Post by: WapitiTalk1 on March 08, 2016, 01:19:15 PM
Always a good topic for discussion.
I'm sure many of us have had difficult tracking experiences; it goes with the sport. 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.
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.
Post by: medic6 on March 08, 2016, 01:31:49 PM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on March 08, 2016, 01:33:42 PM
I keep a small spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide for when the trail gets small and tends to blend in with the red stained ferns. Helps with the guesswork.
Same here, good tip :tup:
Post by: BULLBLASTER on March 08, 2016, 02:55:24 PM
Post by: kellama2001 on March 08, 2016, 03:35:30 PM
Post by: Bill W on March 08, 2016, 04:33:58 PM
Post by: medic6 on March 08, 2016, 04:53:26 PM
Post by: huntindoc on March 08, 2016, 04:58:13 PM
Go slow, and if you loose the track, back up, and scan forward. A hit animal is usually - NOT ALWAYS- looking for an easier path and sometimes you can pick up sign quite a distance ahead. I've seen my brother follow a track for a long ways, and often the drips are more than 100 yrds apart.
Post by: police women of America on March 08, 2016, 05:16:02 PM
Post by: Firedogg on March 08, 2016, 06:15:11 PM
Post by: kentrek on March 08, 2016, 06:40:01 PM
Looking back at some of the elk we lost I feel like the biggest issue or thing that I can point a finger at besides a less then perfect shot is rain.....rain storms suck....
Last year we lost a bull and after half a day on ny belly i really wish I would have had the peroxide, does peroxide work on day old blood ??
Post by: D-Rock425 on March 09, 2016, 06:23:12 AM
Post by: buglebrush on March 09, 2016, 07:50:02 AM
Post by: DVET253 on March 09, 2016, 08:23:52 AM
Post by: Squidward on March 09, 2016, 08:32:48 AM
watch your pant legs for blood coming off the under side of brush while walking.
for muzzy I tie a small piece of flagging ribbon on my ram rod, after the shot and on the reload the ribbon will fall of the rod when you pull it out of the gun. It gives you the place you shot from with no extra effort in the brush.
never pick up blood / bone / hair , leave it on the trail.
Post by: Jonathan_S on March 09, 2016, 08:33:55 AM
Once I did this on a liver hit whitetail buck that went and died in the September sun and lay there for 3 hrs. Man oh man was he swollen like a sick pup. If I had waited like they do in the movies, he'd have been rotten.
Don't say, "well wounded animals always move down hill or always to water" because eventually you will find a buck, bull, or bear because it broke one of those rules and ran straight up a mountainside or away from a creek bottom.
Post by: Okanagan on March 09, 2016, 09:26:03 AM
Check the underside of branches and ferns for blood. Sometimes elk as it walks will brush up against branches and and sort leaving blood on the underside.
Where the blood drips/spurts/smears are in relation to tracks can indicate accurately where the animal is hit: left side; through wound bleeding from both sides; smearing only on the underside of limbs the elk passed under; blood consistently in one hoof track; paintbrushing logs and brush with sternum/chest; etc.
We tracked a wounded bull for 8 1/2 hours in western WA and during the entire time found only two tracks made in dirt (where he had stepped on gopher mounds) and hardly ever a drop of blood on the ground. It was all smears on the underside of brush. The bull was not hurt badly and we saw him several times later that winter, with a mussed up scar spot high on his withers where he was hit but otherwise OK.
With multiple trackers you can move ahead faster on marginal "spoor" (always wanted to use that word :chuckle:) One man works carefully from the last spot of sign, which as said needs to be marked with TP or something, while the other man roams ahead on the most likely route and scans places where the animal likely passed. Sometimes you can jump the track ahead by 100 yards. while not losing the continuous trail of sign if you don't find sign way out ahead.
Post by: MagKarl on March 09, 2016, 10:31:18 AM
Post by: Jonathan_S on March 09, 2016, 10:48:29 AM
I absolutely love trailing.
The only time this is true for me is broad daylight in fresh snow with a yard-wide swath of lung blood :chuckle:
Post by: BULLBLASTER on March 09, 2016, 03:15:24 PM
Way better than tracking the yellow trail through fresh snow :hello:I absolutely love trailing.
The only time this is true for me is broad daylight in fresh snow with a yard-wide swath of lung blood :chuckle:
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on March 09, 2016, 04:08:09 PM
Its been mentioned, but noting blood patterns is huge IMO.
If you are unable to locate your arrow in an area where recovery is likely, suspect that it may still be inside the animal Blood sign can help to confirm this.
One I dont see mentioned much is the perfect shot. Or nearly perfect shot. Often times great shots bleed very little. If a double lung shot is a bit high, the bull may death sprint and die and lose very little if any blood. This can be very important with darkness approaching. And is the one time, I will regularly violate the wait rule. AT the very least mark ALL locations where you shot, and exactly where the elk was as well as direction of travel if possible. It is easy to track blood in the dark, but very hard to keep track of your surroundings. This is compounded when in unfamiliar terrain. Often par for the course on an elk hunt. If the elk didnt bleed you may have a large area to grid and will need these key pieces to get started.
Post by: coachcw on March 09, 2016, 04:38:21 PM
Post by: KFhunter on March 09, 2016, 04:45:30 PM
As a kid I used to track coyotes, bears, coons all manner of critters just for fun. Didn't shoot them, would just cut their tracks and follow them for miles often bumping the animals. Coyotes used to double back and lay up watching me come along then take off again, often times they'd double back on their own tracks and jump up a ways trying to loose me. Lot of times I'd only see grass blades just starting to stand back up after being pressed down by a pad. I've found plenty of shot deer by nothing more than my nose.
It was great fun, I didn't have xbox. My advice, do it a lot and have very sharp eyes.
Post by: Okanagan on March 09, 2016, 04:52:59 PM
I did this on a mule deer that crossed a ridge out of sight well over a quarter mile away across a DEEP and extremely difficult canyon. The buck's tracks showing blood were within 6 feet and his trail followed easily from that point.
Shortcuts: I don't calculate a reverse bearing but simply line up using the south end of the needle when looking back. Also, declination is irrelevant. Just take a bearing from magnetic north.
Post by: Duckslayer0513 on March 09, 2016, 08:08:31 PM
Post by: buglebrush on March 09, 2016, 10:45:51 PM
Also if you shoot a bull with a little group of cows they will sometimes bed down right where he lays to die. If you jump cows go look in the direction they came from.
Post by: police women of America on March 10, 2016, 11:22:22 PM
Blood trail stopped? Wrap that white TP in your pack around your hand and sweep the brush with it checking for that little speck. It's a trick that has put me back on the trail several times and almost everyone carries it with them.Very good advice! Ill be using that trick this year. :tup:
Post by: Jonathan_S on March 11, 2016, 07:34:03 AM
I thought of one other thing. Listen intently for several minutes after the shot. Many clues are missed by all the high-fiving, and celebration. A couple years ago we shot a bull that took off to the north. Blood totally ended after 70 yards. We looked for hours and hours. Finally found him way to the south and below us. Totally opposite from where he headed at first, and it was all because we had heard a single crash down there about five minutes later.
Also if you shoot a bull with a little group of cows they will sometimes bed down right where he lays to die. If you jump cows go look in the direction they came from.
Years and years ago when I was a sprout, I was along on a hunt where my dad killed a coastal cow. I big old lead cow and she was liver hit and she bobbed and weaved through a blackberry jungle...then circled back around and died in the original clearcut where she'd been hit :chuckle:
Same situation, blood ran out about 200 yards from where she finally bedded. The rest of the group got up and ran, we went to investigate and there she was.
Good tip :tup:
Post by: AKBowman on March 12, 2016, 07:02:56 AM
Also like some have said, slow down and listen to your instincts.