I wasn't sure what to call this thread this year. I'm not sure if it's the 7th annual or the 8th annual. Thanks for the request again this year and for the newbies and readers looking in but not joining, I wrote this thread more years ago than I can remember and every year our great members here add to it and also offer their own tips and experience. If only one animal is recovered every year because of this thread then it has done it's job. There are much more seasoned hunters and veterans of the woods here more than myself with great knowledge of the whitetail. This thread serves as a guidline and not the final word on trailing whitetails. They are an amazing animals and can survive against the odds.

If you have a suggestion or tip to add, by all means do so, I look forward to them every year.

One of the biggest reasons why many animals are not recovered after being shot is that all too often bow hunters take up the trail too soon, simply bumping the animal away never to be found again. What you do following the shot can make or break a successful recovery.

When mortality wounded 90% of deer will bed within 250 yards of the shot. If an animal dies beyond this, most likely some outside factor pushed the animal. Think about all of the animals you've taken, found or lost. You've probably found at least one if not multiple beds within this distance.

Now I' m not proclaiming myself the ultimate tracker/hunter but I can testify that my hunting partners and I have not lost an animal that has died or that we not seen another day, in many, many years and several of these recoveries were because of waiting for the right moment to trail the animal,rather than the initialshot placement.

I'll give you an example of an animal that I made a poor shot on because I neglected to stop the animal and shot him on the move. At 25 yards I placed my arrow too far back on the buck. As soon as I saw the arrow hit further back than I wanted, I knew immediately not to take up the track until at least 6 hours later. I shot this animal at 7:30 am and got out of my tree at 11:00 and left the woods. At 3:30 I returned to the woods and found my buck not 50 yards inside a woods at the last point I saw him. Had I not waited, there is a very good chance thatI wouldn't have found him due to all the standing cornfields surrounding the woodlot he was bedded in.

In this particular case I also glassed the animal immediately following the shot to verify the hit. One important note or tip is that I always make, is that binoculars are invaluable for archers not only to glass an animal post shot, but also to watch for his movement once he moves off. Quite often we as hunters get caught up in the heat of the moment and become unsure of our arrow's point of impact. A good set of binoculars and some quick thinking can help you verify your shot placement and help you formulate the proper game plan for recovering your animal.

The following is a list of several tips that I feel are invaluable for bow hunters to use when deciding what to do both before and after the shot. In the past, many members of the HuntingNet.com Message Board have helped to tweak and add their own priceless tidbits of information as well. Hopefully one of the tips here or posted herein will aid you in a speedy recovery this hunting season.

1. Use bright fletch. You need to be able to see your arrow in flight, in the animal, and on the ground afterward. Dark arrows will not do you any good if you yourself can' t see them. If bright fletching isn’t enough, try using lighted arrow nocks for better visibility in low light conditions, if legal in your state.

2.Binoculars - use them post shot! They may be one of the most important tools you have after the shot.

3. Watch the animal after the shot. Quite often an animal's body movement will help indicate to you what type of shot you got. An animal that jumps straight in the air and bounds off out of sight is most likely mortally wounded and will not travel far. However, if the animal hunches up and walks off or moves off slowly there is a good chance the hit was too far back or forward and you may need to wait at least 6 hours before taking up the trail.

"I hit him, now what?"

Here are 7 sure fire steps towards recovering your animal safely and securely:

1. Unless you witness a double lung pass through, I firmly believe to let an animal go for a couple hours rather than the common misconception of a half hour wait. Too many times a half hour isn't enough. The only shots that put an animal down quickly are double lung hits and heart shots. If you don't see your animal fall within site, your best bet is to wait it out.

2. If you are not 100% sure of your hit, simply put.... wait!!! The animal isn't going to go anywhere, he's dead, why hurry? Sit back, collect your thoughts, and replay the shot, the hit, and where the animal went. Also, this gives you a chance to listen and relax. If your arrow was a pass thru, get down and get the arrow and study it and wait. Mark the direction but don' t pursue, if you wait, he'll be there or he'll live another day.

3. If you think it' s a single lung hit because of the angle, wait at least 4 hours. This includes shots that are just under the spine and because of the angle you might have caught the second lung but missed the first. Wait and let him expire. Many people believe in "the void" which they claim is an area between a deer's lungs and spine where no vital organs reside. This is a myth - if you place an arrow under the spine, you will catch the upper lobes of at least one lung.

4. If you think you caught the liver wait and the animal will bleed out. Wait at least 4 hours to take up the trail - the animal will not go anywhere if given the chance to expire. Jump him and he may go forever.

5. If you catch the guts only, you're in for at least a 6-hour minimum wait with 8 hours being more preferable and overnight being the best-case scenario. In case of rain or snow you should get down, find your arrow, find the blood trail, and wait for the next morning. If you know your property, you'll find him close.

6. Coyotes can and will give the location of your animal, if your worried about them, get down, listen for the them and move on them if you know they are on your animal. IF they are there, your animal won' t be so move on the coyotes and they may lead you to the animal.

7. Whether your shot hits lungs, liver, or guts the key to a successful recovery is towait. The animal is going to die just wait him out and your blood trail should be adequate a couple hours later.

8. There are few hits that force you to move on an animal quickly to bleed them out. These hits are the most difficult to determine and more times than not you will make the wrong decision and push an animal that might otherwise lay down and expire. Again, if your unsure of the hit, wait it out.

9. Many states now allow the use of tracking dogs, leashed or unleashed. Utilize their availability in your state. Many organizations are available such as the United Blood Trackers.org that offer services for tracking wounded animals free of cost. Look into such an organization prior to going hunting this season as a worst-case scenario.

10. Many wounded animals seek water. If there is water on your property and you can't find a blood line, look toward your water sources.


Let' s recover the animals’ bowhunters, we owe it to them, we owe it to each other, and we owe it to ourselves. Good luck out there....

Here's a link to a deers anatomy in case you wish to review what we already know. http://home.mn.rr.com/deerfever/Anatomy.html