Blood Trail Philosophy -- Push or Wait?

I was reading the November 2004 issue of Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine over lunch. There was a big article on the "5 Critical Mistakes of Blood Trailing." It all boiled down to this: Let the deer lie down and die. Don't push. I remember 10 years ago this magazine was saying the exact opposite: trail the deer immediately.

Of all the deer I've shot and arrowed, I can only think of two that needed any special treatment. In all the other cases, I've could have walked to the deer and tag it immediately. However, I followed the old sage advice about letting the deer "stiffen up" up until 10 years ago and never pursued a kill until at least 30 minutes after the shot.

When D&DH came out pro-push, it was a revelation. To me, the idea of pursuing a deer immediately made sense. Dead is dead. Wounded? I probably would do more to hasten a fatally shot deer's departure from this mortal coil by pushing it, rather than letting it lay down and recover its composure.

I posted this query to the 24hourcampfire, and found that most folks tended towards pushing—that is getting on trail immediately. One respondent from Canada, CatntheHat had this to say:


”I remeber reading the "push them hard" article and thinking that was a pretty good way of stinkin' up a bunch of nice venison!

I can't remember having to trail one for any length that I shot at with any of my rifles, as they didn't go far.”



To be honest, my tracking skills are rather stunted. Most of my shots have resulted in the deer going down in sight or within 50 yards. That is by no means a boast. I’ve also had two wounded ones that got away in the past twenty years, and I’m not sure if pushing or waiting would have changed the outcome. They both haunt me; that is a fact for sure.

The first was in 1989. I muffed a bow shot and I have no idea where the broadhead connected. In retrospect it might have just been a slice on the foreleg. All I know is I had a bit of blood on the arrow and an intermittent blood trail. In those days, I held firm to the “wait and let them stiffen” catechism. I waited a full half hour before getting down from my stand. I trailed the buck for an hour and a half. When the buck stopped, the blood stopped. When he moved, the wound opened up and flowed. The trail came to a fence, and my buddy would not let me cross. He claimed I’d get shot for sure by the landowner. I finally finally relented after considerable arguing, but I still wish I hadn’t. I never hunted that property or with that buddy again.

The second happened last year. I hit a doe during muzzleloader season. I found out later the sight had been knocked askew and I probably hit way high. I had a small blood trail to follow for about 50 yards and then nothing. I brought out the dog and the Coleman lantern and was doing my best to locate something when we started taking incoming fire from the next ridge. I found out much later that a party had come out and started a shooting contest in their headlights. The target had been an old stump, but the stump was rotten and the shots were blowing through and traveling over the ravine and into the trees above my head. I beat it out of there. At the time, it appeared they were shooting at me. The next morning I found a big blood smear and some drag marks in the bottoms—signs of a hasty field dressing. Oh well.

In those two cases, I don’t know if pushing or waiting would have affected the outcomes. If I knew I had a gut shot deer on my hands, I would probably back off and wait. However, there are a lot of impinging factors. First, we have coyote and wild dog. Any dead deer left in the field would be scattered shreds by morning. Second, would be the chance of precipitation obliterating the sign. Third would be timing. If it’s Sunday night, and I’m due back at work Monday AM, I’m going to do what I can to reduce the deer to possession that night.

If you look at just my experience, pushing seems to be the way to go. The vast majority of deer I’ve shot have been dead in under 15 seconds. The only thing waiting would accomplish is letting the carcass stiffen a bit. The other thing I can tell you is that just getting on the trail can take what seems an eternity, especially in the dark. If the blood trail doesn’t show up for 50 yards, and it is in heavy brush, a deer that expires in 10 seconds can take an hour to find.

The two flyers in this record have nothing in them to suggest my strategy affected the outcome. Call me a pusher, but I’m still open to suggestions.