After the Shot

After you are sure that you have made a good shot on the deer, look at the area where it was standing when you shot. Mark that area in your mind by choosing a tree or some other distinctive feature. If you made a good shot (heart, lung area), wait at least 30 minutes before you start to get down and track it. Now this is the hard part because your adrenalin is running and you want to get down and get your deer, but it is crucial to give the deer time just in case. If you hit the deer in the gut or farther back, give the deer at least a half a day or over night. But while your waiting in your stand, remain quiet, some deer don't run far before they lay down and if it hears you making all kinds of noise, your tracking will get 10 times harder if it starts to run. After the time has finally come to when you can go after your deer, remember to locate where you shot at the deer, because things look a lot different once your on the ground. It is also good to find a landmark where you last saw the deer, because deer don't always bleed as soon as you hit them, so if you can go to where you last saw it than you might find blood there. Having a partner to help you track your deer always makes the job easier as well. Once you are down, walk to your mark and look for things such as blood, hair, fat, bone splinters etc. Remember those blood spots may be really small, so look hard for those drops. Once you have found that blood or hair start to follow it very slowly. Always walk beside the blood trail and not in it so you don't cover it up, as you might need to go back and look at it again. Also remember to mark every place you find blood with ribbon or something like that, so if you come to a spot where you can't see anymore blood, you have a reference point where you last saw blood. If you do come to a place where you can't seem to find anymore blood, than go to the last place you saw some and start doing little circles around it. Make your your circles bigger and bigger everytime you don't find anything. Again look carefully at everything. Twigs, leaves, the sides of trees, anything and everything needs to be looked at. If you can't find any more blood sign anywhere, follow the deer trails in the area. Deer will take the easiest means of travel when hit. A lot of times wounded deer will go look for water if there is any around. That is a good place to check out if you run out of blood. Most deer, if left alone for a good amount of time will not run far. The key thing to remember is to make that good shot and then give it time. The more time the better chance you have getting your deer without a big tracking job. But always remember that things can effect that time situation. Rain is a major problem when tracking a deer. If rain is in the forcast give the deer as much time as possible before tracking, but make sure to get on its trail before the rain does come and wipes out your blood trail. Good luck!