What to do when you hit a deer

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gjs4
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What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby gjs4 » Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:45 pm

Lots of losses in my circle of friends and posted on here (lately).

Here are a couple of things everyone should note when they hit a deer.

What was the location of the deer?
How do you think you hit the animal?

What was the animals reaction to the hit??? Tail tucked, hunched, jump, mule kick, fall, snort, dart........

Unbiased- What does the arrow show you in terms of the hit?
Specifically what is the color of the blood and related informationb? Santa Claus red, Brick red, Bubbles, both sides, one side, are the animals tracks indicating a shift of weight or broken leg, high blood on surroundings, drops/spray/splatter, is there a quanitity indicating a fatal wound or not (be honest here), tallow on the arrow, gut smell

Did you wait long enough to track? Are you marking a marginal or poor blood trail as you go (toilet paper, biodegradble ribbon)?

Are you better off contacting blootrackers or deersearch to have a dog search for the animal?

If the animal carried the arrow, Why?

Were your broadheads razor sharp? Tuned, practiced with and verified?

A couple of great resources in my opinion
John Trouts book on finding wounded deer
a hair chart (as the banding in the tips of deer hair are fairly consistent)- deersearch (our local blood tracking organization sells them; made with actualy deer hair..just compare the tips and it will tell you where on the animal it was from)

It seems there are so many perfect hits that result in unfound animals...which is like saying "1 + 1 = 3" . Like plotting agianst a mature buck, keep your observations honest and factual...not opinionated or wishful thinking...if you tell your buddies you pinwheeled a slammer but you find a couple of bloody beds...it may be time to call the honesty fairy

Two lungs, one lung and a busted diphragm (angled shot), heart, kidney, liver and gut shots will kill the animal...some in minutes, the liver and gut in 4-12 hours. If you dont know- dont go.....only chase a muscle or limb wounded animal IMO

If all else fails, grid search, check near and IN water...and start by heading into the drection of the wind from last blood


Happy Hunting and wear a harness


Green and growing... Or red and rotting
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby Brad » Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:50 pm

Great post :clap:

I can usually tell where I hit the animal and what they did but I always struggle trying to watch where they go, I see where they go but I always forget to landmark the animal and always have to guess. I need to work on this.
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Zap
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby Zap » Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:54 pm

If I think that I am going to hit a deer I mash on the gas pedal..... :lol:
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby JJWI » Thu Oct 25, 2012 11:23 pm

Zap wrote:If I think that I am going to hit a deer I mash on the gas pedal..... :lol:


I just did that about a half an hour ago coming into work :shock: Hit it with my work beater car, but it wasn't the gas pedal I was mashing! :lol: Hitting deer in these little compact cars isn't for the faint of heart! lol Dodge Neon 1, deer 0, hopefully there isn't a round 2!
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby backstraps » Thu Oct 25, 2012 11:30 pm

Very good post. When I first read your heading I wanted to reply "call the insurance co" :-)
But in all seriousness very good post.

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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby Zap » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:03 am

JJWI wrote:
Zap wrote:If I think that I am going to hit a deer I mash on the gas pedal..... :lol:


I just did that about a half an hour ago coming into work :shock: Hit it with my work beater car, but it wasn't the gas pedal I was mashing! :lol: Hitting deer in these little compact cars isn't for the faint of heart! lol Dodge Neon 1, deer 0, hopefully there isn't a round 2!



:shock:

Hope its all a-ok!
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby huntingaddict1 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:50 am

gjs4 wrote:

...and start by heading into the drection of the wind from last blood


Happy Hunting and wear a harness


I see this a lot, but have never used it. What exactly do you mean about heading into the direction of the wind? Is that to find more blood or to smell a dead deer? Curious about this one...
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby dan » Fri Oct 26, 2012 4:34 am

huntingaddict1 wrote:
gjs4 wrote:

...and start by heading into the drection of the wind from last blood


Happy Hunting and wear a harness


I see this a lot, but have never used it. What exactly do you mean about heading into the direction of the wind? Is that to find more blood or to smell a dead deer? Curious about this one...

I disagree with this... Most deer I have tracked that are wounded head down wind so they can smell the tracker, especially if they know they are being tracked.
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby Southern Man » Fri Oct 26, 2012 4:36 am

dan wrote:
huntingaddict1 wrote:
gjs4 wrote:

...and start by heading into the drection of the wind from last blood


Happy Hunting and wear a harness


I see this a lot, but have never used it. What exactly do you mean about heading into the direction of the wind? Is that to find more blood or to smell a dead deer? Curious about this one...

I disagree with this... Most deer I have tracked that are wounded head down wind so they can smell the tracker, especially if they know they are being tracked.


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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby JoeRE » Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:11 am

Good information! I have definitely made a few marginal hits and have gotten the chance to trail a lot of wounded deer hit by other people. I take some pride in being good at trailing deer but its something I wish I didn't get asked to do quite as often :?

When the blood trail starts to zig-zag on a marginally hit deer look sharp ahead and slow down, you will probably soon find a bed...hopefully with the deer in it.

When the blood runs out hope is not lost, you just have to think. Marginally hit deer will always try to go where they feel safest. A mature buck generally will head for his core area. I have trailed bucks a mile+ in a straight line and wonder where they are going only to end up in their core areas.

You can tell a lot about how the deer feels by how it travels. If it cuts around hills instead of going up them it is really hurting. If a piece of the arrow is still inside it, the deer is less likely to bed down, it may just stop repeatedly and stand there. I think bedding may hurt too much.

I have often heard wounded deer go toward water and I am sure a lot do but more often what I have seen is badly wounded deer just generally go downhill, and water just happens to be downhill...they don't necessarily go TO the water although some do so it is worth checking.
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby headgear » Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:29 am

dan wrote: I disagree with this... Most deer I have tracked that are wounded head down wind so they can smell the tracker, especially if they know they are being tracked.


I kind of see both happening. The wounded deer I have tracked or helped track seem to head into the wind right away and stay that way for a little while. Sometimes just a few hundred yards, other times a half mile or more. Eventually they all seem to loop back with the wind at their backs to smell behind them. I suppose it all depends on how far they get but I think they do both for a reason.
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby virginiashadow » Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:55 am

Observing where my arrow hits, how the animal reacted, and where is the last place I observed the deer are the most important parts to my initial "tracking"phase.

After putting all those pieces of the puzzle together I make a plan that is paramount to finding the deer. How long do I wait before tracking? Jumping a deer too soon can be the sole reason for losing that deer. I take this part of the whole process very seriously before I make any move, which includes wether to even get down from my stand for an extended period of time. I would rather be wrong and sit in the freezing cold 20 feet high for several hours before tracking than lose a deer.

Once I hit the ground I assess the combined facts such as what the arrow looks/smells like in addition to the blood trail. If I have any doubt I back out and reassess once again.
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby tim » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:23 am

the buck i just hit on sunday dropped down the bluff heading south then angled west at the bottom into the valley , did some weird zigzag stuff then got on a main deer run then headed north up the valley where i lost blood. (the wind was at his back) in the valley. he was not walking into the wind.
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby dan » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:38 am

I have often heard wounded deer go toward water and I am sure a lot do but more often what I have seen is badly wounded deer just generally go downhill, and water just happens to be downhill...they don't necessarily go TO the water although some do so it is worth checking.

I find a high percentage of liver hit deer I track in water...
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Re: What to do when you hit a deer

Unread postby str8shooter » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:28 pm

Some good points made...but I also disagree with the "go into the wind" comment. I would say go downhill before anything else when you totally lose blood and start gridding. I've been on way too many of my friends blood trails that they said they made a perfect shot,...don't get over anxious to start the recovery would be my #1 suggestion. If you didn't see them fall and you watched the deer run more than 80 yards then chances are you didn't get both lungs and have nothing to lose by giving them more time.
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