Finding Wounded Deer
 

Fellow deer hunters, I am just about to finish reading the book "Finding Wounded Deer" by John Trout.

If you are not familiar with it, consider grabbing yourself a copy.
At less than $15, it's a great resource for those who persue deer with bow or gun. This book has been praised on these forums many times in the past, and now I can add my personal recommendation toit's list of advocates.

The author is very frank about the fact that not every shota huntermakes on a deercan beperfect, and that we will probably all have to face a tough tracking job if we spend enough time hunting. Instead of pretending every shot is automatically a double lung pass-through, he simply accepts the realities of hunting, and focuses on what to do when we hit somewhere other than where we intended.

He bases his advice and observations on personal experience and meticulous record keeping from the more than 450 tracking endeavors in which he has participated. He includes everything from a deer's initial reaction to being hit in different areas, to how far they may travel before bedding, how different wounds produce different bloodtrails, hair evidence, tracking, and most importantly how long to wait before taking up the trail.

I found it confirmed many things I've already heard here, but it also gave me new insights andadditional confidence that when that tough day comes, I'll be ready to do the best I can to recover any deer I hit.

RE: Finding Wounded Whitetails
 

Sounds good. Thanks for the review.

RE: Finding Wounded Whitetails
 

(Bump to top.)

I think it's also a great refresher for experienced hunters.
Why not benefit from someone else's extensive experience, even if it does no more for you than to confirm everything you already knew or suspected?

RE: Finding Wounded Whitetails
 

if i had read this book when i first started, it would have saved ALOT of grief.........

i read it several years ago and could not recommend it more. GREAT info.

should be mandatory for all hunters!

RE: Finding Wounded Whitetails
 

Thanks for the endorsement, bulzeye... I regret to reveal that I have not yet ordered this myself yet, but I definitely need to.

There's also a great link at the top of the Bowhunting forum that's a must-read for those wanting to learn more about tracking wounded whitetails, and that book has been mentioned there I'm pretty sure.

RE: Finding Wounded Whitetails
 

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RE: Finding Wounded Whitetails
 

Bulzeye,

May I make a suggestion to you and everyone that hunts big game animals.
Please get toknow of someone that has a track dog or, if possible, get one for yourself. I'm fortunate in two ways, I live where I can have dogs, and have had bird dogs, beagles, & Labs that would track a wounded deer or hog. Not all of them of course, but a lot over the years. Also here in Georgia you can get a list of people throughout the state that have track dogs. Some of these peoplecharge a fee, some don't.

I now have a 4 year old beagle that will track a deer. Just last weekend, a friend shot a deer with his muzzle loader and because of the smoke, distance, and the thick brush, plus no blood, he had no idea which way the deer went. There was so many deer tracks he couldn't tell which deer went where. I put my beagle down at the site and he took off, we found the deer within 30 minutes.

I might add, I have never done any training of my track dogs. If it's in the dog, he/she will naturally track.

dog1