Approaching Downed Game

A downed deer or other large animal should be approached carefully from above and behind the head.

• If the animal appears to be dead, wait a short distance away for a few minutes. Watch for any rise and fall of the chest cavity.
• Notice if the eyes are closed—the eyes of a dead animal are usually open. You can be certain that the animal is dead if the eye doesn’t blink when touched with a stick.

If the animal is still alive, it should be killed with a quick shot to the base of the ear. If you wish to mount the head, place your shot in the heart-lung area.

Once the animal is dead, immediately tag it, indicating the date of kill. Then begin field dressing.

Approach downed game from above and behind the head; and wait a short distance away, watching for any rise and fall of the chest cavity.

Trailing Wounded Game

It is a hunter’s ethical responsibility to stop the hunt and search for any animal he or she has wounded.

• You should wait for at least a half-hour to an hour before trailing a deer, unless the downed deer is in sight.
• Make a practice of carefully observing every movement of a game animal after you shoot it. Investigate the ground and trail after shooting before assuming you missed.
• Once at the site of the shot, look for signs:
  • Blood on the ground or vegetation
  • Broken twigs or branches, or scattered leaves
  • A “dew” line if early in the morning
  • Tracks
  • Hair, meat, or bone fragments
  • Downhill trails, especially toward water
• If you lose a trail, search in a circular or grid pattern and try to pick up the trail again.
• Use fluorescent orange flagging to mark the blood trail in case darkness or weather forces you to quit the search and return the next day. Marking the blood trail also shows where to look for more signs if you lose the trail. Be sure to remove the orange flagging after use.

A clean kill improves the flavor of game meat. A wounded animal that has to be chased down yields strong-flavored meat because waste products, produced by stress, accumulate in the flesh.