That special deer steps out as the legal shooting light is slipping away. You aim carefully, release cleanly, and hear the arrow strike, but the buck whirls and vanishes in the dimming light. You know you should not follow the deer immediately in case of a marginal hit, yet waiting too long can invite a coyote invasion. It’s a problematic situation archers face each fall, but some precautions can significantly improve your chances of recovering your deer. The search for this mule deer buck was abandoned at midnight, and coyotes devoured the entire animal by dawn. Here are five tips to help avoid this dilemma.
- Take a picture. No doubt you have a smartphone in your jacket, so before climbing down from the stand, take a picture of the shot location. This will help keep you oriented once on the ground.
- Call for help. Since the hunting day is over, a buddy or two can be an enormous help as you trail the deer, search for the arrow, and follow a trail.
- Find your arrow. Today’s fast compounds and crossbows almost always create full penetration so that the arrow may be buried in the ground. When hunting from a ground blind, finding the arrow in the dark may be very difficult.
- Lighted nocks are a massive help in the location department and in helping the hunter determine the lethality of the shot. If your arrow went awry but you still drew blood, change from recovery mode to coyote prevention.
- At your last sign of blood, urinate on the ground and hang hats or jackets that smell like humans to repel coyotes.
- Unless you need your phone on the way home, find a radio station, podcast, or use your playlist, but leave the volume on high and let the sound help repel coyotes. Eventually, the battery will deplete, yet if you can get three or four hours of coyote avoidance, you may still retrieve your deer.
- If you often hunt til dark, be sure to carry an industrial-strength light, the kind with large rechargeable batteries. You don’t need them on your person; keep them available in your vehicle or at camp. Good Luck.