subject: 9 Tips to Help You Successfully Find and Recover a Wounded Whitetail Deer [print this page] 9 Tips to Help You Successfully Find and Recover a Wounded Whitetail Deer
Copyright (c) 2011 Todd JensenYou have taken the shot and scored a direct hit Now What! These 9 tips, if followed, will significantly improve your odds of successfully finding and recovering your wounded whitetail deer.Tip Number 1 - After you have released your arrow, try your best to determine where you think you hit your deer and also how it acted. Wounded whitetail deer tend to not flash their tails and will "hump" up if they are gut shot. Normally the adrenaline is flowing and you naturally are very excited, but try and do this activity definitely before you get out of your stand. Also before you get out of your stand, determine landmarks of where you last saw the deer that you will be able to identify later. It is amazing how the landscape is different and not recognizable when you get to the area where you believe the animal was last hit.Tip Number 2 - Wait at least a half hour before beginning to start looking for a wounded deer and at least 4 hours before trailing an deer believed to be gut shot. While you are waiting the initial half hour try to be as quiet as possible. This will allow you to possibly hear the deer go down and also not further spook him. Their adrenaline is also flowing and loud noises (you whooping and hollering) will only keep their adrenaline flowing longer. Tip Number 3 - After the initial waiting period, go and find the location where you last saw the deer and complete an initial search. Look for blood, hair, tracks, and your arrow. Once you have found some sign, mark the location with a high visibility marker. Remember, if you use a marker that is not biodegradable, to pick it all back up once the search is over.Tip Number 4 - Examine the blood sign, hair, and your arrow (if you find it) thoroughly. Try to determine from the sign to confirm where the deer was hit. If you think you hit the deer in the lungs you should find bright red frothy blood. If you think you hit the deer further back you should find darker blood which would indicate a liver or kidney shot. If you think you gut shot the deer you should find greenish blood that definitely has a smell to it. Hair will also give you an indication of where the deer was hit. Light color hair, along with dark color blood, can indicate a very low or front leg hit. From this analysis, and taking weather into account, determine if you should begin tracking immediately or wait a minimum of 4 hours.Tip Number 5 - Take samples of deer hair from the next harvested deer you are around. Place the sample of hair in individual Ziploc baggies. Using masking tape and a Sharpie, label each of the baggies noting where on the animal the hair sample was taken.Tip Number 6 - Be aware of any bodies of water in your area. A wounded animal, especially gut shot, will seek out water in an effort to make them feel better. I have recovered two deer that were completely submerged under water.Tip Number 7 - If your blood trail stops, immediately begin walking in a circular path to see if you can pick the blood trail back up again. Very often a deer will head off the beaten path to find thick cover or even double back when they are close to expiring. In this situation start looking for the animal if you can no longer find any blood sign.Tip Number 8 - If you are trailing after dark, make sure everyone involved has a powerful flashlight or lantern. Without powerful light sources, red blood color tends to blend in with the colors of fall foliage.Tip Number 9 - Do not give up on your game recovery search until either you find the deer or have determined conclusively that the deer was not lethally wounded.I view finding and recovering a shot whitetail deer is very much like defensive driving. Continually practice to improve your shooting skills so that you can make a well placed shot. This will lower the chances of the deer becoming "wounded" in the first place, thus requiring an extended recovery time. However, should a less than ideal shot occur, use these tips to successfully find and recover your deer.
