11/17/2025
NOT MY DEER! But this beautiful buck was harvested by one of my good customers that called for drone recovery help. There is story I would love to share and something every hunter can learn from. This, in my opinion, is the best way to recover a deer that was not hit in the vitals. It doesn't always end right there with a loss of blood trail. This took 8 days of drone monitoring to come to a close.
*Warning, please avoid looking at the pictures if you don't like seeing a wounded deer.
This deer was shot last weekend on Friday night. The hunter backed out and called as soon as the blood became minimal and started to fade.
They never went back into their hunting property a single time. They never sat in the woods to hunt again. This was how he decided his tag was to be used and we agreed that hunting again while we had been thermal droning was not ethical, nor is it legal. We sent the drone up and found him alive in a swamp in an adjacent property approximately 500 yards away. After I left, the hunter determined the swamp was not huntable and there was no chance he could get to the deer without pushing him away and out of the area. So he had me come back every other day to see if he was still there and if he had yet expired. I made 3 visits to the site to find the deer still alive and he was within 20 yards of his last spot, each time we checked. It was obvious the health of the deer was fading (you can see in the different photos). On the last day, a week later, he had expired. The hunter went in to retrieve the deer with permission of the landowners. This story had the ending we all hope for but no hunter likes to see this happen. I give this hunter credit for two things: 1.) Caring enough to make sure he made every effort to harvest this deer and 2.) having the patience to do it without going after the deer and chasing it away to die unfound somewhere else. That is 100% how this would have ended if he didn't do it this way. Congrats to him!
What did we learn?
1. Just because there is a lot of blood at the shot site, doesn't mean the deer is dead. Muscle bleeds ALOT.
2. When in doubt back out and call a drone to determine where and what condition the deer is in. It may cost some money to check back but it may be well worth it.
3. When a deer is hit, they will go to where they feel safe and will likely not move from that spot unless they are pushed. Drones don't scare or spook deer. We fly at 200 feet above the ground.
4. Be patient. If they don't move away from that safe area they find, they likely will be dead there and you might find them instead of the predators.
One thing is certain, I have a new lifelong friend as a result of this and the time we spent together. Be safe all! Have a successful finish to your hunting season! Call if you need help! (920) 980-4682
Eric
