# Longest amount of time tracking



## Ryan.Anderson (Oct 12, 2004)

Just curious how many people still keep up with the art of tracking, whether the animal is wounded or not. Last year I spent five hours by myself in heavy river bottom cover tracking a whitetail I shot in the rear end. Ended up finding him and decided to put him on my wall because the story behind that deer is what makes him special to me. I shot another deer with the bow when I was a young 16. This deer was shot late at night so we decided to track him the next day. We (my father and I) started a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset tracking this deer. Saw him a number of times running out ahead of us in the river bottom. I don't know how many miles we put on that day, but I've never walked so much in my entire life. We ended up getting him late that night. My shot placement was a little bit low I guess as I hit the forkhorn just a couple inches above the front left hoof busting his leg there. We tracked him enough to where he bled out finally. That was my first deer with the bow and one of my most memorable experiences as a hunter due to the fact that I learned so much from my father in the art of tracking. (little bit of snow to track through with both of those deer)

Lets hear some other stories about tracking if there are any out there.


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## Drew W (Jul 7, 2004)

this weekend myself, my dad a cousin, and the oner of the shaq we stay at spent an hour tracking about a mile for a doe i shot. she never beaded down so we finally gave up on it and wwent to go on to our next push.


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## BigDaddy (Mar 4, 2002)

I drilled a big doe with an arrow in Indiana several years ago in what I thought was a textbook shot placement. The deer took off running through a clump of brush and I waited the mandatory 30 minutes to retrieve her. I found my arrow and it was dripping with blood. I took off tracking the doe and found huge spots of blood (literally looked like I poured an ice bucket of blood).

After 50 yards, however, the blood trail stopped. The deer was hit so good, I thought that it had to be lying in the grass right there. I did several circles, and found the trail again about 75 yards further. The trail went into adjacent private land. I followed the trail a few more yards till it once again disappeared. I backed out, went to my vehicle, and drove over to the landowner's house to let him know of the situation. He was a good guy, and even volunteered to help me with the tracking.

It was now 3 hours after I had shot the doe. The landowner and I took off down the trail once more, and followed it another 100 yards. Much to my surprise the doe got up about 70 yards in front of me across a small ravine. She was wobbly and had a huge blood spot on her side. I couldn't believe that she was alive, let alone standing. She started to walk away from me, and it was too far for a shot. She wobbled into a patch of woods around 400 yards away that belonged to somebody else.

So I hop back in my vehicle and find the owner of the other land. He grants me permission to continue with the tracking. It is now later afternoon, around 7 hours after I had shot the doe. I figured that she was easily dead by now. I found her trail and took off again. All the time, I was finding huge blood spots. I couldn't believe that a deer could lose that much blood! I tracked her through the woods and lost her trail several times. I eventually found her around sunset (I had shot her at 9 am or so that morning). She was laying in a thicket, covered in blood with her head up. She tried to get up, but couldn't. I put her out of her misery and that was that.

I looked her over, and my arrow had penetrated exactly where I had wanted it to. She had lost a ton of blood and made it over a mile through heavy cover. For the life of me, I can't figure out how she made it that far.


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## farmerj (Jun 19, 2004)

2002 up by Walhalla, one of the guys hit a 4X5 and it took off. These things can BLEED for long periods of time and not die...

It was shot at 8:30 in the morning. We tracked it until about 4:00 PM. It was about 3:30 when we heard a shot REALLY close, saw a pickup pull up to the road about a quarter mile away, throw a deer in the truck and leave.... :evil: :evil:

Guess where the trail ended..... :******: :******: :******:


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## smalls (Sep 9, 2003)

Farmerj, I don't think you can be angry at that, obviously the shot your friend made wasn't very fatal if it was still running nearly 8 hours later. Who knows if you'd have ever gotten close enough for a shot.

I can see being angry if you shoot one and someone else loads it while you retrieve a vehicle or something, but the other guy/group obviously put the "killing" shot into it, which my G&F standards constitutes ownership.


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## 870 XPRS (Mar 12, 2003)

come on smalls, everyone knows that 3 of these in a row.... :******: :******: :******: = frustration and not anger, and I wish a horrid week of fantasy upon you.


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## smalls (Sep 9, 2003)

bring it n*sync!

Deltaboy is going to WASTE you this week!


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## mallardhunter (May 15, 2004)

Come on guys settle down. :shake:


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## farmerj (Jun 19, 2004)

smalls said:


> Farmerj, I don't think you can be angry at that, obviously the shot your friend made wasn't very fatal if it was still running nearly 8 hours later. Who knows if you'd have ever gotten close enough for a shot.
> 
> I can see being angry if you shoot one and someone else loads it while you retrieve a vehicle or something, but the other guy/group obviously put the "killing" shot into it, which my G&F standards constitutes ownership.


What was fun about that day, was seeing how long the deer kept moving. 2 times I know we were close to the deer as we could hear it jump up from bedding down. Twice we found where it had bedded and left conciderable blood beds.

That same day we had to track a doe that was shot at dark until 9:00 that night. We finally lost it when the tracks got messed up in a deer trail and we lost blood.

We spent more time tracking than hunting that day. We also learned some very important lessons too. That being, if you are tracking a deer, and it keeps moving on you, stop, take a step back, have a cup of Jo, a sandwich and maybe even a nap. The deer ain't dead by a long shot.

I now tell my wife, if you shoot a deer and it runs, stop, come find me and leave your hat where you last saw the deer or blood.


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## Ryan.Anderson (Oct 12, 2004)

Some decent advice. But not allways 100% correct. Sometimes I believe the best chance at retrieving the deer is to keep on it's trail right after the shot to keep it bleeding. It all depends on if you know where you hit the deer and if it is going to rain or the snow is melting, ect ect...


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## mallardhunter (May 15, 2004)

I like to stay right on the deer after I shoot it.


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

It depends on where it was hit.If it is a gut shot.leave it be for 4 or more hours.The entry and exit holes plug up quickly and make for miserable tracking.mucle and leg hits,good luck.If you can,get your buddies together and do some drives where the deer bedded down.Deer can run like hell on 3 legs.The text book shot in the boiler maker should have them down within 150 yards.


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## SniperPride (Sep 20, 2004)

Farthest I have tracked any deer I have ever shot is 15 yards, if you call that tracking


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## agrotom (Sep 14, 2004)

The question is the amount of time spent tracking a deer. A buddy of mine and I spent a day and a half tracking a wounded buck (bow hunting) and ended up killing it that next day. Stay on them if you can. :lol:


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

One of the reasons I shoot a 300 mag with 200 grain NP's is I kill what I hit! never had to track one. I will not take a shot unless I am positive I can take it down.

my two cents

Bob


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

A freind of mine shot a deer in the back leg, and it dropped when he got within 30 yards of it he could see it's head sticking up so he shot it the neck. It's head dropped and he walked up to it and checked it. It seemed to be dead. He tagged it and looked at it. It was a 8x9 with split brow tines. He then took a picture, and marked the spot. He walked over the hill to get his dad.

They returned to find the deer gone. They thought someone stole it, but they followed the blood trail to a ravine and could see where it had fallen down the hill and then it had gotten back up and ran another 1/2 mile to a spot where it beded down. It wandered into a swamp and they spent 2 days there looking w/o finding it.

That would be a fun one to see running, w/ a tag on it's right antler. He said he would get me the pic to show.


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## Ryan.Anderson (Oct 12, 2004)

lol P&Y. That reminds me of a story I read in an outdoor magazine. It was one of those "it happened to me" articles. A hunter bought a new gun and took a decent sized buck with it. When taking the pictures with his gun in the deer's antlers, the deer took off running with his gun stuck in his rack. Now that would be a nice deer to take. Not only do you get a decent rack, but a brand new rifle on top of it. You never really can tell with those articles, but it makes me wonder somtimes if the deer I'm appoaching is dead, or maybe just knocked out for a while.


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## farmerj (Jun 19, 2004)

2002 we had been driving a tree stand. at the end, a buck come walking across the field towards me from a group of posted trees. It wa as if the think was not even seeing us.

Got to with in 150 yards and one shot to the chest drops the deer from a .308.

We listen to it and finally decide it is time to just end the pain, so I start to dress the deer out. It was then I found out the bullet had enter just inside the left front leg, travelled up the rib cage and lodged in the back strap behind the rib cage. A total distance of about 22 inches. Never once did it penetrate or do ANY damage to a vital organ.

The deer could have very easily recovered from this wound with a limp in the left front leg. The muscle was still usable still and undamaged. I am thinking he went down from a ton of bricks hitting it in the chest.

You never know how well you hit a deer until it's dressed out or the damage is obvious.


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## northerndave (Dec 6, 2004)

last year, nice 8 pointer. screwed up my first shot & busted a hind leg in the ham. total of 24 hours tracking, covered 8 miles (tracked the route with GPS) didn't give up on him, I knew I screwed up, he was fataly woulded & I was going to finish the job. Got him on day 2. Waiting for him to come back from taxidermist.


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## Ryan_Todd (Apr 11, 2004)

my dad shot a nice buck once right in the brisket and it ran for nine miles and crossed the river three times. they finally cornered it in a farmstead and got it. my dad stuck a stick in the hole where he shot it and it went right through the bottom of the heart. i don't know how he went that far.


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## yotebuster (Dec 3, 2004)

Mid september of this year i hit what i thought was about a 150 class buck. he ran a ways then stopped and i was able to see the arrow sticking out of him. he was quartering away when i shot and the arrow placement looked decent. he ran off and i came back about 2 hrs later to check and see what kind of blood he was bleeding, (it was dark by now), it was good lung blood so i started tracking him expecting him dead within the next 150 yards. i trailed him for about 300 yards and he was still bleeding good, but i decided to not push him and leavie him for the night since he had already gone so far. i picked up the trail the next morning, followed it for another 200 yards and found his empty bed. he had left and the blood trail had dried up. i felt sick, i watched for him for the rest of the year and never saw him again. i thought he had died till my dad jumped him and shot him opening day of rifle season. i got to see where i had hit him when we cleaned him, he was hit quartering right up into the vitals, and half of one of his lungs was all hard and black. i couldnt believe he lived through a lung shot, but im just glad we ended up getting him, he'll score in the low 150s. man that would have been a nice one to get w/ my bow!!


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

Still tracking one I shot at 4 or 5 years ago.


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## big_k105 (Jul 19, 2004)

me, my dad, and little brother tracked a big doe for about 2 or 3 hours she had pretty much circled around this field and we ended up almost back at the road when we finally found here


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## bretts (Feb 24, 2004)

I think, I may not be right, but tracking a deer right after you shoot it is one of the worsts things you can do. A deer can go for miles if you push it right after the shot. I seen it many times when guys shoot a deer and start tracking it right away and end up not getting it. My motto when hunting is if your not perfectly comfortable with the shot then let it be for a couple of hours and let the deer bed down. A deer bedded down will give you less tracking and greater chance of retreiving then a deer on the run. I think we as hunters owe it to the deer we shoot to just let it die by letting it bed down, then jumping it over and over. I think your chances will greatly increase by giving your deer time.


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## Quackkills9 (Oct 25, 2004)

i dont track right after i shoot, except if i drop it in its tracks then its down but after a lung hit or gut shot i wait for couple hours.. especially on gut shots i let it go for overnight then i would look for it the next morning but before dark i do the same, let it go for the night and die in its bed. this year my friends brother shot a nice 12 pointer 30 yds away with his .280 and hit it low and he got down right after he shot and said I GOT IT! and then it pushed the buck more further and finally stopped and looked for it again the next day and didnt find it... my friends family they dont really sight in their rifles every year and they always switch guns with their dad, 3 brothers, asking which one do they want to use today, tomorrow, im like use one that fits your shot and i honestly think its stupid they dont sight in their guns every season, sometimes its not off but it possibly could, but good to shoot it before the season starts. so i hoped they learned a lesson. My dad managed to shoot a 120 class 10 pt and a 7 pt, it had 6 points on one side and the brow tine on the other side, he broke his antler like 3-4 months ago, pretty decent deer, if both antlers i would say 150-155 class. interesting though. Hope your season was good/fun and safe year. :lol:


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## Quackkills9 (Oct 25, 2004)

the furthest I have tracked a deer is about 15 yds...  I guess I am a perfect shot! jk guys!


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## Ryan.Anderson (Oct 12, 2004)

You can't allways wait for a couple of hours to track. I've shot some deer in heavy snowfall. There is no way that if we waited till the next day that we would have found my deer. Rain also would mess up tracking fairly easy, although I've never been put in that situation yet. One thing that I find as a challenge is when the deer crosses a river that isn't frozen over yet, or even a creek. I hate having to back track miles to get arround the river, and sometimes the water gets so high up on the deer, that it washes away the blood for a period of time. Just about 99% of people will say that they prefer tracking at least a half hour after the shot. I myself like to get right on the deer if at all possible so I might see where he's running off to.


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## vinuprro (Oct 25, 2010)

You just shot the biggest buck you've ever seen and he left the scene like a racehorse out the gate. I've been in this exact situation as I'm sure many of you have. What happens next can determine whether or not your chewing on venison jerky this winter. I've been involved with tracking over a hundred deer and throughout the years I've learned a lot about tracking simply by osmosis.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

you had to dig back 6 years to find this????Showing your website is spam.If you want to do that,please become a sponsor.


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## oldfireguy (Jun 23, 2005)

I shot at a nice 8 pointer some years back and found a bit of hair and bone, but no blood trail. All I had to go on was a set of tracks. My eyesight not being as good as it once was I ended up working the trail backwards. The first good sign found was a shed 6 point rack. Continuing on, I located the shed fork-horn but never found the spikes. Lost the trail where the fawn lost its spots. I never did locate the 8 ponter. My bad.

Next.....


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