6th Annual, Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Well, the seasons are approaching quickly and some have already begun. Every year for the past several seasons I start a post/topic on recovery and what to do after the shot. I feel, the biggest reason why many animals are not recovered is that bowhunters take up the trail too soon simply bumping the animal. The second reason, the animal is not mortality wounded.

When mortality wounded, 90% if not higher, deer will bed within 250 yards of the shot. If an animal dies beyond this, some outside factor pushed the animal. Think about all the animals you' ve taken, found or lost. You probably found at least one bed within this distance and most of the time, it' s closer. What you do following the shot can make or break a successful recovery.

Now I' m not proclaiming myself the ultimate tracker/hunter but I can testify that we have not lost an animal in many many years and many of these recovered animals were because of waiting for the right moment rather than the shot 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...seen here at www.rivervalleygamecalls.com under Team River Valley. As soon as I saw the arrow sticking out of his guts, 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, I all but know I wouldn' t of found him do to all the corn fields around the woods he bedded in. What did I do right. Well,

I glassed the animal immediately following the shot to verify the hit. One important note I always make is bino' s are invaluable for archers not only to glass an animal post shot, but to watch for his movement once he moves off. Next, I knew enough to let this animal bed for many hours.

Now, I' m going to list many tips that I feel are invaluable for bowhunters to know what to do after the shot. In the past, most members contributed, tweeked and added tips that are also priceless. Hopefully one of the tips here or posted herein will aid our members to recovery.

Use bright fletch...you need to see the arrow in flight, in the animal and on the ground after ward. Dark arrows don' t do you any good if you can' t see them.

Take bino' s, use them post shot....they may be the most important tool you have after the shot.



Too many times in the past, we always get posts..." I hit him, now what?"

Unless you witness a double lung pass through, I firmly believe to let an animal go for a couple hours rather than the common misconseption of 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 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, 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.

If you think it' s a single lung hit because of angle, wait at least 4 hours. This includes the, just under the spine...because of the angle, you might catch the second lung but miss the first....wait.....let him expire. Let' s put to rest that there is a void area between the spine and over the lungs. That is a myth. If you place an arrow under the spine, you will catch at least one lung. The lungs push up against the spine. Check out a deers anatomy prior to going afield.

If you think you caught the liver.....wait...he has to bleed out. Wait at least 2 hours, if not 4....again, he' s dead and not going anywhere if given the chance to expire. Jump him and he may go forever.

If you catch the guts only, your in for at least a 6 hour minimum, 8 hours is more prefered and overnight is even more important. In case of rain, wait....get down, find the blood trail and wait....listen for coyotes or better yet, leave the area and come back in the morning. If you know your propery, you' ll find him close.

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.

Lung, liver, guts....wait...again the animal is going to die, wait him out, your blood trail should be adequate a couple hours later.

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

Practice, patience and make the shot count. Now, it' s Matt' s turn for the quality photo post.[:-][:-][:-]

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RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

I go pick up my arrow and start dragging. It' s lots easier and quicker. Seriously, I usually get down very quietly in a few minutes and go check the location of the shot. Depending on what I find I' ll do one of two things, go get my deer or start slowly checking a few more yards. Then I go get my deer.:D If I have a lot of blood and it keeps flowing,..... I keep going.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Good post Rob - I' ll add one bit of advice - and one " wrinkle"

*** ALWAYS mark in your mind the EXACT place you last saw the deer. Before you ever go out and hunt - get it in your mind that maybe the most important thing you do after the shot - is to know the EXACT spot your deer was the last time you saw it after the shot. I usually pick a tree - and BURN it into my memory.*****

As far as a wrinkle - You must use your best judgement with Coyotes. If you hear them howling after the shot - and you know its a marginal shot - you might want to try to sneak in. I actually lost a 1 lung hit buck - after I let it lay for 4 hours - not because I bumped it - but because - almost immediately after the shot (8:00am) coyotes were on the trail - I spent days covering miles - and never found that deer that I know was a one lung (high angle shot). I suppose the deer could have made it - but I' ve taken over 30 deer - and I' m quite sure it was a killing shot - just not the best possible ( too low, high angle, close range).

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Calling your shot is even more important to an archer than a gun hunter. There are times to sit and wait and then there are times to get after the animal. Trailing Wounded Deer by John Trout Jr. is an excellent study on calling your shot, the animals reaction to the shot and when to track and when to wait on wounded deer.

In my honest opinion, this book should be in every archer' s library.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Thanks for that post, I never knew a single lung hit on a deer could take 4 hours to do its job. I always thought a single lung would expire an animal in less than an hour.

A friend of mine made a steep angle shot on a nice buck. He was so sure of the shot that he called his dad to turn on the freezer, then went back to follow the blood, he waited about an hour and a half. He followed the trail about 75 yards then the blood turned around and came back past his stand (the deer must have came back after my friend left) he followed the blood about thirty more yards then the blood just stopped. Well for the next three days there were five guys walking that woods looking for that deer but no luck. My friend has killed some big deer and knows were the lungs are and was so sure this deer was dead on it' s feet as soon as the arrow hit, but must have been a one lunger. I wonder if that deer would have been on the wall if given another couple hours?

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

I' ll second that.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

There are some top experts who believe that a single lunged deer can actually survive. It is believed that deer have a membrane between the lungs which will not let the other lung collapse. Similar to humans and other animals. Dogs, however do not have the membrane and the second lung would collapse if the first is punctured. Again, I would suggest reading the above book, which goes into it in detail.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Nice post Rob! I usually wait a 1/2 hour before even checking for the blood or looking for an arrow on a passthrough. Then according to where I am sure[:o] I hit the deer, the amount of blood immediately where he was standing, and the reaction of the deer...... I decide from that point on.

I will disagree slightly with you on one thing......more than 1/2 of the deer I have taken have been walking slowly, usually very slowly. I think deer are less alert when they are slowly moving and thus in a more natural state. But I will state I will not take a shot at even a very slow moving animal if the shot is not right.....that being open, a reasonable close distance and a shot that I have great confidence in.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Great post Rob! I agree. The 4 letter word will help you the most W-A-I-T!!! (And when in doubt W-A-I-T longer!)

What I do is try and take a mental picture of where my shot hit exactly(if I can). This doesn' t always work though...as your eyes can play tricks on you easily it seems. (We hear this all the time...." it was a perfect shot, right through the lungs...but I can' t find him" ). I usually wait 1/2 hour before getting down to check my arrow. Then based on what I see on the arrow or the ground I go from there. I think nothing can be said that replaces experience...when it comes to tracking bowshot deer. Also, what Farm Hunter said is very important. You have to visually mark the last spot you saw the deer. Coupled with the sign you have on the ground, this can go a long way in helping you make a recovery.

Of course it' s always nice when they only run about 30 yds and pile up :)...but anyone that' s hunted them long enough knows they are unpredictible. I' ve seen double lung hits go 150yds and gut shot deer go 50yds.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

when in doubt wait,If the shot is even 1 percent questionable dont shoot. Shoot only equal to your abilities. In the past 11 deer I shot I seen all of them drop within view and I still wait an hour. I also dont shoot to late in the day with limited light left. Best to be safe, ethical then sorry and feel bad the rest of the year

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Don' t always trust your eyes, they can play tricks on you.
Don' t try and out think things, follow the sign that is in front of you. Deer will do some quite irrational things at times like that and there are NO hard, fast rules that work 100% of the time.
Trail as quietly as you can, sometimes you can sneak on a deer in its bed and get another arrow in it, or at the least, be able to back out without pushing it. (this is not a substitute for waiting!)
Don' t force your shots and you won' t need to follow a wild goose chase blood trail
When in doubt WAIT!!!!!!!!!(cannot be mentioned too many times)

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

When in Doubt , BACK OUT! If any of you have seen Primetime Bucks 6 you will see that saying used when stan potts hits that giant. Well i usually shoot , wait 5-10 minuts get my stuff situated to climb down. Then i go look at the place where the shot hit the deer. If there is a ton of blood , and the arrow is covered , i will knock another arrow , and slowly get on the trail. But if i ahve any doubt ill mark the hit spot , and leave for an hour or two , go eat , get flashlighs and help , and return to claim my animal.

This year me and my dad were lucky enough to get our buck on the same night. I shot my 6 point , watched blood jsut pour outta both sides, heard the crash, got down got my dad and found my deer 15 minutes later. After that my dad was still hunting around and had a basket 9 walk up on him. But when he shot the buck wheeled and he hit it far back , in the butt cheek. We found where it crossed the tractor trail , marked it and went took my deer home . About 2 hours later we went back wiht lights and many man power. We foudn good blood , and the arrow. After tracking for a while we saw eyes in the field we came too , he was bedded down. so we slipped out , adn foudn him the next morning jsut over the hill form his final bedding spot. So Time is of the essence. If the shot is good wait a shorter amount of time , but as cardeer said if its questionable , back out.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Also, for times when the blood trail is spotty, toilet paper is an excellent marker of blood.. It will also decompose after the first rain. Definitly good for the environment. And for tracking in the dark, a Coleman Lantern will make blood glow.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

All great stuff guys...keep them coming....let' s have one hell of a successful year.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

I think FARMER HUNTER hit the main reason people loose deer... that and not sticking with it. Blood can flow, stop, flow, spot, stop all within a hundred yards. The single biggest problem I' ve found when helping others find a deer is they have NO CLUE where he stood when the shot or where he went. You ask where he was standing and they say " Over there" and they wave their hand in a 60 degree arc. When you ask where he last was seen the arc becomes a 90 degree wave. You got to pick out way points as he runs and pin point exactly within a foot or two the last spot you saw him. Mark it well, mark it again a couple times and try to keep your eye on it as you climb down. It all changes at ground level. Some people can' t track worth a flip. They' d be better off getting help and stick to the guys heels and learn. Often the smallest spot of blood is the one that leads to the deer. I don' t wait nearly as long as a lot of people, AND over the years it' s cost me a couple deer... but I never lost one to a coyote or other hunter. I go slow and silent. I kneel and peek, sneek and peek, glass with the binos so I don' t get surprised to often. I' ve trailed a deer and then watched him die with the binos. Just don' t quit. I carry all kinds of lights. I never left one over night but I' ve also got out of the woods awfully late with a deer. Trailing at night can be tough. You really got to go slow. If you don' t see the next spot of blood.... STOP where you are until you find some or figure it out. All you need is ONE guy tracking at a time. Others can help from behind but don' t let them get impatient while you' re held up and start griding or circles or something like that. When you get to that point.... you' re close to loosing the deer. You need MORE patiences, not more ground under foot.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Where we hunt in Eastern Washington the days get pretty warm and waiting and tracking must always include this factor. If I have a bad hit, I will wait as appropriate but if I have that shot that we all pray for 30 minutes has always been more than enough time.

Personally I believe that a thorough knowledge of the animal' s anatomy is a vital knowledge to have. As for an animal' s reaction to a shot most hits in the heart, lungs, liver, paunch, artery, etc will have a normal if not specific reaction to the shot; sometimes they do not but usually do; additionally a hard hit animal will always brake away from any other animals nearby. The next clue is blood type, color, and profuseness, and distance to first blood; blood drops will tell whether the animal is standing/bedded, walking or running and in which direction. On the Whitetail, hair at the site of the shot or on the arrow will also give you a pretty good idea where the hit was. However, for the mulie hunters like me hair type is not defined and cannot be used in the overall analysis.

I have laminated two cards to help my grandson learn and they are so important that I carry in my backpack now. They are taken from 40 years of experience and the books that I study [bowhunting is my only remaining vice and passion] that contain information. These cards contain blood type and hit analysis and when to track. Also How to age droppings and also some helpful tidbits of information. The information on them has NEVER failed me.

The cards are in Adobe PDF Format and I would be willing to share them with anyone interested in looking at them. However, because I run two websites and an working on conditioning for elk camp that is only two weeks away I prefer that requests be e-mailed to me at [email protected].

I have been sending a lot of these cards out and that is great. Some however have not been able to get the formatted files due to security and other problems. So I have put the file on my homepage at

http://members.w-link.net/~dick_cress/bowhunters_page.htm

Just right click on Tracking Cards then choose to save target file as (the default name is " Scat Card" but you may name it anything you wish then browse to the folder you wish to save the file to. Or you may still e-mail me.

I hope someday to include the blood patterns on these cards too.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Before getting out of the tree I always look for the arrow with the Bino' s. Gives you something to do while waiting.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

good post Rob, I agree 100%. Patience is the key to success. Bobby ;)

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

The season must be close when Rob pulls out the old recovery post.:D.

Good luck this year guys and by all means be safe and wear a safty belt.

Brian

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

I' ll throw in a couple of things that have helped me over the years. I think the first few seconds after the shot could mean the difference between finding and losing a deer. I always make a mental note of how the deer was standing, and try to note trees or other landmarks that the animal goes by as it runs away.
I try to listen after he it gets out of sight and I take a compass bearing on the last place I heard the animal. I once found a buck this way. ;) Marking with toilet paper or flagging tape helps you stay on the trail and it might keep you from getting lost. A gps is also handy for this (bring plenty of batteries).:D

>>>---DAVIDP---SILERCITY,NC--->

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

[:o] OMG - 40 days and 40 nights till the start of the season. Where the heck did Summer go?

Crap I have to re-order new arrows, and shoot them before the start of the season. (too many broken nocks, a few retired due to being Successful) I am down to 2 broadheads for game, 1 broadhead for practice/tuning and 4 with field tips. I better get cracking. ouch that came up really fast.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

More great advice guys, keep it coming...we need to find all the animals this year...I just hope members are reading and letting these posts sink in....


One thing I thought of post, post..lol and nobody mentioned yet is.....

When all else fails and the blood quits or you feel you' ve jumped an animal.....look towards water. A hard hit animal, especially one that isn' t an immediate mortal one will seek water. That' s the case in many times on gut or liver shot animals...more so gut shot ones. They may seek a creek/stream bed, pond, river or whatever. Many times you' ll find your animal lying there or close by. That' s been the case on a couple gut shot deer we' ve found over the years.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

One thing that I forgot to mention. Last year as I tracked my deer [Liver and one lung hit] it never dawned on me that she would have gone uphill and I was focused on a side hill or downhill track. She went up a fairly steem hill and had bedded on top of a knob about 100 yards up this hill.

So while animals hit hard do not normally run uphill THEY WILL . . . so be alert and watch for them to change course and head uphill.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Rob, great post and great comments. I' ll only say two words, PATIENCE before you look and PERSERVERANCE after you start.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

According to John Trout Jr. who has spent years studying and researching these issues, rockytop is exactly right, most lost game animals are due to giving up too soon.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Keep the tips coming, more begginers will read this than you know :)

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

As stated by many remember the direction and spot you last saw the deer, burn it into your mind, after 1/2 hour check the arrow and after you determine whether to track then or later, slowly move to the last spot you saw the deer and MARK it.

If there is blood trail there, start there, remember a hit deer will run hard through some of the thickest stuff you can imagine, if it doesn' t bed soon after or if it did bed and then moves later (not jumped, but moved of it' s own accord) it will act like any other deer and follow the path of least resistance, look hard for the blood trail, if you can not find it mark the last blood and try and think like a wounded/dying deer, you want to find a safe place to lay down, you do not want to put forth a lot of effort, move in the direction that will lead to cover and is easily traveled, until you either pick up the blood trail again or find your deer. If you do not find either after 100 yards, back track to the last blood and go with the second logical path you as a wounded deer will follow.

None of the above is really any good if you push the deer, as others have said repeatedly, if the deer doesn' t crash in sight, patience is key!!!

BTW Rob excellent topic!

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

bowhunter' s tip of the day. [8D]

When tracking, don' t be aftraid to get on your hands and knees. You can see a lot more when you are closer

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

after the shot, always whisper! LMAO!!! Enjoy! give it time and then recover.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

No one has mentioned Hydrogen peroxide yet???
That' s the best and cheapest tracking tool I' ve found yet. When in doubt over a red/brown spot on a leaf, give it a squirt of peroxide. If it foams up- it' s blood (or some sort of animal fluid) if it doesn' t, it' s just a natural discoloration.
It will even foam days later.

Another thing I' d like to add-(not that I' m any sort of expert)- if it' s a marginal hit and you know it- don' t quit hunting after the shot. Chock another arrow and " hunt" (be still in your stand) for a while after the marginal hit. It was mentioned earlier in this thread and it' s happened to me. Once on the blood trail the buck made a large arc and wound up withing 35 yards of my stand, within plain view. I at the time had my feet propped up and was reading a book. If I had been " hunting" on the stand waiting while the clock out ,I might have spotted him spotting me and saved myself a 350 yard tracking job-(yes I got him!!)
Best I can figure he came back to see what made him hurt so bad.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Rob,
Being new to bowhunting, I really appreciate a ton of information with examples. Great post!

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RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

I have to admit in Va. we do have a reason not to get right on a deers trail besides the mandantory wait, we are allowed 2 deer a day, so if you sit tight you might get 2 instead of one. I will be honest though and say that I would have a hard time releasing on a second one unless I saw/heard the first one crash, or it was the buck of a life time.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Been holding back, but I can' t help myself. I have to disagree. I can understand if you think that you caught something else (another organ) besides just the single lung. But on a pure single lung hit, do you think that the deer will actually expire after four hours,especially on a passthough? Cause he is not. Actually on this type of hit you would be better off if the arrow reamins in the deer because of the possibility of it also puncturing the other lung or another organ. A single lunged deer may not even bed down after the hit. I would suggest if you are sure that you only have one lung and you have a passthrough, it would be better to get on the deer within a few minutes and keep him bleeding. But in any case, you can expect to have a real time tracking a single lunged deer. And another problem with this hit is the identifiaction of only hitting one lung.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

My doe took a step as I was releasing last year and I wound up getting a one lunger and liver. One of my partners thought it was a ham hit and we started moving as soon as she got out of site. We picked up a large pool of [lung blood] blood wihthin about 30 yards. After tracking another 30 yards the lund blood petered out and changed to red blood. We tracked single drops of blood about every six feet or so. She bedded down [uphill from where I shot her] on a hill, 264 [by GPS] yards from the first pool of blood. But she was unable to move from her first bed and I was able to put her away quickly. On a liver hit I would have normally waited two to four hours to start tracking where on a muscle or bone hit I always press the animal slowly to keep it bleeding. In this case I am glad we started pressing withing a few [5 - 10] minutes

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

BobCO,

You have a point, however I am not wrong.....that is why the words, at least are part of the equation. I' d want members to wait longer. Actually, single lung hits are not that hard to identify. If your arrow goes high in the lungs, under the spine and you don' t see/hear your animal go down, chances are you didn' t get both lungs and there are no other vital organs above the lungs unless you happen to catch the artery. Waiting a couple hours won' t help you here, perhaps even 4 hours isn' t enough but getting down and pushing this animal isn' t the right answer either.....it' s a judgement call and suggestive.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Rob, didn' t mean to sound like I am saying you are wrong. I don' t believe I said that, and if I did, then sorry. Just meant I disagree. When I mentioned hitting something else besides a single lung, I meant hitting something more behind the lung, like a liver, especially at an angle where the deer is walking directly away from you from a stand.

Sure, this is a judgement call tracking shot, and it depends on what a hunter believes in. Personally, from the experts trackers that I have read up on, what I have experienced, and what I have heard from other experiences, I believe, that if I have a pass through single lung only shot, I would get on the deer right away, to keep the blood flowing. If enough blood is lost, you then at least have a chance in recovering the the deer (putting another shot into the deer will probably be required). Chances are that the deer will not bed down anytime soon, will not seek water, and will not feel sick (the natural reaction to a deer feeling sick is bedding down, as experienced by a stomach, intestine, or liver hit).

Many expereinced hunters believe that this is one of the toughest shot recoveries on a deer. It will be tougher to recover this hit then a stomach/intestine hit. Now none of us (I hope) would ever try to hit a deer in the stomach or intestines, so my only advice that I would give would be that if you are not sure that you can take out both lungs, do not shoot.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

I have lots of experience with single lung + one other organ hits(usually liver) if you give them time the other organ will catch up and you' ll have a dead deer to find fairly easy. I have one experience with a single lung only hit. It was on a doe that moved upon release and I hit the shoulder bone at a funny angle and got next to no penetration. I waited an hour and got down to investigate. Very shortly I found bubbly blood:) I took up the trail and followed it a good ways past another hunter who saw my deer limping, with its head down. He said it bedded down just out of sight. It was then I made the decision to stay on the deer. We jumped the deer and noticed it struggling to move, so I stayed right after her. She ran maybe another 75 yds from this point before collapsing. I agree that at certain times it is a call to be made right then, and something not really planned for. In my situation I believe I' d have found the deer either way.

RE: Recovery, What to do after the shot.
 

Bob, I understand what you are saying and I have pushed a deer to it' s end but it was an artery shot in the rump that my cousin made, we kept jumping the deer until it was exhausted......pushing a single lung hit could go either way....it' s a tough call and if you are experienced enough at it and know your property, by all means that may be what' s in order, however...they can travel great distances when pushed and if you don' t have those resources...the animal is gone. I guess it has to be up to the individual. If other organs are hit though, like Wimp mentioned above, waiting might be the key.

:)