Would depend on the situation for me. I tracked a doe earlier this year - prob took hour to find blood - but once i did - track/blood was great - prob ran 50-70 yards. When my boy shot his first good buck and he had some misses before - we waited 20
Minutes then checked for blood at shot sight - there was a blood drop right where he stood. But a deer ran off when we were at shot site. I felt bad - thought it was his deer. Backed out - art powers is awesome - called him and his dog. 10 minute track. There was enough blood stevie wonder could hav tracked it. Prob a diff deer that ran off! For me - i hav tracked enough i hav nothing to prove amd i lov watching dogs work. I called the dog no regret. This year - thought i had a clean miss or bad shot - thought it was my best ever deer - it was not. No hesitation - called the dog! Buck only ran 50 yards! On a buck of a lifetime - i rather not screw it up. Who the heck am i trying to impress with a blood track?? 😀 to me - its really more out of respect for the deer than me having to feel manly.
My best track was last year - no blood at shot sight - deer hit a thicket - dog guy too busy. So me - a good friend and my boy found him together - was a great hit and short track - took forever to find the blood. Good memories both ways and to me learn more doing both ways

When I was growing up hunting Sumter County in the '70s, it was not uncommon to spend 3-4 hours trying to unravel a trail. I remember one of our party stripping down and swimming the Noxubee to continue to follow a trail on the other side. The ethos back then was if you knew you'd hit the deer, you worked until you found it or it got dark. Now, it seems like "Meh, let's go hunt another one." Lot more deer in the world now.
I think back then we followed a trail too quickly. I'm a lot more likely to go back and get a big breakfast or lunch, and let the deer bleed out, rather than push him too soon. I pushed a nice cull 6 that my son shot as a youngster, off a bed a couple hundred yards from the shot, that we should have let alone for a while.

Kills me when people say “I shot at one, walked out there but I didn’t see any blood”.

Around here if you shoot and it doesn’t drop, the next part of the hunt begins. No matter how long it takes to figure out it ain’t gonna die..

Amen to that. I have spent hours and hours tracking deer and loved every minute of it. Never needed to call a dog and probably never will. Had two that was beginning to wonder about but put in the time and found em.

I didn’t see the edit……I’d say this happens less than 10% of the time…..The perception that hunters are calling trackers due to laziness is just not the case…..More often they do everything possible first before calling……even to the point of going further than they should before backing out……

In another light of a “dog needed” situation, some(not all) people spend so much money on hunting when they shoot one and can’t find blood I’m sure they want to reap some reward for the expense and labor they put into trying to kill one…

Shoot one don’t find no blood or anything, chalk it up to a miss and wait on the next one to walk out. There so many deer in Alabama it don’t matter if you find them or not. Just shoot another one.

I called a dog the first time on a buck that stopped bleeding. Looked for an hour after lost blood and called dog. Found him about 500 yards from last blood bedded gut shot. I would have never found him without dog.

^^
Guy in here - not here any longer - it was 257 - said call the dang dog. I did - deer was good old 6 point in wilcox county. I gave deer over night! Deer probably went 350-400 yards - had crossed a creek - i would hav never found that deer and deer was still very much alive - just could not get up

And i would hav never considered a dog! Glad i listened to 257 and was kind of awesome to watch. They tracked that dang deer - it was less than 15 min time - think it may hav been less than 10 min time. It was fast - i was blown away! Glad i added it to my arsenal - i like winning 🤣🤣😀

I hunt family land with some family that are world class woodsmen. But sometimes bad shots are made, especially by kids and guests.

I'm 4 years into having a quality tracking dog. After a few seasons with her we have determined that we left way more deer dead in the woods that we thought we did. It is amazing what that dog can do, and how bad peoples perception of what happened after the shot is.

There’s a lot of psychology involved in it……Hunters always perceive the situation in the best possible light instead of accurately assessing what happened without bias……Let a bow hunter get some blood on the fletchings and its tough to convince them that there’s not a dead deer out there. You typically just have to leave the situation with them looking at you like you failed them……until the deer shows back up camera and they text you….”Hey guess what!!!”

Agree with CNC.
And i pay way too Much for leases not to recover deer! Your screwing and fooling your self to look down nose at a track. Most will not be impressed if you say u tracked a deer! So what! Way more impressive to say you recovered one 🤣🤣

But i read the situation first - blood at shot site or close by shot spot - i give it a whirl. How did deer respond or look running off? Etc.

But we are not trackers like CNC or most of us or not. Art is an incredible tracker and he told me - if u walk around looking for a marginal deer you may mess the track up for a dog or make it harder to find.

I use to give a dog track no More thought than a man on the moon does. Deep down i thought - not for me! I kind of thought what a bunch of howeey (i was being ignorant)! I was judging something i had no experience with which really aint that smart 😀
Glad i listened to 257 and gav the dog a try. That deer would hav never been recovered by humans. And it was dang neat to see the track to
Me!! Another tool in My tool box to be successful and i hav too much respect for deer not to do it and humble enough to know i may need help!