Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
I thought I'd start this thread to discuss and hopefully help at least a few people dispel some of the common misconceptions about the behavior of wounded animals.
Sure, "anything" is true "some" of the time but all of these misconceptions, and please add your own, simply do not hold true in any reliable, generic way. Some of them may be more reliable with some species, in some places, but to generically proclaim them for the search of any wounded animal is silly.
1)Head toward water.
This is ever soooooo common. I've even seen posts suggesting that animals that went 70 yards or less after being shot were headed towards water. Yes, wounded animals will often EVENTUALLY head toward water. This is particularly true if the are hit in the guts but they go for water LONG after the shot, hours later, when they're suffering. The idea that they, essentially, run for water at the instant that they're shot is just beyond silly. When you shoot an animal, its' instant "thought" is GET AWAY. It's not "thinking" water or anything else, it's thinking RUN!!
Many places, there's so much water that an animal that goes ANYWHERE is headed for "water". How is that helpful, even if it were true? It's not.
2)Head down hill.
Wounded animals do not reliably go down hill. Particularly immediately. When an animal is shot, it runs (maybe). Most often, if there is a "most often", they run whatever direction they're facing. I won't say that there isn't some species somewhere that goes down hill reliably but the answer is FAR too generic. It is invariably one of the first suggestions for recovering a wounded deer, elk, whatever.
It kind of makes me laugh. We're on an internet forum offering suggestions... How do we know that there even IS a "down hill" where the animal in question was shot?
3)The "Kick"
Animals that get struck by a bullet or arrow do not reliably react with a certain mannerism depending on where the impact occurred. They don't kick their back legs if they're hit in the heart. They don't jump straight up if they're hit here, there, anywhere. Again, some species, somewhere, might but the answer is not generic to animal behavior.
If there is anything reliable, it's a tucked tail and hunched back. Even that's not 100%, or even close really, but it's a better generic indicator of "hit" or "miss" than anything else I've ever heard.
4)The Blood
Yes, certain types of blood are distinguishable from blood from other areas. Brightness and bubbles are major indicators. However, I've seen posts indicating "leg blood". Leg blood? Do me a favor. Poke yourself in the back with a needle and then in the leg. Tell me if there's a difference in the blood? There's not. Stop it.
Blood is SOMETIMES useful for indicating a vital or not vital zone hit. Beyond that, you can't reliably, generically tell the difference between "neck" blood and "leg" blood.... it's blood.
5) Directionality
This one is just crazy. I don't even know what to say. A shot animal doesn't reliably turn right, or left, or east, or west, or north. Really. If you believe this one, or worse try to tell it to other people, you haven't shot enough animals.
Sure, "anything" is true "some" of the time but all of these misconceptions, and please add your own, simply do not hold true in any reliable, generic way. Some of them may be more reliable with some species, in some places, but to generically proclaim them for the search of any wounded animal is silly.
1)Head toward water.
This is ever soooooo common. I've even seen posts suggesting that animals that went 70 yards or less after being shot were headed towards water. Yes, wounded animals will often EVENTUALLY head toward water. This is particularly true if the are hit in the guts but they go for water LONG after the shot, hours later, when they're suffering. The idea that they, essentially, run for water at the instant that they're shot is just beyond silly. When you shoot an animal, its' instant "thought" is GET AWAY. It's not "thinking" water or anything else, it's thinking RUN!!
Many places, there's so much water that an animal that goes ANYWHERE is headed for "water". How is that helpful, even if it were true? It's not.
2)Head down hill.
Wounded animals do not reliably go down hill. Particularly immediately. When an animal is shot, it runs (maybe). Most often, if there is a "most often", they run whatever direction they're facing. I won't say that there isn't some species somewhere that goes down hill reliably but the answer is FAR too generic. It is invariably one of the first suggestions for recovering a wounded deer, elk, whatever.
It kind of makes me laugh. We're on an internet forum offering suggestions... How do we know that there even IS a "down hill" where the animal in question was shot?
3)The "Kick"
Animals that get struck by a bullet or arrow do not reliably react with a certain mannerism depending on where the impact occurred. They don't kick their back legs if they're hit in the heart. They don't jump straight up if they're hit here, there, anywhere. Again, some species, somewhere, might but the answer is not generic to animal behavior.
If there is anything reliable, it's a tucked tail and hunched back. Even that's not 100%, or even close really, but it's a better generic indicator of "hit" or "miss" than anything else I've ever heard.
4)The Blood
Yes, certain types of blood are distinguishable from blood from other areas. Brightness and bubbles are major indicators. However, I've seen posts indicating "leg blood". Leg blood? Do me a favor. Poke yourself in the back with a needle and then in the leg. Tell me if there's a difference in the blood? There's not. Stop it.
Blood is SOMETIMES useful for indicating a vital or not vital zone hit. Beyond that, you can't reliably, generically tell the difference between "neck" blood and "leg" blood.... it's blood.
5) Directionality
This one is just crazy. I don't even know what to say. A shot animal doesn't reliably turn right, or left, or east, or west, or north. Really. If you believe this one, or worse try to tell it to other people, you haven't shot enough animals.
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On the same token, not every deer act the same when wounded, but if you compile notes from year to year and from deer to deer you see some similarities in "after-shot" actions, and Yes sometimes when you know your hunting area well enough, you even know where to go get them after they run off!
