You're Golden thenI do.
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Blood trail mistakes
- Thread starter RUGER
- Start date
I only shoot my boone and crockett deer after dark
Giving up too soon.
Boone and Crockett is for beginners. I have several state records
Funny/scary story that I can tell since I believe the statue of limitations has since passed.Not having the Q beam held steady so I have good visibility when shooting around midnight.j/k
I think most people get on the trail too soon if they know it's a marginal hit and then go too fast and miss blood. Back out and then slow down when you return.
I was maybe 9-10 years old and was staying the weekend with my uncle and cousins. My uncle had some buddies over and they had too much to drink and asked us if we wanted to ride around and spotlight deer. Being kids with no idea that we would be breaking the law, we all agreed.
When we saw the first deer, I was instructed to hold the light while my uncle shot. He pulled the trigger and the deer fell over. When we got to the deer, I noticed my uncle had shot the deer in the eye. I asked my uncle why he shot it in the eye and his drunken response was "that's where you was holding the light". When my mom found out what we did, I was never allowed to stay over at their place again.
That same night, my cousin had his finger on the trigger when he pushed the safety forward on his rifle and he fired the rifle through the floor of the truck. My uncle was irate but I remember laughing uncontrollably when one of his buddies said "congratulations David, you just killed a nice 4x4."
This.
Hey hey now, my gated high dollar neighborhood doesn't have any state records.
I don't know if that was posted here before or somewhere else but I love the name of that hunt club.
buckaroo
Well-Known Member
Getting down too soon, hunting evenings, espeacially when not cold
My worst. Liver shot deer. Did not wait long enough.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I'm no Master Blood-trailer but I have trailed a few. In my opinion, the biggest mistake by the shooter is not remembering the last place they saw the deer. That information, and lack of it, has helped find or lose deer that are not bleeding much. The second biggest mistake is too many people on the blood trail, especially those not highly experienced at it. I've found numerous deer not leaving blood simply by follow the hoof punch marks in the leaves, but if anybody gets head of me and stirs up the leaves, that possibility is gone. Lastly, giving up too soon is a real problem. Not having a good blood trail is very frustrating but staying at it and finding just one more drop of blood down the trail can change everything.
I think the biggest mistake people can make is having too many people tracking. It's enjoyable to celebrate with everyone, but I want to wait until after the deer is found! I picked up a lot of knowledge is my man tracking search and rescue classes over the years and using clues OTHER then blood has helped a ton.
Also trying to think like a wounded animal. They're in survival, adrenaline dump mode, they don't make the same paths and choices the way a normal calm deer does.
Also trying to think like a wounded animal. They're in survival, adrenaline dump mode, they don't make the same paths and choices the way a normal calm deer does.
xatxay
Well-Known Member
I take a compass reading on where deer was standing at shot & last spot seen. Things can look different once down.
Openlake
Well-Known Member
As many have said, make a good shot, mentally mark the deer location when shot and the last seen location.
WAIT at least 30 minutes, longer if you see a questionable hit.
Be quiet, from shot til recovery, I mean Indian stealth quiet. I've walked up to bedded deer.
Start tracking at the point of shot, moving to the last spot seen. Lots of blood, you're lucky. Very little blood, you better go SLOW. On the entire track don't move forward from one spec of blood until you find the next. SLOW.
Tip of the day: For slow bleeders, use TOILET PAPER to mark each spec. It's biodegradable so no harm to the environment. Much easier to see a direction the deer ran. Especially if you return the next morning.
Most deer take off at the hit in the direction they are facing. After a hundred yards or so, near death, they many times turn 90 degrees into the wind. Within 30 yards they die or bury up in the thickest cover (treetop/log/grass) they can find. When your blood trail stops, you're close.
Never give up. Ever. I found two different deer three months after they were shot within 50 yards of my last blood seen. But I did find them.
I've seen several house dogs react to a dead deer that we had not seen.
Avoid the group search. They destroy evidence and walk right past dead deer. Very poor search method.
WAIT at least 30 minutes, longer if you see a questionable hit.
Be quiet, from shot til recovery, I mean Indian stealth quiet. I've walked up to bedded deer.
Start tracking at the point of shot, moving to the last spot seen. Lots of blood, you're lucky. Very little blood, you better go SLOW. On the entire track don't move forward from one spec of blood until you find the next. SLOW.
Tip of the day: For slow bleeders, use TOILET PAPER to mark each spec. It's biodegradable so no harm to the environment. Much easier to see a direction the deer ran. Especially if you return the next morning.
Most deer take off at the hit in the direction they are facing. After a hundred yards or so, near death, they many times turn 90 degrees into the wind. Within 30 yards they die or bury up in the thickest cover (treetop/log/grass) they can find. When your blood trail stops, you're close.
Never give up. Ever. I found two different deer three months after they were shot within 50 yards of my last blood seen. But I did find them.
I've seen several house dogs react to a dead deer that we had not seen.
Avoid the group search. They destroy evidence and walk right past dead deer. Very poor search method.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I've found this technique VERY helpful when trailing a poor blood trail. Being able to look back up the blood trail for a long distance, seeing all the little white patches, can be extremely helpful in finding the next tiny drop of blood.
Yep ran into this on Tuesday evening and I think my cousin has learned a hard, heartbreaking lesson. He shot a beautiful 12pt that would probably score in the 160'' range. I had a late day at work and just got home a little after 7 when he called. He had shot it about 45 mins to an hour prior. I jumped up and went out there because he was tracking it. I knew about where he was so was skirting the side of a bean field to meet up with him and accidentally found the blood trail. Called him and he met me up there and we tracked a little longer and the blood stopped. I mean it had bean leaves and tall grass just covered in bright red blood, so much that I ruined the pair of khaki shorts I had on. Then just at once in went cold. We blindly looked until about 10 and I needed to get home. He stayed and walked down a big hill and picked the blood up again for another 380 yards. He called into work yesterday and looked for 7-8 hours and no deer. I went back out and flew my drone hoping to find him laying in the beans but no luck. I honestly believe the deer is dead. Had it been a light blood trail I would have hopes of it living but I've never seen one bleed so much and not die.
Here's where I feel the problems started and ultimately hurt him. 1. He says he waited 30 mins before he got down. Knowing him his adrenaline was going and it was probably 10 mins tops. 2. He should have found the blood, marked it and came out and gave it more time. 3. Once he started tracking it I feel like about 300 yards in he jumped that deer. I think it was laid up in a thick woodlot and the blood I found when I got there he had bumped it out of the woodlot and it ran out the other side. I think the blood I found was when he spooked and the deer's adrenaline was pumping and pumping blood out like it was.
I understand in situations you feel like you made a good hit and in the perfect world it runs 100 yards and falls over and dies. Unfortunately more times than not it doesn't go that way and the deer needs time. From my experience once a deer is bumped once the chances of finding it go slim to none.
I'll give it to him he has put lots of hours and steps in the last 2 days and did all he can go find it. But he hurt himself royally when he went to tracking so quick.
In the pic the red is where he shot the buck, the green is where I feel the buck bedded down and would have died. The west side of the field where the line is drawn up until the blue mark is where I found lots and lots of blood, which leads me to believe he bumped it out of those woods and ran that way. From the shot (red dot) to the blue dot is 612 yards.
Yellow dot is where he picked the blood back up later on and followed it for approximately 380 yards.
Here's where I feel the problems started and ultimately hurt him. 1. He says he waited 30 mins before he got down. Knowing him his adrenaline was going and it was probably 10 mins tops. 2. He should have found the blood, marked it and came out and gave it more time. 3. Once he started tracking it I feel like about 300 yards in he jumped that deer. I think it was laid up in a thick woodlot and the blood I found when I got there he had bumped it out of the woodlot and it ran out the other side. I think the blood I found was when he spooked and the deer's adrenaline was pumping and pumping blood out like it was.
I understand in situations you feel like you made a good hit and in the perfect world it runs 100 yards and falls over and dies. Unfortunately more times than not it doesn't go that way and the deer needs time. From my experience once a deer is bumped once the chances of finding it go slim to none.
I'll give it to him he has put lots of hours and steps in the last 2 days and did all he can go find it. But he hurt himself royally when he went to tracking so quick.
In the pic the red is where he shot the buck, the green is where I feel the buck bedded down and would have died. The west side of the field where the line is drawn up until the blue mark is where I found lots and lots of blood, which leads me to believe he bumped it out of those woods and ran that way. From the shot (red dot) to the blue dot is 612 yards.
Yellow dot is where he picked the blood back up later on and followed it for approximately 380 yards.
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Typical "circle back" track.
Sure hate he didn't find it, that was an amazing deer.
I think IF it is dead and IF he finds it, it will be shockingly close to where he shot it.
I was really hoping yesterday afternoon we would walk back towards where his stand is and find it right in that area. But it didn't happen. I checked every water hole I know around there and the creek but nothing. I'm like you though the way he was circling I thought sure we would find it in those woods he shot it in.
@rem270 if I'm reading that correctly. It looks to be the deer is circling back? If that's the case I've been on a tracking job of marginal hit deer and they do the same thing. Circle back to where they were hit for some reason. Usually found piled up in a creek,ditch, or blow down when they die.
