GOOD SHOT! Now what do I do?

FF

Sorry about taking so long, but it's been a really tough two days. My sons came up with the I dea that we should put the deer on a pole and that way we could carry it on our shoulders, and split the weight up.
At the time, this sounded like a really good idea, as the dragging was wearing all of us out. The rain was not making it any easier.
Unfortunatley, we hadn't thought about the weight of the deer swinging back and forth on the pole.
I would not suggest this method for deer retreival, as it will keep you stumbling over everything in your path.
I was ready to leave the deer after dragging it for about an hour, and my oldest son threw a fit, telling me that if we were as lost as he thought we were, we might have to eat the deer before we got home.:D
Neither one of my sons would let me leave it, so we drug it around with us until I figured out the compass thing.
After I figured out I was going the wrong direction, I wasn't about to tell them, until we got home.:D
I weigh in at about 160 lbs, and either one of the boys weigh in at about 240 lbs. I figured if they new what I had done with the compass, I might take a pretty good whooping.:D
It was difinetly a night I would rather put behind me.:o
 
Two seasons ago, I shot a small whitetail and had a one-mile drag on dry ground primarily up hill and through brush and so forth. I thought I was going to die (and could have unfortunately). Last season, I had the fortune to shoot a 7pt and this time after doing the necessary field dressing and so forth, hiked out to my vehicle and brought back one of those wheeled deer carts that they sell at Cabela's. The "drag" was about the same distance (different route), but I barely raised a sweat bringing the 7pt out. (should have been an 8pt, but browl tine broke off.) I highly recommend the carts if they make sense in the terrain you hunt. Sure beats a pole and you can wheel them over fallen logs if necessary or across creeks. I'm not an ATV hunter, so I walk in and out....

The buck I shot in 2004 with a 270 only bled a little bit and tracking was a very careful task. I would find a few drops every 20 feet or so and you had to look for them. Shot right through the deer without much bullet expansion right behind the heart. Didn't hit a front shoulder.
 
After shootin a half-dozen with .44 revolvers, a half dozen more with various .30 caliber rifles, and close to a half-dozen more with various other handguns, I am sure of one thing- they'll always go down faster and be easier to track if you punch a substantial bullet all the way through the deer. A big hole all the way across is the surest method I have found for getting meat, and the bigger that hole is the shorter the drag.

Beyond that? Follow the blood, and look for it above the ground as well. I have brought home a few that I might have missed otherwise, by finding blood on brush & grass 2-3 feet above the ground.
 
Dead deer no tracking required.

Having watched my father bow hunt for many years, I have seen him get many deer. This is due in large part to his 70# draw and no let-off. Last season I watched an arrow go clean through a 185#(after field dressing) 8 point and he dropped after walking about 5 yds.

Never knew what hit him!:)

The following day was another story:

Same stand he shoots a doe..again arrow goes clean through...she staggers about 10 yds. to the south and falls over a fence.

What's the problem? Said fence was at the top of a 300+ ft. drop!:(
2 hrs. later we get the deer out with a ATV and a winch.

Needless to say there was no meat tenderizer needed after that haul.
 
we have a standing rule in our camp, if you shoot a deer and it runs, you can not go walking for it till someone else arrives. Before we did this we would a deer every couple of years. now, we do not. shooter sits in the tree and directs the searcher to the area he believes the shot was made from, it is surpriseing how manytimes when you find blood, it is quite a ways from where you thought the shot was. BUt once blood is found, a orange or chartreuse surveyors tape is tied up high in a sapling to mark. We then go from blood spot to blood spot till we find a deer. Adding a ribbon when your eyes do not see the next spot keeps you from losing the trail, (easy to do in bad light or weather) Getting down low, on hands and knees and looking from blood spot to blood spot makes it easy to see the path the deer took. If you see the deer, back up slowly, get a round loaded and the rifle up, or an arrow nocked, and re trace slowly looking for signs of life, If the deer is still breathing but does not flinch, move back to wear you still can shoot but giving the animal a chance to die. they seem to go faster if they rest. If you push, they can go for a freaking long time.

As to a shot in brisket and no blood, yup east to do and a bad shot if it does not hit anything important on the way thru, Almost certainly the paunch caught the bullet or maybe a back ham, but the bullet opened up the guts and it will die, slowly, painfully, and not the way you should treat that animal. I saw one run over a mile with only one lung left and a sucking chest wound, my brother finally shot it when it ran past his stand on the far end of the 320 we hunt. From the dry blood on it chest, we figured it had been shot for an hour, maybe more. That deer was dog food. After running that far under stress the meat was so tainted, it was only good for feeding the dogs.
 
Good advice all round. If shot with rifle they usually circle towards the exit wound if bullet goes through, as it is much bigger than the entry and must weaken that side. I use surveyor tape to mark shoot position and position of animal when shot, also last blood found. Surprising how quickly you become unsure of where animal was when shot, the kneeling and circling is very good advice too, I have found more than one deer where it died under the brush when searching kneeling, would have walked right past standing up and missed it. Good stories, I reckon plenty of us were right there with you and the compass thing is easy done, me and a buddy spent a good time walking the wrong direction, he had compass in right hand and rifle on right shoulder, it was pulling it off a long way, the sun came out and we realised we where heading the wrong way too, shusssssh tell no one :o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top