What is your plan for after the shot ?

[Shrek]

In light of another thread about a lost animal I thought I would share my thoughts and others could share theirs. Many members here do not have a lifetime of experience or mentors to guide them on what could make or break your hunt. The after the shot plan.
Living where I do I get to shoot a lot of animals . 10 does and two bucks in Georgia and two a day in Florida. Over the years I have been on crop damage shooter permits and such. I tallied up a rough estimate I my head about a year ago and came up with over 300 deer over 30 years and it could be closer to 400. In that experience I have made a few rules and observations. First , if I can't see the deer down I wait one hour minimum. In that time I stay as quiet as I am hunting. I don't move around or make any noise. I look at my watch and wait. If the animal doesn't hear anything after the shot to give you away then it only heard an un identified sound and doesn't feel well. In most cases it will only travel a short distance and bed down. Let it hear you after the shot and it's going a good ways before bedding down and if it's not leaving a good trail then you may have blown your chance at finding it. If the shot is questionable then it's a two hour wait. If I know it was a gut or liver shot I wait at least four hours or more. In that case I will sit quiet for a half hour or so then slip out of the area and go kill time. These are hard times for me. I go by my watch and wait it all out.
As soon as you have finished shooting make a mental note of where the animal was when you shot it and where you last saw it. Take note of land marks like a taller tree , rocks , funny looking bushes , ect. Really pay attention to this. I can't tell you how many time I've gone to help someone find an animal and they tell me it was right here but there is no sign. First thing I do is walk the sight line from where they were standing on an imaginary line that extends through where they think they shot it and find the sign significantly short or long of where they thought it was. Mark the spot you find the trail and keep marking every few yards.
Take note of where any animals that was accompanying it went. Your animal may try to join back with the others and if you have nothing then following where they went may lead you to the trail.
Rule of thumb is that a hard hit animal is going in a strait line. If you run out of sign extend the trail in the direction it was going for hundreds of yards. If there are several parallel trails then follow them all out.
If you have only waited an hour and your trail starts to meander and change directions then stop and back out. Wait another four hours. That animal isn't as hard hit as you thought and you need to give it time to bed and expire.
Gut shot animals are tough. They are going to plug up most likely and if you push it it will go a long ways. If you loose the trail then go to the nearest water and look. Look in the water not just around it. A gut shot animal or a slow internally bleeding animal is going to develop a terrible thirst and will go to water. They will also go to water to break their trail. I've seen a big buck that had its shoulder about blown off hide in a creek with only its nose above water to breath. I just caught a ripple that gave him away. As we approached he busted out and if he hadn't stumbled on the bank the tracking would have gone on . As it was I my friend and I both got another shot into him before he could get back up.
I hope this helps someone not loose an animal or help find one with a broken trail.
Anybody else with some tips please add in. That was just off the top of my head and will seem simple and obvious to those more experienced but for guys just starting or limited experience you may save their hunt someday.

 

[realunlucky]

I always look at my compass and get a reading as to where the animal went. I almost lost a deer from the stand when the arrow didnt pass though and with a high shot didnt bleed much. Found its much easier to note his exit direction with compass than climb down guess and than grid search.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

After watching it run, and listening for a couple of minutes in the direction it went I take a picture of where I shot the animal at. It helps me figure out where I need to start the blood trail at.
For some reason finding the impact point is always the hardest for me. I'm one of those "I swear it was right there" people, but it usually ends up being a couple yards shorter or to the right or left.

 

[Shrek]

A common situation for rifle hunters is you body shoot an animal and it drops at the shot tv style. I mean it never even tries to raise its head. Maybe a shiver. You think grea ! Couldn't be better....COVER THAT ANIMAL ! It is very likely you have hit it high and the shock to the nervous system has stunned it. In a few minutes it revives and runs off , never seen again. If it thrashes about and struggles for a few seconds or minutes and then goes still it is most likely done but that drop and not move could be trouble. Keep it covered at least five minutes and if you see blood high or it starts to visibly breath when it was dead still right after the shot put another in it for good measure and don't take your eyes off it for even a moment.

 

[todd kelly]

After watching it run, and listening for a couple of minutes in the direction it went I take a picture of where I shot the animal at. It helps me figure out where I need to start the blood trail at.
For some reason finding the impact point is always the hardest for me. I'm one of those "I swear it was right there" people, but it usually ends up being a couple yards shorter or to the right or left.

I do the same thing. If I can get a picture before I shoot, even better.

 

[Shrek]

Backpack hunter , that is common and even the best hunters can miss where it was at when you shot. I have learned to really pay attention and the picture is a great idea. In all the excitement and adrenalin you can get totally confused and loose your orientation.

 

[Shrek]

Another thing waiting an hour after the shot does for you is let the adrenaline subside. I bet more than one of us has tripped and fell hard just walking over right after a shot. I know I have. Nerves are just shot and I loose coordination. I have also kicked my lower climber off and had it dangling by its cord and me hanging onto the upper part with bruised ribs to show for it. Sit tight until the rush is gone even if you can see it down. Hiking around a mountain all wobbly from adrenaline is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Jared Lampton]

Good thread. I think the art/skill of blood trailing is probably under-emphasized whether you're bow or rifle hunting. Good job Shrek; sounds like you've had a lot of experience! Blood trailing is what I bring surveyers flagging for. I flag where I was standing when I shot and where the animal was standing (taking a picture is a great idea Backpack hunter). Sometimes this helps me find my arrow by visualizing the direction of its flight. I also flag the blood trail (especially sparse ones) to get an idea of the animals general direction by looking back on the trail.

 

[MOcluck]

Pay attention to the blood itself if you are unsure of your shot,it might help you figure ut where you hit some general rules are
Heart-dark red
Lungs-pink and bubbley
Guts-blood with yellow and green mix may have matter in with it
Leg-dark red with bone fragments and fat

Just a guide not always this way but it can help

 

[Shrek]

Red flagging tape is the thing to use and NOT toilet paper. I had it explained to me by a fellow club member that toilet paper was the thing to use to mark a trail. Later that year I went to help find a "big " deer he had shot but couldn't find. He had marked the spot he thought he had shot the deer with tp and had trailed the stomach contents for about 70 yards marking with tp as he went. Of course , he hadn't waited but about 20 minutes so he bumped the deer out of where it had bedded. It was dark and they were looking for little bits of food and blood and I called it for the night when I arrived so they wouldn't run the deer out of the county. I didn't think about him using tp but during the night it stormed and washed all the tp out of the bushes. It made the morning much more difficult as we had to find the tp on the ground all washed in the pine needles and leaves. I managed to find his "big" deer in the middle of a Cypress pond curled up on a dry spot but it was a" monster "yearling fork horn about 115lbs. Found him by the nearest water theory for a gut shot deer. I lined up the line he took and about two hundred yards that way the line passed about forty yards from the pond so I waded out into it and found him just ten yards in.

 

[bowinhand]

Don't be afraid to get on your hands and knees and look for sign. You might have pin head drops of blood to follow.
Practice with the weapon you will be hunting with an elevated heart rate and in odd positions. Like Shrek said be prepared for a follow up shot

 

[bbrown]

Great thread - thanks Shrek. Good info for beginners and a great reminder for everyone

 

[BroodBuster]

Many members here do not have a lifetime of experience or mentors to guide them on what could make or break your hunt. The after the shot plan.

That's me-Excellent stuff and thanks to all who have contributed.

I've been on a few tracking jobs but all have been real easy so this is extremely helpful information!

 

[unm1136]

Good responses to all. I have yet to bag a big game animal, but this echoes, and fleshes out the information that was pounded into us in Hunter's Safety twenty five years ago.

I will be adding crime scene photography and shooting a quick azimuth to the wait that I plan on enforcing this year. I am going on my mulie hunt this year, my daughter's mulie hunt, and I will be a packboard with feet for a co-worker on his hunt.

pat