Similar but different experience with my deer.  Got a good mule kick, but very little blood that dried up.  Started tracking where I last saw him, and found him fewer than 100yds from the shot.  Still grateful I found him relatively quickly (after a very anxious hour or so).  

Good story and spot on. I have been in those situations more times than id like to recall, mainly during bow season. But yes spot on. I could not get it done this year with a modern firearm but hope to with a muzzleloader.  Join me in my continued quest this year. Greatly appreciative. https://youtu.be/rEXETgrcjyo

Let me tell you a story about perseverance and following your instincts.

I shot a deer broad side at 25 yards during a lottery hunt at nature preserve. The deer jumped 6 feet straight up and mule kicked. Sweet shot right? I thought so. The deer took off downhill from where I’m sitting to a creek bottom that Y’s off to two ridge lines. After about 40 minutes I get down and go to the spot expecting a ton of blood and an easy track….nothing. I mean nothing. No blood, no arrow, NOTHING. Well maybe the blood took a second and it’s 20 yards down hill…nope. I get to the creek bottom where I lost sight of the deer. Still no blood. Well, today is gonna be a long day I think to myself. While also considering hanging up my bow BECAUSE BOW HUNTING IS SO GODDAMN DIFFICULT AND FRUSTRATING. 

So I cross the creek to right side of the Y and start grid searching for sign, now I’m headed in the direction of my truck and this doesn’t feel right. So i stop and look around and think, I’ve seen deer traveling across the left Y to get to another valley on the other side, maybe I’ll hit the trail and walk over that way and see what I can find first. I find some tossed leaves to the left and think, maybe? I hit the trail at the bottom and come up over the bank and that deer is laying dead smack in the middle of the hiking trail. No shit. 

After I drag the deer off the trail so some unlucky hiker with a granola and a PETA complex doesn’t stumble over the deer, I follow the blood trail back towards the original shot. This trail ended about 85 yards from where I shot the deer. Meaning this deer ran almost 100 yards before any real blood started happening. I hit one lung solid and knicked the gut. 

Whats the point of this story? Shooting is easy, tracking is hard. Tracking requires sign, BUT it also requires a knowledge of terrain, pinch points, valleys, creek bottoms, and an education on how deer react when shot. What do they revert to in a panic? Also, we have thousands of years of instincts buried in our psyche that sometimes yell at us when we are going the wrong way. 

So educate yourself on deer and the land you’re hunting. And most importantly….

If it feels wrong try something else. The deer is probably dead on the trail….

Perseverance, Instincts, and Tracking

Jason M

Are you sure?

Nicholas R

Woods' N Waters O