Tyler Jordan Buck............
- Thread starter JJBraves
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mayberryrick
Well-Known Member
Prove it haha
I was always taught "wait 30 mins" or "wait an hour." That was until I discovered John Jeannany and his work. Through research and experience John became the foremost expert in tracking and recovering wounded deer. At the time of writing the book I read, he had tracked over 900 wounded deer (if memory serves me correctly).
He changed my mind on a lot of things I "knew."
His advice: immediately begin tracking unless you identify a gut shot. (He goes into detail about identifying where impact was, gut shot is one of the easiest to identify). In that case, you wait SEVERAL hours before beginning to track.
Back to Jordan's buck.
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I was a big fan of Bowriter but IMO this was the dumbest advice he could've ever put out there and completely irresponsible. I know my almost 40 years of deer hunting is a small microcosm, but if you exclude non lethal hits almost 100% of the deer I've seen lost were lost because an impatient hunter jumped it off its death bed never to be seen again. Bowriter loved to go against the grain and buck conventional wisdom. I've always wondered if that's where this originated.
Actually, other than gut or liver shot I do not typically see much of a reason to wait to track myself (unless maybe close to a property you can't access). From what I have seen, most of the time if a deer has time to bed down and lick its wounds to help heal it then the bleeding slows drastically. If it is heart or lung shot then it doesn't really matter, it is not going far anyway. Outside of heart, lung, liver and guts, the more the deer keeps moving the more the bleeding is likely to continue. But you also have to keep in mind the amount of land you have to be able to push the deer. Lots of different scenarios to keep in mind.
Just my input after tracking 100+ deer the past 3 years. And the last 3 years have changed my mindset a good bit. But if there is ever any doubt whether it is gut or not, I still say give it time to be on the safe side.
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Another thing about "pushing" a wounded deer is what if it runs somewhere you can't recover it. Most people don't have hundreds of continuous acres to chase a deer and no one has to give you permission to retrieve your deer on their land. I've always tried to make sure i gave a deer ling enough to expire before following
To each their own. I know what I've witnessed personally and I've never seen anything good come from jumping a deer up and chasing it. Everybody has to do what works for them.
That was a little sarcasm. pull up to someone who has been shot in the vitals at work I make them do burpees before we agree to take them to the hospital.
No, it didn't originate with bowriter. I once believed as you do until I learned from someone else who, at the time, had tracked and recovered almost 1000 wounded deer.
When you think about anatomy and physiology it makes sense. When I treat a gunshot victim at work I'm probably not going to make them do burpees before I take them to the hospital since my objective is their survival.
Keep an open mind and consider that there might be stuff you can learn from others even though you're an experienced hunter. If you write off opposing points of view as silly, you could be missing out.
I agree with this and this old dog has learned a lot of new tricks, however when I personally witness something cause failure almost 100% of the time over 40 years there's no way I'm going to try to make it work for me. To each their own. If someone wants to chase a deer all over the country shooting up the woods trying to make it bleed out, who am I to stop them? I think your shot human vs. shot deer comparison is flawed as well. I'll explain why when I have more time, but I'm fixing to start packing to head to camp.
I've never seen a situation where a deer survived being shot, that would have died if pushed. Either its mortally wounded or it's not. And if it is, then it'll still be just as dead later as it is when first dying. However, if you push it too soon it can cover lots of ground before dying. I'm sure there are instances where pushing a deer might increase the odds of it dying but I've never personally seen it.
Good luck, have a great hunt! We'll meet up in town one day for lunch during late season.
I was wondering if you still lived there. I'd love to meet for lunch sometime!
GOODWIN
Well-Known Member
Every wounded deer I have pushed (only few) was never found. Let them lay now
John tracked several hundred deer at a hunting lodge in south AL while working there. Very rarely did they have the advantage of cold enough temps for the meat to be good if left overnight.
He was also tracking on several thousand acres, so the issue of pushing the deer off the property was pretty low. He was not chasing the deer to make it bleed out. He was simply on the track until he got to a dead deer, even if he jumped it up a time or two.
I'm not sure I agree 100% with the concept, as on a lot of property there is a very real risk of pushing it off the property and having to get permission to continue the track. But, it does work. I shot a doe with my bow on a very hot (90+ deg) afternoon in Stewart Co one year as I walked in to my stand. The deer was on alert, and whirled at the shot, and I ended up further back than I needed to be. I knew the meat would be ruined if I waited very long. So, thinking about what John had told me, I immediately took up the track. There was some hands and knees tracking through a clearcut, so it wasn't much fun. But, I found the deer dead about two hours later, and the meat was still fine.
John was frequently controversial. I suspect he took some pleasure in being so. He was one of the folks that you either liked, or really disliked. I was honored to have him as a friend for many years, and still miss not having him around. Without a doubt he was the picture beside the definition of curmudgeon. But, if you got to know him, you would realize that there was not a chance he was an idiot.
He was also tracking on several thousand acres, so the issue of pushing the deer off the property was pretty low. He was not chasing the deer to make it bleed out. He was simply on the track until he got to a dead deer, even if he jumped it up a time or two.
I'm not sure I agree 100% with the concept, as on a lot of property there is a very real risk of pushing it off the property and having to get permission to continue the track. But, it does work. I shot a doe with my bow on a very hot (90+ deg) afternoon in Stewart Co one year as I walked in to my stand. The deer was on alert, and whirled at the shot, and I ended up further back than I needed to be. I knew the meat would be ruined if I waited very long. So, thinking about what John had told me, I immediately took up the track. There was some hands and knees tracking through a clearcut, so it wasn't much fun. But, I found the deer dead about two hours later, and the meat was still fine.
John was frequently controversial. I suspect he took some pleasure in being so. He was one of the folks that you either liked, or really disliked. I was honored to have him as a friend for many years, and still miss not having him around. Without a doubt he was the picture beside the definition of curmudgeon. But, if you got to know him, you would realize that there was not a chance he was an idiot.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
Much of the time, it may matter little, whether you quickly pursue or wait, to track a deer. Heck, often we see them fall, and there really is no "tracking".
My thinking is that if you wait at least 30 minutes routinely, you run much less risk of jumping the deer before it has died, and in jumping a dying deer, there is where you increase your risk most of not finding it.
If I know I gut shot the deer, or even think a good chance of that, I'm waiting much longer before even going to the spot where the deer stood when shot. Once at that spot, I may decide to wait many hours, or very slowly track, depending on the totality of the circumstance.
And as others point out, jumping a deer and having it suddenly run over 200 yds before it collapses again, often means the deer goes onto some adjoining property where there then becomes all kinds of other issues.
A few years ago, a good friend gut shot a deer, but I didn't know where he hit it, other than he had shot at it, and he thought he hit it. We waited 3 hours before starting to track. Jumped it only 125 yards from where he had shot it. We waited a couple more hours to resume tracking. Found out it ran over 300 yds before lying down again. Found that out by jumping it. On that buck's 2nd jumping, it ran over 500 yds! We found it, dead, right before dark, 875 yds from where shot early that morning.
I really believe with the above gut-shot deer, if we had waited 6 hours before tracking, we likely would have just found it dead, 125 yds from where shot, and would have been an easy drag. As it turned out, he died 875 yards away, at the bottom of a very steep ravine in a 4-yr-old clear-cut. And I've had similar experiences to this several times over the years by starting to track too soon. Not sure I've ever lost a deer by waiting a while before starting to track, but I have certainly failed to find some I began tracking too soon.
My thinking is that if you wait at least 30 minutes routinely, you run much less risk of jumping the deer before it has died, and in jumping a dying deer, there is where you increase your risk most of not finding it.
If I know I gut shot the deer, or even think a good chance of that, I'm waiting much longer before even going to the spot where the deer stood when shot. Once at that spot, I may decide to wait many hours, or very slowly track, depending on the totality of the circumstance.
And as others point out, jumping a deer and having it suddenly run over 200 yds before it collapses again, often means the deer goes onto some adjoining property where there then becomes all kinds of other issues.
A few years ago, a good friend gut shot a deer, but I didn't know where he hit it, other than he had shot at it, and he thought he hit it. We waited 3 hours before starting to track. Jumped it only 125 yards from where he had shot it. We waited a couple more hours to resume tracking. Found out it ran over 300 yds before lying down again. Found that out by jumping it. On that buck's 2nd jumping, it ran over 500 yds! We found it, dead, right before dark, 875 yds from where shot early that morning.
I really believe with the above gut-shot deer, if we had waited 6 hours before tracking, we likely would have just found it dead, 125 yds from where shot, and would have been an easy drag. As it turned out, he died 875 yards away, at the bottom of a very steep ravine in a 4-yr-old clear-cut. And I've had similar experiences to this several times over the years by starting to track too soon. Not sure I've ever lost a deer by waiting a while before starting to track, but I have certainly failed to find some I began tracking too soon.
One big reason I don't track right away is because it takes time to settle my nerves & allow the adrenaline to clear my head so I can think straight. Many, many times once I've calmed down a little & ran the shot back through my memory a few times, I note details that either I ignored in the moment or didn't think were significant.
Me too. Specific circumstances of the situation dictate how I proceed, but I never track a deer I've possibly gut hit. If the deer leaves sight then I'll climb down and go to impact site to look at blood and arrow if it's there, then mark the spot so I can find it later when I come back. If I suspect the deer is within eye or ear shot of me, I just sit tight for a couple hours or until it's dark if an evening hunt, then sneak down & out as quietly as I can the opposite direction of the deer. I like to give 12hrs before starting a gut track. Knock on wood but I've never failed to recover a gut hit deer.
Aside from gut hit deer, I've never recovered a deer that I didn't see or hear crash dead. Every long track I've been on ended up a non-recovery. And given some of the old injuries I've found on deer I've killed, it's no wonder they sometimes lead people on a wild goose chase. Sometimes they just refuse to die. If not given an immediately fatal wound, I think the odds are in the deer's favor of surviving.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
Usually, a gut-shot deer will lay down within @ 75-100 yds of where it was standing when hit. May go farther if shot in a field, not as far if shot in heavy cover.
This assumes that deer did not see or hear you (other than maybe the sound of bow or gunshot).
They will not typically be spooked much by a gunshot as much as seeing a human move.
Many gut shot deer are lost because the shooter has to call his buddy and talk loudly on his cell phone, and/or quickly climb down, while that wounded deer is watching from 75 yds, then gets up, and walks 700 yds before laying back down.
Speaking of "commotion", can only imagine all the movement and sounds of a film crew filming the shooting of some "celebrity" shooter. Wonder if they were immediately "High Fiving" each other?
This assumes that deer did not see or hear you (other than maybe the sound of bow or gunshot).
They will not typically be spooked much by a gunshot as much as seeing a human move.
Many gut shot deer are lost because the shooter has to call his buddy and talk loudly on his cell phone, and/or quickly climb down, while that wounded deer is watching from 75 yds, then gets up, and walks 700 yds before laying back down.
Speaking of "commotion", can only imagine all the movement and sounds of a film crew filming the shooting of some "celebrity" shooter. Wonder if they were immediately "High Fiving" each other?
Probably why John Jeanneny says to wait 6-8 hours before tracking a gut-shot deer.
I live in Texas but am in and out. I'm probably here until January though as holidays are harder to get time off from work.
I agree! I was hunting last year and had a buck at 24 yards slight quarter too. As I squeezed the release, the buck stepped forward. Arrow hit mid body and came out opposite ham. He ran 90 yards across a field and laid down in high grass. Getting up and moving a couple feet and laying back down. Did this 5-6 times for almost 2 hours before getting up and kicking grass really hard and died. The guys that came to help were blown away I told them within 5 feet where the deer was laying in this 70 acre field.
Him laying down with his head up (antler in center of pic through binos)
He's at the 11 of the haybale
see the exit on his rump. Had very little blood but where he laid down. it would have been horrible trying to track him.
