Tracking wounded game

[whiskey]

As deer season approaches I thought it would be good to share our experiences tracking wounded game. Like many hunters I have done my share of blood trailing, on my hands and knees crawling with a flashlight in my teeth. I have lost a couple deer in the process, but I have learned a lot too.

I just want to give a few tips that I learned well last year. Last year I discovered that my mutt was a pretty handy blood trailer. In the process of learning to handle her in the woods and what to avoid, I ran across some helpful tips on the web.

Make sure you mark the exact spot the deer is standing when you shoot.

Make sure you mark the last spot you saw the deer.

Note the deer's behavior at the shot. Did it jump up and kick, did it haunch up in the middle?

STOP. Wait 30 minutes before you get out of the stand. If it's morning, wait longer. A pushed deer is much harder to find.

DO NOT walk in the blood. If you get blood on your boots and walk around, then you spread blood.

Stay off the deer's trail and walk beside the path the deer took.

Mark spots of blood often. Hang flagging tape high and place a piece on the ground.

If you loose the blood, return to the last know spot and slow your search.

Look back at the high hung flagging tape to get an idea of the deer's general direction of travel.

Don't go barrelassin' through the woods with no idea what trail you are following.

Get help, call all your friends to come help look.

If you have only looked for an hour and are ready to give up, it's too soon to stop. You pulled the trigger, now devote the day to finding the deer.

If you live within an hour of Clarksville, call me. PM me for my phone number. I am always looking for a chance to give the mutt some training. I won't always be able to come, but I will try my best. My mutt isn't fool proof. If you didn't follow the rules above, she may not be of much help. She did track 4 deer last year and went straight to all four of them. Two were poorly shot and jumped and ran further, not to be recovered. Note the rule above about waiting in the first place. If you know you gut shot a deer, then you need to wait 4-6 hours before starting to track.

My daughter shot a deer a few years back that ran hard after the shot. We found good blood but it tapered off after a few hundred yards. We did not wait long enough. We ended up jumping the deer from her bed and losing the trail. If you don't find the deer in the first 200 yards, then stop and wait an hour or more.

[Caster]

One thing I like to do is keep a spray bottle filled with Hydrogen Peroxide in my pack. Personally, I will boil the H2O2 for a little bit to concentrate it a little more. Remove say 10-15% of the water. When searching for a blood trail, set the nozzle to mist and spray away. It will foam and sizzle when it comes into contact with blood and makes life much easier.

[DaveS]

That's awesome information! Thanks for sharing. I think we need to mention, that if you are trailing a deer with dogs, no guns is that correct? Or can the dog handler have a weapon?

[mikegideon]

.

[Guest adamoxtwo]

One thing I like to do is keep a spray bottle filled with Hydrogen Peroxide in my pack. Personally, I will boil the H2O2 for a little bit to concentrate it a little more. Remove say 10-15% of the water. When searching for a blood trail, set the nozzle to mist and spray away. It will foam and sizzle when it comes into contact with blood and makes life much easier.

That my friend is genius!

[Guest adamoxtwo]

That's awesome information! Thanks for sharing. I think we need to mention, that if you are trailing a deer with dogs, no guns is that correct? Or can the dog handler have a weapon?

May need to call the game warden on that one. I'm not sure what it is for tracking a shot deer.

[quietguy]

One thing I like to do is keep a spray bottle filled with Hydrogen Peroxide in my pack. Personally, I will boil the H2O2 for a little bit to concentrate it a little more. Remove say 10-15% of the water. When searching for a blood trail, set the nozzle to mist and spray away. It will foam and sizzle when it comes into contact with blood and makes life much easier.

Never would have thought of that. Great tip

Also, if tracking at night, use a coal oil lantern. Something about the quality of light really makes a blood trail stand out.

I bought one of the new flashlights built for that purpose. They work, but not much better.

[quietguy]

That's awesome information! Thanks for sharing. I think we need to mention, that if you are trailing a deer with dogs, no guns is that correct? Or can the dog handler have a weapon?

I would definitely run that one by a warden in your area.

Many years ago, I used one of my hounds to track a deer for a friend. Afterwards, I asked a warden for an opinion. His take was that hunting and tracking a wounded animal were two different activities. As long as the dog was on a leash and you were obviously tracking, he was fine with being armed. I can see where another warden would see it differently.

[quietguy]

As deer season approaches I thought it would be good to share our experiences tracking wounded game. Like many hunters I have done my share of blood trailing, on my hands and knees crawling with a flashlight in my teeth. I have lost a couple deer in the process, but I have learned a lot too.

I just want to give a few tips that I learned well last year. Last year I discovered that my mutt was a pretty handy blood trailer. In the process of learning to handle her in the woods and what to avoid, I ran across some helpful tips on the web.

Make sure you mark the exact spot the deer is standing when you shoot.

Make sure you mark the last spot you saw the deer.

Note the deer's behavior at the shot. Did it jump up and kick, did it haunch up in the middle?

STOP. Wait 30 minutes before you get out of the stand. If it's morning, wait longer. A pushed deer is much harder to find.

DO NOT walk in the blood. If you get blood on your boots and walk around, then you spread blood.

Stay off the deer's trail and walk beside the path the deer took.

Mark spots of blood often. Hang flagging tape high and place a piece on the ground.

If you loose the blood, return to the last know spot and slow your search.

Look back at the high hung flagging tape to get an idea of the deer's general direction of travel.

Don't go barrelassin' through the woods with no idea what trail you are following.

Get help, call all your friends to come help look.

If you have only looked for an hour and are ready to give up, it's too soon to stop. You pulled the trigger, now devote the day to finding the deer.

If you live within an hour of Clarksville, call me. PM me for my phone number. I am always looking for a chance to give the mutt some training. I won't always be able to come, but I will try my best. My mutt isn't fool proof. If you didn't follow the rules above, she may not be of much help. She did track 4 deer last year and went straight to all four of them. Two were poorly shot and jumped and ran further, not to be recovered. Note the rule above about waiting in the first place. If you know you gut shot a deer, then you need to wait 4-6 hours before starting to track.

My daughter shot a deer a few years back that ran hard after the shot. We found good blood but it tapered off after a few hundred yards. We did not wait long enough. We ended up jumping the deer from her bed and losing the trail. If you don't find the deer in the first 200 yards, then stop and wait an hour or more.

A lot of good advice and hard earned lessons here. Thank you for sharing.

[DaveS]

It seems being armed would make sense. I mean how would you dispatch a wounded deer if needed?

[Guest GunTroll]

You can have you HCP/pistol with you at all times on private and WMA's, state law now right?

[DaveS]

Yes, but I don't know how that would work while trailing a deer with dogs, considering it's against regulation to "hunt deer" with dogs. Dog + Trailing Deer + Gun = Hunting, by my calculator.

[whiskey]

No guns and dog must be leashed. Unless it's changed you are also supposed to notify the regional TWRA office that you are going out to track. (CCW not positive. I will check)

I will read the regs again and update any changes.

On the H2O2, you can purchase higher % peroxide. I have bought it online. I didn't know that boiling worked the same way.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

[whiskey]

GAAAWD! Dealing with incompetence is a difficult task for me.

TWRA didn't include the section on tracking wounded deer with dogs in the 2011 hunter's guide. I SAID HUNTER'S GUIDE! As in a guide for hunters. A place to explain the rules to us dumb, gun totin' hicks that can barely read in the first place.

This is what used to be in the Hunter's Guide:

Provisions for locating harvested deer with dogs:

1. The deer season must be legally open.

2. The dog must be maintained on a leash at all times.

3. There should be no hunting imple-ment present while tracking with the dog.

4. If the deer travels off the property where it was legally shot, the hunter must have permission of any and all landowners to cross their property and/or retrieve the deer.

5. The hunter must notify the radio dispatcher in the appropriate TWRA regional office before starting the tracking effort. The hunter should specify where the tracking will take place.

NOW!!!! NOTHING!!!!

[whiskey]

OK from the horse's mouth:

"scn" on tndeer.com is a veteran TWRA officer in the middle Tennessee area and he has confirmed that the laws have not changed from the above posted. He also confirmed that a valid HCP holder may have his CCW on his person during the dog tracking, provided that they are not otherwise prohibited on the property (Fort Campbell, AEDC, ect)

Here is the post for reference:

Tennessee Deer Talk: Blood Tracking Dog for Deer 2011/2012?

[DaveS]

My question is....regarding the dispatching of the deer once located by the dog? Wanto waste? Can't shoot it? Have to leave a wounded deer in the woods? Too many questions, not enough answers!

[whiskey]

WD, I believe all you have to do to be legal is to return the dog to the truck, go back to the deer with your gun and finish the deed. I know the law is goofy, but I am glad that I have the option of using my mutt to help find a lost deer. I can work around the rest of the law for now and try to affect change at the next voting session.

[quietguy]

Thanks for the clarification Whiskey.

[DaveS]

Yes Buddy, Thank You for your efforts!