Tracking tips

Another earlier post pushed me to start this thread with the thought that it might yield a lot of useful tips.

Those who have hunted deer very long know all too well that while it happens sometimes, deer rarely "crumble" when you hit them. Deer that have been hit in the heart and lungs will often, as my old uncle like to put it, "run dead" for some distance.

So then, what have you learned about tracking deer.

Here are just a few things that I have learned myself and from talking with others through the years.

Deer often run back in the same direction they came.

They often run to water. Never been able to understand this, but I've seen it many times.

They may give no indication whatsoever that they were hit.

Blood is not always visible.

Dark blood is a good sign (heart and lung shot). Bright red is not (gut shot).

Others?

Its hard to do if you are hunting with kids but wait that 20 to 30 min before getting out and looking for it. If you will sit still and listen, you might hear which direction he went. Nothing worse than spooking that buck of a lifetime further into the brush.

Tie a string on your bullet you will always find your deer.

Haha

I think you have it backwards in your last line.

Bubbles in the blood got the lungs.

If you see where they laid down more than twice, you should probably back off for another hour or more.

Not sure about your blood colors. Thunk you are backwards.

Also, between all of my friends, we have not found a single "blood tracking flashlight" that Is good... Or at least better than a good white flashlight.

Are you a bow hunter? Comparing blood sign between bow-shot and gun-shot deer is like comparing apples to oranges.

I think most would agree the darkest blood originates in the heart and liver. The difference in the destructive power of a bullet and arrow comes into play as well. While an arrow might pass through the lungs with little or no impact on the heart and liver, a bullet is much more likely to create damage in both heart and lungs. After all, the term "bleed out" means more to the bow hunter than the gun hunter for sure. With both the heart and lungs now destroyed, the dark red blood from the heart and liver will be more present than when an arrow passes through the lungs alone. In essence, bright or pinkish red blood is that which didn't come from the heart or liver.

Bubbles that appear in the blood is the best indication of a lung shot, no matter the color.

I'm not a bow hunter...however I am a lab tech and I can tell you 10000000% that blood from the heart is BRIGHTER than other blood. It is brighter b/c it is rich in oxygen that it is carrying to tissue. Darker blood is blood that has already deposited it's O2 and is now returning CO2 to the lungs to be expelled from the body and the blood returned to the heart......

You definitely know more than me, which isn't saying very much. But when cleaning a deer, why does the darkest blood always seem to be found in the heart and liver? Just a greater concentration of blood that makes it appear darker in color? Or maybe it's the darker blood originating from the destroyed lungs that catches the attention most when cleaning a gun-shot deer.

Still, it would appear there would be differences between what is blown out of a heart and lung exit wound from a high-velocity bullet, and what is carried out on a much lower-velocity arrow. I've never really thought about it, but blood splatter characteristics may differ between gun and bow-shot deer.

Or perhaps, these comments say it best...

"You cannot always tell where the deer was hit by the color of the blood. Don't jump to conclusions based on the first blood that you find. The initial blood pattern may be misleading because any wound causes immediate surface bleeding. Look for pattern in the blood that you find as listed below:

Fine droplets sprayed on both sides of the trail for the first 50 to 100 yards. These droplets may be several feet up on tree trunks and brush as well as on the ground. Small bubbles in the blood burst when they are touched. This pattern indicates a hit in the heart, lungs or a large blood vessel in the neck. Chances are excellent that this deer won't travel too far.

Large splotches of blood at the spot where the animal was hit, turning into continuous drops that diminish within 100 yards. You may even find some clots along the trail. Bleeding continues as long as the deer is moving but stops when the animal lies down. This pattern suggests a hit in the leg, back muscle or the neck muscle and in rare occasions in the body cavity. Eventually this type of wound will stop bleeding. Once you start trailing this deer, move as quickly as possible. If you move too slowly the blood trail will dry up and become less obvious. Always be ready to shoot because you are not likely to find a dead animal.

If the blood trail is difficult to locate at first, the large splotches appear between 20 and 50 yards. Blood sign steadily decreases until only scattered specks remain after 100 yards. This pattern is typical of a gut shot deer. Food particle in the area of the hit may confirm this. The volume of blood circulating through the digestive system diminishes as the muscles of the moving deer demand more blood. This, together with clotting, explains why the blood trail thins out after about 50 yards. Gut shot deer are the most difficult to recover. You must wait at least 2 hours before trailing, even if rain may wash away the blood trail. When this deer beds the blood flow to it's muscles decreases and the flow to the gut increases. This deer will bleed to death in it's bed and will be found within 200 to 500 yards. But, if you follow too soon and continually spook the deer from it's bed, the trail will then have any if little blood."

When tracking a wounded deer take a white paper towell and at each spot you find a blood speck, or a track you know is that of the wounded deer, tie a piece of the paper up at eye level(like on an overhead branch or in the top of a bush...) Being able to look back down the trail helps you predict the path of travel. It may sound hokey, but My long time hunting partner and I have tried this a couple of times and it works. Also, concerning the discussion of what the color of blood tells you, I can say from first hand experience that in the case of a deer shot with a rifle, that heart/lung blood is bright red and blood from a gut wound is dark.

Doesn't sound hoaky at all. In fact, in many cases the distance between blood drops can be so great that you need to have someone stay at the last evidence found and yell to those working ahead so they can get a sense of the direction of travel.

Whenever I'm tracking alone, I always start walking along a general straight line the deer was last seen running. I'll walk this line for at least 100 yards or so. If I don't find it, I go back to the place where the deer was hit and start walking in another general straight line.

The reason why it took me so long (about 30 minutes) to find a deer that I shot this weekend was because the deer actually doubled back from the direction he came, rather than continuing in the direction he took after the shot. That meant I had walked all but the last last part of a 180 degree span before I found him.

Don't walk on the trail, try to stay off to the side. Keep the number of "trackers" to a minimum cuz too many eager helping feet will wipe out your sign if they aren't careful.

Don't get stuck looking at only the ground, check some of the bushes and or grasses to see if blood is being left higher off the ground.

The down on hands & knees approach and knowing the area tends to help out a lot.

I'm not sure if it's because I'm a little color blind and just can't see blood very easily on the forest floor, or because I just don't have the patience. But I'll be quick to admit that I seldom look for blood. I'm also a fast walker after many years of chasing behind coonhounds. Whatever the reason, I usually just try to cover as much ground as possible looking for the deer, focusing first on the direction it ran.

But I have known many guys who could spot a single drop of blood in an instant. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.

similar I learned from a Kansas outfitter to use survey flags, you can buy pack of 100 for like $15. that really gives you great perspective direction and if he's weaving.

I always carry a roll of toilet paper in my back pack. When tracking a deer, I tear pieces off at each spot where I see blood. This has often helped in a number of ways. If the area is thick and/or the deer has traveled far, it helps me to back track and get a general sense of direction of travel. I will follow to the last speck of blood. If the blood stops, in general, not always, you can bet the deer isn't far from that spot...within, say, less than 50 yards. Work the area in a growing circle pattern.

I've never seen one of those blood flashlights work too well either. I do have some of the forensic powder the police use to make blood show up. You mix with water and spray it in a mist bottle...it does work.

The theory on why deer go to water when shot is based on the fact that humans feel thristy when gunshot and the thought is deer are the same.

The other biggie that is hard to learn, yet so simple. Give it some time before you jump down out of the stand. Lots of deer have been pushed and lost by not heeding this.

Well Dan so far I differ with you in two areas in this thread based on my experiences over 40 years of deer hunting:

1)Lung blood is always bright red-sometimes bubbly and sometimes not.Heart blood is still bright crimson though not as bright as lung blood. Gut shots always yield darker blood-sometimes with fecal matter and sometimes not; and

2)The only effective method to track a wounded deer is by following the actual blood trail. One cannot predict where a hit deer will go as they do all sorts of funny things such as circling,doubling back,making unexpected turns,etc. "Seldom looking for blood" and "focusing on the direction it ran" are ineffective IMO. Maybe a quick initial check to see if the deer piled up quickly or a grid search after completely exhausting the blood trail are the only times I don't focus entirely on the blood trail. Marking the trail,hands and knees,using good lantern/light, and basically being as meticulous as possible are all in order.If you are not entirely focused on the blood trail IMO you are simply walking and hoping wasting precious time-and at the same time possibly ruining the blood trail itself.

This is especially true in the thick woods/brush of east TX where I hunt.

Here's a question on which I would very much like to get feedback.

I have never found a deer in an area where his movement would have been difficult, such as hard, would-make-a-rabbit-cry thickets. Every deer that I have found that ran some distance was found more in open areas, as if the animal was loooking for a fast and easier exit. And for this reason, I usually avoid the smaller thicket patches when looking for a deer.

Comments?

Sometimes you have to crawl on your hands & knees to find a blood drop, or a single strand of hair! Personally, I have the utmost respect for Deer, & I'll do whatever it takes to find them...

Excellent post. Again, I'm just too short on patience. Perhaps it's also why I spend so much time at the practice range since my tracking skills are lacking.

They will usualy take the easiest rout but i have tracked them into some bad stuff before

Absolutely...

Not my experience at all. I have often found them balled up in the thickest spot they could lay down and hide (die).

Great topic BTW!

The blood drops will ususally "point" to the the direction the deer is traveling. If the trail of blood is sparse, carefully examine the few drops that you do find. The drop of blood will have a water drop shape in which it is wide and round on one side and taper down to sort of a narrow point on the other end. The narrow point shows where the deer is traveling.
Helped a buddy track a deer once where this info was useful. We thought the deer was going in a certain direction. After looking at the last drop of blood spotted on the trail, we realized, by the point of the blood drop, that the deer had turned back in the other direction. We started looking in that direction, found more blood, and found the deer. May not have ever happpened if we had not payed attention to the little details.

My comment is one cannot generalize. I have found them in the open,in creeks,in thickets that "would make a rabbit cry",jammed into blowdowns, and everywhere else.In fact,when all else fails I go to water as many have mentioned and check every blowdown as I have found some who seemed to use their last burst of adrenaline to ram themselves into the thickest stuff possible. Again,the blood trail is the key.

Call me old fashion is you will, but I got to say that unless your tracking your not hunting. Just my opinion, but waiting up a tree above bait is just not sportsmanlike.

...and cavemen would prefer you use rocks...a rifle or bow just wouldn't be hunting to them..

I can trail the mess out of one and for whatever reason my eyes pick it up easy..even if it's just a small little speck on some pine straw. My problem of locating deer comes when I shoot them a long ways off out in the middle of grown up clearcuts and they fall right where they're standing b/c they fall in mess where the only way you'll find them is if you happen to trip on them.

All really good points. IMO best thing to do

When you shoot know where the deer was when you shot
Know where the deer ran into the woods
WAIT at least 30 minutes (unless you drop them in there tracks)
Go to location where it was hit look for blood
Go to location where it ran into woods look for blood
Then follow the trail
If its dark I find that the old Colman lanterns spot blood really well makes it brighter to see

I agree do not have allot of people especially if they do not know what they are doing walking around looking because they can wipe out your blood trail.

I really like the toilet paper or any markings every sign of blood bc you can somewhat predict what general location the deer might be headed if the blood sigh’s stop.

OR!

Just shoot them in the neck and you don’t have to worry about it. Neck shots if you miss o well get back to the range and practice
if you hit em then they drop right there solves all the problems

I tracked a deer through some very thick stuff this year. He eventually popped back out and ended up in a relatively open area, but he ran through some brush I never would've expected a wounded deer to venture into

Your comment makes me wonder if old carbide lights might work even better at seeing blood drops in the dark.

I'm not sure you can still buy carbide, much less a carbide lamp.

The blood going to the heart is deoxygenated (the right heart Ventricle/atria). The blood leaving the heart to the body is very oxygenated (the left heart Ventricle/atria).

So technically, the heart has both. . . .

Best blood tracking "light" IMO is a lantern, something about them makes the blood stand out.

Indians were some of the best trackers but they chased down buffalo with a horse and shot them at point blank range...just sayin...alot goes into feeders food plots and stands... what would you call sportsman like hunting?

Are you referring to the original kerosene types, or newer gas/Coleman models?

I am color blind and cannot see blood so here's my method.

1- Walk around a little and see if the deer is in plain view

2- Call my buddy and say "come find my deer"

3- Stand back while he blood trails the deer

4- Help him drag it to the truck

I really wish I could see blood because not being able to makes me hold off sometimes when I'm hunting by myself. That's also one reason I tend to take neck shots if I can.

My tracking tips..

-go slow
-dont step before you look
-mark last sign
-pay attention to where the tail is going, if you have been trailing it for 90 yards and it is following the same trail, chances are if you loose blood for a bit it is going to stay on that trail.
-whatch where it goes when it runs off
-shoot a bullet that will exit it helps
-i think the led lights pick up blood alot better than conventional flashlights
-a second set of eyes usualy helps out... and makes the pack out better

matt

This has been my experience also...

Good stuff there, Coleman lantern also picks up blood well, White light as opposed to yellow light of many falshlights.

I like white papertowels or toilet paper for marking blood sign, it is bio degradable incase you do not pick it up.

If you bumb the deer back out.

Lastly, a dogs nose is much better at following a blood trail than my eyes or about anyone elses. Use a dog to find your deer if one is avaialble

That's the way.. You would be surprised but you wife's poodle will even track a blood trail.. Makes me want to take my beagle with me.. She is a petting dog, but I have seen her get that nose down in the yard and never lift it.. So pretty sure she has a good sniffer on her..

I know yall all like to wait, but if it's getting dark.. I give em about as long as it takes for me to smoke a cigarette and to get my gear ready to go looking.. I have yet to jump one up.. Thank you lord.. I normally find em piled up under some ceder trees headed toward the fence.. Have had em jump the fence before.. Normally you can tell where cause they stop and bleed real good before they hop over and leave a pile of goo where they hit the other side.. They don't make much farther if they do all that..

This is my best advice.. Don't give up..

I've tracked my share of wounded animals and there have ben a lot of factors that came into play. Tree climbing and bait have yet to be an issue.

Coleman lanterns are great. Thye are bright, hang low to the ground when carried, and the light shines downward. You get a lot more light coverage then with a flashlight.

Makes sense in some areas. Most of the place I hunt it would be next to impossible unless you also carried and pair of tweezers and did not mind feeling like a pin cushion when you got back to camp. Not to mention the rocks and snakes can still active in warm years. I have no problem with sankes when I am looking down on them.

I'm sure I'll think of more but I buy glow sticks and hang them in trees to mark last sign, when night tracking.

And don't get too many people involved.

Oh and a spray bottle of peroxide helps too sometimes... if you spray it on blood it will foam up and turn orange. Where we hunt there are lits of little weeds with dark red leaves on the ground and sometimes rocks with dark red in them.