d2wing
Member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
- Messages
- 6,419
IMHO tracking is part of hunting. I am not a fan of deer drives but that is how some folks hunt and it does work. The main problem is getting a good hit on a running deer.
On one hunt a deer burst out of the brush on my left very close and very fast. I shot it but was a little slow a hit too low. I wasn't sure where. It was a dry sunny day with no snow. We should have waited longer but the party was impatient. So the landowner and I set off. The trail was very difficult. We search the ground through a woods looking for bent leaves and grass, we found small drops of blood as well. We got to a ravine and it crossed above us. The other guy was watching with a gun a hit it again. From there we went a cross a field and into another woods. The deer turned South and went over a ridge.we were way behind it. Finally we came out on a CRP meadow with tall grass and matted layers. The party showed up along a road a crooks the field and I lost the trail. We could not find tracks beyond the field so we divided into groups and searched it in sections and lanes. I found tracks but the did not match. Another guy yelled at me and waved me over to a spot 30 yards away. The deer had tunneled into the grass. You would not think a deer could hide under the grass but it did. I felt sad as I put it out of misery with my pistol. The deer had wound through a couple miles of rugged dry terrain and we found it. I have had other difficult tracks but that one sticks out as the most difficult.
Another time I shot a deer while grading the edge of a drive though a very thick woods. I glimpsed a trio slipping around a corner on the edge , I shot the buck. When we got together no one had seen anything including the poster on a narrow strip of bare land between a lake and pond. We searched the area. Since it was a crossing there were lots of tracks and we did not find a blood trail. No one found anything and joked I shot a ghost. I knew better the others started to leave and I retraced my path. The only cover between the poster and where the left the woods was some scatter thin clumps of brush and a couples small rotting logs that we had all walked by. I carefully searched and found the nice 8 point buck. He pressed himself against the log and was nearly invisible until you were right on him. And he was dead. Everyone was amazed. We still don't know what happen to the two deer that were alive. My guess is they crawled through thick grass along the shore.
I much prefer to anchor the deer from a stand or quiet stalk and normally do. As another tracker said. It is best to wait a half hour and let the deer find a place to lay down and die. If you chase them they can go for miles and hide places you would not believe. Learn to track. It makes you a real hunter.
On one hunt a deer burst out of the brush on my left very close and very fast. I shot it but was a little slow a hit too low. I wasn't sure where. It was a dry sunny day with no snow. We should have waited longer but the party was impatient. So the landowner and I set off. The trail was very difficult. We search the ground through a woods looking for bent leaves and grass, we found small drops of blood as well. We got to a ravine and it crossed above us. The other guy was watching with a gun a hit it again. From there we went a cross a field and into another woods. The deer turned South and went over a ridge.we were way behind it. Finally we came out on a CRP meadow with tall grass and matted layers. The party showed up along a road a crooks the field and I lost the trail. We could not find tracks beyond the field so we divided into groups and searched it in sections and lanes. I found tracks but the did not match. Another guy yelled at me and waved me over to a spot 30 yards away. The deer had tunneled into the grass. You would not think a deer could hide under the grass but it did. I felt sad as I put it out of misery with my pistol. The deer had wound through a couple miles of rugged dry terrain and we found it. I have had other difficult tracks but that one sticks out as the most difficult.
Another time I shot a deer while grading the edge of a drive though a very thick woods. I glimpsed a trio slipping around a corner on the edge , I shot the buck. When we got together no one had seen anything including the poster on a narrow strip of bare land between a lake and pond. We searched the area. Since it was a crossing there were lots of tracks and we did not find a blood trail. No one found anything and joked I shot a ghost. I knew better the others started to leave and I retraced my path. The only cover between the poster and where the left the woods was some scatter thin clumps of brush and a couples small rotting logs that we had all walked by. I carefully searched and found the nice 8 point buck. He pressed himself against the log and was nearly invisible until you were right on him. And he was dead. Everyone was amazed. We still don't know what happen to the two deer that were alive. My guess is they crawled through thick grass along the shore.
I much prefer to anchor the deer from a stand or quiet stalk and normally do. As another tracker said. It is best to wait a half hour and let the deer find a place to lay down and die. If you chase them they can go for miles and hide places you would not believe. Learn to track. It makes you a real hunter.
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