In my 40+ years hunting & tracking wounded deer and a few bears these are some observations. First no two are the same. I've shot deer through the ribbs & they have jumped looked around & not even known they were fatally shot & I've had deer shot the same place tear the mountain down running away !! Fatally shot deer tend to go straight & leave heavy tracks. Some times you don't even need the blood the tracks are so obvious. Non fatally wounded deer meander about & leave very light tracks. Lung shot deer spray bright red blood. Hart shot deer stream bright red blood. Liver shot deer bleed dark purple colored blood & sometimes not much until the chest cavity fills up. Paunch-gut shot deer leave watery blood & usually quits short into the trail. Lastly flesh wounds leave a drip- drip-drip. If you are Not exactly sure of your shot placement leave the animal as long as weather & time will alow. I have over the years tracked many deer to water even had a few in it with nothing but the eyes ears & nose above looking at me. Keep water in mind when tracking. Not necessarily the right time of year for this. But if it helps recover 1 animal it's not wasted words. Please feel free to add anything to this That may help new-young inexperienced hunters recover game. Thanks Todd. ><))))*>

Sounds solid to me!

My craftiest trick is - when trying to sort out “my” deer’s tracks from a bunch of others - is to stick my fingers down in there. If it’s fairly warm & dry out, the fresh tracks will be the ones that are cool & moist at the bottom.

Other than that... look at wound height for spray on tree trunks & other cover/foliage and mark every bit of sign so you can look back; once the trail straightens out pretty much, you can take a beating and walk straight out because (as OP stated), a Dead Deer Sprinting will like as not be on a bee-line.

The exception to that would be if you’ve lodged an arrow in the off-side shoulder or otherwise managed to damage one quarter more than the other, in which case they will run on an arc towards the more damaged side due to unbalanced power output.

If you can manage it, watch the animal run off through your binocs so as to learn more about where you hit it and how well it’s moving. If it slows down, your chances of seeing where it stopped (presumably to bed down, if it feels safe enough) are much better with good glass. With a good hit, you can sometimes begin blood trailing through the binocs...

If you’re not sure what happened, give it the proverbial 45 minutes if you can, and then sneak up on the spot of the hit as if the deer were bedded right there. Check sign and evaluate. Sometimes shooting a second arrow at the same spot (before leaving your stand) will help you find it.... More than once, I’ve had trouble locating the start of a heavy blood trail just because I got disoriented as soon a I was back on the ground.

And just one time, I had a deer stop in range for a follow-up shot; if you’ve thought things through ahead of time, you’ll know even before the animal stops whether you want to take that shot or not. An animal that calms down quickly and appears well-hit may not go far, so a follow-up may be a bad idea. In my case, leaving it overnight was not an option, so I shot again.

And a spine-hit animal that drops on the spot... I hope never to do that, but if you do, shoot again NOW. Too many tales of dead deer that jumped up and runnoft!!

And that’s all I’ve got.

I think you meant to say heart shot deer spray dark red blood. But otherwise your observations are the same as my own.

Only thing I'd add is 1) get help and 2) never give up.

I did those two things late one evening when I was at my wits end, and my wife agreed to come help me look for my deer at like 11:00 p.m. Darned if she didn't find blood right away. She is one of the best blood trackers I know now, and I don't hesitate to ask her to help. And I thought I was pretty damn good before I started asking for her help!

limbwalker, that's funny. My wife tracked a deer half way across Runnels county one morning that I couldn't get sorted out.

Very good advice from all. I agree with a second shot. Anything to get more blood on the ground should help. It may speed recovery. I have to admit in 45 years I have only done that with a bow once. In that case, the second shot was better than the first. Hunting on the ground, the first shot was very low lung and the second was mid lung. The deer ran to my right and stopped at 15 yards for a second or two and I had another arrow ready fortunately.

I’ve been doing this near the same time. Some new guys may read this. I agree with what’s posted above. Just would like to add something. Sometimes you get decent blood and keep coming up to spots where the blood is heavier like the deer was standing there leaking in one spot. The deer is usually listening/looking for you. He’s prob not hurt like you hoped but I’d give him time cause his brain is still on so to speak. Another thing I can add, liver shot deer are dead. Just could take them a bit. Seen 15 mins do them in and have seen it be 2 hours. I can’t say I have an exact theory, maybe someone else does, but they typically go down in sight and after a bit start this head swaying thing. They seem out but can and do get back up so don’t approach them right away. Leave them alone and your job will be easier and quicker. As stated nothing is always the case but these are common. Just more to add

All good advice above. My contribution would be if you lose a trail or if you are trying to track a hit deer that's not left any blood yet (and that happens a lot, especially with hard hit deer), squat down so that your eyes are on the same level as a deer's.

Many times I've done this and with this view I was better able to put myself in the deer's "shoes" and take the route that looked best from that viewpoint and was able to find tracks/blood. Things look different at 3' off the ground than they do at 6', especially in heavy cover.

Sorry guys one more thing. The initial posts mentions bears. They’re the easiest animal to kill next to a rabbit when hit well. You hit one of them w an arrow they go almost nowhere. 20-40 yards is common. I’ve skinned for a few bear camps plus for a bit this bear thing was a real passion so I’ve seen a bunch of trails and this also was consistant

Some really good info here. I've shot a fair amount of deer and helped tracked many more. Keep a open mind and forget what wise tales you have heard or read. I've had deer run towards water and directly away from water. Down hill and up Hill. Also have had them make a sharp turn on the trail. My buddy shot a really nice buck that a fairly good blood trail just ran out in a creek bottom. The buck ended up walking up the creek a couple hundred yards and bedded in some brush behind a garage. Is that how he lost predators or dogs chasing him?

If you start seeing blood clots you have to pick up the pace and push him to keep a blood trail. IMO a broadside shot right behind the shoulder and a quarter-third of the way up and you will usually see them go down. Don't how many I've helped track that was shot right there and ended up being shot in front of the shoulder-neck area. Double lunged a doe and she stop to leave the traffic go before crossing the road, she died on the road.

All good advice and tips here but unfortunately, where I live in NJ, leaving a deer for even a few hours, much less overnight, is risky at best due to the tremendous upsurge in the bear population during the last twenty or so years.

Two years ago, I had twenty-four bear sightings during archery season. Granted, some were probably of the same bear, but twenty-four nonetheless.

So the odds of blackie beating me to the carcass left overnight are in its favor. Consequently, I've had to reassess my decisions about trailing a deer that I haven't seen drop. Don't like it but that's the reality of the situation.

That sounds like the coyote situation here in Illinois styk. We gots LOTSA songdogs here! I grew up in Jersey in the 50's and 60's and back then bears were about as common as palm trees there then. Times change!

The other thing we all need to remember about tracking is that so far, deer CAN'T READ, so when all else fails don't be afraid to think outside the "book", because sometimes they do what they do because they're "unedjumacated"! ;-)

Stykman is actually correct. I’ve had lots of guys get beat on well shot deer never mind ones leaking or dead. This is the reason only sure thing shots should be taken. The bears are a pia

Hey, just look at it this way....competition makes you better, just like in most of life. Think of it as "free market" deer hunting!

“Keep a open mind and forget what wise tales you have heard or read.”

It’s separating Wise Tales from Wives’ Tales that gets tricky! ;)

Reading books about how to read sign is a poor substitute for learning to read sign, but it beats the snot out of having no idea what to do and NOT do. Probably even more important to know What Not To Do....

I take a compass reading from my tree stand to the last place I saw the deer. Things sometimes look a little different when you get on the ground. If I lose the trail I can return to that spot and start over.

Circles

I flag the hit spot then walk in ever widening circles till you hit on the next sign etc Been very lucky even the hard to find ones ive recovered Effort is a must,,never give up

Dave i too take a compass reading. Where i hunt it can be very brushy and things do look very different on the ground. The compass reading has saved the day more than once. I carry my commenga whenever i hunt.

As for the straight line--- sometimes, but more often ive seen them go in a semi circle.

Maybe Mr. Hatfield will chime in. I've read some of his posts about tracking and he really seems to know his stuff, w-a-y beyond the 'normal' man's tracking skills. I wish he would write a book on the subject...I'd buy in a heartbeat.

Good info, the only thing I'd add is when a deer is hit it will run a ways and stop and backtrack to see if your following him. He'll stand there and go off the trail when he feels safe. I found this out by following deer that was hit in the snow. What I've seen happen is your on the trail and the blood stops, people keep looking ahead for the next sign when you have too backtrack to see where he left the trail. I hear it all the time, " He was bleeding good and the blood just stopped."

Ditto on the compass.

I read an article in Deer and Deer Hunting about women seeing blood better than men. An hour after reading that, my brother calls and says he hit one. We started tracking and lost blood a few times, then my wife kept finding the smallest specks. Long story, high back hit, never found. The dog trackers suspected it was a non fatal. Last year, my wife tracked my fathers deer 300 yards. She tracked and marked with toilet paper. We just stood aside and let her go. She is a natural as she never started hunting until 5 years ago.

Something I have noticed I have seen deer that seem to be cruisers or possibly local and know the area well. Once hit they may start to turn back and loop around to get back on the trail they just came through on. I think maybe they felt safe on that trail since they came through it just before the hit and if it's a very smart deer why chance it on running ahead on a trail they haven't had the time to "Sniff out" as being safe to continue on. I also have found deer that circled back and have laid down an expired facing the opposite direction as they were leaving on as if to watch the trail as mentioned earlier by someone . After 42 years of hunting Whitetails I always seem to learn something by their behavior !

I always carry one very bright reasonably large fletched arrow with a judo point (or similar) on the front so the arrow doesn't bury in the leaves or ground clutter. If the animal does not go down in sight, before I climb down from the stand or leave the blind I shoot this arrow into the ground where the animal was standing at the shot. If I would lose the trail I know exactly where to come back to the beginning.Just my 2 cents.AS always..be safe !!!!

"First, no two are the same". Yep, agree 100%. Some may be close but never the same. Amazing creatures. Some animals like the Caribou die easier than others so experience with different species helps as well. One of the most important parts of the hunt. C

That's a great tip Desp! I usually have a Judo in my quiver anyway but I never thought of using it in that manner.

Don't forget to listen to the other animals of the woods,bluejays help me find a deer once, and squirrel help me find a wounded turkey.jeff

So much good information above. Only thing I can add is never push a deer. Unless you see the deer fall or hear it struggling or thrashing close by, I give the deer time to expire. At least an hour depending on how good you believe the shot was.

Every liver hit deer I've found was either in water or damn close to it. Makes me think there's something to it that is more than just being from the land of 10,000 lakes.

""Every liver hit deer I've found was either in water or damn close to it. Makes me think there's something to it that is more than just being from the land of 10,000 lakes.""

I've found the same to be true of gut-shot deer. If there's a water source, it's a good bet they will go in that direction.

I do what Percy stated-(Take a compass reading) and wait about an hour. Then trail very slowly using TP for marking.

I trained a tracking dog, ab0ut 25 years ago, glad I did.... was not legal at the time, I did not care, no one around the country I hunt anyways....... Found my first long bow deer, for me in 20 minutes, after I made a bad hit......................

Started with a GSP, that was retired from NAVHDA. and other AKC Trials etc,,,, he was a good one...... since then I have had 2 more short hairs, all trained up well,,,,,,,

My big SD springer, was no good at it, he just like to flush grouse and woodcock.............

I have a super lab now, she does everything and is an excellent tracker.....................

However, I want a good pass thru all the time, so if I need the dog, it was a bad shot, shame on me..... I took the dogs anyway on all the good hits, even after I found them, or seen them drop, good training for them

best advice is state above, do not push a deer,,, give it some time..... However, here in wolf and coyote country, you can not leave a deer over night, or it will be gone,,,, Yes I have had some long nights, but if your not prepared for that, do not till dark.................

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