I’ll say this BigEd because I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression about tracking dogs. I’ve heard folks make the statement before that tracking dogs could lead to more folks taking bad shots because they know they can bring in a dog……that’s not the case at all though. Folks are calling in the tracking dog as a last resort. I don’t think it ever even crosses anyone’s mind until long after the fact.
I think the truth is that that these type situations have been occurring for a long time and trackers are just shedding a little sunlight on it. I agree with you that we as a group could improve on our preparation for shooting a deer as well as our decisions during the heat of the moment.
I firmly believe though that it’s as much mental preparation as it is practicing to be a proficient shooter. Many of these situations are just due to rushed shots. The deer yesterday morning with its leg blew up was shot at 15 yards with a gun. Precision shooting doesn’t play much of a role at that distance. That’s all nerves. It was someone fairly new to hunting and they shot with the deer quartering hard away from them instead of waiting just another moment for a better angle. The deer came by the hunter walking down the road headed into the field he was sitting on. A high percentage of the ones I’m tracking are where the hunter saw the deer and immediately shot.
Read the deer’s body language. If they’re calm and not alerted to your presence….then just chill out and wait for a good angle on your shot. Either broadside or just slightly quartered away. Especially be patient with any deer that’s coming out into a greenfield. Don’t feel like you have to shoot the moment it steps out of the woodline if you don’t have a good shot. These bad angled shots have a very low rate of solid hits.
