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John's Journal... Entry 221, Day 5

STEPS FOR FINDING DOWNED WHITETAILS

Know What To Do and Employ a Keener Nose

Editor's Note: Often your hunt really begins once you've shot or arrowed a deer. Merely inflicting a mortal wound on a whitetail doesn't finish the hunt. Only after you've recovered the animal can you call your hunt a success. Let's look at the steps that will help you locate your downed whitetail.

  • Know What To Do When The Blood Runs Out Or The Trail Stops

    When the blood trail ends or I can't continue to track the deer, I don't give up the search for the buck I've shot. When I can no longer find a trail, I hang flagging tape as high in the tree as possible to allow me to see it from a long distance. Then I begin to walk in a circle, expanding the radius of the circle with each revolution. If you have a GPS receiver that will mark a trail as you walk in a circle, you can see on the receiver's screen where you have and haven't walked. Many times when the trail runs out, you'll discover that deer within 100 yards of where the trail ends. Knowing that a wounded deer often tries to bury-up in thick cover, thoroughly check downed trees, brush piles and any other thick-cover areas within that 100-yard circle. Also continue scanning for tracks and blood while you walk the circle. Sometimes a wounded deer will jump off the trail to begin a new one or walk in a circle to return to its original trail and back-track. In these situations, a GPS receiver offers another real advantage to the deer hunter with a downed buck. You can mark the last place where you've found sign and return to the same spot later in the day or on the next day to make a more intensive search. Because I hate to leave a deer in the woods that I may have dealt a lethal blow to, I may follow a deer for four hours or longer using these steps before recovering the animal. These tactics will work for you too. Just remember to leave enough flagging tape behind to find your way back to your tree stand or your truck after you've located your buck. Before owning a GPS receiver, I have trailed a buck before and found it only then to become lost myself.

  • Employ a Keener Nose

    In the states that permit dogs in the woods during deer season and that also allow hunters to use these dogs to trail deer, I enjoy having a hound, a beagle or a Labrador retriever to aid in the search for my deer. Many hunting lodges have dogs that can and will track deer. However, even without one of these breeds, any kind of hunting dog that knows how to use its nose will perform well for you. Start the tracking dog on the trail you've followed to allow the dog to pick up the scent and track the wounded deer. Sometimes a hunting dog can follow a scent past the point where the trail has ended for you and locate the buck you can't find. I've seen well-trained trailing dogs recover many downed deer that otherwise may have gone undiscovered.

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about STEPS FOR FINDING DOWNED
WHITETAILS
...

Day 1 - Look and Listen
Day 2 - Wait and Get a Bearing
Day 3 - Carefully Analyze What Your Deer Has Done
Day 4 - Go Slow and Look Up
Day 5 - Know What To Do and Employ a Keener Nose


John's Journal