weak blood trail tracking tactics
Elk
Want to hear of some methods of tracking weak blood trails that have helped in the recovery in an animal. I have heard of some different things in the past but want to see what has actually worked for some of you guys.
No spiders, Please.
I've had blood splatter training from work related things that have helped me...A blood drop will give you direction of travel no matter how lite it may be....
I've heard of some types of circling methods that people use, has anyone used or heard of it?
I drag a 30 foot cord(my bow rope) behind me. This allows me to look back and get a good idea the line the animal is taking. This also allows me to go back to last blood because I normally don't venture out more than 30 feet before looking down another trail.
Roy grace had a great article in the newest issue of Elk Hunter
Unfortunately Bushbow....one of those is not legal in every state! And that's dumb as hell too.....IMO.
Yea - one of the most ridiculous laws on the books not allowing hunters every advantage to find wounded game.
A guy in our group hit a bull last year and thought it was one lung and the bull walked off looking real sick and therefore we expected him to die. We didn't attempt to track that night due to little to no blood trail so the next day three of us got in a line walking in the direction the bull last went. We all used our GPS with the track log on and visible on the screen. After about 1/2 mile of walking in a straight line staying close enough to each other to see everything in between we bumped off further right. In order to cover all the ground the guy who was furthest right, we'll call him guy 1, on the way down moves over slightly and the others move further right. Guy 1 then parallels his track log from the first sweep to keep the grid tight. On leg 3 we bumped off in the same direction again this time the guy who was furthest out has the track log that needs to be followed. I think we did 3 sweeps moving further west then we reset using our initial track logs then did 2 to the east off of the firs track log. 3/4 of the way through that last sweep we found the bull dead in some dark timber blow downs. We spent 3 hours searching which was mentally taxing but by using the track logs it can be very effective. This is the same idea as using string and doing line searches as SAR teams do. You just keep bumping off your last run.
Heres my buddy and his father with a bull that would still be on that mountain if it weren't for this technique...
Josh
Another thought. If with a hunting partner, only have the shooter follow the blood trail or tracks, and the other stay back at last sign.
This way, there will be no one circling ahead to find sign, sign that may be stepped on and destroyed.
A weak blood train can be caused by the lack of blood even if the hit looked good. A high lung shot with no pass through or even if the arrow stays in, may cause the blood to stay in the chest cavity. Look on the sides of trees and brush/leaves for blood as some may have exited from the wound and matted on the side hair.
Deep tracks may be evident especially if the elk is traveling down hill.
If there are dried creek or drainages with rocks, look carefully there as any blood will show up well as the elk crossed.
Later or the next day, listen for crows/magpies/ravens/Canada Jays as they may have found your animal.
This is exactly what happen to me a few years ago.
My best, Paul
I would personally advise against any type of grid search unless there is not any blood. There is simply not a better way than following blood to the animal unless you are using a dog. I have had deer turn and go around and die within 70 yards of where I shot them after tracking a half a mile. Who would grid search behind the stand when the animal went straight out from it. Just follow blood and use grid search as a last resort.
I mark the last 3 or 4 spots and move forwarded. Nothing worse than wasting time trying to relocate the last spot you found 5 minuets earlier. It saves a ton of time and you can see how it is moving as far as direction when you look back. It might be loping.
When the trail gives up completely I have resorted to a "half moon" on the side the animal was hit. For some reason I have seen deer at least move in a half moon on many blood trails.
I lost a deer last year on a incredibly sparse blood trail. 1st deer I have lost in years and only the 2nd I have ever lost.
What pissed me off is I nearly lost the next one too. I found it and realized that the deer I had lost the week before must have came to the same area because it was on the same trail so to speak and I stopped about 300 yards short of the perfect death valley for an injured deer.
The worst part is I knew that area was up there but it did not click in my head. I had forgot to pay attention to exactly where I was. I instead went off habit and general area. If on familiar ground you need to remember the lay of the land because it can help you a lot.
I once had a hunting area I hunted up north and 4 out of the 5 deer I shot ran to a specific area to lay down. One was on his way but petered out before it got there. The last one I recovered there I noticed that it took the same general route and I just walked to the thick area where the other 3 were found and there he was.
Is it your guys opinions that many times they will go back just the way they came or circle back into the general area from where they came? I have found they will often do that or take a course not far from their natural runways. If you really know the lay of the land well and have them patterned it helps a lot IMO.
Unfamiliar ground is different of course.
Unfortunately, I've learned the lesson that TBM mentioned the hard way. When one blood spattered leaf can help you....you don't want a bunch of guys wandering around screwing it up.
Slow and steady staying on the trail, marking with tp and one guy glassing out in front...only casting out if you totally lose the trail.Picked up the bear my buddy shot that left these beds then stopped bleeding that way....
If you are pretty sure the bull is down...and the thermals are moving in a positive direction...get your nose in the wind, and do sweeps downwind from where you suspect his location to be.
We have found many bulls in this manner, that had less than optimum blood trails. On one occasion, we both arrived at the bull at the same time, from two different angles in the pitch dark, with descending thermals and a positive downhill wind.
Trust me when I say you CAN smell a bull from quite a ways off...especially when the rut really starts to kick in.
Best of Luck, Jeff
Another thing on a sparse trail..... If alone listen very carefully as you move and try to move quietly. (this applies even if not alone) The animal may not be dead and you might push it. I don't know about any of you guys but I have heard the animal running away at times. Then I move up and hear it again. It is a distinct sound when you hear it. That's when I know I am pushing it and back out.
My buddy did that 2years ago on deer and the year before and I insisted I could hear it and that we had pushed it at least 2 or 3 times. He told me he cant hear sh$% and I was full of crap because he "drilled it." Well we never found it but you could see where it stopped several times and also where it laid down 3 times and then got up an ran. You could see the tracks where it was running and not walking.
Last year he took my word for it this time and we backed out. We then later found his deer and again you could see where it got up 2 times and ran. The 3rd time it laid down and it stayed there and died.
Listen for licking sounds...loud licking. I have heard this on a couple of occasions. Both hits were the type that left sparce blood...Both were hit just behind the heart in the diaphragm. The deer wasn't actually licking but the diaphragm was making the noise. I have bad hearing and I could hear it easy from 80 yards. Someone with good hearing could under quiet conditions could hear it closet to 200 yards.
Will anyone ever making it go away?!?
one more thing. I can not tell you how important marking "last blood" is.
Because this is really the last point when the tracking really begins.
I have made the mistake of "thinking" the direction of the animal went and gave up on the last blood point only to return later, and after careful examination, hands and knees, found a new blood trial yards away and maybe in a slightly new direction.
No doubt, there will be times when all blood disappears and this can be the most terrible feeling a hunter can have.
Dead reckoning, walking trails, grid searching and other approaches, now might be the time.
Years back and friend shot a good bull but the shot was quartering towards him. Seemed like a good hit,(bad angle) good red blood at first for the first 100 yards and then hands and knees for the next 1/4 mile looking for hoof prints and then in tall grass. Two days later we were another 1/4 mile farther, traveling in the dark of the morning and we smelled death. Later we found the bull next to a blow down. The bull had not varies a degree from its original course and went over a 1/2 mile before it died and disappeared.
I watched a hunting show tonight, Born To Hunt, where the hunter shot a bull elk and seemingly made a great hit and they would surely recover the bull at first light. The bull wandered off and left to die where they last saw it because of fading light.
Upon return in the morning, found the remaining 5 inch of arrow and some blood and then nothing. They searched and searched for 6 days and finely found it. During the search, they had followed along an old 4 strand fence and did not think a wounded bull would cross over it. Later the hunter found a place where two of the strands were down and this is were the bull crossed. He found the bull shortly after just over the hill.
He punched his tag on his kill and was thankful for the recovery and the final closing of his hunt. I am sure, he wished he had seen the downed fence earlier.
There is something magical and part of the hunt to blood trail but there is nothing like seeing them drop within sight.
Most of the animals I have taken are just as the sun sets, which I prefer. I use small pieces of orange tape to make the blood trail. After dark I use the 3 flashlight method. Put one flash light on last blood, move ahead and find the next spot of blood and set another flashlight on that spot. Line up the 2 flashlight and move ahead looking for the next spot. When found set the third flashlight on it and go get the first flashlight and put a small piece of tape there and continue leap frogging the flashlights. Many times you can get a distance from drop to drop and direction from looking at the flashlights. The reason I prefer to get my animal late in the day is you don't have to put up with the flies and bees. Many times I have been taking care of the elk and will hear several bulls bugling, sometimes for hours, music to my ears. Sometimes when then trail gets real sparse look for fresh tracks looks for a speck of blood near the prints. Turn the limbs over looking for a wipe of blood as the animal passed a limb.
I forgot one more thing find the animal or not PICK UP THOSE PIECES OF TAPE. Nothing pisses me off more than walking through the woods and seeing flagging hanging everywhere.
use TP ant it washes away with the next rain. Or two
Flagging tape is a mess in the woods
this handy device helps a lot:
Good set of eyes and crawling on your hands and knees searching for specks of blood is key, in difficult situations.
As far as elk shot in high country, is it just me or do most/all wounded elk avoid climbing and generally travel lateral or downhill?
I'd never thought of this until I had seen it on TV several years ago. a hunter had shot a deer at last light, decided to wait until the next morning. the next day was overcast and there wasn't good light. the guide service was using a 5 cell mag light during the daytime to help locate blood. I would not have thought of using a bright light during a cloudy day or during the daytime in the woods. may make a difference. also, from experience, make sure every flashlight has GOOD batteries before each hunt. nothing worse to found out the light you have is dead and the only light you have is the one on the GPS screen then getting back to the truck for a better light only to find it is dead too.
I have watched this thread progress. There are some good points here, and very few tracking spiders a P bugs.
The one thing that always comes to mind with all the tracking heroics is that the best tracking job is the short one.
If more attention were paid to anatomy and shot placement of SHARP broadheads, so little of this would be necessary. Time is likely better spend avoiding this issue rather than dealing with it after the fact. Ounce of prevention is.....
Standing by for flaming...
"If more attention were paid to anatomy and shot placement of SHARP broadheads, so little of this would be necessary. "
Professional golfers miss the occasional gimmee put. Professional baseball players catch 1000s and 1000s of pop-ups yet miss one occasionally. The best darts players in the world don't hit cork every time. Olympic archery shooters don't hit bull all the time and they train more than anyone. Being human really can get in people's way of perfection. I know every shot I take is not perfect. Perhaps I should never hunt?
We usually leave the guy who made the shot wait at last blood, if anyone. They're often too emotionally wound-up to really take their time, keep a level head and notice every minute detail.
As Paul, I think, said...don't get tunnel vision and think you know where the animal went. Let the trail tell you.
We've also smelled whitetail bucks that died in tall CRP grass, long before they spoiled.
Fortunately Kansas looks like it will have a regulation that allows tracking dogs coming soon...about time.
Happy,
First, who named you? :)
Second, the shooting of a LARGE game animal is simple compared to the things you bring up. Huge margin for error. Yes, things do occasionally go wrong. The more one practices, the fewer they are. No one said quit hunting that I saw.
My position is that you can spend your time learning to set a glass down properly or learning to wipe up milk. It is up to you.
"Second, the shooting of a LARGE game animal is simple compared to the things you bring up."
The ball is stationary on a gimmee putt as is the cup. The golfer has forever to look over and analyze the shot being able to walk all around the cup and ball. The shot has been practiced 1000s of times too. There is not an animal at the other end which can hear and smell and move suddenly and is always on alert. Time is limited and fast decisions are often made. The archery shot is far harder than the gimmee putt, yet pros do miss them, especially under pressure which is what most hunting kill shots are.
We all practice, yet things happen. Hence the purpose of the thread which is for those who are human and capable of imperfection.
Happy,
Not a golfer. No idea about difficulty. Looks hard to me.
No idea about the "pressure" you are under, nor the "fast decisions". Sounds like you have a lot going on. Anyway, good luck with it.
I can hit a golf ball at 200 yards...from a sandbagged rest on a still day with my Custom .30-06 ;-)
yes, R.Hale, good point.
But I still like having my "co-pilot" along on recoveries... :-)
Golf= archery× infinity difficulty. Squared. Anybody can learn to accurately shoot a bow. Golf is for genetic freaks. Normal humans are not capable of playing at a high level.
"Golf= archery× infinity difficulty. Squared. Anybody can learn to accurately shoot a bow."
I was talking about gimmee putts, you know those from 2' and in. People with zero golf experience can make those 75% of the time and do when they go mini golfing. Yet, even the pros miss them on occasion. Yikes - read people read.
I think it is the pressure we were under and the fast decisions we had to make. :)
Interesting. No one has brought up just plain tracking. Large animals leave footprints. In many situations, this may be all you have, and depending on conditions, it may be all you need. While you have the blood trail, or otherwise have the start of the trail, look for identifying characteristics of any footprints. On a few occasions, footprints kept me on the track until more evidence (blood) could be found, and one time, after loosing the track for hours, a single, fresh footprint got me back on it.
Ziek, as a colorblind fella, I have had to develop the patience, shot selection, and shooting skills Mr R Hale mentions, as well as the tracking skills you mention.
I still like to have my tracking dog along on recoveries though :-)
Just got my WesterHunter Elk issue, Roy's got a great write up on this...
Interesting......
I made a long shot on this bull just before dark and hit dead center in the body. The bull stopped within a hundred yards then bedded right at dark and I "should have backed out." It was warm out and I tried creeping up on him in the open and blew him out and watched him run about a mile up on a high rim with a thin band of timber.....
I then did back out and couldn't located blood or him in the morning when I checked the small band of timber. I was really frustrated and my father-in-law who is not a bowhunter was with me and kept telling me "you probably didn't kill him." On a last ditch effort, I went back to the original spot where I bumped him and wanted to glass back up to make sure I had been looking in the right place. I happened to look to my left while I was standing there and I could see my arrow and part of his rack right back where I had shot him the evening before....
Apparently, he had circled back during the night and died very close to where I had first shot him. I had been careless and lazy since it was fairly open country...
Don't get discouraged.....
Don't let someone less experienced in trailing hurry you or convince you to give up
Don't push the animal if there's any way to avoid it....
Ditto on tracking footprints. I get a stick and cut or notch THe gait length. Keeps you within inches of where it's next hoof print should be. Ya gotta be on its trail to finds sparse blood.
Great Thread.
Marking line with GPS or TP works. Just back up once in a while and look down the line and don't be blind to where he might be headed.
Which side U hit him on can come out in tracks or general direction they lean if have bad wheel.
Someone said use your nose. So true I have found many elk for people just using nose.
Best advice is go slow and be patient.
Most elk do not go as far as people think they will go.
So many things are important and most previously mentioned: 1) Mindset - start knowing that you will likely lose the trail so when it happens you are systematic about it rather than hasty. 2) I keep a few folded paper towels in my back pocket for the emergency bowel issue or blood trailing. They are highly visible and if you can leave them on the good blood trail it makes it much easier to establish a line. 3) Be aware of the trails and spend your time easing up and down just off the trails looking for next blood. 4) Rocks, sticks and logs make finding blood much easier than pines or dropped leaves. 5) Knowing the topography is hugely helpful. But may not be relevant depending on the location of the hit. Topo seems to be more important on a panicked animal rather than one that is walking. 6) Good old tracking. Scuffed soil, running tracks.... 7) Water - for whatever reason ( I have heard a number of theories) - they often head to water on organ hits (vs artery hits). 8) Creeks/rivers - not for the water but because of the steep banks. They are fairly easy to walk and you can scope them for the critter that couldn't make it down into the bed but can't make it out of the river/creek because of the steep side. 9) Patience 10) Persistence 11) Patience and persistence. I love tracking.
As metioned above here are a few. 1. Use a buddy (shooter always misses blood that others will see) 2. Dont use more than 3 people (others can destroy sign) 3. Toilet paper to flag and dab ground 4. Blood drops will often dictate direction 5. Hydrogen peroxide mixed with a little unclolored detergent 6. Work a grid pattern 7. If water is near go in that direction (found a few at the lake) 8. Tracks (I once tracked a wounded deer by tracks only, difficult but possible. 9. Dont rush (tracking wounded game is like getting lost in the woods, when you panic and rush to get out ...you get more lost!
10. Pray
I have a friend I've been hunting with for 20+ years, and we have a saying. "The worst guy to track the deer, is the guy who shot the deer."
If I shoot one, he takes the lead, and I look over his shoulder, mark the trail, and keep a eye out for what might be ahead. If he shoots one, we do the opposite.
I find that my adreneline is about the worst thing for me when I am tracking. My excitement turns into fear that I won't find the critter. Having a buddy is the next best thing to having a dog.
TBB
Rule one in the absence of blood or very little____wait.Time is needed just incase the animal is marginally hit.If Weak blood trais is an ongoing problem for someone id suggest more practice needed.It happens to everyone at some point but should be rare not common.Thus hopefully tracking weak blood is something a person hardly ever has to do.If the shots off TBM says just listen for the licking sounds!Seriously licking sounds!By the way TBM i doubt anyone is going to abandon a blood trail to grid search,common sense dictates grids come after blood and evidence of trail is lost,usually after rain.Tracking is easy if you make it less complicated,peroxide doesnt work here,too much organics on the ground,everything reacts to it.Slug trails,snails,etc.
TSI,
I would venture to guess that that is one of the few times TBM and common sense have been mentioned in the same sentence.
"Listen for licking sounds...loud licking. I have heard this on a couple of occasions."
This vaults to the top of my all time classic list.
Really good stuff here. Animals will hit water at night if a bad shot is made. It is good to check nearby water the next morning if blood is lost, could find new blood there.
When the blood trail gets real thin or the blood droplets/spray is very fine, try using some hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle on the suspected trail. When it hits the blood it will bubble.
