Tracking Tips

[WapitiTalk1]

I'm sure many of us have had difficult tracking experiences. It goes with the game. What are some of your tips for tracking elk once the arrow (or other projectile) has found it's mark? Let's skip past the standard ones that most big game hunters know (try to determine what type of hit it was, mark where you shot from, mark where the elk was standing, wait XX minutes before proceeding, mark every spot of bood). I'll throw out a couple to start.

1. Move slowly when tracking a hit elk. Stop often and listen.

2. An elk, even when hit well, may not bleed significantly for some pretty long stretches (depends on the hit, the hit angle, going uphill, downhill, etc.). Learn to tune in to the tracks of the target elk as much as the blood sign. This is crucial.

3. Realize that bright red/frothy blood does not necessarily signify a lung shot.

OK, these are just a very few. Tracking an elk after the shot is kind of an art and something that is learned through many years of doing it. Please throw out a few of your after the shot tracking tips.

[jrebel]

Never....blindly walk on trails (you will cover blood making it impossible to track).  I never walk on the blood trail even after I have identified the blood.  You never know when you will have to backtrack to reassess the situation.

Always mark your last 30-40 feet of blood to mark / identify direction of travel.  I mark hard blood trails with flagging (remember to remove flagging after you recover your game).....otherwise it is littering and I hate finding others litter in the woods.

Smell is very important.

Work very slow and methodically.

Look for directional splatters of smears of blood to confirm direction of travel.

Lastly listen to your gut instinct.....Most wounded game will go down hill, toward water and will stay on trails (until their last seconds when they will look for heavy brush or something to hide in to die). 

[Rainier10]

I normally have my hunting partner do the tracking. He is not emotionally involved and can think clearer.  He finds the blood and I flag it and stand at the last blood while he looks for more.  Like you say, sometimes blood can be far apart so the flagging tape gives a good reference to look back at and see the direction the animal is traveling and a direction to look for more blood.  The whole time he is in front of me looking for blood I am scanning out in front of him for movement in case the animal is bed down.

To check and see if the red you are seeing is really blood we use toilet paper to dab on the blood if it stains the toilet paper it is normally blood.

If it is raining look under the leaves for blood that has washed off the top and underneath.

[JLS]

Stay off to one side.  I prefer the downhill side if on a hill, then I am lower and can look into the grass and understory easier.

Look far ahead (10-30 yards) for visible tracks/sign that indicates the animal went that way.

Position yourself to use the sunlight to your advantage when looking for bent grass, branches, etc.

[elk247]

No talking!!! I can't stress this enough. Spook a bedded animal and you might never see it again.

Search the scat on the trail for blood.

The tiniest pindrop on a single blade of grass helped me to recover a hunt-wa members buck this year. Be relentless.

elk are amazingly tough creatures. Have a shooter prepared for a follow up shot should you jump a bedded animal.

limit your blood trailing party to only a few. (Experience prevails here) If the need arises for a grid search later on then call in the reinforcements.

Even after a good rain there are still signs. Don't give up.

Look for blood on trees. Elk will sometimes "lean" on a tree when hit.

[D-Rock425]

Look on the under side of hanging branches and ferns.  A lot of times animals will brush against it on leaving blood on the bottom side.

[WapitiTalk1]

Very, very good info provided gentlemen!  A small squirt bottle of hydrogen peroxide can pay dividends also.  When unsure if something is a small bloodspot in the dirt, or, on a crimson colored huckleberry leaf... spray a bit of peroxide on the suspect spot and you'll get immediate feedback! 

[Jonathan_S]

   thanks everyone, this is a really important thread.  I believe most people do not spend enough time tracking downed game.

With every deer or bear I've killed that went out of sight, it's so hard to wait but very important to do so.  A bear I shot only went 200 yards but would have went a lot further if I had pushed sooner.  Of course elk are the same way.

I know it was mentioned above but very important to remember that animals hit high on the body will not bleed externally very much.  Doesn't mean they aren't dead nearby.

[headshot5]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,123944.25.html

link to another thread about the same thing.

[RG]

If they don't know you are after them they almost always lay down fairly soon. If you jump them they may run for miles because now they know they are being followed. They also bed watching their back trail.  I've had it pay dividends to have someone circle ahead to the side of the trail with binocs to try to locate the bedded elk before I bump it. If you see them laying it doesn't mean they are dead. I walked up on a dead elk that jumped and ran down to the bottom of the canyon. Canadian outfitter Dix Anderson told me "the first bed is the most important" when I worked for him as a young guide. Those were wise words. 

[Longbowz]

RG,

Very wise words.  When blood trailing one up I remain as quiet as possible.  To me I'm still stalking him, potentially for another shot.