Wes Littlefield 12.13.24
You’ve done the difficult work of finding the perfect hunting spot, squeezing the trigger, and shooting a deer – congrats! However, it ran off, and now you have no idea where it is or how to find it. Don’t worry, this has happened to me many times, and there’s a simple way to find your dead deer, blood-trailing it.
What Happens When Blood-Trailing Seems Impossible?
Depending on your shot placement, deer don’t always bleed externally, drastically complicating tracking. Sometimes, when your shot is high, it will take a while for the body cavity to fill with enough blood to create a blood trail. Other times, tissue or organs will slow or stop the external bleeding and end the blood trail. In these moments, you’ll need to rely on following the deer via its tracks, broken twigs, and other signs that the deer has passed by.
This article focuses on blood-trailing a deer after a good shot and briefly touches on what to do in the abovementioned circumstances.
How To Track A Deer After You’ve Shot It
Developing tracking skills is critical for every hunter. Hunting aims to harvest the animal ethically, bring home the meat for our family, and occasionally harvest a deer worth mounting. Learning to track a deer after you shoot it will dramatically increase your success rate, so let’s get to the simple process.
Step 1: Start Where The Impact Took Place
I generally wait 5 to 30 minutes after shooting a deer (depending on shot placement) to emerge from the blind or climb down my stand. This gives the deer time to expire without bumping or pushing it farther away. I have started tracking deer too early and bumped them, which made it more difficult to track, so be sure to give it plenty of time.
However, it’s typically safe to head to the place where the deer was standing at the time of your shot and begin looking for blood. Once you’ve waited long enough and found the initial blood trail, it’s time to follow it.
Step 2: Begin Following The Blood Trail
Now, it’s time to get down to business and start following the blood. This is often easier said than done. The wording blood trail sounds like blood is everywhere and is easy to follow. More often than not, you’re looking for drops of blood. Once again, shot placement is a significant contributor to how much blood you’ll find, as is the choice of bow or firearm.
If there is lots of blood, following the trail right to your deer is simple. However, with minimal blood, slow down and look for the tiny drops or smears.
I regularly get on my hands and knees, searching for the next drop. This does several things. It helps me see the area from the deer’s perspective, giving me an idea of where it might have wanted to go. Getting on my hands and knees forces me to slow down and take in every detail I would have walked past. Lastly, it puts me closer to the blood trail to spot the tiniest drops.
Step 3: Follow The Trail To Your Deer
You won’t always have to crawl on your hands and knees to follow the blood trail, but I strongly recommend standing over the last drop of blood you found (or at least clearly marking it) until you see more signs that help you determine the direction your deer has gone.
As you slowly and methodically follow the blood trail, you’ll eventually come upon your deer. It’s important to remember to look up and regularly get your bearings on where you’re at, especially in the dark. It’s easy to get turned around when all you focus on is following the blood trail of your animal, and then you have no idea how to get back to your stand or vehicle.
In the age of all the technology, it’s not as big of a deal, but some places I hunt have terrible cell service, which means my maps don’t work well, if at all. Once you’ve located your deer, it’s time to field-dress it.
Top Tips to Locate Your Deer With Minimal Or No Blood Trail
If you’ve blood-trailed your deer and the trail dries up, here are some things you can do to help you locate your animal.
- Follow the well-worn deer trail it initially went down
- Look for other sings
- Check the bodies of water
- Bust out an ultraviolet (UV) light, black light, or infrared (IR) light
- Hire tracking dogs
When experiencing danger, deer will return to a familiar place, especially if heavy cover is nearby. So, I always begin by following the most worn trail and look for thickets where they would feel most comfortable lying down. While walking that trail, I’m still looking for signs that a deer has recently run through the area, such as freshly broken twigs, turned-over leaves, fresh tracks, and feces.
I’ve found many deer in creeks and ponds. The cool water helps relieve the burning sensation, so if your blood trail disappears, thoroughly check the nearest water bodies. When tracking a deer in the dark, you must use a light. However, specific light spectrums (UV, IR, and black lights) make blood stand out, so be sure your light has one of these. If it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world, but you must look more closely to follow the blood trail. As a last resort, consider hiring tracking dogs. They’ll use their super sniffers to pick up smells we humans can’t and will keep you from unnecessarily losing a deer.
Parting Shots
I guarantee you’ll lose fewer deer by following the process and tips above. The biggest thing to remember is to slow down and not rush the process. Getting in a hurry while blood-trailing will cause you to overlook vital details leading straight to your deer.
