See The Night

You can almost hear your heart pumping more quickly as the cross hairs of your scope come down over a ten point buck. Now for the the moment you have been anticipating; you slowly squeeze the trigger and, BAM! You hit the deer, but it took off running, so you are going to have to track it down to put the deer out of its misery. There are lots of tracking techniques, but there are some basic rules that pretty much most deer hunters use.

First thing is first, it helps a great amount to know where you hit the deer. If the deer drops dead on the spot, then you have most likely hit it in the spinal column, brain, or right in the heart. If the deer jumps after impact, you may have hit the heart, lungs, or some muscles. If the deer is somewhat hunched over and takes off with its tail down, it is most likely a gut shot. After you have identified the area that the bullet has penetrated, a good quality pair of binoculars, such as some Nikon Monarch binoculars, can assist in your tracking. If you have binoculars, you are more likely to see which direction your deer is headed, and you might even see where it drops.

It is smart to wait some amount of time between the shot and searching for the deer because if the deer knows it is being pursued, it will keep moving, especially if it is shot in the gut. If a deer doesn’t sense it is being chased, there is a good chance that it will lay on the ground and attempt to rest. After resting, the deer will have difficulties getting back to its feet and could possibly bleed out in the resting spot. After waiting anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours, let the search start. When you decide the time is right, search for spots of blood on vegetation, trees, and on the ground. Other sure signs are hair, bone fragments, russled up leaves, and hoof marks.

The main thing to remember when tracking a deer is to always be patient. If you stay put for a bit and just listen and observe the surroundings in the location where the deer was popped, you may hear the deer running or discover some other clues. The deer will probably lay down to rest in the meantime. Also, hunters who try to hurry the tracking process will most likely overlook many tell-tale clues and lose the trail they were following. There are a couple products out there that make tracking a bit less difficult, such as chemicals that glow blue when they come into contact with blood. If snow is on the ground, tracking should be a breeze than in dry or rainy conditions. Finally, good hunters and trackers know that they owe it to the deer to put it out of its misery after it has been shot. Do yourself and your deer a favor by following these simple tracking tips!