I have noticed in my recent poll and other posts lately comments about almost dreading searching for animals such as deer and elk at night. In Wi we get an early bow season starting the 3rd weekend in sept. For at least a month in the average year it is too warm to even dream of not going to look for that animal. I thought we could help each other all out just by posting our ideas and tricks that have worked for us. Hopefully this can help save some animals from being unnecasarily lost this season. Hope you don't mind, I will start.
Well to begin the best and first thing you have to know is shot placement. (do what you have to do with your equipment to be able to SEE where you hit the animal). Where did you hit the animal? This will guide everything else you do.
Tools for nite time trailing.
Lighting for body fluid searching should be a propane lantern. A flashlight is good for lighting the lantern and after the lantern is turned off. Otherwise they are near worthless except on blood trails you could follow under a full moon.
A spray bottle with peroxide. Drops of body fluid from low chest cavity and bone cutting hits can look like water on the leaves. (if this is all the body fluids you can find for even a couple hundred yards, the animal will probably live, but it may open up more, keep following untill no more trailing is possible) Peroxide will bubble if it is body fluid.
Your knife for field dressing and other peripherals you like to use. Gloves, rope, etc.
A light stick. Mark your downed animal for when you come back with help to haul it out.
A cooperative searcher. At least one is good, but if all that is available are eager kids and kid like attitudes who will walk ahead of you and make all kinds of noise, leave em home.
KNOWLEDGE - learn to read the sign. How distressed is the animal. Read up on all the articles you can on trailing wounded animals.
CONFIDENCE - The search area around the lantern is plenty large enuf to trail. Most flashlight searchers go way too fast thinking they see everything the beam touches. Watch one sometime, the beam is up and around the woods more than on the ground. Read the sign. Not just looking for blood. The obvious track, broken and crushed vegitation NOT on a trail. Lift up plants looking for blood on their bottom side. Think like a frightened animal, what would it do? Be patient.
Hits
The dreaded paunch (stomach) hit. Wait until good light the following day rain or shine, hot or cold. It will take that long for the animal to become unwilling to get up. Otherwise you will push them into living. Let them lay relaxed. Scouting - having found bedding areas and thick cover for certain animals is a GREAT help on knowing where this wounded animal will go. Know your area!
Liver hit - wait an hour or more. Rain coming? don't delay. A good liver hit can do the job in seconds, a nick could take hours.
Known lung heart area. Unless you are in really thick cover this animal is usually down within sight and laying on their left side. If not, wait 1/2 hour or more depending on blood sign. Bubbles, pools of blood, bright red or dark? Running out of the wound or sprayed from breathing thru the nose.
Any where else. Read the sign! Heavy blood from a cut artery in the rear ham or throat? Not that these are intended targets but limbs do terrible things to our shooting. Light occasional dark blood spots. Not encouraging but always look until you no longer find the trail or untill you know you are pushing the animal. Have you come across several areas where the animal bedded down? Don't continue to push it, come back in the morning.
And always, always look until you have lost all signs of the trail. Then from there you look some more. Some like to break an area up in squares, or do circling. Check all trails in the area from there for at least a hundred yards and more, every trail. Then go to the nearest heavy cover and look there, not just for a body but for more blood. You get the idea, a good search for an animal should take 1/2 that night and the next day before you basically say they must have lived thru it.
One last thing - don't worry about the boogey man. The deer have seen the boogey man, and it is us.
Good luck all.
I agree with what you have listed so far. I also like to use reflective twist ties to mark sign. Makes it very easy to check the line of travel using a flash light.
Bill
I keep some tissue paper in my pack for, besides the obvious, to mark spots of blood. It is highly reflective and sometimes will give an oversight to the line or direction the animal is going.
Also if more than just you is trailing make sure to walk either side of the blood trail so as not destroy any.
May everyone's quarry drop in sight but if not at least have the patience to unravel the mystery correctly. We owe that to the game.
Very interesting about they are usually found on their left side...I have not heard this before, even in years of reading up on this site.
Thanks for that tip...it could prove useful.
And I too carry TP...for more reasons than one!
Oh yeah, if it's at night, take a GPS or COMPASS!!
Being on the edge of a huge expanse of land, and saying "I know the truck is right there...so I left my pack, my heavy jacket, and my ***whatever***..." is NO TIME to find out you turned yourself around and the temp is about to drop to 15 degrees....!!
Spare batteries for the flashlights, or even more than one.
And if you wear contacts or eyeglasses, in really thick stuff, it's real easy to take a poke in the eyeball...been there, done that...
Listen to the critters...coyots out west...squirrels back midwest, etc...can warn of critters in an area, or circling ravens/crows around a kill.
As well as something else I recently read, and have seen--other deer may hang around the downed one. Keep an eye out...
Take Care,
Marc
One trick a flashlight can do that a latern cant(and I use a latern usually)....highlight the trail through leaves and such. Kneel down at a known spot(blood, a track, etc),shut the latern down and keep the flashlight about a foot off the ground(parralel to the ground). Their trail through the leaves will appear as a dark line. I found a deer like this once when the 'yotes ran em dry of blood.....wasnt much to find though.
I also like to mark the trail with TP or surveyors tape. The direction a mortally/severely wounded animal takes is generally direct. Having the viusal props is just easier.
I bought some Mojo balls, a type of flashing red light that I am going to use to mark trails with this year. Should be able to report how they work by the first weekend in October :)
Patience, perserverance,and thoroughness,, My girlfriend is the best tracker I have met in quite awile, it blows my mind...
I'm not sure about these two items, but I will throw them out to see what the experiences have been... what about lumenok (sp) for being able to see the arrow in the deer for longer periods of time (that is if you don't get pass through).
I learned the hard way about hitting turkeys without a string tracker. Has anyone else used a string tracker for deer? For some reason the thought of using a string tracker on a deer seems strange but then again I don't like the thought of losing a deer so I've considered the option.
Chris
Dude, good points.
I am a bit different. I won't use a lantern. I use a three cell mag light. It is bright and it lights up only a small area so I can concentrate on looking in that area. Works awesome for me and my friends.
Slow down. I hunt in a marsh and tend to put on my waders for a night trail. Keeps the skeeters off part of me and I can get on my knees and not get wet. I am very often on my knees looking at every leaf on a tough trail.
Don't just find blood...analyse it, as above. Does it indicate the hit (frothy, dark, smelly..also, left side, right side, both sides).
Be mindful of what you are finding. Very often you can get to calling the shots, that is,,, I find a drop on the right side of the trail, in 6 feet I find another, in 6 more I find another. Odds are pretty good that if I look again at six feet there will be another one. (that was a made up example).
Don't just look down on the ground. If there is grass or brush that the deer is passing thru they may leave sign on the vegetation, often on the underside as they push thru it. I love it when we lose a trail, then, after a bunch of work...find a drop of blood... "Gotcha" goes thru our mind.
ChuckC
Good stuff.But dont forget dogs where legal.I used my german sheppard mix to find several and she wasnt trained at all.Most dogs will pick up on blood or other signs left on a trail and if theyre even 50 yards or so to a dead one itll draw their attention.
About the comment on them laying on their left side. I picked up on this about the 4th deer I shot. 3 were good lung hits, all died on the run and ended up on their left side. The other was a liver hit which I saw lay down on her own on her right side, then expire. Been keeping track ever since and have yet to have one die on its feet and not end up on its left side. Even my hunting buddies and brothers have been keeping track. I believe it is a balance thing in the brain as it loses oxygen. Have seen a couple run tight little circles to the left and fall down. One doe had her feet hitting like running against a tree after she landed on her side. So I believe their sense of balance is one of the things to go first. This would make a good poll. Something to keep track of on a large scale just for knowledge sake. It would have to be only deer dying on the run from a good heart / lung hit.
I read (can't remember where at the moment) that daddy long legs will sometimes sit on top of a small drop of blood and could be clues to finding really sparse trails.
each animals stride is a little different; and so is the distance between drops of blood. I use an arrow to measure the stride; and too the distance between blood drops when I can.
If you lose the trail; knowing when the animals stride puts its foot down; can help you continue to follow without blood sign.
Sometimes blood will come out when a particular leg moves - so keep that in mind; the right front leg might move forward (for example)and open a wound every step the animal takes; and knowing the distance between each step can be helpful.
Bring enough fuel or batteries for your light.
Be prepared to spend the night. I had a deer down once; and everytime I took off with a load of meat; the coyotes moved in; so I stayed until light.. and ate some venison. :)
Your worst enemy can be a well meaning friend. If they insist on walking ahead of you while your tracking; find the courage to tell them to follow you. If a trail is sparse; a friend can destroy it while trying to help. If they are not helping; you owe it to the animal to tell them to follow you.
Constantly try and figure out where the animal is going. Is it headed in a certain direction or towards a certain location?
Stop and look for possible routes. If there is a fallen log to the left and to the right; and there are no obstacles in another direction- you know where to spend time when you loose the trail.
Use your nose!! You can smell a dead deer or elk or bear. Buzzing flies help too. I once lost a deer because it fell onto a ground nest of yellow jackets... they took it out on me.
Bears eat dead bears and dead deer and elk; be prepared to walk up on that ( been there- done that).
I have noticed heart hit deer run about 180 yards. Don't give up easy; I have followed a deer 7 miles in the snow and found it.
If you use sharp broadheads; you can save a LOT of blood trailing.
By the way women see blood better than men. If one is availible to help; keep that in mind.
A high lung hit might go far; and may not bleed outside the body; and may leave a bad trail; even though its dead out there somewhere.
Keep the faith- and like I said - sharpen those broadheads!!!!! even one shot into a target or the ground will dull it.
Knowing where your arrow hit is critical as far as what to do next. "When in doubt, back out".
Most of us have heard this, but do we follow the advice? Going even a short distance down a trail can be a huge mistake. A deer will run usually less than two hundred yards before it stops to see if it is being pursued. If you are poking around seventy or eighty yards from the hit site, they WILL know. They will move further.
One piece of equipment I have not see mentioned is a watch. Mark the time of the hit. Minutes seem like hours. If you don`t see or hear your deer go down, mark the time and back out. Come back with all or some of the things mentioned, and find your deer. If it is a solid hit, and the deer was not pushed, you will find it within two hundred fifty yards.
All very interesting. Butt what do you do if you are color blind? I ask because I am and I am shooting with a tracker string and I practice practice practice so I am very confident with my ability out to 20-25 yards so shot placment is good butt still a few post back a heart hit can go 180 yards If i dont see it go down I loose it. I dont like shooting with a tracker I have had prob in the past it breaking and catching in and on brush I would like to try a gerber blood light. But I hear they are a gimick? please help!!!!
I have been a staunch 3-D Mag Lite or Coleman lantern user for years. I have tried many of the new LED lights that are supposed work and they don't.
I did use a Surefire light last spring tracking a hog and I think they ROCK!!! It will get another workout this fall chasing deer and if it works like it did in FL I may retire the old standbys. Small BRIGHT dyalight type light. Small enough to keep you on track without destroying sign and bright enough that the tiniest of drops show up.
Most of my other tricks have been stated so I won't repeat.
You know, I was just watching the little commercial for Primos' new Blood Hunter tracking light. It has a funky lens in it to blend the colors of the lamps. You have green for general getting around, red for low light help while you're doing things and it blends to a bright yellow/white color in the middle, which makes the blood (red) really pop out. It looks like it actually works pretty decent. Hmmm the yellow color seems awfully close to that of the ol' trusty Coleman lantern. I believe I have one of those in the garage! I've yet to find anything that rivals a Coleman lantern for tracking at night.
Mornin fellows,
A book I have found to be very helpful (I've even carried it into the woods on tracks) and have referenced back to is "Tracking Dogs for finding Wounded Deer," by John Jeanneney. The book is meant for training dogs obviously but chapter 10 & 11 on interpreting sign and special track situations has proven to be a great tool. the website is info@unitedbloodtrackers.org I highly recomend this book to all hunters. The book also helped me get my lab started in the right direction, he is doing pretty well with it. Good luck Joe
It doesn't work on wood arrows but I have found that Lumenoks answer a lot of questions about where the arrow hits before I even get out of my treestand to take a look. I know some here have negative feelings about them being too high tech but I have to tell you, if you are interested in important information about your trailing stategy, it all begings with arrow placement or where you think you hit. The Lumenok makes that part of the job abut 95% more certain.
Good points all.I like to inspect every drop of blood,no matter how big or small.The drops will splatter toward the direction of travel.Inspect the ground,upturned leaves,dirt,branches,and the surrounding bush.I found a buck I shot in 92 by following upturned leaves and tracks,and the occasional spot of blood on the entry wound side of the trail.The deer left no other sign.It took a long time,but I found him,so stick with the trail.The only trouble I've had was water in the swamps around here.What I have found is if you move slow enough you can find blood on floating debris,but the best sign will be where they come out of the water usually.If I can't find any sign on the water I'll leave a small flashlight pointing in the direction of travel where they enter and search the opposite side for the track.This has worked pretty good for me.
Like stated before if someone is helping track,keep them at your pace.Either beside or behind you.
Keep them comin guys.Good tracking.
On a difficult trail, you can't beat a coleman lantern, but put some tin foil around 1/2 of the glass globe. This keeps all the light out in front of you on the trail and not back in your eyes.
Yeah Rod, You used to be able to find the half shields for the lanterns. Helps loads!
I use a 4 or 5 D cell maglite. I tried the lantern once but had difficulty using it and the heat/bugs from it were unbearable in our Sept bow season. I might try one again with half shielded and see how that works. I also mark with toilet paper and if there isn't a small bush near the blood spot I push a 12-18 inch stick into the ground and put the TP on top. That way I can look back to find the direction of travel. As someone else mentioned, the when it doubt, back out is good advice that you must sometimes force yourself to follow. If I go 25-30 yards on a questionable hit and the blood hasn't started flowing good I back out. If you can find part or all of the arrow in that first 25-30 yards it can give great clues. I had a buck Monday night that I knew I was a little far back on and was only small dark red blood drops. Found the bottom half of the arrow within 15 yards, dark dried blood and some bright blood right at the break of the arrow but no food/stomach material so I knew it wasn't a gut shot. I figured I at least got liver but still backed out after 25 yards and waited 2.5 hours. Deer was SCD (stone cold dead) at 70 yards when I went back with a hit right through the liver going in and the back of one lung on the far side. Body cavity full of blood with a followable trail of dark red drops and no lung blood until 3 yards before I found him on the other side of a log on the trail.
Doug
I have a friend that is totally color blind. Bright red blood on tan grass looks like wet grass to him. Use the peroxide! Get help! His wife helps him blood trail now. And yes I would agree that most women pick out blood very quickly. Part of that brain thing we have all read about I'm sure.
The watch is a good idea and I guess was so obvious I didn't mention it. How else would you know how long it has been? Also SOUND. Listen for minutes afterwards, sometimes you will hear them go down a few hundred yards off minutes later. A compass bearing would help then if there is little to no blood.
Those are some good tips!
This is one for flat, featurelss or swamp country...I have never tried this but read where Warren Womack uses a compass to take a bearing on hit deer then if it is a bloodless trail he will "walk out" that bearing and has had multiple successes finding his deer.
I have always hunted in rough hilly or mountain country where that really wouldn't be too productive. This year I have leased some property near Chincoteague Virginia. It's flat and sometimes really thick.I'll keep that tactic in mind if I need it.
Tedd
If you use peroxide to find blood make sure you mark it well. The peroxide will destroy the blood while doing its thing.
We have a old Coleman Two mantle camp lite at the cabin just for tracking purposes.
If you have friends helping it is wise to leave one at the site of first blood. It keeps them out of your way and helps you keep track of where you are relative to the start of the blood trail.
On the death run they usually curl toward the entrance side.
Tedd
Patience, Go slow, when you think you are going slow enough cut it down by 1/2. Dont step on the trail. I have had several trails ruined by rookies this way. Mike
Tedd.. good point. yes that does work. In fact. I always take a compass reading from the tree on the direction I saw the deer running last. I don't mean south or north but degrees. I have found two deer so far, based mostly on compass readings, very little other sign.
ChuckC
Know where the blood came from. Bright red, muscle hit, frothy pink - lung, dark red - liver etc. Also know where the hair came from. Comparing the hair found at the shotto a deer skin can help identify the hit.
The Black and Decker rechargable 26 Led worklight is the cats meow for tracking. Nothing even comes close. Will last for 3-4 hours on high power and 7-8 on lower setting. About $35.
TTT For those that missed this. Great ideas all.