How to recover wounded game

[Foxer]

Ok guys - the recent 'controversy' over a bear that was lost got me thinking: It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to share any techniques or methods that you find works for tracking down a wounded animal.

We could all likely use some reminders :) A couple of years ago my dad shot at a nice little buck just above a cut block. It was JUST barely light enough to see and the animal was about 25 yards away. I could SWEAR i saw the animal jump and run down into the cut block. I spent an hour and change looking in the block, expecting to see a dead animal, and couldn't find it. I started looking down the game trails at the end of the block and hunted for a fleck of blood, couldn't find a hint.

It was a grey morning, and there still wasn't a lot of light, so we decided to give it an hour and see. We drove around scouting and i replayed the scene in my mind.

Went back and i still couldn't see anything. So I got back to basics - and started doing the things i should have to begin with. I marked where the animal was standing in my opinion, and began to slowly circle out instead of looking towards the block. 5 mins later i picked up the trail - the animal had gone the OPPOSITE direction i'd thought i'd seen it go and had died no more than 20 yards from where it was shot. I could have saved myself a LOT of walking if i'd just done the right thing from the get go.

So MY contribution is A) - do the right things right from the beginning and save yourself some greif , even if you THINK you know where the animal went, and B) never give up until it's hopeless - a few more minutes can make the difference.

Who's got some good tricks and techniques for finding down game?

[brotherjack]

The first year my wife and I were hunting together (her first year hunting, and I was still mighty green myself - with nothing more than rabbits and grouse to my credit at that time), she took a 40 yard off-hand shot a nice little 4x4 whitetail buck. Unfortunately, the deer spooked right as she hit that 'point of no return' of pulling the trigger. Even more unfortunate, it was in the last 15-20 minutes of shooting light, so not knowing how well hit the dear was - we made what we thought was the right call, and just backed out and came back in the morning.

Next morning, there was no blood trail, no hair anywhere near where the deer was standing, etc. I also ran into a fellow in the bush, who said he had missed a head shot on what sounded like the very same deer. I could not believe my wife had made a clean miss at such close range (she is a superb shot), but I thought a gutshot was a distinct possibility, given that the deer was lunging forward right as she pulled the trigger. So we pounded the bush in that area for almost 2 days, looking for that deer.

In the end, we found it. I had been right, my wife's shot had taken it in the gut. It was still stiff, and warm in the insides, so it hadn't been dead more than a couple of hours. Gutting it was the most awful smell I have ever been exposed to in my life - but once cleaned up, the meat made fine eating.

I guess my point is - while there are whole books on the subject which contain tons of good advice on all the technical details - I think that determination is probably THE deciding factor in finding your animal when you have a situation where all does not go as planned. The minute you give up looking, you have lowered your odds of finding that animal to zero. But, as long as you're still looking, even assuming the animal is poorly wounded and may take days to expire, you stand a very good chance of finding it. And besides, even if it turns out you made a clean miss, you now know that the animal you want lives in that pirticular patch of woods - keep after him, he'll be back!

[J_T]

Always, follow up a shot.

Always, sit down after a shot and re-live the experience. (and consider what happened) If you think it's not a drop dead shot, give it time.

Keep flagging tape in your pack to mark evidence.

Keep a good tracking dog back at camp.

JT:)

[000buck]

peroxide makes the tinyest bit of blood go big and fuzzy and white.

[J_T]

peroxide makes the tinyest bit of blood go big and fuzzy and white.
Yeah, you are dead right about that. I keep a small bottle in my pack. Now there have been times, when that is the most important part of my game retrieval equipment.

Good call.

JT

[ratherbefishin]

Old Joe Gibeault ,retired from Fish and Game[long gone now]told me before my first moose hunt-take your time, put one right behind the shoulders-and then sit tight for at least 20 minutes and listen and look before following up a shot.He said most animals don't know where the shot came from and if they don't hear anyone following will naturally lie down pretty quick.
I remembered the ''listening'' part a few years later and had shot a little blacktail-but be darned if I could find him.It was a still quiet fall day so I stood still and heard the leaves russeling-it was my buck's reflex kicking the leaves on the ground-and I found him a short distance away

[huntwriter]

To me game recovery starts the very moment after I take the shot. I sit look and listen. If I am with a hunting partner I want him to shut up, no hooting, no hollering and high fives, just be quiet and listen. Very often you can hear which direction the animal takes and that will give you an indicator. Often I can hear the animal pile up too. Looking at the spot and memorizing where the animal has been last seen after it took off is important. This will be the first spot I mark with flagging tape. Then I go back to where the animal stood when I shot it and mark that spot too. If I bowhunt, my nexts step is to find the arrow as the blood on it can tell me a lot about the animals condition and the shot I made.

There are a lot of different opinions as to how and where animals go after they have been shot. Some will say; "Shot animals always move down hill." or, "...they go near to water." still others will have you know that mortally wounded animals "...always run alongside the hillsidel, never up or down."
Personally I have found that animals run any which direction, but they always stay on a trail. That trail might be plain visible to us or as faint as an escape trail. The final destination where they pile up might not be on the trail though but to either side of it.

If I look for an animal I think, where would I go if I am hurting, be scared or frightened? Commonsense tells me to go to a save place where I can hide from other animals or the onse that pursue me. The same is with an animal. They don't just run and keep running without purpose anywhere their feet take them. Animals know where it is safe and where they can hide. They always go to a place that they are very familiar with. Such places are somewhre in a thicket, like a bedding area or refuge sanctuary, unless you are hunting in the prairies where animals pile up in plain sight before they can make it to their hideout. Animals not brainless, even if mortally hurt, they know exactly what to do and where to go. If we scout properly and know the area we too know where these places are, or should know them.

Makring the spot where the animal has been seen last and the spot where it has been shot give me a line of sight in the direction where the animal is heading. I have found that most animals keep going in a large semi-circle in that first indicated direction. Their instictive aim is to get behind the source that pursues them or caused them to spook and thus being able to see whos following them. Remember, animals do not know that they are hurt, neither do they know that humans use not their noses to find them like other predators and thus for them it it makes "commonsense" to get behind their own trail and watch whose following them, thus they make a big circle.

As I follow the trail I mark every sign I find with flagging tape. I also make sure that I do not walk on the trail or distrub any sign. If I loose the trail I go back to the last marker and look for sign that could tell me something about the direction the animal went. As I do so I try not to stomp all over the place. Instead I make good use of the binoculars to seach every inch in front and to the sides of me. That way I have found quit a few animals that I would have missed with my bare eye, in fact I found most of my deer with my binos, unless they piled up in plain sight of me.

If I can't find any more sign, It's time to get some help, but before everybody starts stopming around we make a big grid marked with flagging tape. Depending at the area and structure of the land, such a grid can consist of smale squers of 20 x 20 yards or up to a 1/4 mile squares. Each hunter gets one square asigned which he searches on hand and knees if necerssary. Any sign found that way will be marked with flagging tape. Very often we have found animals that way which, I alone would have had do declare as lost. The important aspect here is not to distrub any sign by running around to much or turning every stone over and mess up the place to much.

There is an old school saying that a hunter should wait 20 to 30 minutes before he takes up a trail. Not me. The moment I am relaxed after the shot, which for me only takes a couple of seconds, I am on the trail. If I made a good killing shot the animal will be piled up somewhere by the time I climb out of my treestand. If the animal is not instantly killed then the last thing I want is for it to find a quiet place and rest. This is one of the very few times where I do not state an opinion put rather a medical fact. The moment the animal comes to rest, the bleeding slows down and with that there is a good chance for the animal to survive. Animals are very different from people. To start with their pain tolerance level is much higher. Animals blood also coagulates a lot faster than human blood and finally, animals can heal witin day even from serious wunds. I once shot a doe and when I field dressed it I found a broken arrow inside the lungs. The outside has completely healed over, only by looking closer I could see a well healed scare. As for the arrow, it sind't seem to bother the deer at all as the lungs have healed up nicley around the arrow. The way it looked tht pice of arrow with broadhead on it may have been in that deer for one or even two years. Would that have been a normal steel broadhead or wooden arrow shaft the dder would not have been that lucky. But with a stainless steel broadhead and aluminum arrow their was very little chance of infections. The moment the animals bleeding slows down it starts to coagulate, that is not good news for me. I want it to bleed and keep it bleeding.

This is the reason why I search for a animal like I would spot and stalk, moving slowly and very quietly, using my binoculars constantly and with my weapon of choice ready to make a follow up shot if needed. To me the hunt is not over until I find the animal dead in front of me, until such time I asume it alive and waiting for me. So far I only have lost one animal, a nice fat corn feed doe in thew Midwestern cornbelt of America, one week later a fellow hunter found it 6 miles down river in the water. I lost the trail on the river bank. I even walked on both sides of the river for several miles and never found it.

Loosing an animal is not a good feeling for any hunter, but not something we should dwell on it and beat ourselves over it and most certainly not being beaten about it by other hunters who have not seen the situation first hand.

[Mooseman]

This is a very close to heart issue of mine and that is why we founded the Canadian Game Trackers Association.
There is a website beeing build that will offer everyone useful information based on the experineses of tousands of searches by our European supporters and by our local members.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=1510

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=4170

[huntwriter]

peroxide makes the tinyest bit of blood go big and fuzzy and white.
I would be very hesitant to use peroxide to find blood. You are right peroxide does foam and bubble on blood and so it does just about on anything else, moss, wet grass, slugs, fungi and lots more.

Some years back there was a chemical that suposed to make blood glow in the dark. Despite a lot of hype and advertising it only lasted tow years on the market. I wonder why.

There used to be a tracking aid for bow hunters too. It consisted of a spool with very thin string. The spool was conected to the bow and the end of the string to the arrow. The idea was that the arrowed game animal would trag the string along and as it passed vegetation little bits of the string would break off as it snagged on to braches, twigs and such like, leaving and "easy" trail to follow. Never worked either.

I have tried just about every trick there is, because I hate looking for shot deer, I want to go home and not stagger around in the woods (sometimes) for hours. I am tired and searching irritates me to no end. Espeically in places rattlesnakes call home too, or bears for that matter. Believe me if there would be a sure fire method I would have found it by now. I am still looking.

But until then, I will use knowledge about animal behaviour, binoculars, a map, a GPS or compass, watch and listen plus lots of flagging tape. Or if I can find a tracking dog, where legal, then that would be just fine too. So far that never has failed me.

[3kills]

if u can get closer before u shoot get closer...make a good shot dont take the shot if ur not sure of it...after u shoot reload and keep aim at the animal as if u have to make another shot even if u dont have to..after u are sure its gone down wait a good 15 mins and then go find ur animal..and if its not there start ur circles like foxer said...

[bsa30-06]

3kills, i agree after your shot reload right away as if you are going to make another shot.3 years ago i got out of the truck just to have a look into a cut block i grabbed the gun as i always do and 1 bullet off the front seat(why just one because i wasn't thinking)well not fourty feet from the truck i look up and theres a buck standing there in goes the bullet pull the trigger and by the time i got the gun from my face there was no deer to be seen.I hit that deer and it dropped so fast that by the time i moved the gun it was on the ground.I remember thinking how did i miss that ,an easy 80 yard shot then reminded myself to just stay calm, i thought if i missed , that animal is running for his life and going to be making alot of noise.I listened for a while and heard nothing so i thought i'll reload and go take a look, thats when i realized i only grabbed one round.So the moral of the story never get out of the truck with just 1 round, and do your best to stay calm after your shot.I will never get out of the truck with just one shot ever again,i did get that deer and it tasted great but i sure would have been upset if i had to take that second shot and didn't have that bullet with me, and ended up loosing it.

[Walksalot]

You must listen as the animal moves away, Sometimes one can hear a loud crash as the animal piles up. Without moving from your spot take out your compass and take a bearing on the loud crash or where you last heard it moving through the forest and then mark the spot you shot from very well. Always keep in mind where you are going as tracking an animal can get a person lost real quick.

If you find that you are tracking and not retreiving a lot of animals then a reassesment of ones hunting strategy might be in order.

If one has left the truck on a bearing through the bush then a mental note or a written note of the back bearing to the truck might be a good idea before changing the original compass bearing.

[The 'Hummer']

To me game recovery starts the very moment after I take the shot. I sit look and listen. If I am with a hunting partner I want him to shut up, no hooting, no hollering and high fives, just be quiet and listen. Very often you can hear which direction the animal takes and that will give you an indicator. Often I can hear the animal pile up too. Looking at the spot and memorizing where the animal has been last seen after it took off is important. This will be the first spot I mark with flagging tape. Then I go back to where the animal stood when I shot it and mark that spot too. If I bowhunt, my nexts step is to find the arrow as the blood on it can tell me a lot about the animals condition and the shot I made.

There are a lot of different opinions as to how and where animals go after they have been shot. Some will say; "Shot animals always move down hill." or, "...they go near to water." still others will have you know that mortally wounded animals "...always run alongside the hillsidel, never up or down."
Personally I have found that animals run any which direction, but they always stay on a trail. That trail might be plain visible to us or as faint as an escape trail. The final destination where they pile up might not be on the trail though but to either side of it.

If I look for an animal I think, where would I go if I am hurting, be scared or frightened? Commonsense tells me to go to a save place where I can hide from other animals or the onse that pursue me. The same is with an animal. They don't just run and keep running without purpose anywhere their feet take them. Animals know where it is safe and where they can hide. They always go to a place that they are very familiar with. Such places are somewhre in a thicket, like a bedding area or refuge sanctuary, unless you are hunting in the prairies where animals pile up in plain sight before they can make it to their hideout. Animals not brainless, even if mortally hurt, they know exactly what to do and where to go. If we scout properly and know the area we too know where these places are, or should know them.

Makring the spot where the animal has been seen last and the spot where it has been shot give me a line of sight in the direction where the animal is heading. I have found that most animals keep going in a large semi-circle in that first indicated direction. Their instictive aim is to get behind the source that pursues them or caused them to spook and thus being able to see whos following them. Remember, animals do not know that they are hurt, neither do they know that humans use not their noses to find them like other predators and thus for them it it makes "commonsense" to get behind their own trail and watch whose following them, thus they make a big circle.

As I follow the trail I mark every sign I find with flagging tape. I also make sure that I do not walk on the trail or distrub any sign. If I loose the trail I go back to the last marker and look for sign that could tell me something about the direction the animal went. As I do so I try not to stomp all over the place. Instead I make good use of the binoculars to seach every inch in front and to the sides of me. That way I have found quit a few animals that I would have missed with my bare eye, in fact I found most of my deer with my binos, unless they piled up in plain sight of me.

If I can't find any more sign, It's time to get some help, but before everybody starts stopming around we make a big grid marked with flagging tape. Depending at the area and structure of the land, such a grid can consist of smale squers of 20 x 20 yards or up to a 1/4 mile squares. Each hunter gets one square asigned which he searches on hand and knees if necerssary. Any sign found that way will be marked with flagging tape. Very often we have found animals that way which, I alone would have had do declare as lost. The important aspect here is not to distrub any sign by running around to much or turning every stone over and mess up the place to much.

There is an old school saying that a hunter should wait 20 to 30 minutes before he takes up a trail. Not me. The moment I am relaxed after the shot, which for me only takes a couple of seconds, I am on the trail. If I made a good killing shot the animal will be piled up somewhere by the time I climb out of my treestand. If the animal is not instantly killed then the last thing I want is for it to find a quiet place and rest. This is one of the very few times where I do not state an opinion put rather a medical fact. The moment the animal comes to rest, the bleeding slows down and with that there is a good chance for the animal to survive. Animals are very different from people. To start with their pain tolerance level is much higher. Animals blood also coagulates a lot faster than human blood and finally, animals can heal witin day even from serious wunds. I once shot a doe and when I field dressed it I found a broken arrow inside the lungs. The outside has completely healed over, only by looking closer I could see a well healed scare. As for the arrow, it sind't seem to bother the deer at all as the lungs have healed up nicley around the arrow. The way it looked tht pice of arrow with broadhead on it may have been in that deer for one or even two years. Would that have been a normal steel broadhead or wooden arrow shaft the dder would not have been that lucky. But with a stainless steel broadhead and aluminum arrow their was very little chance of infections. The moment the animals bleeding slows down it starts to coagulate, that is not good news for me. I want it to bleed and keep it bleeding.

This is the reason why I search for a animal like I would spot and stalk, moving slowly and very quietly, using my binoculars constantly and with my weapon of choice ready to make a follow up shot if needed. To me the hunt is not over until I find the animal dead in front of me, until such time I asume it alive and waiting for me. So far I only have lost one animal, a nice fat corn feed doe in thew Midwestern cornbelt of America, one week later a fellow hunter found it 6 miles down river in the water. I lost the trail on the river bank. I even walked on both sides of the river for several miles and never found it.

Loosing an animal is not a good feeling for any hunter, but not something we should dwell on it and beat ourselves over it and most certainly not being beaten about it by other hunters who have not seen the situation first hand.
I started drafting a response but your reply has pretty well covered it.:-) The only thing I would add is take the effort or extra second to make that 'first' shot count. IF time permits, pinpoint the target or point of aim. The tendency or reaction is usually to shoot at the 'animal' as the target. If you can find a 'tuft' of hair or other mark in the critical area, focus on that as your point of aim.:!:

However, in the Kootney's a few years ago, we were returning from a morning of Deer hunting, when we spotted a Whitetail buck, at about 80 M's. I was the only that hadn't filled my tag so I 'got' the shot. Off of a rest, .308 Norma Mag with handloads that shoots like a hot damm, no rush, just like a target shot at the range. Squeeze, recoil, crank in the next round and my partner saying "he's hit hard', you got him" as he put down his binoc's. We went to the spot where we last saw him, down side, lots of tracks, like a 'cow' pasture, up side snow cover. Disappointment, no Deer, no hair, no blood splatter, NOT A SIGN. We reenacted, marked looked & looked again, for about 2 Hrs. Nothing!!:-( That afternoon, under similar circumstances on a small Mulie buck, but a different range , 150 - 175 M's, picked the spot, took the shot, he never knew what hit him. Point of impact, probably within a couple of inches of my point of aim. So, what went wrong on the first Deer?:???: Dammed if I know, but I've relived that shot often & probably will continue to do so.

[huntwriter]

I started drafting a response but your reply has pretty well covered it.:-) The only thing I would add is take the effort or extra second to make that 'first' shot count. IF time permits, pinpoint the target or point of aim. The tendency or reaction is usually to shoot at the 'animal' as the target. If you can find a 'tuft' of hair or other mark in the critical area, focus on that as your point of aim.:!:

Hummer - At first I was thinking ot I should include shot placement. But then I thought that this subject has been covered so many times here and took good shot placement as a given.

Instead of detailing everything I just wrote 'sign'. But you are right. Every sign like duffs of hair and the colour of the hair can tell you where the deer was hit. Also blood droplets of blood and their shape can give indication of which direction the deer was heading, even if it walked or was running.
There are a lot of sign besides the onse just mentioned, such as brocke twigs freshly turned up debris, leaves, dirt and so on.

Important is to mark it all with flagging tape or even bathroom paper. Not to destrub the area to much and in my opinion to be as quiet as possible. I have often found that if the animal does not hear anything after the shot (especially in bowhunting) they will stand still or slow down. I also find it important, as stated to mark the spot of impact and last sighting and while searching using the binoculars more than the legs.

[Jager]

Good subject guys. I was always taught that you should sit down and gather your thoughts so to speak after you pull the trigger. I was told to wait approx. 1/2hr before tracking to let the animal stiffen-up if it was only wounded. This is supposed to let you get off another shot if it jumps from its bed more slowly. I'm curious on how other people feel about Huntwriters thoughts on pursuing game as soon as possible to keep the critters heart rate up and bleed out faster. I think he has valid points and I have heard this argument before but I still think the majority of hunters will wait before they try and track.
Comments?

[mrdoog]

Hydrogen Peroxide!
Thanks for the tip.
I've hit a few deer in shalal(sp) or holly (sp), both have red tips, blood trails everywhere. A litlle squirt would have saved some time.

[The 'Hummer']

Jager, after seeing your note I looked for an article by Jim Shockey on the subject but couldn't find it. I'm pretty sure it was Shockey. As I can best recall, his MO is to get right after wounded game as quickly possible. Again if I recall correctly, his idea was to keep the wound animal moving & bleeding as much as possible VS letting the animal rest and a degree of clotting take place. I'll keep looking to see if I can find the article to confirm. My Dads plan was to wait about half an hour. Two trains of thought I guess, and for the people in question, both have proven successful.

[Mooseman]

To follow to soon will make one loose animals. If you wait and I am talking 2 hours at least, you up your chances with a bad shot placement dramaticly.

Just think. If it is dead, it will still be dead in 2 hours. If not, it will take that long at least to weaken or stiffen the animal and you will have a higher chance to get a shot when you jump it.

These are things that have been studied by professionals that do this for a living and it is sad to see not many good books on it. There is one that will help every hunter out there called "Tracking Dogs for finding wounded Deer" http://www.born-to-track.com/book/content.htm in the english language. There is a lot written about it in German and I have a video and I am getting some more DVD's on it but I guess it will take years before we might have access to all this research here. That would be a "very" good subject the BCWF could look in to making available and teach new/young hunters at the CORE programs and everyone else that is interested.

[bigwhiteys]

My grandparents being outfitters and my dad and uncles being guides for most their lives they would never get right on and chase wounded game. They had a much better track record by being patient.

They would make the client sit down, calm down and wait. Adrenaline can keep an animal going for a long, long time.

If and when it happens to me I'll probably do what I have been taught.

Happy Hunting!
Carl

[000buck]

Hydrogen Peroxide!
Thanks for the tip.
I've hit a few deer in shalal(sp) or holly (sp), both have red tips, blood trails everywhere. A litlle squirt would have saved some time.

Here on the island the salal is everywhere (at least everywhere the viatnamese haven't been) peroxide really shines on this stuff as it does not foam up like moss may, also successful in thick stick brush. someone earlier metioned that slugs foam up......... think about it - either you sprayed the damn slug or your blood trail is pretty old, give up or get new glasses.

best way to determine if you get a true hit with peroxide is it will turn pink or brown depending on how much blood there is.

[Gateholio]

I use both the sit and wait and the run rigth up approach, depending on the situation.

Sometimes it just makes more sense to charge right in afterward, and this can often be the case with bears that are heading into thick cover, or have already hit the cover.

It's nice to be able to get a good idea where the animal is, by hearing it thrash around a bit.

Every circumstance is not the same, somtimes it's better to follow quick, othertimes it is better to sit down for lunch.:smile:

[Mooseman]

I use both the sit and wait and the run rigth up approach, depending on the situation.

Sometimes it just makes more sense to charge right in afterward, and this can often be the case with bears that are heading into thick cover, or have already hit the cover.

It's nice to be able to get a good idea where the animal is, by hearing it thrash around a bit.

Every circumstance is not the same, somtimes it's better to follow quick, othertimes it is better to sit down for lunch.:smile:

I do that too if I can see a chance to get another shot in after the client wounded it for shure and has no chance him/her self anymore. But usually that is in the open on a cut block. I don't go after them in the bush right away.

It makes no difference if it is a good hit. Right? The problem is only if it is a bad hit and running after it in to the thick cover will just push it to the point of no recovery.

I had to do 8 hour tracking jobs with the dog because some hot head assistant of mine would not listen and went after the animal right away only to just push it further. A single loung hit with an arrow can take a bull moose an hour to die. If one pushes that animal it can go a long way in an hour.

[GoatGuy]

A dog can help a lot - especially with bears. I've done a couple of long distance tracking jobs with no blood for a long ways with the pup. Just have to trust 'em.

As far as time after goes, it depends on the shot and the situation. I think experience helps this a lot. Poorly shot animals can take a long, long time to stiffen' up - running in there isn't gonna help your program.

[huntwriter]

Maybe I started a misconception here with saying '...go after it right away'. Of course I do not run after it like a runaway train. I am still hunting when I look for a deer. Meaning I use the spot and stalk tactic, be very quiet, move slowly, watch where I set my foot on the ground and keep the wind in my face or have a good cross wind. I do not want to be sensed by the deer.

As stated before. It is medical fact that as soon the animal lays down the bleeding slows down and coagulation begins and with that comes healing. So far, in 40+ years hunting with a rifle and 15 + years hunting with archery equipment, I only have lost two deer. One jumped in the river and was not found for a week until it turned up a few miles down river. A little nice buck just vanished in thin air, after searching with 10 hunters and two dogs for one and half day we could not find it. I knew it was a good shot because it is one video and we watched it many times in slow motion.

But as has been said, it all depnds at the situation but also on with what a hunter feels comfortable. On the other hand there are a lot of old myth and legends that still hang around today but have no footing in reality. One just think at the folklore that venison and water don't mix.

[Offroad]

I agree with Gatehouse in that the situation will dictate which method is the right one. A handy thing to put your peroxide in is an empty spray scent bottle. I find the mist helps streach out the amount in the bottle and is more likely not to be spilt. It also doesn't foam up other organics as bad but blood is easy tell when it is hit by it.

[Walksalot]

I only have lost two deer. One jumped in the river and was not found for a week until it turned up a few miles down river. A little nice buck just vanished in thin air, after searching with 10 hunters and two dogs for one and half day we could not find it. I knew it was a good shot because it is one video and we watched it many times in slow motion.


I too have lost a couple of animals. I have forgotten many of the animals I have shot but those wounded ones just won't go away.:-(

If a guy is hunting in the evening and wounds an animal then you don't have alot of time to sit and wait, especially if it is early season. If I know it has been a good hit and the animal is on a death run then I am on it right away.

[3kills]

u can buy illuminal now too...i m not sure who all carries it but i know people can buy it now...

[houndogger]

Give it time and let the dog do the work! One good track dog could find a poorly shot animal easier then everyone responding to this tread. They have a nose.;-)

[ratherbefishin]

My boy told me of losing a nice whitetail buck last year-he spotted it at some distance and shot it with his 7mm mag,and as he said,it dropped ''like a ton of bricks''.However, when he walked over,figuring to see his buck lying right where it fell, saw absolutely nothing-not even blood.He circled and looked for hours-and went back the next day with another hunter-again nothing.He went back next weekend and figured he would locate the kill by seeing turkey buzzards and ravens , but again not a sign.He told me he saw a buck in the same area which could have been the deer he shot later ,appearently unhurt.He knows he hit the deer-it dropped in it's tracks-but what really happened he will never know, but wonders if he hit it high on the back,thinking it was farther away than it was.

[huntwriter]

Give it time and let the dog do the work! One good track dog could find a poorly shot animal easier then everyone responding to this tread. They have a nose.;-)

Dogs are very good in finding game. But not many hunters have a tracking dog or even know someone that owns one. Or if they doo know someone he might be 100's of miles away.

[Mooseman]

If a guy is hunting in the evening and wounds an animal then you don't have alot of time to sit and wait, especially if it is early season. If I know it has been a good hit and the animal is on a death run then I am on it right away.

You are absolutly right when you know it is a good hit loung/heart even a shot in the liver area will most of the time have damaged the diafraim and cause a timely death.
If you have no access to a trained tracking dog or even a "in use" huting dog it will be difficult to impossible to follow the next day. Other small animals will remove any sign like hair and bone and if it rains you can not see any blood anymore.

For us it is no question in an evening situation. We go the next morning with the dog. The dogs nose is very capable as Houndogger pointed out.
It is actually a disatvantage to follow too soon with the dog as the airborn scent will be there for 2 hours + and that has all kinds of bad influences on the dog.
1. the dog will work with its nose up. (hot trail)
2. The dog is not directly on top of the tracks as he is paralelling it. Thus preventing you to find and confirming blood, hair, bone.
3. Another fresh crossing animal can confuse the dog easier with all this airborn scent and can cause him to overun the one you are after.
4. The dog might later refuse to work an older "cold" trail since the "hot" one offers lost of fresh excitement and no need to concentrate.

A cold trail (best after 4 hours) will make the dog concentrate more on the indevidual scent of the perticular animal you have put the dog on.

[Mooseman]

Dogs are very good in finding game. But not many hunters have a tracking dog or even know someone that owns one. Or if they doo know someone he might be 100's of miles away.

That is why you have to need to join "Canadian Game Trackers Ass." and get a Schweizer Laufhund. You could cover the lower mainland. :mrgreen:

http://www.chassenature.ch/ccc/slc_historique.htm

[moose hunter]

3kills, i agree after your shot reload right away as if you are going to make another shot.3 years ago i got out of the truck just to have a look into a cut block i grabbed the gun as i always do and 1 bullet off the front seat(why just one because i wasn't thinking)well not fourty feet from the truck i look up and theres a buck standing there in goes the bullet pull the trigger and by the time i got the gun from my face there was no deer to be seen.I hit that deer and it dropped so fast that by the time i moved the gun it was on the ground.I remember thinking how did i miss that ,an easy 80 yard shot then reminded myself to just stay calm, i thought if i missed , that animal is running for his life and going to be making alot of noise.I listened for a while and heard nothing so i thought i'll reload and go take a look, thats when i realized i only grabbed one round.So the moral of the story never get out of the truck with just 1 round, and do your best to stay calm after your shot.I will never get out of the truck with just one shot ever again,i did get that deer and it tasted great but i sure would have been upset if i had to take that second shot and didn't have that bullet with me, and ended up loosing it.

i practice this all the time but no longer need to because my 7mm has a mag which i prefer just clip it in and put the bolt foreward just as quick as putting in one shot but u got 3, pracice reloading ur rifles unless its a semi i can reload and shoot again before my empty hits the ground, just work on it, my first buck hit the ground after one 150 grain psp from wal mart but underneath it i had 4 220 grain soft points, why i dont know thats all i had,i dont know where im going anyways just try it a few times if u got some of those fake cartriges like me cant remember what they are called just took my medicine and am still a bit drugged up:mrgreen:

[huntwriter]

That is why you have to need to join "Canadian Game Trackers Ass." and get a Schweizer Laufhund. You could cover the lower mainland. :mrgreen:

http://www.chassenature.ch/ccc/slc_historique.htm

Good idea. Now if I just could get my Rottweiler/Lab mix to get along with other dogs, that are his size and over, then that would be no problem.:smile:

[Mooseman]

Good idea. Now if I just could get my Rottweiler/Lab mix to get along with other dogs, that are his size and over, then that would be no problem.:smile:

Easy! Get a smaller breed like a
Kopov http://www.schwarzwildbracke.de/
Tiroler Bracke http://www.herling-online.de/tirolerbracke/index.html
and get the oppesite sex. :mrgreen:

[Gateholio]

Itis interesting, I have seen many African hutnign videos, and on non dangerous game- and sometimes dangerous game- they almost all rush in after the shot.

They take the shot, and then run up to see if it needs a finisher, or another shot if the animal is still standing or running away.

With dangerous game, they rarely approach very closely until making certain that it is dead, of course.

Of course, most of this hunitng is doen in more open terrain than much of BC.

As we gain more experience with hunting, we all make our own decisions about how and what we do, and how we follow up after the shot. The only thing I am convinced of is that there are more than one way to skin a cat.

:smile:

[Mooseman]

:smile: That depends on the Cat.

The worst thing to kill scent is dry heat and not rain as one would think. That is why in Africa they use usually the skilled Bushman to track lost game. They also go by the individual hoof print as well as other sign. But several outfitters that I know are using dogs now from time to time as well. The other reason they follow sooner as hunters in Europe, Russia, Asia and us here is that the birds and other preditors will find and eat the animal much faster then what we are used to from our wolves and bears or coyotes. That is also the reason that if you draw blood in Africa on an animal it is practicly dead and you will have to pay the trophe fee if it is found or not.

[greybark]

;-) Hey Mooseman , I joined your tracking club as a supporting member and I registered our little Shi Tzu . The only problem you would have is to pack 150 lbs of high quality Treats for the shortest of tracking endevours.

REMEMBER -- Keep Your Fingertab On --

[J_T]

Greybark, when are you going to add the Canadian Game Trackers Assoc. (CGTA) to your signature line?:razz:

JT

[Mooseman]

;-) Hey Mooseman , I joined your tracking club as a supporting member and I registered our little Shi Tzu . The only problem you would have is to pack 150 lbs of high quality Treats for the shortest of tracking endevours.

REMEMBER -- Keep Your Fingertab On --

Yes Sir, I know and we at CGTA thank you for your support :!: and when we have the first call for a wounded rodent in your area, we will send you the call-out information. ;-)

Treats are not part of the membership. You have to read the small print!

PS: On a serious note. I had hoped for a little more positive response (or any for that matter) from the BCWF. I think CGTA is a good thing for all hunters.

[J_T]

PS: On a serious note. I had hoped for a little more positive response (or any for that matter) from the BCWF. I think CGTA is a good thing for all hunters. Mooseman, you're right, the CGTA is a step in the right direction. However this is a repeating theme. There is lots of creativity and innovation surfacing on ways to hunt, or retrieve, or better the image of the hunter...... I have yet to find evidence suggesting the bcwf cares.

JT

[rockrabbitt]

A couple of years ago i was hunting with a buddy who shot a buck that we never did find even though there was lots of blood at first till it started raining and we lost the trail. i wrote a poem about it and thought i would share it with you guys.

The shot is fired
The deer goes down
Blood and tissue on the ground
Its legs kicking in the air
Suddenly it jumps up and is out of there
The hunter approaches slowly, rifle loaded and ready
Hoping the deer has fallen for his shots are always deadly

Carefully he checks the trail ahead
Hoping to see that antlered head
No such luck, nothing in sight
Must find blood trail to end this flight
At first there is much to see
Blood on leaf and small tree
Still no sign of body or horn
Just where has the bullet torn
It starts to rain the drops big and wet
Washing away blood sign causing the hunter to sweat
He does not want the animal to suffer then die
Its death was to be quick when he let the bullet fly

He must find it and end this fast
Before the trail disappears from the rains wet blast
Two, three, four hours go by
The hunter turn to go home with a regretful sigh
For the chances of finding it are not very high
With no trail to follow the odds are bad
That the deer will die without being harvested makes him sad
He knows the coyotes and small animals will soon have trails beaten
To where the body lays waiting to be found and then eaten
He gives one last look and sighs
Mentally analysing his shot and knows he need not offer no alibis
For sometimes this happens when the shot is fired and the bullet flies

[K-1]

Easy! Get a smaller breed like a
Kopov http://www.schwarzwildbracke.de/
Tiroler Bracke http://www.herling-online.de/tirolerbracke/index.html
and get the oppesite sex. :mrgreen: I have a Jagdterrier that I use for blood trailing. So far he has 10 Bears and 1 Moose (13 hr.old track) to his credit. Now that I am retired I hope to add to his Bear count.These are great little dogs that love to hunt and track.

[Foxer]

and if its not there start ur circles like foxer said...

Amusingly (considering where the thread has gone) i was taught that by a pretty crafty black lab when we were training her for ducks when i was a kid :)

[Calum]

Good idea. Now if I just could get my Rottweiler/Lab mix to get along with other dogs, that are his size and over, then that would be no problem.:smile:

As a hobby I used to train my dogs in SAR scent work/fun, and you would be surprised at how many run of the mill mutts can do this work...all dogs have noses after all, and most problems people have in training dogs tends to be their method anyway.

In 10 years of dog training I have found that a rough estimate is approx 60% of dogs in shelters are good for SAR tracking with little or no formal training. So don't get hung up on purebred papers...Your Rotti X can already track he just isn't used to you paying attention.

Where we see a landscape they smell one, So Yes Trust the dogs nose.:)