You've scouted and set up stands. You've sighted in your guns or practiced with your bow. Finally the buck you're looking for comes in and the shot is made. How long will the trailing process take you? Will you find your buck?

The biggest mistake by far that hunters make when taking up a blood trail is not waiting long enough and not giving the deer enough time to lie down. Most wounded deer will bed down within 40 yards of where they were shot. However, if you push a deer too quickly, it may end up traveling 400 yards or more before being found.

Understanding how to track and find blood can make the difference between having meat in the freezer and a trophy to hang on the wall or coming home with nothing at all. You make a plan when you hunt to increase your chance of success, but if you attempt to track without a plan, your chances of success are greatly reduced.

I sell blood-detection products to law enforcement, and my business has given me a lot of information on what to look for and what a blood trail can tell you about the hit you've made on a deer. I'm often called to help look for wounded deer after all hope seems to be lost, because people know that I can find blood that is not easily seen.

POINTS TO PONDER
Blood trails can be misleading. A lot of blood does not necessarily indicate a mortal wound. Nor does a seeming lack of blood necessarily mean the animal isn't dead. The reaction of the animal and the blood pattern will give us a better understanding of how to go about making a plan to recover an animal. Normally, deer do not bleed to death. An animal that weighs 160 pounds must lose 45-plus ounces of blood to die from blood loss alone. Deer will die faster from trauma than from blood loss, and a combination of both is by far the best scenario.

Most deer can travel very fast when wounded. They can hit 35 mph, and even if they die quickly after the shot, they can travel a long distance before collapsing. A wounded deer will not go far unless it is pushed. Therefore it's always a good idea to sit still for at least a half-hour after the shot, unless you want to make the tracking job a lot more difficult.

Deer often travel in loose family groups, and those in the rear of the group can help by showing you where the wounded animal traveled. Spooking these deer could remove helpful clues as to the whereabouts of your trophy, so always use caution.

BE OBSERVANT
Pay attention to the reaction of the deer the moment it is shot, as this is your first clue to helping you know how to find it. The reaction can be deceiving, but it is still important. I have shot deer and had them look at me like nothing happened, only to watch them fall over where they stood. I have also had many hunters tell me that they knocked the animal down, only to watch it suddenly jump up and run off, leaving lots of blood. That's the one that I hate to hear the most.

First of all, body shots that do not hit the neck or spine will rarely make deer drop, and if the neck or spine is hit, the animal is usually disabled and will not be able to get up. Experience from the "dropped and got up and left lots of blood" situations tells me it was most likely a low shoulder or leg shot. The falling down likely means the leg was broken. Leg-muscle hits leave lots of blood in the first 100 yards, but then the blood trail fades fast. There will be lots of large spots of blood as the animal stands in one spot or leans against a tree. Even with a broken leg (or two), a deer can run very fast.

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