Tracking Wounded Deer at Night

[chris lavoie]

Some trophy hunters who just want the trophy rack leave the animal till the next day. They hope wolves or vermin have gotten to the deer and taint the meat before them.

Then they cut off the head and leave the rest of the animal. Happens more often in this area than one would think. Now CO's here charge the person if their meat goes bad, letting the hunter of the wasted animal explain himself infront of the judge.

[TurkeyRookie]

Not necessarily, we have had coyotes on the deer at less than one hour after the shot, I guess it all depends on the area you hunt.
If possible , use a dog , we use a standard 1 million candlepower spot lamp and toilet paper .
Big reason for hunting mournings and early afternoons, you then don't have to track at night.

Which is why you'll see I used the term "if" in front of it. "If you are unsure of the shot, and the meat will be safe" (if depends on predators in your area, and the temperatures)

[ET1]

My thanks to those that responded to this thread.
There’s also unexpected additional info exceeding my original request that fit this thread that I enjoyed seeing.

Killing time for deer can’t always be controlled and late evening hits will occur. My first priority is to determine how good the hit was as someone has already mentioned. I usually use a combination of a flashlight with 100+ lumens and the mini blood light.
The big thing is to remember to carry spare batteries because there have been a few times the tracking took us to almost midnight and in most cases the deer was retrieved that night.



Ed

[ninepointer]

My hardest tracking job was at night in pea-soup fog. It was completely disorienting and my headlamp only made things worse. The only way to overcome the "high-beam" effect was crawl on my hands and knees, illuminating the ground from 18 inches up. Toilet paper for marking blood sign and my compass were indispensable tools for finding my buck that night.

[ET1]

I’m going to go a little off topic here to share a special memory about night tracking for wounded deer.

When I started to hunt deer with a partner I would go out of town for the controlled hunt and spend the week at his home. My partner had two preteen kids that one night puzzled me with a question they asked their Dad. Some nights after an evening hunt we would arrive later than normal from the field. It was on such an occasion the kids would ask “Hey Dad need our help”. After this question was presented to their Dad a few times I had to ask what the kids were implying with that question.

Their Dad explained to me that for a few years now the kids were allowed to go along on some night tracking for a wounded deer. The kids really enjoyed being with their Dad and wanted to participate in his hunting activities. He also expressed not only the joy the kids experienced but their tenacity in hopes of being the first to find that deer.

What really surprised me was that such a priority event for a deer hunter was also a contributing factor towards family bonding. The only minor negative comment Dad ever made was about the cost of extra flashlights and batteries but was willing to pay the price for the returning reward it generated.


Ed

[Waftrudnir]

there is a difference between tracking and searching

[SK33T3R]

best tip I can add is - - - get the brightest white light you can get. make sure you have extra batteries

and most important have a roll of trail tape.
At first blood peel off about 50 yds of tape into a loose pile. hold one end and drag it as you blood trail. You can always look back and see this continuous line of tape. it will follow you like a snake all through the woods. by looking back at it - it will indicate which direction out in front of you the animal was likely to go. You can drop the tape as you look further ahead then go back and pick it up and drag to your latest blood sign or tracks. When tracking with someone else then they can stay back while you look ahead. when you find sign they move up to you. also when you find your animal you just pull in all the tape and stick it in your pocket. if you lose the trail and have to return in the morning it's real easy to find that 50 yds of tape in the woods. just remember which end is which HAH!

[MikePal]

also when you find your animal you just pull in all the tape and stick it in your pocket.!

But it is how to find your way back out ..LOL...

[duckmassacre]

Try a 12 guage rifled slug, ive rarely seen any tracking required! Stops em dead. Just make sure you can hit what your aiming at! My deer this year went a total of 10 yards or less and flopped over dead!

[blasted_saber]

Try a 12 guage rifled slug, ive rarely seen any tracking required! Stops em dead. Just make sure you can hit what your aiming at! My deer this year went a total of 10 yards or less and flopped over dead!

This applies to any gun.

Hit a deer in the thigh with a 12g slug and its not falling over dead any time soon.