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Harvesting A Trophy Whitetail Deer

Shooting A Trophy Deer

For you, like many whitetail deer hunters, harvesting a trophy whitetail deer will be a lifelong deer hunting dream come true.

The Shot

Maybe you will be on a guided deer hunt or archery hunting alone. It won't matter because you will never forget your shot placement on that deer. You have dreamt about harvesting a trophy buck like this your whole life. And when the moment comes that a trophy deer is in your sites, whether it be a rifle scope or an archery site, and you squeeze that trigger or release that arrow; you know your next action will be planning the recovery your whitetail deer.

After The Shot

You make mental notes of how the deer reacted to the shot, where exactly it was, and where was the last place you seen it. You listen for sounds of stumbling; your game going down. Then you wait; 20 to 30 minutes, more if you feel it is necessary. It seems like eternity, you tell yourself not to rush the tracking and recovery of your deer. Last thing you want to do is push this whitetail deer because you did not see your deer fall and expire. As you prepare to yourself to find your trophy deer, you hope it's a quick and easy.

Tracking And Gutting

Now you draw upon your deer hunting experience and knowledge. If you are in a hunting stand, you will carefully lower your hunting equipment and any hunting supplies you will need. You may call for help or go looking on your own. You will find the hunting area where the deer was when you shot it. No blood, you notice the disturbed leaves and give pursuit. After about 10 or 20 yards you see the blood trail. It looks like the deer was hit hard, lots of bright red blood; a good hit. You open up your day-pack, dig around a bit. You find what your looking for and mark the blood trail with marking tape or the toilet paper that has a double purpose.

Field Care

Once you find your game it's onto the field care of your deer. If it is a big buck, you will mentally size up the deer antlers and must decide if you want a trophy deer mount done. If so, you must take great care with your hunting knife as your start to field-dress your big buck. A slip of the knife here and there and your trophy deer mount may be damaged beyond repair. As you can see, harvesting a whitetail deer is much more then putting it in your sites and squeezing a trigger.

Trophy Deer Care

Part of harvesting a trophy deer is that you must process it. The processing of you deer also includes protecting the hide and meat as you bring it back to your hunting camp after the days hunting trip. If you don't plan to do your own butchering and packaging of your venison, then you should plan ahead as to who will do this. You might want to take the back straps out and use one of your favorite venison recipes for an unforgettable hunting camp meal.

Articles: Click on some of these links for more great information.

Gutting out a Deer,

Skinning Your Deer With A Golf Ball,

Trophy Deer Stories;

Art's Trophy Whitetail Buck,