Knowing How the Deer Can Cover Themselves While Trailing

The wounded deer are not like the normal anymore. They try to cover themselves in the thickest woods in order to heal their wounds. We can know that the longer the wounded member remains with the group, the less severe is the wound. It is well for the hunter to remember that a wounded deer is not a normal deer and that it will not act as normal deer.

Rest is nature's remedy for sick and injured animals. (There are herbs in the woods which might be beneficial to a wounded deer, but I have never seen any evidence to show that deer know about, or use, them.) Since rest is what the deer desires, he will head for some thicket where he will be comparatively safe from any disturbance. This place will usually be close to water, for water is necessary to alleviate the fever caused by the wound.

The time elapsed between the wound and the time that the deer heads for seclusion is an indication of the severity of the wound. This may be best observed when the wounded deer is one of a group. The longer the wounded member remains with the group, the less severe is the wound.

The idea of waiting for a wounded deer to find a resting place before following it may be sound in theory, but I prefer to start trailing as soon as I have hit one. It will usually require considerable time to overtake the animal and time is something which is not too plentiful during the deer hunting season. Aside from humane reasons, I want to dispatch the wounded animal as soon as possible and before fever have progressed far enough to affect the meat. The time that is necessary for a wounded deer to "stiffen up" so that it can be easily overtaken is usually so long (often over-night) that the meat will be full of fever-fighting anti-bodies and it will be undesirable, if not unfit for food. This is no objection when the hunter is hunting deer solely as trophies.

As a rule, deer which are seriously wounded are fairly easy to hunt. An exception is the deer which has received an abdominal wound. While this type of wound is nearly always fatal, the deer, if followed, will travel for long distances and is often difficult to approach. Death will often be delayed for several days, so I always make special effort to overtake and kill a deer wounded in this way.

While hunting alone, I have often wished for a companion who could circle ahead and intercept the deer that I was trailing or who could replace me on the trail so that I could make a stalk on some position which seemed particularly promising. This idea of companionship is good, but it is difficult to find a hunting companion who will be a help rather than a hindrance. Two people in the woods will double the amount of scent and noise and unless they are equally used to the woods and to each other's hunting methods, they soon become two individual hunters instead of a team. Unless they work, as a team, the chances of either of them sighting a deer depends more on luck than it does on hunting skill. I have had a few companions that were able to hunt with me and we have shared many a pleasant and successful trip. Others I have hunted with in an effort to give some hunting experience.

Seriously wounded deer are fairly easy to hunt. But it is often very difficult follow the wounded deer which often travels far long distances. And they don't die very soon, so you need to overtake them the wounded deer and kill them.

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