Blood Tracking!

[brew]

if you loose the trail mark the last blood and stop....look at the terrain and think what might be the easiest way for you to go to escape.  may not happen all the time but some years back my buddy arrowed a cow elk in Manastash and we lost the blood trail after 100 yds or so.  he called us on the 2-ways and we showed up to help.  trailed it to where the blood ran out and 6 of us started circling the area.  after about an hour with no more blood some of the guys were giving up when i thought if I was a liver shot elk where would i run?  I quartered down the ridge and found a single drop of blood on a blowdown about 75 yds from where we last saw blood.  My wife was with me and about the time I raised my buddies on the 2-way she found the cow dead laying 30 yds from that drop of blood under a small fir tree...don't give up !

[jasnt]

Great thread. I think this should be a sticky!   

[sneakyjake]

Just curious, the bull I shot the other day.  When my blood trail ended I found the bull 30 or so feet from the  last drop face down in the mountain the next morning. Since I was pretty sure that I double lunged it, would it be safe to say that it ran out of breath and wouldn't leave a blood trail after that point and die close by?

[Stizz]

Great advice guys...one thing to add-dont rule out a hit if you cant find blood! last year i took a long quartering away shot on my bull. Gave him some time, and went to search for blood. I didnt find a single drop within 50 feet...in fact, i didnt find any that day...but i also couldnt find the arrow which gave me hope. I ended up finding the bull 75 or 100 yards from the shot using the suggestion above - "where would i go if i was a wounded elk". It turns out the arrow entered just behind the diaphragm, and even though i took out the liver and a lung, the stomach completely sealed the arrow entrance.

[erk444]

I gave in and bought some blue star off the net, figured what the hell if it helps me find the elk I arrowed then its worth it.

I used some blue star last year to find a deer my dad shot. Stuff works awesome, but runs out to quick. It says to only use it to find the trail if you loose it, but it worked so good I just kept spraying it in front of me! It does react with some vegetation and a few other things, but you can tell the difference between those and blood pretty quick. It also stops reacting with the blood within an hour or so, so its still a good idea to mark the trail. Great product, and I'm going to by more for sure

[Turner89]

"Finally, and most important!  If you are single start dating Squaws.  I married one and she is the best blood hound around. "

       Might be able to make some extra $$$ during hunting season.

[RadSav]

"Finally, and most important!  If you are single start dating Squaws.  I married one and she is the best blood hound around. "

       Might be able to make some extra $$$ during hunting season.

If she hadn't gone blind I might have to make some extra money on that   Even now after a whole goober full of eye surgeries she is better than most.  She's just a bit slower now.