Every deer hunter ought to have a dedicated recovery bucket—a five-gallon bucket with a lid or an old backpack that lives in the truck all season. Keep it simple: a good knife and a backup, disposable gloves, toilet paper for marking the last blood, a couple flashlights with spare batteries, zip ties for the tag, 25–50 feet of rope, a deer drag or small plastic sled, a few heavy-duty garbage bags, paper towels or wipes, and a bottle of water. Nothing fancy and nothing expensive. The idea is that when the shot comes at 5:30 and you’re standing over a deer at 7:00 in the dark, you don’t discover that your flashlight is dying, your knife is back at camp, and the truck is half a mile away. Grab the recovery bucket and go to work.