By: Michelle Harolds
You’ve been sitting in your blind all morning ― or all day ― just waiting for that perfect deer, and when it does you sometimes don’t make the perfect shot from being over-excited or nervous about making a good shot. So the deer runs off and you have to track it, but you are not sure where to start. Here is a list of tips to help you track your deer and recover it before any other animals get to it.
First, you want to make sure you wait for a good 20 to 30 minutes before getting down out of the blind. As you are sitting there waiting, visualize your shot. If the deer made a high jump and kick it was most likely hit in the vitals, but if the deer runs off and hunches up you made a stomach shot, or what hunters call a gutshot. If you hit the deer in the vitals, it won’t go far but if you made a gutshot, you are going to wait a lot longer. With gut shots, the deer will probably bed down and die in that spot given enough time. If you don’t give the deer enough time you will play this game of jumping the deer and tracking it farther into the woods and increasing your chances of that deer going off your property and on to someone else’s which will make it harder to get it. Just be patient and you will get your trophy.
The second tip ― once you have found the blood trail, the color of the blood will determine how good of a shot you made and where you could have hit the deer. If you are tracking at dark, having a red light will help you find the blood easier than a regular flashlight. Bright, pink, frothy blood with bubbles indicates you made a lung shot and the deer won’t go very far. A rich, vivid, red blood indicates you made a shot close to the heart or an area with multiple blood vessels. Dark, crimson color blood means you made a liver or kidney shot. Blood signs might be minimal so be patient when tracking. Blood with plant matter or food mixed in it with a yellowish-green tint means you made a stomach or gut shot.
Third, looking at how the blood dispersed will give you a picture of how good of a shot it was. If the blood is in the tracks of the deer, that means the deer is walking and if the blood is weaving on the trail, that means the deer is about to die and probably has bedded down. Blood from a running deer will spray and splatter and if there is major blood you probably hit a major artery or made a heart shot. Make sure you are looking at vegetation and trees, too, not just on the ground. If you are just looking at the ground you might miss something or miss seeing the deer laying ahead of you. You might not find blood right away but don’t give up ― remember which direction the deer ran off and follow the tracks and you will see blood.
Finally, don’t just walk up to the deer. You want to check to see if the eyes are open or closed. If the eyes are open, the deer is most likely dead but still use caution; if the eyes are closed that means the deer is still alive and might need to be shot again. Remember to always use caution when walking up on a deer as many hunters have had a deer jump up and take off running. Deer also can injure you.
Now that you have the tips to help you succeed in finding your wounded deer, make the best of your hunt and always make the best judgment call when tracking a deer or when would be the best time to start tracking. Good luck hunting and as always be safe and know your target and what’s behind it.