13C Sunny N wind 5 mph.
Friday was the vernal equinox; the first day of spring. This was confirmed yesterday with wonderful weather again. I decided to go into Poor Park to see what was going on. I was a little dismayed when I approached the main path to see a number of vehicles and men with rifles. Farmer B. came over. He’s a nice guy and although we’ve talked about game and hunting in the past, he was a little coy when he said they’d just culled 5 deer. Of course I have no issues with this but I had a feeling not all was right with the world. I went on into the woods after confirming the shoot was over.
As I hobbled into the woods I was overtaken by two of the vehicles I’d just previously seen. Two lads got out of the vehicles and commenced searching the area at the edge of the wood. When I caught up I realised they were looking for tracks and sign. I wondered if they’d shot and injured a deer and it was still out there. They were young lads and had new kit. This was not a good sign. My previous bad feeling seemed more justified.
They confirmed the shot was good and clean but the deer had bolted from the field where it had been hit into the wood. I suspected the shot couldn’t have been that clean. It was a fair way from where they said the deer was hit to the wood. A well placed shot would have seen the deer go down well before it ever reached the woodland edge. I didn’t believe them and knew there would be a wounded deer nearby that had to be found. I said I’d give them a hand; a comment which was ignored.
I quickly found some blood marks but despite feverishly looking for more and of course trying to find fresh tracks amongst the multitude of other tracks, I was at a loss. The two lads went off to the west without even acknowledging my blood find. I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them and had no wish to follow their backs in any case so I followed the path to the north. I found nothing and saw nothing. I was thinking about returning and studying the area in more detail (which I should have done in the first place) when I heard two shots ring out from the west and presumed they had found the “dead” deer.
I continued into the woods and reflected that I had rushed into looking for tracks and signs. I returned later to the same area and again drew a blank. I was beginning to doubt my own ability and I had no idea how the injured deer had gone from the area where the blood was to where it had been eventually found.
The incident dampened the morning a little despite the warm weather.
I re-focused at lunchtime and practiced fire lighting with flint and steel, a cotton yellow duster and dead grass. I was a bit rusty and it took a while but eventually I had a small cooking fire going with which to reheat my left-over Chinese meal (always tastes best after heating up the next day!)
Sightings of a woodpecker, a fox and buzzards helped to raise the spirits even more than the food and by the end of the afternoon I was back to normal.
Activity in the form of two trials motorbikes in an adjacent field drove me from the woods at about 4pm and I returned home.
A strange old day and one to store away in the archives.
Thanks for the visit.
Pablo.
Welcome.
This is the home of Woodlife. You will find links to Pablos Woodlife (blog) the Woodlife Social Network (forum) and Woodlife Trails (courses) all on this page.
often when a deer is lost in the thick cover..if u return the next day and look for crows or ravens they will lead you to the deer..this is not some indian mysticism..the ravens are looking to feed upon the kill,,and will often gather at the site of a fresh fallen large animal waiting for the body to be opened by other animals thus saving them the hard work.. soory to hear of the loss of the deer..it is always a sad thing to loose a animal and feel that it may have dies badly
pablo
Thought provoking as usual
The two shots to ‘anchor’ a ‘dead’ deer marks the boys out as ‘needing guidance’ at the very least. I met an expert stalker a while back and his advice was along the line of ‘ if you haven’t dropped the deer on the spot start knocking on doors and borrow a dog’
On a brighter note good to hear you’re getting out and about
Cheers
SBW
Hey Pabs,
I reckon you should advise against danish oil on axe handles, as it’s way too slick when dried, thanks to the resin dryers.
This is the very reason that it isn’t suitable for floors.
Thinned, raw or boiled tung oil, maybe, but not danish.
A coat of beeswax/carnauba wax & a wire wooling to finish might prolong the life of your oil finish. It works for me:-)
Solid advice from you again & it’s good to know you’re still keeping your head up & still doing your thing
CG – Ok thanks. I’ll take that advice.
Hi Pablo,
Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my last blog entry, “State of the Craft”. I hope I didn’t come off too negative; I certainly believe that while bushcraft may be a kind of craze right now, its far more positive than a lot of other crazes!! Anything to get people engaged in Nature is good by me. Great blog, keep up the good work. Your from across the Pond (and then some…) David C
Pablo, I know you British boys don’t grow up hunting like we Yanks do. If you don’t think me overly forward I’ll give you some advice on following a wounded animal. One thing you need to share with the cullers. They should carry a pump spray bottle containing 10% hydrogen peroxide.There is a effervecient reaction when you spray the chemical on blood.
Technique for following a trail by the blood sign-
Always mark found blood in some way so that you can look back for directionality and continuity.
If you lose the trail go back to last blood sign and make a series of ever widening concentric circles until new sign is found.
Everytime you find new blood stop, look up and scan the area for the animal that is the object of the search.
Sometimes, especially from a bullet wound, blood drops can be small and infrequent. So getting down on your hands and knees may be required to see the tiny droplets. Minimally spray any suspected red spot, efervecience means it’s blood.
Now for what the blood can tell you-
bright red blood like is seen in your posted pic is is from an artery or vein(if it is plentiful you should find the animal, but not quickly. Back off and allow the animal to lay down and calm itself. Slowly and stealthfully take up the trail again constantly scanning ahead for the animal so that you can put another, better placed round into the animal to humanely dispatch it.
If the blood is pink and frothy it is from the lungs. You’ll find the animal soon.
Dark blood is from the liver. You’ll find the animal somewhat farther than a lung hit as a general rule.
If the blood has plant matter or fecal matter the bullet went through the stomach or bowel. Stop trailing it will take up to 12 hours for the animal to die. After 10 hours you can start looking again and the animal will usually be found somewhere on its way to a water source. If you take up a trail on anything but a lung hit you should be as stealthy as possible following it. A stressed animal wil get up from what would have been its death bed if pushed.
I hope this is found helpful. If I overstepped I apologize. God Bless and Happy Trails, HoosierArcher
HoosierArcher – That’s a great tutorial. Thanks for commenting. I’ll certainly bear this in mind if this ever happens again. Cheers and safe travels.