Blood trailing a Whitetail Deer

There are many exciting events in the life of a Whitetail deer hunter. Not only is shooting an animal exciting, but blood trailing can also be a lot of fun. Blood trailing a Whitetail deer depends on many factors, including what kind of shot you took on the deer. There are 8 main places that you can hit on a deer, and the location of the hit depends on how long you need to wait before recovering the deer.
If you double lung a deer, this means puncturing both lungs(generally a broadside of quartering away shot) you will most likely be able to see your deer go down. I have had to track a few double lung hit whitetails that didn’t go down within my site. These are easy trails to fallow. Pinkish colored blood and lots of it. Sometime the blood of a lung hit deer will have little bubbles in it.. If you notice bubbles it’s a good indication of a lung hit animal. If you only hit one lung. The deer can still easily be recovered. You need to give every animal that does not go down in your site at least 30 minus after your shot. This gives the animal time to expire before you start tracking.
A heart shot deer is much like a double lung hit. You will generally see the animal go down. Requires very little trailing. The deer is dead on it’s feet. Very bright red blood.
Next is trailing a whitetail that has been gut shot. This is a hit that you don’t want to make, but the animal can be recovered if you allow plenty of time after the shot. NEVER TRAIL A GUT SHOT DEER WITH OUT LETTING AT LEAST 6 HOURS PASS! A gut shot deer will not bleed very well. Your arrow will be covered in gut material such as corn bits and other things the deer has eaten. The brownish-red covered arrow will smell very badly. The deer will possibly be hunched and walking slowly as it walks away. They usually don’t bleed right away at point of impact. They general travel 50 to 80 yards before you will start to find blood of the ground. They will try to find a bed within 200 yards and lay down. If you were to start tracking right away or even after 30 minus wait, you will jump the deer up. Pushing the gut shot animal will greatly lessen your chanced of recovering that animal. The deer will run off quickly spilling little or no blood making it almost impossible to find them back. This is why it’s so important to give the deer ample time before starting to trail it up.
A liver shot deer is also easy to recover if handled correctly. The liver hit deer will want to bed down very quickly. Usually with in 100 yards from where the animal was shot. Do not try to get down. The liver shot animal will still very able to run off. It will expire often a lot quicker than a gut shot animal. You need to give a liver shot animal 2-3 hours time before trailing. The blood will be a very dark red color. This shot is in the deer’s middle just in front of the intestines.
Next, is a shoulder shot. This is usually because of a poor shot choice. Never shoot at a deer quartering to you to avoid hitting a deer in the shoulder. If you hit a deer in the shoulder blade if will most likely give you very little penetration. Generally 1 to 4 inches of arrow will be all that goes into the shoulder. I have seen 70 pound draw weight bows go in only a couple inches and other times pass through both shoulder blades and stick into the ground. Regardless of what equipment or weight your shooting you should try to avoid hitting the shoulder blade. The heart and lungs are right behind the shoulder blades and if you do penetrate deep enough you should be able to locate your downed animal quickly.
Lastly, is a leg hit animal. This is a very poor shot. You can recover the animal if everything works out perfectly. This is the only time you would want to push the animal and track immediately after the shot. Pushing the deer is your only hope in recovering it. You will tire the animal out and it will require another shot to put the deer down for good.
Even the best archers mess up if they hunt enough. If you give a wounded deer enough time to expire you should be able to recover it. Wait for those good broadside or quartering away shots. Stay calm and pick your spot…..release!