Hunting is full of lessons, and one of the best things about it is that you never stop learning. New experiences that make us better hunters are found on every trip if you’re receptive and looking for them, regardless of whether you harvest an animal or not. Sometimes, you need the help of a friend or guide to see them, and tracking dogs are one of the best friends to have to teach us how wounded game actually behaves after the shot, especially on marginally wounded animals. Here in Tennessee, as in many states, tracking must be done on lead, so unlike states where un-leashed tracking can be done, and handlers wait to see on GPS, or hear a dog bay upon the recovery, and just walk to it, handlers on lead have a better chance of seeing all the sign along the way from the hit site to recovery site. Drops of blood (or lack of it), beds, terrain changes, brush, distance, time – they all yield clues.
For visual learners like me, the amount of information you can see and translate to an outcome is staggering in just one season, and it is why seasoned tracking teams become such valuable resources to the hunting community.
Tracking for the public with my teckel, Jaeger, for three years has taught me more about wounded game behavior than my 30+ years of hunting ever did. That’s largely because, like most hunters with decades of experience, I still only personally had a couple of mystery, ‘the one that got away’ stories. We’ve all been there, and we never forget them. Yet, once the word is out about a talented tracking dog, with the thousands of hunters in the field every day, the odds shift, and you could get to help others in that same situation almost daily across a state if you wanted to.
Hopefully, you’ll never need the help of a tracking team, and everything you shoot falls within sight with an easy-to-follow blood trail. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t always work that way, and when that sinking feeling in your stomach sets in, maybe something here will help you decide to tilt the odds in your favor.
Here are the Top 5 Lessons That Tracking Dogs Teach Us that will help you make that decision.
1) Time Matters
Giving a deer time after the shot always increases the odds of recovery. Hunting is a game of probability and statistics. We, as hunters, are constantly trying to improve our chances of a successful harvest. That’s true both before the shot opportunity and after the shot to make a recovery. General guidance is to wait for a half-hour after a shot to look. I will caveat that if you don’t see the game fall, wait at least an hour – longer if you can. If your buck is dead within an hour, he’ll still be dead within 4 hours. If he’s not dead within an hour, and you bump him from his first bed, the odds of recovery start to fall quickly. The majority of mortally wounded deer will bed within the first 250 yards if left undisturbed. If you give it enough time, even if still alive when you track it, it may be weakened enough for a follow-up shot hours later, where if it’s within an hour, it will still have the strength to get up and run. Moreover, a wounded deer that’s been bumped can quickly cover a half-mile or more when still strong. That may bump it off of your property, and it also lays a larger coyote cast net than just giving it all the time you can to expire in its first bed. They can track your deer just as good as Jaeger can. Once a deer has been bumped once, or you find one empty wound bed, back out and wait 6-12 hours, and it’s a good time to enlist the help of a dog.
2) When ‘Good Blood’ is ‘Bad Blood’
‘I got good blood’ is something trackers hear a lot. If it was good, you wouldn’t need our help. Despite what you may think, a blood trail that goes on for hundreds of yards with no beds is not a good thing. That’s generally the sign of a good flesh or leg wound, and the deer is simply running or walking away, or you’re pushing it. Lower leg wounds, high back, shoulder, ham, etc all can bleed consistently for quite a distance. Low brisket shots bleed a ton and deer bed frequently but are rarely recovered. If you’ve traveled hundreds of yards from a hit site and even if the blood is still obvious, back out, and wait 6-12 hours, and it’s a good time to enlist the help of a dog. The ‘good blood’ calls are usually the tracks that get called off after going a mile or more, and the hunter calls back in a few weeks with a picture of the deer they shot alive and well on a game camera.
3) Bone Is Not Good Sign
‘I got bone’ means a leg hit 90+% of the time and low odds of recovery (on lead). Everybody wants to shoot their deer broadside through the vitals, and therefore everybody thinks that when they find bone at a hit site, that is it from the ribs. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and usually it’s leg bone. If you find bone with any curvature to it, on the outside or inside where it’s hollow, it’s from the leg. If you shoot a deer through its upper leg on the body, you may get bone from the exit leg, but it’s highly unlikely you’ll need a dog to help as those deer usually don’t take a step.
More than likely, the shot was low and a little forward, and you hit lower leg or right where their elbow meets their lower belly line. Short white fur at the hit site is also an indicator of a leg hit. Those deer can bleed a lot, and blood that looks like it’s been written in lines like a squirt gun is often another indicator as to the stream of blood slings off the usually flopping and broken leg as they run—kind of like a loose fire hose. Sometimes it can be yards away from the actual line the deer ran. Rib bone is distinctly flat with almost 90-degree edges. It’s thin and fractures easily into small splinter like fragments from a bullet, and those are usually contained by the hide.
Another indicator as to the type of bone you find is where you find it. As a deer runs, the legs move quite a bit, and bone fragments can work themselves out of a wound. However, suppose you watch the ribs of a moving mammal like a deer, even when running. In that case, they don’t actually move that much, and those small splinters of rib bone still don’t work themselves out. When you find bone many yards into a track, it’s almost always leg bone.
Leg hit deer are rarely recovered on lead. It does occasionally happen, but there’s good odds coyotes will beat you to it. The lesson of giving time still applies. This past season we recovered two different leg hits – one was a doe hit in the rear knee by a crossbow. She was found alive, bedded roughly 6 hours later, and allowed for a follow-up shot. The other was forward brisket shot quartering in that exited the far leg but never entered the rib cage. That carcass was recovered 16 hours later, 1400 yards of tracking later, with neck meat that was still warm to the touch, so the buck was alive all night. That buck was likely only recovered because the hunters backed out and didn’t bump it from its first bed, and coyotes finished it that morning before we arrived at 9 AM.
4) Blood is Red, And Not All Bubbles Are Made the Same
Blood is red. All of it, every last drop, no matter where it originated. So many people say ‘I have bright red blood’ when it is just muscle blood, which can be darker or brighter depending on how oxygenated it is. Bright red blood does not mean lung blood; it just means oxygenated blood, which flows down the leg. Darker blood does not mean liver blood; it just means deoxygenated blood, which also flows down the leg. Leg hits often generate contrasting shades of red blood, leading people to think they have heart/liver blood. Trust me; if you did, you won’t need any help finding that deer. Lung blood is more bright pink than red. Unless it’s a one-lung hit, which a deer can survive, lung shots rarely need the help of a tracking dog
Liver blood, also red, is almost maroon to black once dried. Liver shot deer can live a long time, and you want to give that deer extra time any time you suspect a liver hit. Liver shot deer can take 6-12 hours to expire, and if I had to put one category on the shot most likely to be bumped, it’s a liver shot deer. Gutshot deer take longer—12-24 hours or more—but most people know a gutshot from the way the deer hunches up and gut sign, so they’ll back out. Liver shots yield blood, so people follow it, but that often results in a bumped deer.
I personally liver shot a buck with a muzzleloader a couple of seasons ago, miles deep on public land. I hiked out and waited six hours to return with Jaeger. We found that buck in its first bed a few hundred yards from the hit site, as limber as if it had died just seconds before we arrived. Had I gone sooner and jumped that buck alive, I can’t even imagine how far he could have gone.
The other point I want to bring up here is bubbles in the blood. They can happen from a lot of shots that are not always lung. Bubbly lung blood is foamy and looks almost like a pink sponge with many tiny diameter bubbles. It really looks more like foam than blood. Again, you probably won’t need a tracking dog unless it is a steep angle one lung shot, or big hog or bear or other large game with minimal arrow penetration.
Bubbles in blood on the ground that is commonly mistaken for lung are usually from blood spattering on itself where a deer stood for a while—kind of like when men pee on the ground and it foams. Artery blood free-flowing can splash on itself and capture enough air to form bubbles as it settles. There may be a lot of blood, but usually few bubbles.
The other shot that can even generate foamy blood are shots through the leg/low brisket or quartering in through armpits and outside of the rib cage. Shoulder blades on deer are not connected with a joint but just with connective tissue. Anybody who’s quartered a deer knows that foamy connective tissue you cut through with your knife when you removed the front shoulder. With a shot through that area, blood collects in that connective tissue, and as the deer runs, it foams up, almost like washing our hands with soap. That foamy blood created by the leg’s motion falls to the ground as the deer runs and confuses people into thinking it is lung blood. One of the giveaways is the bubbles tend to be few and much larger in diameter than the foamy appearance of lung blood. If you find fat in the blood, which looks like small white dots, that’s another indicator of a brisket shot. You can smear them on your finger and if they spread like grease, it is confirmation of fat in the blood.
5) They Know A Lot More Than We Even Think We Do
Most people think ‘blood’ is linked to ‘tracking dog,’ and that blood is required to track, but the real value of a professional tracking dog is proven when there is no blood or sign at all. We’ve talked a lot about blood here because the time to wait to track or knowing when to call a tracking dog is the human element. Those decisions are based largely on initial hit signs – those are our decisions that weigh into the probability of tracking success.
Once on a scent, a tracking dog isn’t looking at its watch, it is taking in scent inputs and calculating an equation that we don’t even understand. Body scent, tarsal gland scent, disturbed earth scent, blood scent, interdigital glad scent, musk scent, gas escaping from wound scent – who knows, we never will, and that’s ok. What is important, is that they do.
I’ve shared a lot here, and while I may have seen and experienced a lot between my hunting and tracking career, the one thing I know is that I still don’t know the outcome of any track. As I said before, hunting, and tracking, are all a game of probability and statistics. Weird things happen on marginal shots, and our decisions after the shot factor heavily into the end result—millimeters of anatomy matter when shots aren’t perfect.
I can say with 100% confidence that a professional tracking dog’s nose beats our eyes and pre-conceived notions of what a wounded deer does 100% of the time. Being part of the tracking team proves what deer do and where deer actually go. Uphill or downhill doesn’t matter, going to water doesn’t matter, throw all of those wives’ tales out. We’ve tracked and recovered deer up rock bluffs and on mountain tops. Yes, deer are often found in creek bottoms or near water, but guess what? Water flows downhill, and so does anything moving, naturally because of gravity. Deer are often found in low spots, where water collects, simply because gravity funneled them there as they got weaker and they eventually couldn’t climb.
The bottom line is that there’s no need to speculate when a professional tracking dog resource is likely available. United Blood Trackers is a national organization of trackers that provides testing for tracking dog and handler teams, a summary of regulations by state, and aids for finding trackers near you.
More than once, I’ve heard ‘Jaeger just tracked in two minutes what it took us three hours to cover.’ Yeah, because he knows where it went without looking for red drops.
For more information, visit www.jaegertracks.com, or follow @jaegertracks on Instagram/Facebook/Youtube.
binance bonus za prijavo
May 24, 2024 at 8:28 pm
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.
binance Konto
July 16, 2024 at 12:45 pm
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
Anonymous
July 25, 2024 at 9:16 pm
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?
Gii thiu binance
August 2, 2024 at 6:08 pm
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
best delta 9 gummies
July 14, 2025 at 11:27 pm
Good shout.
thc gummies for anxiety
July 18, 2025 at 5:50 am
thc gummies for anxiety area 52
mood thc gummies
July 18, 2025 at 6:02 am
mood thc gummies area 52
microdosing edibles
July 18, 2025 at 6:09 am
microdosing edibles area 52
best pre rolls
July 18, 2025 at 6:24 am
best pre rolls area 52
snow caps thca
July 18, 2025 at 6:24 am
snow caps thca area 52
thc gummies for pain
July 18, 2025 at 6:34 am
thc gummies for pain area 52
sativa vape
July 18, 2025 at 6:34 am
sativa vape area 52
live rosin gummies
July 18, 2025 at 6:36 am
live rosin gummies area 52
live resin gummies
July 18, 2025 at 6:44 am
live resin gummies area 52
thc oil
July 18, 2025 at 6:58 am
thc oil area 52
CBD Gummies 2025: Best CBD Gummies for Pain Anxiety & Sleep
July 18, 2025 at 7:40 am
NP
live resin
July 18, 2025 at 7:44 am
live resin area 52
thc sleep gummies
July 18, 2025 at 8:22 am
thc sleep gummies area 52
full spectrum cbd gummies
July 18, 2025 at 8:32 am
full spectrum cbd gummies area 52
where to buy shrooms
July 18, 2025 at 8:38 am
where to buy shrooms area 52
disposable weed pen
July 18, 2025 at 8:38 am
FD
live resin carts
July 18, 2025 at 8:42 am
live resin carts area 52
where to buy thca
July 18, 2025 at 8:48 am
where to buy thca area 52
best disposable vaporizers
July 18, 2025 at 8:50 am
best disposable vaporizers area 52
thc tinctures
July 18, 2025 at 8:56 am
thc tinctures area 52
thca diamonds
July 18, 2025 at 9:04 am
thca diamonds area 52
thcv gummies
July 18, 2025 at 9:04 am
thcv gummies area 52
distillate carts
July 18, 2025 at 9:14 am
distillate carts area 52
best indica thc weed pens
July 18, 2025 at 9:16 am
best indica thc weed pens area 52
disposable weed pen
July 18, 2025 at 9:24 am
disposable weed pen area 52
thca gummies
July 18, 2025 at 10:12 am
thca gummies area 52
weed vape
July 18, 2025 at 10:34 am
weed vape area 52
indica gummies
July 18, 2025 at 10:34 am
indica gummies area 52
liquid diamonds
July 18, 2025 at 11:12 am
liquid diamonds area 52
liquid thc
July 18, 2025 at 11:32 am
liquid thc area 52
best thca
July 18, 2025 at 12:10 pm
best thca area 52
hybrid gummies
July 18, 2025 at 12:48 pm
hybrid gummies area 52
CBD Gummies 2025: Best CBD Gummies for Pain Anxiety & Sleep
July 18, 2025 at 3:20 pm
BY
google analytics alternative
August 28, 2025 at 11:31 pm
Google Analytics Alternative
av 女優
January 28, 2026 at 11:06 pm
Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team
of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us beneficial information to
work on. You have done a marvellous job!
auonlinecasino
January 31, 2026 at 12:00 am
Live football scores with detailed match statistics, possession, shots, and player ratings
hi88
February 4, 2026 at 5:14 am
Hey there, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it
has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick
heads up! Other then that, awesome blog!
winpot
February 5, 2026 at 6:01 am
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this subject, but you sound like you know
what you’re talking about! Thanks
運彩世足
February 11, 2026 at 8:29 am
超人和露易斯第三季高清完整版智能AI观看体验优化，海外华人可免费观看最新热播剧集。
https://pinco-casino-qazaqstan.com.kz/
February 13, 2026 at 5:58 am
Ассортимент игр не перегружает психику. Нет ощущения бесконечной ленты. В середине навигации по pinco понимаешь: каталог собран аккуратно, будто кто-то заранее подумал о внимании пользователя.
小宝影视xiaobaotv
February 15, 2026 at 8:05 pm
电影网站推荐，运用AI智能推荐算法，海外华人专用，运用AI智能推荐算法，支持中英双语界面和全球加速。
onlinecasino
February 19, 2026 at 8:59 am
Top Online Casinos Australia Real Money Including
xxxvids
February 22, 2026 at 12:04 pm
爱亦凡海外版2026 高清视频 全球加速 大数据AI分析
国产自拍小宝影视
February 22, 2026 at 1:46 pm
成何体统2026 丞磊王楚然双穿书 高清现代甜宠 无广告高清观看
aussieonlinecasinos
February 25, 2026 at 10:02 am
yifan平台2026 最新高清影视 无广告 AI智能推荐
小宝影视电影
February 25, 2026 at 5:32 pm
狼队2-2绝平枪手！2026英超比分神剧情，主帅直呼“像赢了”，阿森纳领先优势告急，足球新闻太刺激！
Makeup Artist Case
March 2, 2026 at 7:11 am
Great beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your site, how can i subscribe for a blog web site?
The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit
acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear concept
pad.geolab.space
March 12, 2026 at 6:07 pm
western lotto
References:
pad.geolab.space
pgslotdemoportuguês
March 17, 2026 at 5:40 pm
Jogo do Tigrinho estratégia conservadora: R$0,25 por giro e paciência de 1500 spins
a5game
April 5, 2026 at 2:56 am
Wild Bandito: o bandido mexicano está entregando bons wins?
demo-fortune-rabbit-2026
April 5, 2026 at 4:20 pm
Wild Bandito sticky wilds: quem já ativou vários?
fortune-rabbit-2026-2
April 6, 2026 at 3:39 am
Jogo do Tigrinho continua quente em 2026, quem já pegou um bom win essa semana?
funciona-jogo-tigrinho
April 6, 2026 at 5:14 pm
PG Soft 2026: qual cassino tá dando mais bônus agora?
how-to-win-at-slots
April 6, 2026 at 10:56 pm
PG Soft 2026: qual jogo da PG está pagando mais consistente no momento?
a5game
April 7, 2026 at 3:19 am
Fortune Dragon novo lançamento PG Soft: já testou o dragão dourado?
what-is-the-game-minutes-in
April 7, 2026 at 5:51 am
Fortune Rabbit tá pagando mais que o Tigrinho essa semana? Mostra seu maior respin!
candy-bonanza-2026
April 7, 2026 at 6:21 am
PG Soft cashback diário: quem já recuperou uma boa quantia essa semana?
super-dragon-hatch
April 11, 2026 at 9:43 am
Wild Bandito: o sticky wild tá aparecendo bastante para vocês?
dv-slots
April 13, 2026 at 4:38 am
PG Soft cashback diário: quem já recuperou mais de R$600 essa semana?
888bet-casino
April 13, 2026 at 2:45 pm
Jogo do Tigrinho ao vivo no Pix: quem já sacou rápido?
feng-shui-prosperidade-casa
April 13, 2026 at 11:47 pm
Jogo do Tigrinho 2026: o que está funcionando melhor para sua banca?
plataforma-demo-pg
April 14, 2026 at 2:45 am
Fortune Rabbit respin explosivo: quem já pegou 10 seguidos?
777-slots
April 14, 2026 at 5:06 am
Wild Bandito: quem acha que ele está mais quente que o Tigrinho?
baixar-jogo-tigrinho
April 14, 2026 at 6:12 am
Fortune Ox: quem já ativou o recurso várias vezes?
numero-sorte-fortune-tiger
April 14, 2026 at 8:44 am
Jogo do Tigrinho 2026: quem já ativou o recurso 5 vezes seguidas?
kto
April 14, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Cashback semanal virou ferramenta de proteção de banca para quem joga com disciplina.
betleao
April 16, 2026 at 1:18 am
hello!,I love your writing very much! proportion we be in contact more approximately your post on AOL?
I need an expert on this space to solve my problem. Maybe that’s you!
Having a look forward to look you.
https://trustguru.mx/es/guias
April 21, 2026 at 8:46 am
Cashback diário virou aliado de quem roda volume com estratégia.
8k8
April 22, 2026 at 1:04 am
Hey there, You’ve done a great job. I will certainly
digg it and personally suggest to my friends.
I am confident they’ll be benefited from this web site.
TrustGuru Brasil Editorial
April 25, 2026 at 3:15 pm
Mid-stake bands proved the sweet spot for Caishen Wins this week.
https://trustguru.mx/es/casinos
April 25, 2026 at 6:18 pm
Highlight morning: clean cascade chains on Fortune Mouse with rising multipliers.
TrustGuru.mx Datos
April 26, 2026 at 3:25 am
Solo focus on Mahjong Ways 2 works only when the rhythm allows it.
TrustGuru Brasil Report
April 26, 2026 at 6:55 am
Hot streaks on Mahjong Ways 2 are short, the discipline window is shorter.
slotsgo
April 26, 2026 at 8:35 am
My partner and I stumbled over here coming from a different website and thought I might as well check things out.
I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to looking
into your web page for a second time.
Sportingbet strategy
April 26, 2026 at 10:02 am
Lucky Neko kept presence in the evening sessions.
redacción TrustGuru Datos
April 26, 2026 at 11:29 am
Bonus rollover under 25x is the new the veteran scene preference.
TrustGuru editors Data
April 26, 2026 at 12:58 pm
Wild Bandito kept good performance for those who tuned bets to the conservative range.
redacción TrustGuru
April 26, 2026 at 4:14 pm
Daily cashback became an ally for those rolling volume with strategy.
redacción TrustGuru Investigación
April 26, 2026 at 6:56 pm
Fortune Dragon sessions are shorter and sharper than ever in 2026.
https://trustguru.mx/es/casinos
April 26, 2026 at 8:17 pm
Mahjong Ways 2 fans are more disciplined in 2026 than the previous year.
https://trustguru.mx/es/
April 27, 2026 at 3:39 am
Ganesha Gold cluster pays are generating clean session prints lately.
melhores cassinos PG Soft Brasil
April 27, 2026 at 10:25 am
Comparing casinos by withdrawal speed became the rule.
TrustGuru.com.br Editorial
April 27, 2026 at 8:22 pm
Instant instant deposit plus active bonus is still the most demanded combo for fast entries.
the TrustGuru team Data
April 27, 2026 at 11:14 pm
the veteran scene values session hit-rate above one-off explosions.
redacción TrustGuru Investigación
April 28, 2026 at 1:41 am
the discord is comparing time-to-bonus more than just the final multiplier.
TrustGuru Brasil Dados
April 28, 2026 at 2:52 am
Tournament leaderboards on Fortune Rabbit are filled with steady-volume players.
mais informações
April 28, 2026 at 5:23 am
PG Soft 2026 has a deep catalog for rotating two or three titles per session.
TrustGuru.com.br Research
April 28, 2026 at 8:51 am
Wild Bandito stays at the top of the most discussed games.
Energia Bet demo gratis
April 29, 2026 at 7:28 am
Fortune Ox hit important peaks in accelerated mode.
the TrustGuru team Guide
April 29, 2026 at 9:51 am
Fortune Mouse hit important peaks in accelerated mode.