Tracking and After the Shot Lessons Learned

[crappyice]

Not always. This pic is blood from a suspected one lung and liver hit and the deer was not found.  Unfortunately, no dog was available, but a lot of people grid searched for hours.

That’s unreal. If I found that I would call my wife and tell her to light the grill!!!


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[cdbing]

"Fantastic five!!! Must have been hard quartering to? Where you in a tree or on ground?"

@crappyice I am posting here to respond to the above instead of the harvest thread, because...rules and all.

The deer was quartering to as the entry and exit wounds show....but I would not say hard quartering to. I was about 14 feet up and the deer was 10 yards away or less. I felt that the position of the deer (relative to me) was such that the arrow could miss the shoulder and catch both lungs and probably liver, when I took the shot. I did not count on also catching the stomach.

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[Robhuntandfish]

these are interesting ......stumbled across them online ....

[SWEDE]

THE HALF MILE BUCK...last day archery at camp. Crossbow stand. 15 ft up. Watching 3 does for 15 minutes eating beech nuts. 20 minutes till end of bow. 3 more does trot under tree followed by grunting 7 point. He gets right in the mix and I sent the rage tipped bolt into his heart. He hops all 4.s off the ground straight up runs 50 yds stops looks back trots away.  Bam last minute buck. Get down immediate blood in snow I follow 30 yds steady blood spots 10 inches to either side of tracks. All good right. Short 10 minute walk to camp. Get better flashlight. Back on tracks. 3 inch snow blood continues. No bending over needed. Buck beds 80 yds blood under heart. He's not there. 80 yds bed 2. Not there. Goes another 80 to cut corn. Crosses corn (200yd) I say we'll don't push he'sdead in golden rod. In morning I'll hunt opening day as long as I can hold out and get em. 2hrs later us three take up the trail. Steady blood into 4ft goldenrod. Bloody bed 10 yds. Another. 8 in total in a 50 ft circle. No buck. Blood trails heading towards ol man sullivans house.hes got 1/3 acre scrub between his house and rd. He comes out I give him the skinny tell him he's gotta be dead in that scrub.3 guys 2 shotguns and a pistol. Like we're gonna need that right. 30 yds in we find him buried in a willow tangle ALIVE. He's.looking for his escape route. He's 50 yds from sullivans porch. Hmm boy's I'm going to warn him we're gonna shoot. When I yell plug him with pistol. He's 10 yds from shooter. I'm on sullivans porch. Tell him he gets dog in house I yell GO bang this buck does his best superman leap hits the ground 15 ft later hauling the mail. Goes another 50 yds and folds. Blood sprays 5yds to either side making the snow look like a mass murder. You have to ask.. guess it wasn't a heart shot. Sure was pic to follow. Cut right through lower ventricle.  I did trace of the track job on huntstand app after 20 hrs he made it over a half mile 10 beds. Super buck

[SWEDE]

 

 

THE HALF MILE BUCK...last day archery at camp. Crossbow stand. 15 ft up. Watching 3 does for 15 minutes eating beech nuts. 20 minutes till end of bow. 3 more does trot under tree followed by grunting 7 point. He gets right in the mix and I sent the rage tipped bolt into his heart. He hops all 4.s off the ground straight up runs 50 yds stops looks back trots away.  Bam last minute buck. Get down immediate blood in snow I follow 30 yds steady blood spots 10 inches to either side of tracks. All good right. Short 10 minute walk to camp. Get better flashlight. Back on tracks. 3 inch snow blood continues. No bending over needed. Buck beds 80 yds blood under heart. He's not there. 80 yds bed 2. Not there. Goes another 80 to cut corn. Crosses corn (200yd) I say we'll don't push he'sdead in golden rod. In morning I'll hunt opening day as long as I can hold out and get em. 2hrs later us three take up the trail. Steady blood into 4ft goldenrod. Bloody bed 10 yds. Another. 8 in total in a 50 ft circle. No buck. Blood trails heading towards ol man sullivans house.hes got 1/3 acre scrub between his house and rd. He comes out I give him the skinny tell him he's gotta be dead in that scrub.3 guys 2 shotguns and a pistol. Like we're gonna need that right. 30 yds in we find him buried in a willow tangle ALIVE. He's.looking for his escape route. He's 50 yds from sullivans porch. Hmm boy's I'm going to warn him we're gonna shoot. When I yell plug him with pistol. He's 10 yds from shooter. I'm on sullivans porch. Tell him he gets dog in house I yell GO bang this buck does his best superman leap hits the ground 15 ft later hauling the mail. Goes another 50 yds and folds. Blood sprays 5yds to either side making the snow look like a mass murder. You have to ask.. guess it wasn't a heart shot. Sure was pic to follow. Cut right through lower ventricle.  I did trace of the track job on huntstand app after 20 hrs he made it over a half mile 10 beds. Super buck. Yes he got my gun tag

[Robhuntandfish]

On 1/28/2022 at 7:27 AM, Robhuntandfish said:

these are interesting ......stumbled across them online ....

I bought some. Wow they are bright. Should work pretty well. 

[CapDistPatriot]

On 1/31/2022 at 5:50 PM, Robhuntandfish said:

I bought some. Wow they are bright. Should work pretty well. 

What was the damage on those guys? How many come in a pack? 

The look almost so bright that they would spook a deer...

 

[suburbanfarmer]

4 hours ago, CapDistPatriot said:

What was the damage on those guys? How many come in a pack? 

The look almost so bright that they would spook a deer...

 

https://www.amazon.com/GATOR-EYES-Blood-Trail-Marking/dp/B08QVBDS6W/ref=asc_df_B08QVBDS6W/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=507697215494&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5739156593675213894&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005590&hvtargid=pla-1253324591461&psc=1

[Robhuntandfish]

14 hours ago, CapDistPatriot said:

What was the damage on those guys? How many come in a pack? 

The look almost so bright that they would spook a deer...

 

they were $20. They are pretty bright but wouldnt scare a deer anymore than walking around.  I hope not to use them and have all the deer drop in sight, but if i need to im thinking they might be pretty handy to have! 

[fasteddie]

On 1/28/2022 at 7:27 AM, Robhuntandfish said:

these are interesting ......stumbled across them online ....

On my last deer , I tracked it into a Soy Bean field . I ended up tearing up a handkerchief and marking the field . That marking kit looks like a gimmick but I sure bet it would work and be very helpful . 

[Robhuntandfish]

20 minutes ago, fasteddie said:

On my last deer , I tracked it into a Soy Bean field . I ended up tearing up a handkerchief and marking the field . That marking kit looks like a gimmick but I sure bet it would work and be very helpful . 

i keep orange tape for a trail but last year when we were trailign one at night we were doing circles eps on the way back out - thinking this will help. 

[suburbanfarmer]

I use TP .. the white shows easy enough and is bio degradable  

[dbHunterNY]

On 4/4/2022 at 8:50 PM, suburbanfarmer said:

I use TP .. the white shows easy enough and is bio degradable  

same, if there's not snow on the ground.

[dbHunterNY]

lots of good advice given. i've learned from bow hunting and gun hunting perfect shots don't always leave blood. i've shot multiple deer with everything from 50cal ML to 30-06 to bows through the heart without blood for many yards. bowhunting especially so if you don't have a very sharp broadhead you won't have as great of a blood trail. also where you think you hit the deer is always a little different from where you actually hit the deer, even if just a few inches. shot placement is based on path of the arrow through whatever you're shooting at but can change course as is goes through the deer.
best advice here has been already given.... first wait for close to an hour if the deer doesn't go down in sight. if it goes down in sight that doesn't mean it's dead and can't get back up, covering more ground. keep your eyes on it for a bit. second, shut up and hunt! until you recover the deer, you're still hunting that same deer. don't celebrate or crash around with your gear. be quiet when taking up the track, assessing first sign, and when moving you're still hunting at a slightly quicker pace following sign/blood and keeping your head up.

[G-Man]

The best advice I can give is after you recover any deer you shoot,  back track it as far as you can , see if it was on natural movement or forced where was it bedded , feeding .  You will learn more about the game in your area faster than 10 years of hunting

[wolc123]

14 minutes ago, G-Man said:

The best advice I can give is after you recover any deer you shoot,  back track it as far as you can , see if it was on natural movement or forced where was it bedded , feeding .  You will learn more about the game in your area faster than 10 years of hunting

I like that idea.  I should have done it last year.  It was dark, by the time I got the guts out of him, but I had half way decent snow.  Back tracking would not have been overly difficult.  Based on all the corn in his stomach, I have a pretty good idea of where he came from.

 

[Lawdwaz]

6 hours ago, dbHunterNY said:

same, if there's not snow on the ground.

If there IS snow, 90% of the time nothing is needed. 

(Just lighting the grill) 

 

[crappyice]

The best advice I can give is after you recover any deer you shoot,  back track it as far as you can , see if it was on natural movement or forced where was it bedded , feeding .  You will learn more about the game in your area faster than 10 years of hunting

I have found some great areas on long tracks. One bedding area was all torn up among boulders on the top of a hill - they just lay on that ledge and watch hikers all day. Still haven’t figured out how to hunt that spot


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[suburbanfarmer]

22 hours ago, crappyice said:

I have found some great areas on long tracks. One bedding area was all torn up among boulders on the top of a hill - they just lay on that ledge and watch hikers all day. Still haven’t figured out how to hunt that spot


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Have to circle around, way earlier like at 3-4am to avoid bumping them as they get to their hill top bedding. Done it once in Honeoye Creek. Got a doe