Down in sight, or out?

[bentpole]

Love to see them go down in sight!  

[Bill Turner]

Its too warm in this part of the country to want to spend much time on a blood trail. I like the excitement of trailing but I always prefer to hear the crash or the death bawl while in the stand. 100 yard blood trail is about all I want when blood trailing in Texas and Oklahoma.  

[BWD]

Don't matter, even if they are down is sight, I still follow the blood trail...need all the experience I can get sometimes.

[brinkwolf]

Down in-sight but only if I'm on a small lease. If you have to follow a deer across other property lines then it can get sticky now days. Use to be it wasn't that big a deal. You would just tell the other lease hunters or land owner you are following a wounded deer. Now with all the laws you have to get everyones permission before you can even cross the fence. The place I hunt now(when I hunt) is family land and just under 100 acres. Problem is the deer luv staying around the fences(about 20 to 30 yds max). I have tried to get them away from the fences(using feeders,mock scrapes and rubs) but no luck. If I shoot one and it runs 50yds it may be over the fence. So I would rather have them pile up quickly to avoid any hassles.

[gregg dudley]

I want MINE down in sight.  BUT, I want to track YOURS all over hell and half of Georgia and be there when we find it!  

[cacciatore]

Down as fast as possible,expecially for our wild boar,they are tough don't bleed at all,they can run for hundreds yards with a broken heart and enter inside so thiks thorns that you can't enter with out a Caterpillar.

[NoCams]

Heh Guru,
I like the somersalt move myself.... I have had several take off at the hit, then after about 30 yds do a headlong somersalt.... DEAD DEER RUNNIN ! It is very thick where we hunt most times and I get nervous when they run out of sight. Like others have said, the only good thing about them running out of sight is to hear them crash.

Mason and I also like to stay up in the stand if we kill early. When they are down in sight it is a comfort and keeps you focused on the rest of the hunt. Awesome hunt when you, " Double Bubble ", and have to drag two to the truck.

nocams  

[Ryan Sanpei]

Down in sight.

I would be happy if they dropped dead in their tracks right where I shot them.  :D  

I can't handle the anticipation.

[jonsimoneau]

I'll take down in sight nearly everytime...but I also enjoy the trailing process....as long as it is a good hit and I am certain I will find it.

[jcar315]

Never really thought about it in that way. For me: down in sight every time!!!

[Bill Carlsen]

I love it when they go down in sight. However, I shot an 8 pointer one year. Double lunged him with a four blade Phantom Normally they are down very quickly but this guy would have nothing to do with that. It was getting along towards dark when I got down from the tree stand and I was susprised not to find my arrow on the other side of  him. I trailed him about 50 yards where he jumped a fence and he headed for a hell hole in the swamp....at least that was what I was afraid of if I pushed on so I let him go til the next morning. I found the bloody arrow on the ohter side of the fence but a four hour search found little to no blood. I decided to simply walk the easiest to walk trail figuring if I was hurt like I thought he wasI thought he was that is what I would do. I went about a hundred yards and could fine no blood. I was tired and discouraged...no blood after he dropped the arrow. I reached down to get my cell phone in my cargo pants pocket and as I looked down to open the button I saw i was nearly standing on 3 drops of blood. At least I knew I was on the right trail. I kept on it until the grass got about waist high. I could find blood high on the grass and to make a longer story short I found him about 50 yards from there in edges of the mucky hell hole. The shot was perfect...double lung, hit the offside shoulder. Most of the time deer don't make it the first 75 yards but this guy mangaged about 400. It was a long and tiring job by myself but was one of those accomplishments that I will always cherish. I still wish he had gone down in sight and he was not the biggest buck I  have killed. I had him mounted, anyway, his head in the same position that it was when I released the arrow....looking my way. He is a constant reminder to never give up, use your instincts and knowlege...and, perhaps, bring along a friend.

Here he is where I found him. Arrow entrance was perfect and the autopsy told me he shouldn't have traveled that far. But...

 

Here's another buck I shot from the same stand a month earlier. Perfect heart shot at 22 paces. He went 40 yards, never knew what hit him and he just fell out of sight in the ferns after he stopped to check out what might have just happened. Both experiences were elating. I guess, in summary, all's well that ends well.

 

[Bowwild]

I like them to go down in sight.  Even with a seemingly perfect shot and a death run, I'm always nervous that something will go wrong. I'll never forget a small doe that ran hard for 90 yards and then the blood just stopped.  I found her in less than 5 minutes 30 yards away from the last blood I could find, after a couple of half-circles but it bothered me greatly. AFter 45 years and probably 70 bowkills in 5 states I'm trying hard to think of a "bad hit" that turned out good and I can't.  However, I can think of a couple of seemingly good hits that turned out bad -- I made a very poor tracking decision based upon visual evidence on one of these good shots, bad recoveries. I learned a lesson, the deer you just shot doesn't know how "good" you've been -- don't take shortcuts when recovering.

[ishiwannabe]

Down in site for sure, but even then I follow the trail as if recovery depended on it. Not a single trail has failed to show me something useful.

[Bonebuster]

Down in sight.

The satisfaction of a shot that puts them down in sight far outweighs the anticipation of the follow up.

But , by all means, PLEASE call me to help track YOUR deer because after all, blood trailing is a SKILL and excersizing those "muscles" feels good too!

Cool thread!  

[Chris Shelton]

Originally posted by RC:
I like it when they go out of sight and I hear them " crash". Real sweet sound.RC

He stole my awnser.  Where I hunt it is almost impossible to have a instance where they go down in site unless of course you drop them   , but the terrain is so drastic most ridge tops are only 20 yards across and then it goes DOWN, lol.

[Fletcher]

I love the blood trail and always follow it, but if it drops in sight, I'm happy with that.  Much better an easy recovery than not one at all.    

[James Wrenn]

I want everything to fall down where I can see it.Trailing is fine but seeing them fall takes out all the guess work and gets them in the cooler faster.It is hot here and faster recovery is always best.Usually I have them cut up and in a cooler within 30 minuites or less after I drop the string.Having to trail one is nothing I want to do.jmo

[wv lungbuster]

Nothing better than a cool October mourning or evening trailing back straps.    

[Whip]

I guess I'm with the majority.  Given a choice, I'll take down in sight every time, but when that does happen I know I am missing out on a part of the hunt.  I do thoroughly enjoy the trailing process as well, and take great pride in working out a blood trail.  

Finding the animal at the end of a tough trail is almost as exciting as the shot itself.  I think the relief and overwhelming feelings of accomplishment are even more intense that way.

[Day Dreamer]

I like it when they go down in sight on private property, that way I don't second quess my self. When I hunt public land I wouldn't mind so much if I had to trail it, there is plenty of land so I don't have to worry about it dying on someone's front yard, plus good practice.