What’s has been your most difficult track job on a deer?
Mine was a buck that ran 200yds through dense cedar, crawling around on your hands and knees wasn’t fun.

Most difficult? Dunno, didn’t find them.

Was guiding a hunter a few years ago on a management buck. He hit the buck back a bit, gave it 30 minutes and we bumped the buck, shooter couldn't get another shot on him. I waited a couple of hours and did a slow tracking job, small blood drop to slow blood drop. Took me another hour but found the buck. It ended up 400 yards from where we bumped him, he had expired.

That was my hardest.

Good buck that was arrowed through the paunch by a friend just before dark. Thick piney woods yaupon and black berry understory. The hunter and several friends looked for the buck till around midnight with no luck. They rounded up more buddies and were back at it the next morning at first light. Called me at 10AM and asked if I could bring my bird dog. Got there with the dog at noon. Asked if there was good blood. Was told deer was not leaving any blood trail. Asked how old is the track? Was told 16 hours. Asked how many people had been in the woods looking and was told 10 of them. I told the hunter I did not have a good feeling but he is my friend and I would see what the dog could do. I put him on the ground where the buck had been standing when it was arrowed and told the old boy “find it”. Dog had the buck in 7 minutes. Was a slick mid 150’s 10 pt. It had traveled 1.2 miles. Made the hair on my arms stand up when I got to him. I believe all the people in the woods must have repeatedly bumped the buck for it to travel as far as it did.

Ex-wife hit an 8 point low in the brisket during muzzleloader season about 20 years ago. Could find just a pinprick of blood every 20-30 yards. Tracked that buck for over 2.5 hours and finally lost the track when he went through a creek. I told her and her brother to follow the creek and see if they could find where the buck went up the embankment. I cut a wide loop through a field up above the creek trying to find sign. Was easing my way along the edge when I caught movement in the brush. That buck was bedded down watching them down in the creek. He was totally focused on them and did not notice me creeping up through the field behind him. Took a 30 yard shot and hit him right at the base of the skull. Never even wiggled. Then we had about a 45 minute drag to where we could access a road.

As an aside, her hit was not a fatal wound. Buck would have been fine.

A few years ago, my buddy arrowed a buck and swore it was a perfect double lung, but couldn't find any blood. I showed up a few hours after the shot, and found blood within about 30 mins. Blood was dark red, and I swear it was a liver shot. Blood trail finally started to get very heavy after tracking about 250 yards. I was sure we were close to finding him, but Blood trail petered out. We finally started just taking random trails in the last known direction of travel because we had not been able to find any other Blood. At one point I swear I smelled Blood, and went upwind about 20 yards and found blood, but never could find either the deer or more blood past that point. In all, we tracked him over 600 yards over a 7 hour period. Had to go back to work and couldn't come back to track later. One of two deer that I've ever confirmed blood on that I never could find.

The other was one my MIL shot and I only found a few drops. I'm pretty sure that one was a superficial wound.

Arrow hit and he went into an area full of greenbrier. Thermal spotter is a game changer now though.

I was bowhunting an area of our ranch called the 'Brush Patch'. Other than some trails running through it, and the occasional small clearing, it was solid shinnery with some briars and a few prickly pear thrown in for good measure. Target buck came in but was really nervous. I was young and stupid, I should have passed on the 25 yard shot but I didn't. Way back then I didn't know about them 'ducking the string'. He ducked a perfect double-lung shot and the arrow hit him high and stuck. I gave him an hour, followed the trail for the easy part (first 50-75 yards), then waited for my dad to show.

The next 250 yards was darned-near hands and knees, but there was blood, at least. We got to the east neighbor's fence, which was at least the end of the shinnery. But we tracked that deer another ~800 yards through a pasture of broom weed (very slow going). Fortunately the rest of the grass was short, and there is limestone, so the occasional rock caught a drop here and there. Deer made a half-mile circle and went back into our brush and at that point we gave up. That was at midnight, and we'd started tracking at 5:30.

I saw the buck a couple of weeks later and had a rifle, but couldn't get a shot. Never saw him again to know him; might have died from infection or coyote.

I'm with Dave. The worst are the ones you don't find. One of the worst was an early in life poor bow shot. Trailed the doe over a half mile. Found where she stopped a couple of time and jumped her up the second time. Her ability to haul tail flag out of there convinced me I was not getting her that day.

My son at about age 9. we had taken 4 wheeler to a blind and had crossed a low spot in road with water overflowing creek. Started down pour and then sleet. He shot a nice 11 point than ran into brush towards creek behind us. Freezing temps. Small blood found leaving impact location but nothing more. Looked like fresh tracks to the creek bank. Walked up and down that side of creek with no luck. Startling to get dark and sleet picked up, so I told him let's get across the creek. Pulled up on 4 wheeler and it was at least seat deep and flowing. Had him get up on my back side and hold on and made it across. Left 4 wheeler running with light on and told him stay put that I was going to walk up creek. I stripped down to just socks and waded back into creek it was about waist deep on edges. Went about 100 yards and found him in creek washed up against a dead fall. Pulled him loosed, pulled/floated him back behind me to 4 wheeler. Pulled buck on dry land, freezing and shivering and boy was bone cold. told him I need to get him back to camper and warmed up (20 min ride) and I'd come back for his buck. Did just that got heater on high dry clothes and him some hot soup. I put on dry clothes and coat and went back and retrieved his buck. Skinned it out in freezing rain/sleet. Slept in the next morning.

May not have been my hardest but dang sure was the coldest and pure determination luck. I've had some very difficult hand and knees tracks in S TX brush country...but not as memorable.

I had a buck come trotting by trailing a doe one time. At the next opening, I put a 100gr .243 in his near shoulder, exited the far side. He ran 50 yds up a hill and stopped, humped up, and I put another in him an inch from the first. He then made another 150 yards, the last 20 of which put him right in the middle of one of our stock tanks. It was 38 that day and had been cold for a week. My dad stripped down and swam out to get him. I remember getting to the tank and all I could see was about a football-size patch of rib-fur out in the center with a muddy-trail of water leading to it.

I was lucky enough to be given a mule deer hunt in Wyoming, so I took my two sons who were in their young 20s and we had a great hunt. When I shot mine, I'm listening to my youngest son do a play-by-play just after I shot it: "He's running....behind a bush....running about a 100 yards.....he's going toward the river......he's in the river......swimming across.......he's drowned in the river." Sure enough, we track him over to the river and could see him 3/4 of the way across a good-sized river, in the water. This was way too deep and wide to swim, so our only alternative was to go back to the truck, drive the 5 or, 6 miles out to the road, cross the bridge, then drive the 5 or 6 miles back to where the deer was on the other side of the river. Lucky that my son was smart enough to drop a pin on his phone but on the other side of the river the brush was so bad that we could only get the truck about 500 yards from the river. So we found him after walking 500 yards of brush to the river. Us Texas boys tried to lasso him to drag him to shore but couldn't. So my oldest son strips down to his underwear and wades in. Keep in mind it's after dark and in the low 40's at this point and the water was cold. We drag him back, field dress him there at the shore, but then had to drag him the 500 yards uphill back through the brush to the truck in the dark. Tell you what, even field dressed that mule deer was pushing 200 pounds, and by the time we drug it uphill all that way through the brush it felt way heavier.

Still looking !
Been on the trail for 3 years, so far.