blood trailing buddies

[jonny5buck]

My father taught me how to blood trail many many years ago.I was taught that #1 -get your arrow it tells it's own story,lung blood,gut shot etc.If you have a buddy and cannot find it try getting back in your stand and re-create what happened what branch you shot under,where exactly was the deer? What side was it hit on,etc.-have them basicaly be where you think the deer was and you act out the shot-where you sitting? standing.Sometimes being on the ground throws off your perception of where an arrow should be.#2The arrow again dictates if 30 or 45 minutes was long enough-gut shot deer get a day or till the next day in my book.#3- i never walk ON the blood trail always to the side of it/and /Never past the last blood sign.#4- i prefer a glow tack or ribbon over toilet paper to mark the last blood/ if im backing out easier to see . Next is my own personal choice: i only lead someone elses blood trail if they want me to /cannot find blood/or new and need to be taught.I had a buddy cost me a deer one time by jumping in front of me with a 100million power light and tromping an entire field ,ruining any sign.He simply cut me off on my own blood trail.Lastly-i believe if im helping you blood trail your deer,that when we get to the animal i prefer to step a ways back and let you have that moment,i feel you have a right to reflect on your hunt how you feel.You earned that moment with your animal,no one should spoil that for you.I believe the respect you show to the animal should come out in your trailing techniques.

[Jslotter]

Great post Johnny. I was never taught how to track. I kinda learned on my own. There is only two deer I had to track so far in my life. One was a spike buck I shot that ran into the neighbor's land during rifle season back in 07'. The shot made him fall, he got up and quickly gimped into the neighbor's. He kept going and going until I couldnt see him anymore and I was growing very concerned that I would never find him because he still had strength enough to keep moving. Upon the first minute of tracking there was only one drop of blood, that was it. But I could follow the trail of ruffled leaves on the forest floor he left behind. I backed off and fetched my younger brother to help track. He has always had an uncanny instinct to see the smallest details in everything, sometimes I wonder if he is slightly autistic. I marked the beginning of the trail with a blaze orange glove, ever since I now use blaze orange tape, We got permission from the neighbor and we followed the trail of ruffled leaves and still no blood. We didnt find any blood until about 300 yards on top of a ridgeline, my brother was actually the first to notice. There, the buck looks like he stopped and layed down and bled out a little. No more blood followed as we looked all over on the ridge. I noticed a logging trail down the bottom of the hill. We went down there, because we figured if he was still moving, he had to make it across the logging road. Our assumptions were true. We found some deep dug in tracks on the road going straight down it. This buck was circling us. We found a little more blood here and there. Before we knew it, there the buck lay about 100 yards from where originally I shot it. We both learned alot that day. We learned that having marking tape is very important, and we learned that the deer will most likely make a circle when wounded, and to never doubt your instinct and think like a deer.

[Ohio farms]

Good point about giving the shooter some room when you find the deer. I make a point to let the shooter always be the first person to touch the deer. (I like to think about the fact that he is the first person to EVER have touched that deer.
Anytime I get a chance to help trail a deer I jump at the chance. That's how you learn.

[Huntin Farmland]

Right on jonny5buck! I can't agree more with letting the "shooter" be the first to the deer and "have some time". This happened to me one time and I was NOT able to be the first to the deer. On a deer drive I was able to take a good shot on a running buck (my first running deer) yet I was unsure about the shot having never done it before. After seeing a large amount of blood at the point of impact I was sure the deer was laying less than 100 yards in the woods (I shot on the edge of field/thick woods). This was my 16th year of hunting so I was no newbie-but my father and his friend suggested we wait. When we came back out there was no way I could stay in front of the other guy. The blood trail was not hard to follow-like that on the Rage website-blood everywhere knee high in the grass. The other guy pretty much ran to my "biggest buck ever" not giving me a chance to relish the accomplishment and thank God for the opportunity. Please give the shooter some time and acknowledge the fact that he/she is in charge unless others are given control. Great write-up.

[gunther89]

I cousin who is also my hunting buddy is color blind so I do all the blood trailing for both of us.  We have a system where he stands by the last blood I find and that way if I ever lose blood, I know where the last drop was.  It has worked out good for both of us.

[MSHunter]

ORIGINAL: Jslotter
I was never taught how to track. I kinda learned on my own.

Jslotter.
I'm in the same boat. I, too, have had to teach myself the ins and outs of hunting and tracking. You might want to read "Finding Wounded Deer by John Trout". I found it to be a big help.

[jonny5buck]

One of my buddys' is color blind also.I have no problem helping him track deer,and he is completely conscious of waiting at the last spot of blood...i have seen some crazy blood trails were the deer stopped and back tracked for a few feet than went back the way he came and was 20yds away.

Another thing that helped me was the ''hair identification'' sample kit....i believe North American Hunting Club use to have them im not sure...anyway it was a small booklet with actual deer hair samples .explaining where on the body they came from,in cases where the shooter is NOT certain ''where'' they hit the deer...it helped me immensely ..if you can find one get it...only one hair can tell alot![;)]

[Jslotter]

Has anyone used those infrared flashlights made for spotting blood? I guess it illuminates blood, never heard of anyone trying them out. Just wondering?

[Wanderer]

Lslotter,
I bought a Gerber Blood Light the year before last. I had it with me when I shot a buck with my bow last year but he fell down within sight of my tree. This past year I killed a deer but it was morning when I did so and I didn't need the light. The light has a feature where you can go from the blood light to a white light. Coming in from my afternoon stand one late October evening, I used the white light to see the trail on the way out. As I walked along, I switched to the blood light and it made every leaf on the forest floor appear red. When I switched back to the white light, the leaves were brown. That kinda scares me. If I ever need it to trail a deer, I'm gonna end up looking at every leaf in the woods.

[jonny5buck]

I have a small handheld flashlight that has a red lense and a blue one ...the blue one is ''supposed to ''make the blood glow....i tried it out and had 0 luck...i believe color blind guys are SOL... i am fortunate enough to have ''eagle eyes'' that's not me bragging... a buddy of mine thats an ex-army ranger dubbed me that...told me i had eagle eyes ...anyway i know i have 20/20 or better and the blue lense didnt help...i also have another buddy i grew up had a ''primos'' blood light...we both noticed no differance....i think they may be a gimmick....i could be totally wrong also...i think that ''Thermacell'' mosq. deal is bogus,but many guys say it works for them....[8D]