Tracking Tips, Tricks, and Mistakes.....

[WapitiTalk1]

With our big game season(s) getting ready to roll, let's get a tracking, tips, tricks, and mistakes thread going.  Tracking a hit big game animal is much more than following a blood trail. Let's share a few tips, tricks, and mistakes concerning tracking a "hit" elk or really, any big game.

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, note the direction it went, obviously, if you heard it go down or not, wait XX minutes before proceeding, mark every spot of blood). I'll throw out a couple.

Carry a small squeeze/squirt bottle of peroxide (learned this from a friend a handful of years ago).  I will "never" hunt without this in my pack.  Just a quick "pfsst" onto a spot can confirm if it's blood or not.   

Move slowly when tracking a hit elk. Stop often, look, listen, and "smell".

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. Blood trails can start and stop but tracks are constant. This is crucial.

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

Know that elk contain a lot of blood. Just cuz you see blood everywhere, doesn't mean it's gonna go down quickly.

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, tricks, or mistakes.

[CoryTDF]

I do not get to toot my own horn often but i am pretty dang good at finding dead animals. I have helped more people than I can remember find their dead or wounded animals. Here are a few of the tips I would share.

1. Think like an elk or deer. I found blood 300 yards from the last drop on my 2013 bull because I went to the place that just seemed the most logical path. This does not always work but it's a great way to stay in the game after you loose blood. This method has worked for me several times.

2. Always mark your last drops of blood. You never know where the trail might take you and you will want to know where to go back to in the event the trail goes cold.

3. Think about where you shot the animal. What side did you get your penetration? Was it a pass through? If not a pass through make sure you focus on the side of the trail that matches the side the animal was hit on.

4. Move slow and do not walk on the trail as you are looking for blood.

5. Only bring as many people as is necessary. More boots means more chance of somebody clearing away sign.

5. Birds. Watch for birds and they will give away a kill. I have several animals by following birds.

[Alchase]

Chalk this one up to Mistake or bad assumption.

From the time I started hunting, I was told "after being hit, a deer or elk will always go downhill"
That seemed pretty a pretty good bet, until I hit a blacktail up by Spider Lake.
He went down, then got right back up. I lost sight as he side hilled and crested a finger.
I got to the initial hit location and found heavy clots of blood and pink foam. I was pretty sure I had a good clean lung hit. We started searching mainly down the draw in pretty heavy foliage. After about and hour with no sign, we hiked back up to the initial hit location. All of a sudden I hear what sounds like something really heavy or a group of deer coming down the finger we were on. From about 100 feet above, a cloud of dust was following my deer rolling head over tail at a high rate of speed. He went right past us and ended up about 30 feet below in the brush, dead as can be.
As I was gutting, my buddy walked up hill and noted a very distinct trail of blood all the way up. He laid down, yacked a lung, died, and started to roll back down the hill.