Marc Anthony Outdoors

Preparing for your hunt this year may require you to spend some cash preparing your food plots or purchasing new equipment for the upcoming season’s hunt. It’s not hard to spend a few thousand dollars on plant seeds, new bows, fresh arrows, broadheads, clothing, etc. Unfortunately, many hunters forget what’ s needed AFTER the hunt!

Harvesting fresh venison is a treat no one can appreciate unless you happen to be the person making the kill. Let’s face it; there’s a lot of work and money that goes into making these hunts come together! If you add all of the time and family sacrifices along the way, a fresh slab of deer is really a blessing. All to often the preparation leading up to the hunt is executed with passion but the aftermath, which happens to be the deer itself, is treated like nothing more than, well, a dead animal. With that line of thinking, the quality of your deer will resemble just that. What most people don’t understand is the fact that the hunt isn’t over until the game has been properly prepared.

Preparing venison well enough for your palate to be impressed requires good field techniques in addition to great cooking skills. Too many hunters leave the dead animal to lie while they continue to hunt thus causing bacteria and gas to build up into the carcass. That gas pushes through the capillaries ultimately tainting the taste value of the meat. That bacteria is also the number one enemy of the deer’s hide! Anyone looking for a quality whitetail mount must understand that the condition of that hide is paramount to a long lasting mount.

I’ve heard many people complain that venison is too gamy for them to consume but the fact remains; venison isn’t gamy here in the Midwest. That “gamy” taste is a result of improper field preparation. Look at it this way: How many butchers, who handle beef, leave the animal to sit for several hours before they begin the gutting process? The answer is: None! There isn’t one professional butcher around that will kill cattle without immediately gutting it. If you were to kill a cow and leave it lie there for a few hours before gutting it, you’ll also have “gamy” tasting meat. Get the point .

When bringing your freshly killed deer home, some people like to age the deer a few days before they decide to cut it up. Aging, like they do with beef, is a natural process that tenderizes the meat. Aged venison is an absolute treat to eat! When letting your deer hang, or age, make sure the temperatures are cool enough to prevent spoiling though. Usually in the fall, your chances are pretty good it won’t, unless you have an early season bow kill. Once your deer is aged, cut as much fat off as possible. Venison fat isn’t tasty like beef fat! In fact, it’s not desirable at all. By removing the fat, you can assure your meat will taste a whole lot better. If you are grinding your own burger, or even if you have your butcher do it, adding about 10% beef or pork fat to your grind will add flavor and keep your naturally lean venison from falling apart when forming and cooking burgers on the grill.

If you are fortunate enough to kill a buck worth mounting, it’s best to remember to cool that cape down as soon as possible, not to drag the buck anywhere the hide will be showing on the mount and not cut too far up the brisket when field dressing it! Cooling down the cape will stop the bacteria from growing. Bacteria not only cause meat to spoil but cause the hair follicles to detach from the hide itself. This process is called “slipping”. Most of the time slipping won’t be detected until after the tanning has been done to the cape. At that point, you’re already money and time consumed. Finding another cape will be costly! Under all of the excitement of killing a trophy, many hunters forget and drag the deer out by the hind legs. Under these circumstances, the weight of the deer is condensed to the front of the deer and creates an undue load on the hair. This load will wear the hair off and form bald spots. Bald spots are not an easy fix, if they can be fixed at all. Finally, when field dressing the deer, there’s no need to cut the hide all of the way up the middle and through the chest. You need to stop the incision right below the breastplate. You can still easily get to the organs for removal. If you do decide to cut through the chest area, your taxidermist may charge you more to sew it up. Sewing is something you try to avoid if at all possible when putting together a quality mount.

Just by following a few simple steps can make the difference between great tasting meat and horrible tasting meat, a quality mount or a costly mount and lastly, will insure a properly executed hunt from start to finish. They say you can pay once for an education or pay the rest of your life for the lack of one. Why pay at all when you can do these simple things for free?

The scenario comes into play just like you had imagined. You crawled out of bed, made it to your stand unnoticed and now the sun is peaking its head over the horizon. Minutes later, deer silhouette themselves among the trees and are walking toward your stand. Perfect!

Seconds seem like hours as they slowly trickle in your direction. Then it happens; an opportunity presents itself and the arrow flies. You watch the deer jump and flinch, so you know your arrow connected. Now comes decision time; to wait or not to wait, when to pursue, how long is too long, etc? Unfortunately, not all hunters are aware that deciphering and identifying the injury is crucial to receiving the correct answer to those questions.

A successful recovery begins at the point of injury. Before the victory-like emotions radiate from your mind, it’s important to note where the arrow hit the deer. Identifying where the injury occurred is paramount to a solid recovery. Ignoring such vital information will just turn your tracking procedure into a guessing game. Nothing can turn an elated feeling of success south, faster than a lost game animal! Don’t get caught in that trap.

Immediately after the shot, it’s really important to identify where the arrow hit. Lighted nocks are excellent for shot placement identification and I recommend them highly for this very reason! A few inches, either way in the vital areas of a deer, can mean hours or only minutes in your recovery effort. Watch the arrow!

Let’s face it, not all shots are always perfect. We practice and practice but when the time comes, we transition from a foam target to a live and moving animal. It’s really hard to mimic the perfect scenario in your backyard! Animals flinch and targets don’t! Even if we do make that perfect shot, what dictates the amount of time needed before pursing the injured deer?

When I connect an arrow on a deer, I purposely watch the arrow and ignore everything around me. In that spilt second that elapses between the arrow being released and the arrow hitting the deer, my eyes shift from the location of the hit, to the direction the deer is traveling. From that point, science and biology kick-in. It’s now time to become a detective!

What it all means

By knowing the anatomy of a whitetail, you’ll know what to expect when attempting to recover your deer. Only from that knowledge, will you be able to make a determination on when to start looking, how far to expect the injured deer to travel and what kind of evidence to expect when the tracking procedure begins.

Here’s what I recommend:

Stomach shot. Yes, nobody likes to admit it but it does happen. If and when it does, don’t pursue the animal for at least 10-12 hours. Stomach or “gut” shot deer won’t usually travel very far when shot but will easily get pushed when they hear you coming! Don’t go anywhere near the direction they traveled after the shot but plan on returning later.

Heart. If you’re sure you hit the heart, you’ll know soon! If you don’ t see your deer fall within your sight, wait at least 30 minutes before tracking.

Lungs. Even if the hit doesn’t connect with both lungs, expect the deer to bed quickly.

A 30-minute wait usually does the trick.

Neck. Almost always fatal! Even if the deer doesn’t fall immediately, don’t plan on a long trail. In the most extreme cases, wait for about 30 minutes before pursuing a neck-shot deer.

Hindquarters. These wounds bleed a lot but deer with this kind of injury will usually bed down rather quickly. Never push a deer with a wound in the hindquarter! Wait about 3-4 hours before tracking. If the femur artery is hit, plan on finding them less than 100 yards.

Spine. Usually collapses the deer instantly but always do an immediate follow-up shot!

Brisket. If shot placement is dead center, tracking will not be needed. It’s a very difficult shot from a tree stand though, so most attempts miss the vitals. Many times this shot will never kill the deer from a tree stand. Your choice will be either to pursue the deer with the intention to re-shoot it or, or to just let it be. Better yet, don’t take the shot from an elevated position.

Heading this information, you the hunter, can make the difference between a successful hunt and a miserable one. It’s all how you control the sequence of events that will ultimately affect the outcome. Self-discipline and practice are the key ingredients to a clean kill and a resourceful recovery. If you’re like me, I just can’t stand the thought of crippling a deer, let alone losing one. Take the time needed after the shot to lock-in on the arrow and your tracking efforts will be focused!

With regard to trailing wounded deer by identifying the type of blood trail your deer leaves behind; I’ll save that for another article as that is an art all of its own!