Dont forget that deer that are mortaly wounded tend to run down hill, or any other easy route that is close. They also like to run into real thickstuff, I found my buck this year in laurals that were almost impossible to walk through upright.Also sure-fire flashlights sells a blue filter for their lights that actually make blood shine/reflect in the light. I purchased one this year and will make a post later in the season to let you know how it works.
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great posts! one thing i'd like to emphasize is mentally and probably physically marking where the deer goes out of sight. i shot a deer last year and unfortunately lost it, probably because i didnt wait long enough and may have pushed it, but that aside, i didnt remember exactly where the deer was when i last saw it cuz i was so pumped with adrenaline after my first shot at a deer with a bow finally connected. im sure it would have made finding the initial blood trail much easier. i'll be sure to keep checking in here and commiting all these tips to memory and probably make some hard copies for me and all my hunting buddies. thanks again, this is really informative!
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I would like to add something as well. My experiences have taught me that usually a deer will tuck it's tail when hit. Again, its not on of those sure-fire things but I have noticed it with my kills and also on hunting shows.
I have also had to reclimb the tree that I shot from just to remember where my arrow or deer was last seen. It has helped me recover before.
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i like to get sown after the deer is outta sight and check hte arrow for blood just to make sure it is a hit i have seen misses that look like hits alway sdouble check it could cause a long wait for nothing or watching aother buck go by because you thought you already killed one and cant shoot again just make sure
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I would like to add something as well. My experiences have taught me that usually a deer will tuck it's tail when hit. Again, its not on of those sure-fire things but I have noticed it with my kills and also on hunting shows.
I have also had to reclimb the tree that I shot from just to remember where my arrow or deer was last seen. It has helped me recover before.
I've noticed that alot of times they will run with shorter steps and they dont really hop when theyre hit. With a miss, they usually bound off in 2 or 3 leaps.
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RE: Annual...Recovery, What to do After the Shot Thread
Very well written. I think that this post will be very helpful to many of the new guys. It's also a good reminder for those seasoned vets who get caught up in the excitement and get on the trail too quick.
However,I recently read an article in N.A.H. written by Bill Winke. In the article hequotes Dr. Grant Woods,where he mentions the void, or no man's land between the lungs and the spine. According to Dr. Woods "If the deer doesn't pick up an infection, they'll recover fully if hit in this gap" He states that "it can be 2 inches tall toward the back of the lungs and narrower toward the front".The article also contains a caption with a deer model and a stick pin placed where this area is located. I know that this subject is often debated but I'm gonna have to side with Dr. Woods on this one.
RE: Annual...Recovery, What to do After the Shot Thread
gutshotem, that is correct...there is no void area however, you can be forward of the lungs/high...they way they slope forward and down. Also, the upper lobes of the lungs hold less blood vessels and you may not collapse them and not cut enough vessels to cause hemoraging which is what we know to kill an animal. A broadhead kills by hemoraging. A deer can also survive on a one lung hit....I recently began training a blood tracking dog for deer/bear recovery. Upon doing this I read the only book written in English for tracking by John Jehenney and in it, it talks or research done in an area of I believe NY where they did autopsys of deer taken out of this area. That was the condition of hunting. What they discovered were broadhead scars on lungs, etc...We need to remember, deer are amazing animals, the drive for surviving is outstanding. Again, at the start of the thread it states, 2 of the biggest reasons deer are not recovered is because they are still alive or pushed.
RE: Annual...Recovery, What to do After the Shot Thread
Quote:
ORIGINAL: Rob/PA Bowyer
Upon doing this I read the only book written in English for tracking by John Jehenney..
Rob - I am not sure if you are refering to the only book Jehenney wrote in English, or if this is the only book you found written in English for tracking deer. Two good references I have for tracking deer include: Trailing Whitetails by John Trout Jr., North Country Press, 1987 and Tracking Wounded Deer - How to find and tag deer shot by gun or bow by Richard P. Smith, Stackpole Press, 1988
-fsh
p.s. Re on the resiliency of deer; several years ago, I believe Bowhunter Magazine (??) published a story/pic of a broadhead recovered within the heart ofa deer that had survived the injury, figure that one out...(added in edit: maybe yet another example for hunters to use only the sharpest of broadheads?) Also, it is a difficult subject to debate on whether pushing will result in tagging an otherwise unrecoverabledeer - I do believe (imho) that there are exceptionalcases when it is better to push rather than let the deer rest and recover from theinjury...
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RE: Annual...Recovery, What to do After the Shot Thread
Pushing an der is only a good idea if you know it is a muscle hit,as these will stop bleeding,by pushing the animal it will keep the wound open and the blood pumping harder. This is only practical if you can track the animal for miles,private property considerations often don't allow thi
On another note if tracking in the dark I have found that a coleman lantern works better than any flashlight can, they're just noisy as heck!
RE: Annual...Recovery, What to do After the Shot Thread
Dr. Andy
- Agree,muscle-hit deer arebetter off pushed - the difficult part is determining thatthat is the nature of the hit. I participated in the recovery of two shoulder-hit deer where the arrow had never penetrated the rib cage.We had snow on the ground to aid in one of the tracking efforts, and a dose of luck to help our persistence on the other.
- Another exception to waiting to taking up a track is the imminent threat of rain.
-fsh
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RE: Annual Deer Recovery Thread.
