Thanks for taken the time to type out these fine tips. Im probally guilty of getting a little 2 anxious at times[8D]

GREAT TOPIC! This thread is filled with great tips & ideas to help us all. We usually stay in our stand and wait for a buddy to come and help. We communicate with radios so I can tell him which way to approach. Once he arrives, I' ll tell him where the arrow is and which direction the deer traveled. This has been a great help for us. Nobody gets out of their stand until he can explain in detail what has happened.

great post!! More of our fellow hunters should take this advice. The bowhunter had gotten a bad reputation beacause of hunters that don' t recover game. If these hunters would wait with a bad shot this could be avoided! I hope that many bowhunters read this advice and take it to heart!

I have seen it mentioned only once, by DaveC, in this thread and it definately is worth repeating.... Hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide will bubble/foam up when it comes in contact with blood. It' s perfect for those leaves that have red spots, or other confusing nature elements. Squirt it with uber cheap Hydrogen peroxide to see if it is blood or just mother natures coloration.

A cheap squirt bottle at Wal-Mart is like $1 if that, and a whole bottle of Hydrogen peroxide is about the same. Don' t forget to mark the bottle with a sharpie pen.

IMHO, this and toilet paper (for marking found blood and it will decompose) are two things you should have on hand! Better to have and not need then to need and not have

Also, does anyone else stick the arrow right back in the hole you pull it out of? (assuming pass through shot) After I inspect the hair and blood on my arrow I will often stick it right back in the same hole and put a piece of TP on it so i can easily look back at where it was.

Great subject!

Great post Rob, I think the word we are all looking for is WAIT!!!!

Just to chime in. I check my compass after the hit, as to where the deer was standing and in which direction it ran. Things look alot different from the ground than they do from a tree stand. Especially if your decending a tree thats trunk is in the shape of a cork screw. By the time you reach the ground you probably won' t know where the deer was standing or in which direction it ran. Especially if it was cloudy or foggy. Or in which direction you were facing for that matter. Everyone should carry some sort of way to tell where they are or where they' ve been. Be it a compass or GPS. Hope this helps.

If you lose the blood, take a minute to recollect your surroundings. If the small circle method isn' t working, head for water and/or the thickest cover around.
Good shooting to all

I read John Trout' s book last night " Trailing Deer" . I could not put the book down..........awesome. I think every bowhunter should read it. I was really surprised how he has also really made some bad shots and has last several deer. The book has several excellent Illustrations on the deer anatomy and Deer reactions after the hit. This is one book you can read several times!

I am new to the forum, and have read this whole post. It is excellent. Just a few notes though. I really feel there is such a thing as a " non-lethal" shot placement below the backbone and above the vitals. We have harvested deer during rifle hunting with wounds that we know we wounded during archery season. I have 4 brothers and a dad who are avid hunters, plus an Uncle and numerous friends who hunt alot. We have seen this a couple of times.

ASnother point, any gut shot is a kill shot, you just need to wait along time and be a good tracker.

Another good kill shot (though highly unadvised) is in the hind quarters. We have successfully harvested 4 deer this way and never had to track them far. This was years ago before we thought about ethics and sportsmanship. But it is a fact.

Hi all, I' m new here, great site, tons of info. I don' t know if this has been mentioned yet , but when tracking at night the best trick I have learned is keep your flashlight off and grab your trusty coleman lantern, the blood trail will almost glow at night. A friend of mine showed me this trick a few years ago, and it works.