Tracking wounded deer tips

[HuntFishDude]

A lot of good tips guys! I moved out to MN from VT about 2.5 years ago and haven't seen or heard about this out here but back east we have licensed ( by the state), leashed dog trackers available if you have a case where you have lost the trail of the deer. A friend of mine actually did this with their GSH pup. It is amazing how little scent they need and I have seen deer recovered even after 12 hours of rain ( I was told the rain helps to disperse the scent even better). There isn't anything like that out here? It is such a shame to lose an animal, perhaps we should start pestering the DNR about getting approval for such a service. What do you guys think?

[bigbucks]

It sounds like a good idea to me. I think they might be awfully busy...

[sodajerk]

Me too. I love the idea, and I'd be happy to pay an extra buck on the cost of my license to fund the program.

It sure would be nice to have the nose of a hound to help out when those wounded ones get hard to find. If a hunter could call them out with a toll-free number and get help in the field, it would be great.

[EyesOnThePrize]

This saturday I helped track a deer for 6.5 hours through some pretty thick stuff, through a swamp and over very wet leaves - it was pretty tough. A couple of times we got very lucky after loosing the trail, spotting the tinniest speck of blood imaginable - nowhere near the last spot.

Luckily we had three people and a good GPS. This is the technique we used (which may have already been discussed).

When the trail would dwindle, I would stay at the last blood drop while the other two would try to follow the print trail (not always easy - many other trials where we were). While they were searching ahead I would make a detailed, grid pattern search around the area to look for blood where she might have turned. This saved us quite a few times.

Here is a question (sorry if it has already been answered elsewhere - couldn't find the answer on the DNR site). Can a gun be used, while archery hunting, to mercy kill a deer?

We did not do this however she was bedded down in a way that would have been tough to shoot her with a bow - it took a while for her to eventually die (didn't feel too good about it).

Thanks

Bill

[bigbucks]

So how far did this deer go that took 6.5 hours to trail & wasn't dead? Where was it hit? I'm not being critical at all, I'm just wondering to take that long & still find her & still be alive where the hit was. I'm kind of assuming somewhere in the guts.

[EyesOnThePrize]

Luckily it wasn't my shot - it was a gut shot, missing the closest vitals by about 5 inches. Best guess, she went about 3 miles all total.

[bigbucks]

That's impressive that you found her. We've trailed wounded deer that we've lost, but I doubt we've hardly ever been able to follow them more than a 1/4 of a mile. No wonder it took that long to find her.

I guess we trailed a firearm wounded deer once about 3 miles, to a gut pile...

[R. Miller]

I've been bowhunting for about 4 years now. I've got one buck-a decent sized nine pointer two falls ago. I was lucky. It was about a 20 yard shot and I put an arrow through both lungs. It was picture perfect, and almost surreal. I found the arrow stuck in the ground full of blood, and the deer was no more that fifty yards away. It was a great experience. My good friend was not as lucky with his first chance at a buck on Friday night. He got out to my hunting shack early on Friday before the firearm opener and decided to go out bowhunting. Just before dark he had either a nice big six or an eight(wasn't counting tines) come in and smell his scent pad he had in the tree. Must have been about a 20 yard shot. Anyway, he says he put an arrow in his lung area, and it was sticking about half way out as the deer bolted off into the woods, stopped for a minute and then took off again. He tracked it for a few hundred yards. There were two decent blood spots, with a lot of little blood spots along the way. I arrived at my hunting shack around 8:30pm. I thought my buckmasters LED flashlight would help, and did pick up the trail for about another fifty yards, and then the blood trail disapeared. We searched until 10:30 before calling it quits. It was on public lands, so we knew the blaze orange wouldd be out in full force Saturday morning. My buddy felt so sick to his stomach about it he didn't even go out opening morning of gun season, and opted to wait until late morning to go back and search. He checked every thicket in the area without any luck. So, to make a long story short. I feel I'm natually pretty good at tracking, but I really don't have a lot of experience with tracking deer while bowhunting. The blood was rather red, more bright than dark. A flesh wound? I don't know. He claims the arrow was hanging no more than half way out(and by the bowhunting vidoes I've seen that seems fairly common). Also, we were thinking that because the arrow was still in him when he took off, it my have helped stop the bleeding? It's a shame we didn't find him. I'm only hoping he's one of those tough old bucks that someone gets someday that has an old wound and a broadhead healed over inside him somewhere.