Main Discussion Area > Around the Campfire

Tracking

<< < (4/6) > >>

Pat B:
I always carry toilet paper with me when I hunt for the obvious reason but also for tracking. For tracking I put a small piece of TP at each blood spot and other obvious signs. While tracking it helps to be able to look at your back trail and the TP is obvious. If it starts to rain you can still see the TP for a while.
Following tracks, kicked over leaves, broken twigs and branches are part of tracking and following the contours of the land. Deer usually follow the path of least resistance and wounded deer usually head for water and/or thick cover

Hawkdancer:
I know they don't always go downhill when hit!  Especially if you  happen to be down hill from them.
Hawkdancer

Pat B:
...but in my experience when a deer is wounded it will head for security and in the areas I hunt heavy cover and water are in the low areas.
Generally, the deer I've shot have headed back to the area they came from because it was secure enough for them to travel in the first place.

JEB:
What we do. If someone shoots a deer and it rains after the hit ( we just don't hunt in the rain) and the track is lost we gather as many folks as we can, usually 3 or 4 and do grid searches in the area. We really give it a fair and all out search before we walk away.

Like Pat, we use toilet paper when tracking a deer which gives you a real good look as to what direction the deer is traveling after the hit. We also hang a piece of bright (pink or flo green) ribbon over the last spot where blood was located.

Just an FYI.  I have left the woods in the middle of a hunt when it started to rain.

Piddler:
Gonna throw in my two cents from my experience. I once shot a decent buck too far back (liver shot if you will). Anyway, shortly after the shot it started a light rain. I got scared I would lose the blood trail and started the search. The buck only went about 50 - 60 yards and laid down. He had lain there long enough to clot up and quit bleeding so bad BUT when I jumped him he ran away with out any more blood to trail. Never found that buck. Yes heartbroken I was and sick to my stomach. I would have found him had I given him time to expire but I got in a rush. Certain trails they will run sometimes makes tracking easier. They will get off the trail and lay down if wounded. Yes they turn and twist and sometimes come back where they came from. I stick a stick in the ground every so often to mark the trail and get a sense of their direction. Sometimes go back a few markers and think if I was running through woods which way would I go. Moral of my story, patience is your friend rain or not. Also as mentioned before, sometimes ethics need to come into play and decisions based on that before the shot.
Happy Hunting All

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page