RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Very good point! I always make it a point to stay quiet and as motion free as possible. Not just in the tree but on the ground as well, particularly if I didn't see the animal fall.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Kyle....I'll "3rd" that...along with tx.

In 2006....I shot at a buck (took him in 2007) and clipped him right behind his right front leg. Being a total newbie and having never taken a deer before....I waited about 20 minutes and got down to check my arrow. Like most beginners and a lot of vets.....I would have bet the farm I smoked him. We followed a very sparse bood trail that night (shot him about 7:20 if I remember correctly)until 3:30AM. We grid searched for a lot of that time.....butwhere the blood trail ended was only about 50yds from directly behind my stand. He'd made a wide sweeping circle....and if I were a betting man....I'd bet he saw me get down and check thearrow.

While that story does have ahappy ending (14 mos. later)....it could have just as easily resulted in a non-recovery and a lost animal.

Keep your ass in your seat for a while......and plan your exit strategy.

Again Kyle.....that's solid advice.;)

EDIT** For the record....I also searched for that deer for two more days (taking a day off work to do so)......employing even my two labs for those two days. The scenario above....deer was clipped on 9/12.....and I saw the buck again the day after Thanksgiving. I killed that buck Nov. 6th, last season.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

I think this goes to prove once again how tough these animals really are and why this thread is so important for people to read!

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

This place helped me score my first archery deer years ago (2002)...a little 7 point. I came on here all distraught because I made a poor shot based on the angle of the deer, then coupled that with taking up the trail after only 30 minutes. I searched for 2 hours before dark, then came back the next day and searched for almost 6 hours. Finally something in me remembered what some of the guys said on here....I was about ready to give up, exhasuted from walking up and down steep hills the past two days when I heard this....." a gut shot deer sometimes runs downhill and will bed next to water". I turned around back into the woods and walked a good half mile back in on the creek. I spun around and backtracked, finding that buck laid up under a tree that was hanging over in the creek!

This thread is fantastic.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Thanks vs, if this thread finds only one deer a year then it's worth it. I think everyone gives some incredible advice because when it happens, it can be tough and disheartening. I wish I would have had this knowledge and information available to me when I was coming up through the ranks of bowhunting. It may very well have changed the outlook of my walls.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

When the blood trail starts to peter out....break out the hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen Peroxide when sprayed on even old dried blood will cause a chemical reaction and bubble up. It has gotten me back on the trail several times. Its cheap and can be found at any drug store and even some convenience stores carry some. Just buy a cheap spray bottle at the dollar store and your good to go.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Well thanks butthe name's not Kyle,either way that and many other points on this thread are excellent. Could be made into a book.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

thanks for adding that, i never thought of that..that is some good advice right there.


everyones input on recovery is great.....i will add that this information put out is simply based on years of experience, therefore my 2cents of advice is to actually practice tracking. the worst thing you can do, IMO, is to go out hunting after all that practicing with your bow/gun, get the buck fever (like we all get), make a poor shoot, but have NEVER practiced tracking a trail.

i suggest getting with someone, friend, wife etc. make up a batch of water and any type of water thickener (flour is what i have used) and get some pasty gew and some runny stuff prepared. die it red, and get the color close to blood. go out in the woods and have a friend lay out a trailx amount of yards with a white flag, prize, or what ever you feel like at the end of it and practice to see if you can find it. We spend a lot of time "scouting" with our eyes in the woods and with our bino's to help us see those big bucks standing still behind shrubs at 200 yards, well you also need to train your eyes and practice tracking blood as well.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

That's right up there with the best tracking advice there is. I prefer to track my deer by myself or with a VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY etc.... experienced hunter and that's IT!!!!! Nobody else cares as much as you do about recovering your deer. Too many bodies is nothing but trouble. Last ditch grid search is the only time I'm rounding up the troops.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Found a couple more pics that are worth noting.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Number 1 rule at our camp after anybody shoots:

Do not get out of your stand until somebody (only 1 guy) comes over to assist. Depending on stand locations, this can take up to an hour by the time the guy gets down from his stand and walks over to the shooters stand. Using a radio, the shooter directs him to the point of impact as he looks for blood. Once he is certain to where the deer went and the blood is marked, the shooter can then get down to decide howto proceed. It is very true about the woods changing once you get down. Since we have all hunted together and hung out for about 30 years, we are all more that willing to help each other out. Also, once the deer is found, you have a buddy to celebrate with!

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

This is is a good way to do it - I like this idea.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Another one I was thinking about the other day...... This pertains to hunting with someone less experienced than you.

You can do your part (for the deers sake) if you hunt with someone else that shoots a deer. Most of the time your buddy will notify you (via cell phone) that they shot one. A lot of times their adrenaline is going a zillion miles per hour. You can reinforce the "right" thing to do at that moment. Don't let them run down the stand and start tracking the animal. Kind of slow them down and have them chill out. Have them wait untill you get there or walk out of the woods and meet someplace away from their stand so you can talk about it and put your heads together. It just seems like the natural reaction for a hunter who hasn't shot a lot of deer is to go gettheir deer afterthey shoot it as soon as possible. Force them to think it through with you. A LOT of deer are lost by new hunters simply because they take up the trail too early.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Hey all, I'm new to these forums but been finding some interesting info as I lurk around. I found this post to be very informational, and I just felt like I should share an experience I had last weekend bowhunting. I got my first oppertunity at a mature doe with my new bow I bought right before the start of the season. It was a 18yd broadside shot,the arrow placement was right behind the shoulder, but high up towards the backstrap. She was a little nerverous before the shot and I believe she might have done the typical drop before the arrow got there! Anyways I still felt pretty confident because I have recovered deer in the past with a simular shot,still caught lung on the angle! When I got down with my 2 other buddies, we could not find the arrow and not one drop of blood between where I shot her in the field and where she ran into the wood line(approx.35-40yds)where I could of swore I herd her crash and pyle up after the shot! I went back the next morning and searched high and low for blood and arrow both in the field and a good 60yds into the woods! I could not find nothing at all! My buddy seems to think I missed and shot over her back and my arrow is in the high grass section that she was standing on the edge of when I shot! I wish I did miss complety,but I wish I could have at least found the arrow so I would know for sure! Even if it was not a passthrough there should have been blood somewhere along the line,right?Well I guess I'll never really know the real answer,which stinks,but I guess thats part of bowhunting!

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

I’ve always disagreed with this statement. I think too many people are too quick to “say oh well that’s part of it”

Just a couple more questions about your deer? How long & over how much area do you look for her? Please tell me it was more than 60 yds into the woods.

It’s rare and odd, but sometimes even on a GREAT shot, there is little or no blood. I shot a doe a couple weeks ago, perfect double lung. She ran a huge circle and ended up covering 150 yds (half of which I was able to watch her) There was no blood at impact, or for the initial 15-20 yds that I looked. We picked up the trail at the 80-100 yd mark where there was still no blood, just leaves kicked up and broken twigs where she ran. It was this sign that we used to trail her, finally finding a few drops of blood before finding her 150 yds away from the impact point. You sometimes have to rely on more than just blood to track a deer.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

I tried to stay on the trail that I thought she took after entering the woods for about 60yds looking for blood (kicked up leaves and such)!After not being able to find blood I came to a point where she could have went anywhere,I only had a little bit further to go until I would run into the creek that runs along the backside of the property border,I figured if she was hit she would go for water,but no dice! I could not go further than the creek because I would be entering the neighboring property,which the owner made very clear not to traspass on early on in preseason!So at that point I was out of options!Thats when I started convincing myself that maybe I did miss and my arrow is just lost in the 4 foot high grass!So thats what I ment when I said I'll never know the real truth because I can't find the arrow,which we all know is bowhunting no matter if your arookie or seasoned hunter!Almost every person that has spent some time bowhunting has had some weird and off the wall events happen to them at some time during a hunt!Thats why i say it's part of bowhunting!!!I glad u were able to find your deer and congrats,you had a passthrough double lung shot and she ran all that way with no blood!Wow thats pretty far off textbook of what is supposed to happen,but thats why we enjoy the challange I guess. I know from past experiences how amazing these animals really are and seen first hand of what they can endure and survive through when needed!

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

I completely agree with you there. Its amazing how tough those arrows can be to find, even on occasions where I found the deer, I've lost arrows that came out along the trail and my best efforts never found them. (Back in the day with those old school camo aluminums & fall colored fletch)

To clarify about the "that's just part of it" phrase, I sometimes think that too many people use that excuse when the effort to find the deer becomes difficult, not saying that was the case here, but just what I seem to have picked up bypeople in general. If they don't find the deer withing 75 yds, "well that's just bowhunting".

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

One thing I'll note here is this. Being color blind, I have an extremely hard time seeing small amounts of blood on the ground. This fact has forced me to pay even more attention to the actual track/ sign a mortally hit deer will leave. Ruffled leaves, tracks in the dirt and other sign like hair or (heaven forbid) guts will lead you to your deer when the blood doesn't flow. This came in handy about 7 or 8 years back when I was on a muzzleloader hunt in north Missouri. The deer up there were heavily feeding on crops, corn and soybeans mostly, and had an absolute enormous amount of fat built up by early november. I shot a huge old doe at about 50 yards with a .45 caliber saboted slug. I knew I had a hit because it literally knocked on to herhaunches with the shot. To my dismay, she got to her feet and left with the herd of deer she was travelling with at the shot. I climbed down, fairly confident I'd find a ton of blood......nope. I called my buddy over and felt sure he could track her because he's found too many deer in the past to count. He couldn't find any either. After I assured him it was a hit, I started walking the way she left and reading the sign on the ground. About 100 yards from the shot, I spotted a couple of scuffed leaves and a dim down trodden path through theweeds where I suspected she had left the other deer. Sure enough about another 75 yards in to the weed patch we found her. The hit was double lung shot but high in the kill zone. I was amazed to find an absolutely HUGE puddle of blood under her where she lay, but we never found a single drop of blood along the trail. What I think happened was a combination of fat cloggingup the wound and her hair soaking most of what leaked out up. It was cold already and she had a thick winter coat. If I hadn't been sure of the hit and then trusted my ability to read regular deer sign, we'd have been hard pressed to find her.

Don't forget the "other" sign as well! Great thread!

GH

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

I also wanted to add that if you see your Deer go down from the Stand or know about where the deer expired, please dont just go that area ... FOLLOW THE BLOOD TRAIL, regardless! You can learn alot like, blood color vs which vitals where hit, how much blood and why, and just how and where to spot blood, ETC. Its rare, free training for the time you dont have the luxury of seeing or knowing where the Deer expired. The more experience Tracking the better you will be.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Great advice. Esp. for people who are beginning and don't know what to do after a shot.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

this is great info. this is my first year hunting and it is awesome. i wish i had read this first. my second day out hunting i encountered 6 deer in the morning in a open/corn field. the deer had a path beat to high heaven and i seen them using it heavily. at dawn i seen 4 smaller deer move threw and was unable to get a shot due too brush i was devastated being 25 yards and at full draw with a great shot except for the brush. as those deer ran off i looked to off in to the ajacent field and seen a monster buck coming the same way that they had come. so i moved 10 yards for the trail they where using and i waited for him to cross. 10 min. later he did he came to the top side of the ditch they where crossing and he knew something was there that was not to be there. as he came to this stop i was already at full draw. when i seen him stop[ i let the arrow fly. at first i was certain it was a good shot behind the shoulder but the arrow was sticking oput of the side i had shot him. he to wnet 250 yards and had awesome blood trials. so i waited the half hour that so many peopl had told me to do. this was a mistake. although the shot was a t the back of the shoulder i thought maybe he would die due to his excessive bleeding. but he laid some 30 yards off the side of the road in some pine trees and he got spooked by cars. i wish i would have waited. i know he is still alive because the following evening i nearly hit him with my truck due to corn coming off. i have a tag reserved and a better shot for him.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

I am going to have to concure with you on that one i made a horribly good shot on a whitetail this weekend it was not great but he was down with in a minute and only went 70 yards. I hit him in the femoral(sp) artary i had good blood the whole time. so there are other places to hit a deer and put them down fast, the lungs and heart are just the best place to aim.

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

You do know concure means agree?;)

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

I have a dilemma. I shot a nice buck yesterday at 3:30 p.m. He was at 22 yards, quartering away, head to right tail left, and I was on the ground too. The arrow is aluminum with fixed blades, from a 52-lb bow. My sight was on his midsection and I heard a thwack, then he ran away from me and about fifteen feet up the trail he lost the arrow on the left side of the trail. The arrow was completely covered in blood with bits of meat and tan hairs on it. It did not smell bad. We took up the trail at 5:30 p.m. The first blood was about 50 yards out on the trail where his hoofprints were still running. He was headed NW, but then my husband jumped ahead on the trail going NE and found blood about 100yards awaygoing into a bedroom area there. We picked up better blood there, both on the trail (darker blood), and on the grass (lighter blood). We resumed the trail at 8:00 p.m. We gave up last night after tracking him 2 hrsanother 50 yards due to the cold and lack of blood trail.
This morning we resumed and only found a few specks further up the trail, then lost it about 200yards from the original site. Is it possible that this trail is not from my deer? I felt really good about the shot and the arrow gave me hope, but this trail started out NW, and then we skipped ahead about 50 yards NE on a hunch. We have 152 acres of land in a rural agricultural area, with plenty of neighbors around that hunt also.
Pamela :(

RE: Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
 

Great post Rob! I would like to add a few tips.
1. when you are going to wait a specific time it's best to check a watch. Time moves very slow while you are waiting and it's easy to tell yourself "it must be 2 hours already" when in fact it's only been 45 min.
2. weather conditions may force you to take the track early. impending rain or snow can erase all sign. this is a judgement call and makes knowing your shot placement important. If I think I got lungs and weather is coming I will take the track early.If I believe it was gut then I would wait anyway. Pushing a gut shot deer will only result in not getting it.In the case of gut shot and weather it's best to wait and do a body search the next day.
3. wounded deer will sometimes backtrack then jump off to the side and continue in a different direction. If you come to what seems like the end of the blood trail, go back and check off to the sides. This happened to me once.
4. others mentioned this but I will repeat it. Don't bring an army of people to help track. This is the worst thing you could poss. do. If you want help, get 1 person who has experience to help you. STAY OFF THE TRACK. mark your last blood and slowly move forward AFTER you spot more blood. Fight the urge to move forward without blood. Look for other sign such as leaves turned up or branches broken to help stay on track.
5. track during the day if at all poss. you will see much more sign than at night.
6. often times there is very little blood from the shot sight to the point where the deer slows down.
7.never determine how good the hit was based on the amount of blood you find. A friend double lunged a doe. It was a total pass thru shot. We both saw the hit. When we got on the track (on snow) there was hardly any blood. we couldn't believe the lack of blood. she ran about 100 yds and died on the run. I could have recreated the blood trail with a shot glass full of blood! When the arrow passed thru it pulled a hunk of fat in the exit wound and plugged it.
8. read the body language of the deer by the way it moves. A buddy of mine called me to track one once. The blood trail was poor. The way the blood trail went thru thick brush and was weaving I told him the deer was dead and we would find her if we could just keep on the trail. He said we weren't going to find it. We found it dead less then 50 yds from that spot.
9.don't quit looking until eithor you are sure the deer survived or you believe the meat is no longer good. I gut shot a deer and it rained that night. I got 4 guys and we did a body search. we did a grid search thru the swamps for the better part of the day. They gave up and went home. I continued to search and found him laying about 20 yds from the road we drove in on. Which brings me to #10
10. NOT ALL DEER GO TO WATER WHEN WOUNDED. Yes a lot of them do but look elsewhere if you don't find them there.
11. If you kick him up, back out quietly and wait at least a few more hours before taking the track again.

Bumping this up for the 2009/2010 season. Lot's of good information here! Already starting to see threads about wounded deer on other forums.

Rob, can we get a sticky?

that was a nice artice and well thought out

Good deal getting this bumped up again. I started a new post about a wk. ago that kind of got ignored and then boom we started having tracking threads come in.

Great Job! Rob/Pa. Your initial post is one of the best and most comprehensive posts I've ever read on the internet. I checked the UBT link and found my info. was up to date. Vars and I are ready to go. I'm skipping guiding this year and will be hunting/tracking in Ga.

Dan

Great deal Dan.

There ya's go, you southern in need, check Dan out.

Thank you for making this a "sticky" again for this year.

I saw no mention of the type of light that works best for blood trailing...

I'll contribute this much. Don't bother with the L.E.D flashlights. Even the ones that claim to be SPECIFICALLY for tracking blood, in fact, suck! You are better off with a regular 'ole incandescent MAGLITE.

But the best light to use for blood tracking in the dark is a Coleman dual mantle propane lantern. I keep one in my truck all season just for this purpose. Makes fresh blood glow!

I'm on committee that gets called out to recover wounded deer in a controlled hunt.Over the years,I've been on too mnay blood trails to remember.Unfortuantely,most of the time when I get called,it's after a deer has been marginally hit and the hunter jumps down and almost immediately chases the deer off.Here's a few things I've learned over the years.A deer hit in the shoulder(not blade)is probably going to live to see another day.Unless the shot angle is severe enough,there isn't any vitals behind it.A shoulder blade hit is very similar.There is no void between the spine and lungs.Chances are,you shot above the spine and the deer will recover.A sharp broadhead,regardless of size will drop a deer within sight in most cases in put through both lungs and there's no need to throw an axe through an animal.I want an exit wound everytime.I'm a firm believer that recovery should be close to 100% for gut shot deer.Gut shot deer die but it often takes 12 hours or more.Last year I helped recover 3 gut shot deer that were still alive the next morning.If you gut shoot a deer.Climb down and walk the opposite direction the deer went.Come back in about 12 hours and chances are,that deer won't be far from where you last saw it.The single biggest reason most deer are lost is because people chase them way to fast.If I don't see or hear a deer go down,I always wait several hours or until the next morning.

good advice

I think that one of the most important things that you can do is to make sure you stay calm, I've noticed it usually works to my advantage to bring someone in with me who isn't pumped full of adrenaline, I don't know why but it seems to make is 10,000 times harder to find blood if your pumped up with adrenaline, so I try to call someone to come help me, this also serves a double purpose in that by the time the help gets there more time has passed. I know I find blood a lot better for someone else when they call me than when I'm tracking it by myself, post shot.

Just my .02

Ryan.

Rob...this is a great post with a lot of awesome advice. I read it every year.

Thank you but what makes it great is everyone's input.

Thanks ALLOT Rob, I am a newbie to deer hunting as well as to this AWESOME web site! I have learned alot from all of u in just the few days Ive been out here. Ive hunted since I was a kid with my dad, small game. I have friends who bow hunt and I thought they were pretty good friends (one stood with me at my wedding) but I geuss they dont want to share their info or take the time to do so. So I am on my own, but with all of u helpfull bow hunters out here Im POSITIVE I will learn to be a great bow hunter! THANKS for the great info!

Thanks Rob-great post!

Where I hunt the woods are thick they run out of sight in a hurry.What I've learned to do is listen.When you can't hear him running anymore and the woods are quiet just keep listening,you may hear him fall over.
Numerous times I've heard deer crash after they were out of sight.It may only take 30 seconds or a few minutes.Once I shot a deer and he took of running.About 5 minutes later I heard a noice about 50 yards behind my stand.I thought it was another deer because the one I shot ran in the opposite direction.It turned out that he had circled around.

So let me get this stright. You have to wait, right?;)

Just kiddin.

Great post Rob, Thanks.

Spudrow from Mo

Very good info. i recently shot a nice wide 8 pointer with my bow at 25 yards and hit him a little high. i had to leave that night to go back home from my lease so i could only wait about 1 hour before looking. i started tracking him and found puddles of blood where he had been bedding up. the blood was very fresh and i knew i was pushing him so i had to back off. I stayed home from work the next day becuase the deer was most important to me. i tracked all day and never found him. 3 months later i got some trail camera pictures of the same deer eating at my feeder. he had a scar from the arrow and it is perfect left in right just inbetween the spine and his loungs. it just goes to show you that they will fight to live and if there is a possibilty that they an they probably will. great tips though and i am definantly going to wait longer before tracking my next one.