re: Finding blood

Getting to the spot where your deer was when you pulled the trigger and not finding blood can surely ruin the party. But you are correct. There may not always be blood there, even if your bullet passed through. It may be a few yards before you start finding some blood to follow. If your bullet didn’t pass through, it’s almost a guarantee you won’t find blood at the point of the shot. I ve found at least 3 bucks over the years that I shot that I had no blood to follow at all. The key is always to watch where they went after the shot. I always go to where he was standing first and look for blood. If I don’t find any, then I’ll move in to where I saw him last. There are no hard set rules for them to follow, but I find many times they run in a straight line for at least the first 20-30 yards. Once again though, each deer is different, and they may not run in a straight line. The first 3 deer I ever shot all crumpled in their tracks. Since then, sometimes they run, sometimes they don’t. I enjoy tracking deer, it’s part of the fun, but I surely like a good blood trail to follow.