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The Surprising Secret to Retrieve Down Deer in Half the Time
You’ve made the shot and scored a solid hit on the deer. You know it was a
good shot, but the deer took off running. You have a couple options now. Get
down and tear off through the woods hoping you catch the deer or sit in your
tree stand watching where the deer ran.
I choose to sit and watch where the deer runs.
Once the deer is out of my sight, I sit for at least 10 minutes longer looking in the deer’s general direction. As I sit, I watch the bushes for any movement.
After my 10 minute calming period, I climb down from my deer hunting tree stand and walk over to where the deer was standing when I shot. I look at the area to determine if my hit was solid.
Once I determine the hit was good, I sit for another 20 minutes.
After a total of 30 minutes has passed since I took the shot, I begin tracking the deer.
The 30 minutes before tracking a wounded deer that has run allows the deer to find a place to lay down and “stiffen up.” This will also help you avoid pushing the deer farther away from the place you shot it.
I have been fortunate in that only a few deer have run off after I hit them. With each one I waited for 30 minutes before I tracked them. In many cases the deer was found in a bed within 100 yards of my deer hunting tree stand. When I walked up to them, they have usually expired.
If you shoot and know you made a well placed shot, your deer still gets up and runs off, wait 30 minutes before tracking it. This will usually keep the deer a little closer to where you hit it and keep you from pushing it farther into the woods.
Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Marty Prokop
Posted by Marty Prokop
