Evan: If you pick your shots wisely, and always aim the shot so it will take out a lung, or both, and break one of the forelegs, the deer will go no where. A 50 cal. round ball will completely penetrate a deer shot broadside, leaving a blood trail on both side of her body, from both the entrance and exit wounds, to follow. Because she stands about 2 feet tall at the point of impact on a chest shot, you will find blood on bushes, and branches from 2 feet to the ground, as well as on the ground. When an animal crashes through water to escape, they move mud on the bottom, stirring it up if it is quiet water, which leaves a trail in the water as clear as on land. If it is quiet water- a pond or swamp- there will be algae and other plant life growing on the surface. Her passing will disturb that surface scum, leaving an trail, too, just in case you can't see the disturbed mud under the water. Deer, when wounded, and escaping, use game trails, because it allows them the quickest way to travel. Wounded deer head for water because they have a rush of adrenalin in their blood stream to push red blood cells to the wounds, and the increase in blood pressure, no matter how temporary, takes heated blood to the head, and give them a burning headache. They begin to perspire, get dry mouth, etc., just as you do when you are sick, and they head for the coolest place they know so they can lay down, cool their bodies, and brains, and rest while they figure out how to stop the bleeding.
Learn to read tracks. The tracks of a wounded deer are particularly distinct, and if you do break a rib, or leg bone, you will see unmistakable drag marks on the ground. The tracks will be accompanied by those blood trails I mentioned above. That blood is your confirmation that you are following the right set of tracks. Your deer tend to be fairly small in body weight, compared to the corn and soybean fed monsters we grow here in Illinois. I have seen blood trails stop after a few hundred yard because, as we discovered later, the thick fur on our deer is often enough to clot the wound, and prevent the blood from dripping out on the ground. You don't have that problem in Florida, so you should be able to track any deer you shoot, no matter if it goes through some shallow water or not. You may get your feet wet, but that should almost feel good even in the Fall, considering how warm your daily temperatures are.
