I have an old labrador retreiver that for some reason will trailwounded deer. The strange thing is, he knows which one is wounded and which one is not.Do not ask me how he knows. Trouble now is, he's so old he can hardly walk anymoreso I think its up to me from now on. He's been able to locate some real monster deer for people over the years,and he found a doe for me that I could not anchor.

This is a trick my Dad taught me when I was a very little kid. He taught me to cut a step or stride stick. Wisconsin is blessed enough that normally the ground is not barren or so dry that its like cement. And what you do is find the track of the wounded deer. Note the direction it heads and follow to the last point of where you saw it. Pay special attention to the tracks it is making.

Where you see a rear leg or front leg, that deer will almost 100% of the time make the same stride, depending on whether it is running, walking, etc.. So after it is out of site, a lot of deer wounded will slow down and start walking. Find a track in the dirt and set your step/stride stick on that track. Now find the same leg, next track and mark the stick to where that stride is. If you set that stick in the track you currently have and swing a short circle, you will normally find his next track. So if there is no blood you can look for tracks.

Tracks might be an impression in mud, stones moved out of their resting place, grass bent, sticks broken, but keep that up when you do not have a direction of travel. It will help you track that deer. If you have time, try it on yourself. Walk through the woods or field and then circle yourself to where you start. Take a stick and mark your stride. You will soon start to pick out details of your direction and travel. It is not a fast way to track a deer but with some practice it can help you find a deer that you might other wise miss.

I tracked a deer for my friend once that had ran off on him and there was not a drop of blood. In fact if it was not for hair where he hit it, I would have said he missed. But I followed that deer and under 100 yards later found it under a dead fall. He had walked past it twice. Working the trail/tracks, the stick actually pointed to the white rear end under that brush pile.