10 Deer Hunting Calendar Best Time Hunt

Deer Hunting Calendar Best Time Hunt in 2023

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Tracking a Wounded Deer is a Skill Needed to Bring Down that Big Buck You Shot

Tracking a wounded deer is an important part of any hunt. Keep these tips in mind to become a more successful whitetail deer hunter.

Stop and Think

Once you've taken a shot and are fairly sure you've hit a deer, you should cool yourself down, assess the situation and try to remember exactly where the deer was when you shot it. Tracking a wounded deer is one of the most important skills for a good hunter.

Read Body Language

Think about the shot you took. What was the response of the wounded deer? A buck that is hit in the vitals with a bullet or slug often jumps up; when It runs away, its tail will be down, or nearly so.

A buck that stumbles along might be severely damaged, but It might simply be hit in a leg or shoulder. Distinguish between a severely wounded deer and a lightly injured deer.

If your deer drops instantly down, it might be hit in the spine. But if it's only stunned by a shot that was close to its backbone, it could get better in a few moments and run away.

Assess The Situation

After calming down, steadily ease to the place where the deer was settled when you shot it and look for clues. Never go any further, in case the wounded animal stopped just out of sight.

Look for blood, and if you're bow hunting try to find the arrow. Clear blood at the location or on the arrow is a excellent sign. Gut matter at the site indicates a paunch-shot animal. Lots of hair may imply the deer was only grazed. Bone debris point to a leg shot. Determining the state of the buck will give you a great advantage when tracking a wounded deer.

Once you've imagined all the clues and waited (two hours for a limited hit, four to eight hours for a paunch shot), it's time to begin the recovery.

Proceed With Caution

Go slowly and gradually and mark all important signs with pieces of toilet paper or photodegradable surveyor's tape. Place the tissues on the blood, or put the sign markers high enough so you can look back through the cover and see the animal's route.

Blood sign that increases when the animal is moving, but diminishes when it stops, suggests a muscle wound.

Although even mortally wounded bucks can travel extended distances, it's doubtful they'll go a greater distance than 200 yards from the point of impact.

Exhaust All Prospects

If you've explored far and wide without success, go back to the area the next day. Look for circling buzzards or pay attention in the woods for concentrations of crows, ravens or magpies. Listen for groups of coyotes howling at dawn, which might indicate feeding activity. Mark and investigate all such spots and you just might finally be successful in tracking a wounded deer.