Don’t believe everything you hear about blood trailing deer. Outdoor Life has 10 myths about trailing wounded deer.
I’ve been tracking wounded deer since the early 70s during that time when my bowhunting mentor “Tracker” Thomas introduced me to the art and science of blood trailing. Over the years, I’ve learned a few things but had to “unlearn” some as well. Much of my “unlearning” came with the help of my tracking dog Radar who taught me more about following wounded deer than I could have ever hoped to learn alone. Radar came to me through John Jeanneney who raises wirehaired dachshunds with his wife, Jolanta. Jeanneney has tracked more than 1,000 deer over almost 50 years, and is unquestionably the most knowledgeable deer tracker in the country. The pair have contributed much to what we know about tracking deer. John, is a former college professor and a scholar and has written two outstanding tracking books: Dead On and Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer (find them at: www.born-to-track.com).
Unfortunately, wounded deer tracking is as much myth as reality. Here are some of the more popular myths that you can live without, or at least question. Every track is unique in it’s own way and every track demands that you apply every clue you can to solve the mystery and recover the animal.
1. Wait After the Shot
Bowhunters have been trained for 50 years to wait after the shot, but waiting is not always the best approach. For starters, after any shot you need to thoroughly inspect the location where the animal was standing when the shot was taken. You need to do this while it is still fresh in your mind. Too many hunters fail to mark the exact location of the impact site.
Give Him Time to Stiffen Up
Deer only stiffen up after they die, so forget about the “stiffen up” theory. They lie down because they are very sick or have reached a place where they think they can safely lie down. You don’t necessarily want to bump a wounded deer out of its bed but there are times when it’s a good idea to get on a wounded deer and stay on it. Certain muscle and bone hits produce bleeding which will lead to death if enough blood is lost. Pushing the deer can keep the heart pumping at an elevated level which can stimulate blood loss and work against blood coagulation and healing. The trick is understanding the type of wound you’re dealing with. Keep the deer bleeding if the hit is not inherently fatal — this won’t happen if the deer beds, quiets down, and the blood coagulates. On occasion, pushing a wounded deer is your best option.
Getting on him right away can sometimes allow you to get another shot into him, too. I have observed many animals stagger about in an impaired condition before getting their wits and/or limbs working to allow them to flee and fully escape. Sometimes the backup shot is the one that does the trick.
No Blood Means No Deer
Occasionally you’ll find a hunter who gives up on a deer because there is no blood. Hunters are obliged to do everything in their power to stay on the trail of a deer that has been shot or shot at.
Sometimes a well-hit deer won’t show blood for 100 yards or even longer. Some deer never show blood or any other sign of being hit, only to pile up a couple hundred yards from the shot. Use any sign you can to follow a deer you have shot at.
All kinds of things can happen to prevent blood from exiting a wound. Anyone who owns a tracking dog can tell all kinds of stories about following deer for extended distances without any blood to show the way. Many hunters have “tracked” dead deer without a drop of blood to guide their way. [Continued]
