Missouri Archery Season: Mark the Hit Site So a Thermal Pilot Can Find Your Downed Deer

During Missouri's archery season, many hunters shoot in the last light of the evening, and a bow-shot deer often runs out of sight before it goes down. When a thermal pilot gets the call, the first question is almost always the same: where was the deer standing when you shot, and where did you last see it?

A thermal camera can cover a lot of ground from the air, but it still needs a starting point. The better you mark the hit site and the deer's direction of travel, the smaller the search area, and the faster a pilot can put a heat signature on your downed deer.

This post covers what to record in the first minutes after the shot so you're ready to hand a pilot clean information.

Before you climb down or move, take a moment while the scene is fresh in your head:

• Drop a pin at your stand or blind. Use your phone's map app or a hunting app and save the location.
• Pick a landmark where the deer stood. A specific tree, a fence post, or a field edge you can find again in the dark.
• Note the time of the shot. Pilots and trackers both use elapsed time to judge how far the deer may have traveled and how soon to start.

If you can safely walk to the spot where the deer was standing, drop a second pin there. That pin becomes the anchor for the whole search.

Where the deer went matters as much as where it was:

• Which direction did it run? Toward timber, a creek bottom, a CRP field, or a neighbor's fence line?
• Where did you last see or hear it? Pick another landmark and drop a pin if you can do it without bumping the area.
• Did you hear it crash or go quiet? Write it down. A pilot will want to know.

Hunters often remember these details differently an hour later. A quick voice memo or note on your phone right after the shot keeps them accurate.

If you can recover the arrow without walking the deer's path, look at what's on it and what sign is at the hit site. Note the color and amount of blood, and whether there's hair. Take photos with your phone. Then mark the first blood with a pin or a piece of flagging tape.

Then stop. Walking the blood trail too early, especially after a questionable hit, can push a deer that hasn't gone down yet. A thermal pilot is there to locate a downed deer after the harvest shot, not to chase one that is still moving. Our post on downed vs still-moving deer explains why pilots are careful about that line.

If you did follow the trail, mark the last confirmed blood before you backed out. Flagging tape and a GPS pin together work best: the tape helps people on the ground, and the pin gives the pilot a precise coordinate to start from.

Avoid walking circles around the last blood looking for more. Fresh human body heat and disturbed ground don't stop a thermal search, but a tangle of extra tracks and confusion about where the trail really ended can slow everyone down.

When you call a pilot, have this ready:

1. Your stand pin and the hit-site pin
2. The time of the shot
3. The direction the deer ran and your last-seen landmark
4. The first-blood and last-blood pins, if you have them
5. Your photos of the arrow and hit site
6. Who owns the land where the deer went, and whether you have permission to search there

That last item matters. If the deer crossed a fence, read our post on landowner permission for Missouri drone recovery before anyone goes over the line. For a script you can use on the phone, see how to call a Missouri deer recovery drone pilot.

Good marks shrink the search, but cover and conditions still decide how easy it is. Thick timber canopy, tall grass, and warm October evenings can all make a heat signature harder to pick out. See our posts on Missouri cover types and hot early-season evenings for what to expect.

The Missouri Department of Conservation sets the archery and firearms season dates, permit rules, and the requirements for checking a harvested deer. Review MDC's deer hunting information and deer regulations each season, and read our overview of Missouri drone deer recovery and the law. Regulations change, so always confirm current rules directly with MDC before you hunt or search.

The best time to find a thermal pilot is before you're standing at last blood in the dark. Browse the Missouri Drone Deer Recovery Network pilot map to find independent Part 107 thermal pilots near where you hunt, and see what thermal finds look like in the gallery.

Are you a Missouri thermal pilot who does post-harvest recovery? Join the network so archery hunters in your area can find you.