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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2017 9:29:21 GMT -4
After the shot, I watch, hope and pray that the animal drops in sight. If so, great! If not, I mentally mark the last spot I saw it, let the shakes stop (I love that part), climb down and start the second hunt.
Being color blind is a very real handicap when blood tailing. I work slower than most, I enjoy doing it alone. It is another part of the hunt, the best part. Before the shot, you're pretty sure there's an animal out there and you hope you'll get that one opportunity. After the shot, you know the animal is out there, you just have to locate it. You now owe it to the game to find it.
I try to answer all the questions that tuketu put forward. I carry TP for flagging and put out a square at every drop of blood. You can look back at the squares and see the general direction of travel. I have gotten so caught up in the trail, I've almost tripped over the animal.
My advice is time and TP are your best friends during the tracking.
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Post by tuketu on Feb 26, 2017 12:18:54 GMT -4
I think many will agree that bears are one of the hardest animals to blood track .... other than giraffe ! TP is a great idea as it's biodegradable ! My only concern would be rain or wind, (which is quite common in my neck of the woods during the fall season), and its effect on tp if you have to return the next day to recover your harvest. Without question, any type of trail marker is a good idea !
I can't imagine being color blind and having to track ! I'm with you ilbowhnter ... the tracking is as much a part of the harvest as the shot! I've been on my hands and knees more that once looking for a speck of blood on a trail after dark literally bumping into the butt end of an expired Black Bear ... now there's a shot of endorphins you ain't going to get from a good run ! Lol !
Just to clarify the flagging tape I use is only temporary. When I recover my bear all the tape comes down and is saved to reuse another day.I'm a staunch believer in ..."Leave No Trace".
tuk
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Post by skeeter on Feb 26, 2017 17:24:01 GMT -4
try this next time and you'll always do it.
before you start blood trailing/tracking - take out your fluorescent trail tape and uncoil about 20 to 30 yds of it. Then hold the roll and begin tracking with all that uncoiled stuff dragging along behind you. It will follow you like a super long snake. It will slither along effortlessly. If you lose the trail then drop the roll and search ahead until you find fresh sign then go back get the roll and move up to your latest sign. Wounded animals typically travel in a somewhat straight line away from the danger they're fleeing from. A simple glance backwards at the tape trail can often point where you should be looking ahead. If for some reason you need to abandon the trail to return later it's real easy to find a 60 foot plus length of trail tape in the woods to get you back on track. When you find your animal then just roll up the tape to take it all out with you. If you're patient you can reroll the tape back to it's original shape - ready for the next trailing adventure.
This works real good when 2 guys are tracking. One looks for sign ahead and the rear guy just follows along advancing the tape - moving ahead to last blood.
It's a wacky way to use trail tape but it works like a charm! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2017 18:33:18 GMT -4
I'm kind of a minimalist when I go out. Not sure about wiping my butt with flagging tape. JMO.
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Post by tuketu on Mar 3, 2017 12:58:07 GMT -4
Too Funny ilbowhnter !
That's why God invented moss right ?
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Mar 12, 2022 10:41:00 GMT -4
My 2021 Tracking job shows just how little you may have to go on after the shot. Things happened so quickly I didn't pick out a marker from where I last saw the bear go into the swamp. I had a general idea and there were several trails in which I could begin my search for a blood trail. After scouring 3 separate trails I found a slight scuff mark in the moss. From there it was inch by inch checking every leaf and twig for blood. Although I'd had a double lung pass-thru with my 330 Micro the exit wound had immediately became plugged with fat providing virtually no blood trail.
 After scouring 3 separate trails I found a slight scuff mark in the moss. From there it was inch by inch checking every leaf and twig for blood. Although I'd had a double lung pass-thru with my 330 Micro the exit wound had immediately became plugged with fat providing virtually no blood trail. This was the extent of my blood trail. Luckily I continued following the faint trail and found my bear just on the edge of the swamp - he was facing his back trail.   Shooting from an elevated position his shows the entrance wound which had also plugged up leaving no signs of blood on scrub brush or ferns.  tuk d 1
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