Bowhunting & Blood Tracking

[purebowhunting]

I'm curious. If the average recovered deer for him was 456yds, what was the max?

Exactly my thoughts when I read this. 450 being the avg was very shocking. Im guessing the longest distances were bc of bumping the deer too many times.

I don't find this statistic that surprising. They're not calling a dog in on good shots, that takes pretty much all your 100 yard and under tracks away. Shots people think are good and are not they track early and push them, a square 40 acres is 400 yards one bump puts them there. Kind of surprised its not longer, guessing if they included the distance of track they take and don't recover, record the distance when the track was given up on this number would be much higher.

[<DK>]

I'm curious. If the average recovered deer for him was 456yds, what was the max?

Exactly my thoughts when I read this. 450 being the avg was very shocking. Im guessing the longest distances were bc of bumping the deer too many times.

I don't find this statistic that surprising. They're not calling a dog in on good shots, that takes pretty much all your 100 yard and under tracks away. Shots people think are good and are not they track early and push them, a square 40 acres is 400 yards one bump puts them there. Kind of surprised its not longer, guessing if they included the distance of track they take and don't recover, record the distance when the track was given up on this number would be much higher.

I agree w you to an extent but I believe that is the second stat I underlined - avg advancement was 250, avg recovery from shot is 450? Am I reading that right? Out of 100 deer w that high of average there was def some higher numbers in there. I am sure most of them were bumped like you said bc I see most deer go bed up quickly. 250 yards w a bad blood trail is a really tough go.

The main thing I take away from it is that bad shots can kill them more than we think they do. They are very tough animals, im guilt of telling people that to help get confidence back up and its very true. TC pics show they can survive, no doubt. Iv also been told that. However I think if you're hardcore bow hunter (younger one at that) its probably best thing you could have in your . It is very, very easy to give up on a track, especially at a younger age w in-exp. Its even easier for friends or helpers to give up bc they aren't as invested.

In my 9 years of chasing them, looking back now I wished I did have some backup waiting at home. Extra confidence. Just my .02 but iv had a ton of bad luck

[backstraps]

The distance stats could also be very swayed by the fact an excited hunter may have thought he put a better shot on the deer than actually happened. Hunter begins tracking and ends up pushing the deer unknowingly....???

By the time a tracker is called a hunter in most cases have given up hope of finding on their own. Many cases, a lot of damage has been done to the track. This will certainly increase the recovery distance.

I have a good friend locally that tracks. His dogs are professionally trained, and they get plenty of tracks every season. Some of the stories are mind blowing.

Someone mentioned above about trusting the dog!!! I know of many recoveries this past season where my friend said he could have saved a lot of time had he trusted his dogs nose rather than his belief of where the deer went

[simpzenith]

Shane here. Just wanted to give you guys some more info on the tracks. The number one reason why we had to track is because the hunter tracked too soon based on where the deer was hit. Obviously a lot of these shots weren't ideal but they were lethal and had many of them simply waited the appropriate amount of time to allow the deer to expire, they could have very well found the deer without a dog but they didn't and as a result, they bumped the deer farther.

As for the tracking distances, yes there were a few long tracks (more than a mile) but the bulk of the tracks were in the 400 to 600 yard range. There were many tracks around 100 yards or less that actually brought the total average distance down a little. Some of the deer we recovered could have been done without a dog but the hunters were playing if safe by getting a dog on the track before attempting a grid search, which will often ruin any chance of a dog successfully tracking a wounded deer due to scent disruption and contamination.

[Trout]

Shane here. Just wanted to give you guys some more info on the tracks. The number one reason why we had to track is because the hunter tracked too soon based on where the deer was hit. Obviously a lot of these shots weren't ideal but they were lethal and had many of them simply waited the appropriate amount of time to allow the deer to expire, they could have very well found the deer without a dog but they didn't and as a result, they bumped the deer farther.

As for the tracking distances, yes there were a few long tracks (more than a mile) but the bulk of the tracks were in the 400 to 600 yard range. There were many tracks around 100 yards or less that actually brought the total average distance down a little. Some of the deer we recovered could have been done without a dog but the hunters were playing if safe by getting a dog on the track before attempting a grid search, which will often ruin any chance of a dog successfully tracking a wounded deer due to scent disruption and contamination.

Thanks for sharing more info. Do you know if there is a facebook group or website that helps link hunters with trackers? I'm also curious what trackers will typically charge a hunter to help him find his derm. Is the cost the same whether or not the animal is found?

[simpzenith]

Thanks for sharing more info. Do you know if there is a facebook group or website that helps link hunters with trackers? I'm also curious what trackers will typically charge a hunter to help him find his derm. Is the cost the same whether or not the animal is found?

There are a lot of Facebook pages just as you described, and many are state specific. Where do you live and I'll see if I can locate the one for your area? Prices vary greatly and some charge a recovery fee while others don't.

[<DK>]

Shane here. Just wanted to give you guys some more info on the tracks. The number one reason why we had to track is because the hunter tracked too soon based on where the deer was hit. Obviously a lot of these shots weren't ideal but they were lethal and had many of them simply waited the appropriate amount of time to allow the deer to expire, they could have very well found the deer without a dog but they didn't and as a result, they bumped the deer farther.

As for the tracking distances, yes there were a few long tracks (more than a mile) but the bulk of the tracks were in the 400 to 600 yard range. There were many tracks around 100 yards or less that actually brought the total average distance down a little. Some of the deer we recovered could have been done without a dog but the hunters were playing if safe by getting a dog on the track before attempting a grid search, which will often ruin any chance of a dog successfully tracking a wounded deer due to scent disruption and contamination.

Great info! Thanks for your time on this. Excellent work, I look forward to future stats.

I am curious if you recorded the shot placements as well?

[Twenty Up]

Shane here. Just wanted to give you guys some more info on the tracks. The number one reason why we had to track is because the hunter tracked too soon based on where the deer was hit. Obviously a lot of these shots weren't ideal but they were lethal and had many of them simply waited the appropriate amount of time to allow the deer to expire, they could have very well found the deer without a dog but they didn't and as a result, they bumped the deer farther.

As for the tracking distances, yes there were a few long tracks (more than a mile) but the bulk of the tracks were in the 400 to 600 yard range. There were many tracks around 100 yards or less that actually brought the total average distance down a little. Some of the deer we recovered could have been done without a dog but the hunters were playing if safe by getting a dog on the track before attempting a grid search, which will often ruin any chance of a dog successfully tracking a wounded deer due to scent disruption and contamination.

Shane,

I really appreciate your videos and time putting together this data to help educate us all.

In your opinion for a poor shot, let’s say a fixed blade broadhead through the guts or intestines from an elevated position, with a pass through.. Do you think it would be more effective to wait for the animal to expire or to send dogs to bay them up?

Down here it’s legal to utilize tracking dogs without leashes for wounded game. If a guy had the real estate to run an animal down, would pushing them to prevent blood clotting be an effective method in your opinion?

[megavites]

One blood trail that kinda baffled me was my 1st buck. That day I had two does right before last light and I had a pass thru on second doe, but didn’t know it until I got down. 5min later after a few grunt calls, buck comes in and I put a bad shot into his femoral artery. 30yds from shot before hopping fence he left this blood which looks to me like lung blood w bubbles.
Followed his massive blood trail 300yds and finished him. Anyone ever see bubbles out of femoral artery?

20141023_193127.jpg

[Rich M]

Shane here. Just wanted to give you guys some more info on the tracks. The number one reason why we had to track is because the hunter tracked too soon based on where the deer was hit. Obviously a lot of these shots weren't ideal but they were lethal and had many of them simply waited the appropriate amount of time to allow the deer to expire, they could have very well found the deer without a dog but they didn't and as a result, they bumped the deer farther.

As for the tracking distances, yes there were a few long tracks (more than a mile) but the bulk of the tracks were in the 400 to 600 yard range. There were many tracks around 100 yards or less that actually brought the total average distance down a little. Some of the deer we recovered could have been done without a dog but the hunters were playing if safe by getting a dog on the track before attempting a grid search, which will often ruin any chance of a dog successfully tracking a wounded deer due to scent disruption and contamination.

Thanks, Shane. That was my question. Moving in too soon - weather, impatience, etc.

[<DK>]

Well its that time of year again, I am seeing lots of posts lately w some nice bucks. I was looking for Shan's reply and decided to give this a bump.

I found his YouTube Channel as well. Hes got 2018 and 2019 track jobs uploaded. Great watches!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUYeveXwl8c&list=PLq8gyQaVKjKmNqH0uJYvxsQ1QtK8XEBpL

[<DK>]

I also saw this posted today online. We had a good rain storm come through last night. Nothing crazy but had some good winds and steady rain. Even thought hey had alot of help, im impressed by this recovery.

[<DK>]

Callie Chronicles FB page - https://www.facebook.com/TheCallieChronicles/

[tim]

One blood trail that kinda baffled me was my 1st buck. That day I had two does right before last light and I had a pass thru on second doe, but didn’t know it until I got down. 5min later after a few grunt calls, buck comes in and I put a bad shot into his femoral artery. 30yds from shot before hopping fence he left this blood which looks to me like lung blood w bubbles.
Followed his massive blood trail 300yds and finished him. Anyone ever see bubbles out of femoral artery?
20141023_193127.jpg

Where on the deer was your hit, I have had this blood before on a low passthrough right behind front leg but killed the deer . Bloo didn’t start for about 75 yards then opened up to carpet of bright red blood then one big pile of this blood that was frothy then more of the same bright red blood to the deer. Deer was bumped once but died 30 yards later

[megavites]

Where on the deer was your hit, I have had this blood before on a low passthrough right behind front leg but killed the deer . Bloo didn’t start for about 75 yards then opened up to carpet of bright red blood then one big pile of this blood that was frothy then more of the same bright red blood to the deer. Deer was bumped once but died 30 yards later

Hit was rear ham femoral artery. He stopped at a fence and left that frothy blood then bled all over low standing crops to a backyard 300yds away. Too weak to move.