After taking a shot, while bowhunting deer and other large game, assuming a hit was made, the art of game recovery begins. The following 2 dozen points/issues, when applied have been very rewarding and productive in recovering a deer after a shot was taken.
I think you will find it helpful to systematically address the following questions/points during and after a shot was taken:
Ask yourself and consider the following:
What was the exact time of the shot?
What was your estimated or stepped off distance of the shot?
Where do you think you hit the deer?
What was the behavior and position of the animal at the time of the shot? i.e., (Was the deer looking at you? Was he walking or standing with his head down or feeding? Was he quartering or broadside?)
What was the deer’s behavior after the shot? (i.e., did he give a “bronco” kick indicating a heart shot?
Did the deer try to “jump the string” at the time of the shot? Did he/she stumble or fall at the time of the shot or at any time after the shot?
Did he/she depart with the tail up or down? Did he/she assume the “humped-up” position and slowly walk off indicating a paunch or gut shot?
Did he/she stop and look back after the shot? Did he/she depart using all four extremities, of did he/she limp or run on only three legs?
If hair was present, what was the color...white, brown or gray. Did you see the deer bed down after the shot? Was the deer you shot alone or were there several deer in site when the shot was taken?
Do you feel confident that the deer you shot was the same deer that you took visual landmarks of during his/her departure? (This is particularly important if the shot was taken when more than one deer was in site.
Did the deer depart in the same direction he/she approached or did he/she depart a new route after the shot?
Did you locate ground landmarks as the deer departed?
What were the weather conditions at the time of the shot? (Misting rain or cold freezing temperature etc.) Did you locate your arrow after the shot? Was the whole arrow recovered intact and not bent or broken? Was it a “pass through” shot? What did the arrow tell? (i.e., was dark or bright red blood with bubbles present? Did the arrow smell of paunch or intestinal juice? Did it have hair, meat, bone fragments or particulate matter of intestinal or paunch contents present?)
Was there waxy tallow present on the arrow? Did the arrow verify a pass through by demonstrating blood or other signs from broadhead to nock? Was blood found on the ground only, or was it also found higher on bushes, brush and sapling limbs and leaves indicating a higher than anticipated hit? Was blood located on both sides of the deer’s departing trail, indicating both an entrance and an exit wound? What did you hear after the shot? Was the deer vocal? Did you hear bleating, grunting or a distress bleat as the deer departed? Do you think you heard the deer “crash”? Did you take a compass reading from your tree stand of the last sighting of the deer as he/she departed? Were you able to verify the exact location of the deer’s position at the time of the shot? (. i.e., after you descended from your tree stand, were there scuffed leaves or deep tracks at that site?) Were other signs of a hit noted other than blood?(i.e. meat, bone fragments, hair, intestinal or paunch juice?)
Did you flag or mark your arrow’s location when it was retrieved? Did you systematically flag the deer’s trail as far as you tracked it so when help arrives, all signs will still be flagged?
The above 2 dozen points are questions that when answered as accurately and as systematically as possible, can and will assist you as well as fellow trackers in successfully recovering your quarry, if indeed it was a lethal shot. As bowhunters, we owe it to ourselves, as well as the game we pursue, to render a concentrated, honest, and educated effort to recovering all our game after a hit.
