A recent thread on string trackers got me thinking about the pros and cons of using them especially after reliving some of my more difficult recoveries.  I have keep having one nagging thought though.  What happens to a superficially hit animal.  I know we never plan too but I have been guilty of "flesh wounds" above the spine or even through the leg.  I assume the line eventually breaks and the deer is okay?  But I would hate to cause more damage, of course I would also hate to lose a deer and feel compelled to do whatever I can to maximize the odds of recovery.

Looking for others thoughts and experiences on this topic and trackers in general.

C

The line is only 17 pound test and will break with little effort once there is resistance.

I would think if the arrow didn't go out the opposite side , the deer would pull it out .
If it was a passthrough , like a leg or whatever , the string eventually would snag on something and get pulled through .

I've only killed one deer with it. Arrow zipped through and stuck into the ground. Deer ran 120 or less. The string was still attached to the arrow, which made two lines to follow, one red and one white.

Even if the line snaps at some point, it gives you a start at tracking, hopefully at least to a bloodtrail, if not the animal.

A deer may pull your entire spool out if not lethally hit, either snapping the string or pulling it all through his body. A bad hit is a bad hit. Nothing is guaranteed.

I missed two cleanly this season. One arrow stuck into the ground and I could easily see where it landed with the string going right to it. The other hit a rock and broke. I could see the feathers and thought the whole arrow was there. With the tracker, I was able to find my broad head in the leaves with 5" of arrow attached, 10-12' away.

I don't see a downside to using one, unless you take shots over 20 yards or try to shoot through brush/branches.

I tried one once.  Thought it was way more nuisance than its potential worth.

I like mine from the tree, when hunting the ground I don't bother with it. I have shot with mine at about 30 yards as a test and I get about 14 inches of extra arrow drop using #30 line.

I tried one on a hog hunt in Florida and as soon as the pig I shot hit the saw palmetto thicket that was it for the tracking string.  That stuff isn't called "saw" for nothing.

I haven't shot any deer with one but several bears  and turkeys. About 3-4 out of ten times on turkeys the string ends up breaking but when they fly off it really helps recover them. On bears they've really worked good, most only go a short distance but one hit went 250 or more yards with a double line and then another 100 dragging string behind him, it was a joy finding the broken line and following up to the bear. That one was my fault as I was using a "sharp from the box" broadhead that I didn't check for sharpness before shooting, NEVER again.

I use one every time I'm sitting in a stand for hogs. It's saved my "bacon" several times! Big hogs don't bleed well sometimes even on good hits.  This one went about 300 yrds with one lung.      This one didn't go far but it went through some dang thick stuff!      
I did have one hog about 240-250 run a whole string out on a bad hit one time before it broke. And I've had one break on a pass thru when ithe hog spun several times before taking off.  The pros out weigh the cons for me when hog hunting. Never shot a deer with one