When I stand where the animal was shot I look for several things. First I attempt to locate my arrow if bow hunting and I try and find blood. I also look for hair. The color and type of hair can tell you where the exit wound is located on the deer.
Finding blood is crucial for the tracking the animal. Along with tracking, blood can tell you a whole lot more about type of wound the deer sustained. When you find your first good sized glob of blood pick it up and inspect it. If it is dark blood chances are it was a further back shot hitting the liver and or kidneys. If it is a light colored blood it is a safe bet that the deer was hit in the heart or lungs. Light colored blood can also mean vitals were not hit at all. This can make for a tricky track often times left empty handed. Now If it is a lung shot usually the blood is bubbly. This is a great sign for tracking because chances are the deer didn't go far. Now for the sniff test. Take the blood and put it up to your nose and take a long deep whiff of the blood. If you can smell fecal matter you hit the guts. Gut shots are best tracked several hours after the shot was made. This is to allow the deer to lay down and not be pushed. A frightened deer can run along way on adrenaline leaving you with a long track.
Now that you have found blood at the sight of impact start following that blood in the direction you last saw the deer. Many people skip to where they last saw the deer but those people lose out on crucial information. By knowing the exact travel route of the deer and cross referencing it with which side of its path of travel your finding blood you will better be able to track that deer when you get past the last point of sight. This allows you to see which side the deer is bleeding from the most. While tracking blood it is crucial mark the trail frequently with toilet paper or something easily visible. This allows you to look back and establish an overall direction of travel. When wounded, deer will favor one side or the other giving its path a curve. For instance if a deer has a wound to their left leg chances are the will favor that side thus their travel route with have a slight curve to the left. When following a blood trail there are a few things you want to do to get the best results. Below is a list of them as well as why they are important.
1. For small amounts of blood keep you tracking team to experienced trackers only. If you have someone inexperienced have them carry the gear and stand at the last point blood was found. Everyone wants to help and that is great but when someone is in the woods with you and are not sure as to what they are doing, they run the risk of walking over trace blood hindering the track.
2. Be quiet. Many times during the track you are following a deer that might still be alive. If you are too loud chances are you will not here that deer running through the sticks. If you can see the deer in the distance struggling to get away, you can end that deer's suffering a lot sooner as well as shortening your drag.
3. Bring a compass or even better a gps. Many times you will be tracking in to the dark. No matter how well you know the woods, darkness and a blood trail can get you turned around in a hurry. A gps will give you a few added bonuses. First it will track you movements so you can see an overall travel pattern taken by that deer. Secondly when you recover the deer it will give you the shortest distance to a road.
4. Look for blood smears. These smears usually are larger in size and are associated with other signs of struggle like rustled leaves or tore up dirt. A smear like this indicates the deer fell or laid down. This is a good sign if you find this but keep a note of how many you find. If you start finding a few of these spots it means that the deer is being pushed. If this is the case you can bet you are the one pushing the deer. You want to stop your search immediately and wait a few hours.
5. You are not the only one tracking your deer. With the fresh scent of blood in the air as well as a trail of blood on the ground, you can bet there will be others looking for your trophy as well. If left too long your trophy will be enjoyed by others first. Predators and scavengers come out at night looking for a bite to eat. Coyotes and wolves have excellent noses and if they stumble across your blood trail first you can bet they would enjoy an easy meal. Keep this in mind and make sure to listen for them.
The overall progression through the woods should be graceful. Keep in mind this animal is wounded. A wounded deer does not want to jump nor do they want to struggle to get where they are going. Deer take the path of least resistance when they aren't wounded so you can bet they will be doing the same when they are. Now if you find the animal went through a thicket where they could have gone around, chances are they are struggling and didn't have a choice. With all that in mind start your search along the obvious travel route like a path which follows its overall direction. Next, go slow and be sure to search the ground you are stepping on before you take that next step. And always remember to search trees and foliage higher up and not just on the ground. If the blood trails trickles off to nothing it is time to change your search pattern. To do this you simply start fanning out back and forth looking for blood. The further you get away from the blood the wider you fan out. If this fan search brings zero results go back to the last point of blood and search again for deer tracks. If the tracks don't tell you anything then start looking for the deer to have changed directions completely. It is possible they sensed danger in the direction they were going and had to change their plan all together.
Sometimes tracking your trophy can be a lot more difficult. If you hunt with a crossbow it is a reality that the short bolt could get stuck completely inside the deer. Other times if you hit the deer in just the right spot, the hole can get plugged up with fat or other internal debris to restrict the blood from coming out. And in other cases the blood can be washed away or covered up by rain or snow. If this is the case there are a few things you can do. First off, give that animal several hours to lay down and pass. Pushing a deer in those conditions dramatically hinders your chances of recovery. Secondly, keep in mind that wounded deer all seek the same thing. They want water and cover so if you know the area terrain chances are you know where they are headed. If there are roads surrounding the area or better yet between that deer and the water or cover they seek, you can sit over this area in your vehicle while you wait to track. If luck is on your side the deer will cross this area shortening your track. Lastly, get a search party together and start a grid search. This is done best during daylight hours. Remember that you are not searching for blood at this point but rather a carcass. A trick to this is again go slow but look behind you. Sometimes a deer won't be visible from one direction by their belly hair can be seen from the opposite direction.
This article by no means is the solve all in deer tracking. I do hope it will give you a good idea as to what to do the next time you have to track a deer. Or if you are a beginner all together, I hope it gives you solid insight as to how to conduct a search yielding the best results. If you remember one thing the next time you track it is this, go slow!
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