Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Take care when tracking deer
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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As anyone who has watched many deer hunting videos will agree, a common cliche after a shot drops an animal in its tracks is, "That's the kind of tracking job I like."
Even if we don't say it during our own hunts, most of us think it, when appropriate.
Sometimes, tracking is part of the deal.
Fortunately, deer hit well with a bullet, slug or arrow rarely go far and are quickly recovered.
But sometimes things don't go so well.
Occasionally a hunter will even face the unenviable task of having to dispatch an animal that is still alive when found.
It's a situation Tim Amos of Boones Mill recently faced after shooting a nice buck with his muzzleloader in Franklin County.
When he and friend Mike Emrich, whom Amos had enlisted to help with the tracking, found the big six-pointer, it was still alive.
Amos raised his gun, aimed, fired and finished the job.
A follow-up shot with a gun to a deer's "boiler room" -- its lung and heart area -- or behind the ear is almost always the best option for dispatching a wounded deer as humanely and efficiently as possible, which is always the goal.
In fact, the only time it's not the best option is when its unsafe or illegal, for example, when a wounded deer is near homes, if the backdrop is not safe or during an archery season.
Then what?
I was asking myself this very question a few years ago during early archery season after I shot a nice buck in the paunch after a branch deflected my arrow.
After leaving the buck alone all night I returned the next morning with a friend and we quickly found the deer. To our dismay, it was still alive, though clearly in bad shape.
It was a Sunday, so I hadn't carried my bow with me.
My best option was to jump on the buck and finish the job with my hunting knife, right?
Wrong.
Deer are incredibly strong. A man is no match for a good-sized buck, even one that's mortally wounded.
When another hunter recently sent me a story about finishing off a wounded buck with a knife my reaction wasn't, "Wow, what a story!" It was, "Wow, you're lucky you're still around to tell this story."
Think about it.
Not only do you have the antler points to worry about, but there's also that knife in your hand.
It's a recipe for disaster.
I avoided it by running to my truck to retrieve my bow so I could dispatch the buck from a safe distance.
One lesson is that it's important to realize what kind of hit you're dealing with and treat each tracking job accordingly.
Paunch-hit deer should be left alone for at least several hours, ideally overnight. Many tracking experts say it's OK to immediately start tracking a muscle-hit deer.
It's also best to assume that every deer will still be alive when you find it.
So, if you're muzzleloader hunting, always take time to reload immediately after the first shot and before you start tracking. Bowhunters should also be ready.
Of course, the Sunday hunting ban complicates things when we end up tracking a Saturday-shot deer on a Sunday.
(When I related my story to a conservation police officer he told me that I should have called to report my situation before I got my bow.)
If it is one of those rare cases when there is no safe or legal way to get the job done with a shot from a bow or gun, a hunter will have to use his best judgment about the risk of trying to dispatch the deer with a knife.
The best way to handle tracking situations is to make them quick and easy by being proficient with our weapons and being careful with shot selection.
When things go wrong, and they do for even the most careful and conscientious hunters, a hunter must weigh his desire to quickly end the chase with common sense about his own safety and the safety of others.
Smith to talk about Smith River
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist Scott Smith will be the guest speaker at Thursday's meeting of the Smith River chapter of Trout Unlimited.
Smith will discuss findings from recent samplings and studies of the Smith River tailwater trout fishery at the meeting, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Rania's Restaurant in Martinsville's historic district, at 147 E. Main St.
The meeting is free and guests are welcome. Attendees are encouraged to purchase meals.
For more information contact chapter president B.J. Walker at (434) 728-1419 or bjfiresq@embarqmail.com, or visit the club Web site at www.smithrivertu.com.
