How to become a highly effective tracker

[velvet muley]

Okay, after reading so many lost animal threads over the years in multiple forums I think it would be great to get knowledge from everyone that could help people with the skill of tracking. Hopefully this can be very educational for everyone in some way and prevent some losses of animals.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

Experience and boots on the ground. Takes time.

I use pieces of toilet paper as I’m marking blood, lets you see the path the animal ran and gives you reference when you loose blood.

Go slow, when you think your going slow enough, slow down even more.

 

[velvet muley]

"IMO, being a highly effective tracker would result in way less animals being lost, it is a skill in itself. When I say tracker I don't mean following a blood trail, that is the easy part that anyone can do.

It's when you lose blood which happens quite often. I believe this is one of the things most hunters are lacking in the field, learning how to track animals that stop bleeding and gridding effectively is extremely important.

It's something that comes with a lot of practice and experience when it comes to understanding what elk like to do and understanding how they prefer to use topography."

This was my post in the lost elk thread, maybe this can help kick start some conversations.



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[Samson7x]

Learn from the folks in Zimbabwe. Those guys are on another level.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

In on this thread for some nuggets. I've made some miraculous recoveries over the years but usually just because I'm stubborn and won't quit, would be nice to add some skills to that stubbornness. lol

Couple basics that come to mind that everybody probably already knows.

I've stumbled on more than a couple animals by guessing their direction based on trajectory and terrain just imagining in my mind as if I'm watching them in a movie running down this path and which fork they would take and where they're trying to go.

If you've got good blood and it suddenly stops they're frequently dead in the area because they ran out of blood. When this happens they often lose all ability to maintain a direction and just shoot for the nearest thicket to crash into, so have to do a good wagon wheel from there.

If you're having trouble finding blood be sure to look on brush or bushes up off the ground, grass blades and such. If that animal isn't dropping blood sometimes you can find where a blade of grass wiped some from it's side.

 

[Macintosh]

1) dont take shots you arent certain you can make under hunting pressure/position/excitement, etc.

Now that that’s out of the way…

Taking a photo from where I shot, and using the markup to show position of animal and direction of travel has been really helpful for me. Too often its hard to get started and once you move, that tree or rock you noted is no longer obvious. A photo lets you confirm, bc your mind plays tricks on you.

TP or paper flagging (or plastic if you’ll actually go back and pick up your trash) has been a big help for me. First marker ALWAYS where you shot from so it can be seen from a distance.

If you lose blood and you have access to a tracking dog, it can be better to back out before trampling scent all over the area.

And, since the clarification…I’ll just add that this^ is most common for me in very thick stuff whitetail hunting. One thing that might be more applicable for elk and open areas is I usually make an onx track on the blood trail. In the dark it often seems like the path isnt straight, but 9/10 times the track is pretty close to a straight line along the easiest path to where I find it. Not always, but if you’re going to grid search that track is a likely place to look first.

 

[hibernation]

A good partner is invaluable when tracking. A bad partner that can't focus, tramples all over the trail, talks too loud, and can't maintain a positive attitude... I'd rather just track alone.

That being said, sometimes it's easier to track when it's not your animal. The actual shooter is often distracted by what they could have done differently, making a poor shot, feeling guilty, all that. If that's you, sometimes it's best to take a few minutes, eat something, switch gears mentally, find your focus and get back after it.

 

[intunegp]

Preserve any and all evidence of where the animal was or has been. Walk next to the animal's trail, not over it. Stomping over the blood and tracks you are attempting to follow will hurt you big time if you need to work backwards and I'd always rather be backtracking over the animal's prints than my boot prints, though if you're just retracing your steps your boot prints can still show you where you've already been.

Mark the blood everywhere you find it whether this is with flagging tape or a stick in the ground or whatever...it is invaluable to be able to glance behind you and see a figurative line in the dirt of where you came from to help determine where you might be going. OnX points can be handy as well but I like to have real, physical markers at each point I may want to revisit, or at least 3 or 4 in a row that can then be leap-frogged each time you find a newer sign.

Pay attention to the tracks near the blood and precisely what direction they are going as a small change in direction can lead you off course fairly quickly. If you don't immediately see the next blood from where you are standing, look up and forward rather than staring at the ground...it often becomes pretty obvious what is the path of least resistance which is often what a wounded animal will take. Additionally, not all blood will end up on the ground, and looking forward can help you spot blood and hair that may have ended up on taller foliage, logs and stumps, branches, etc. On top of that, don't forget that at any time you may have line-of-sight to your animal whether dead or wounded and still moving. It is easy to get stuck with your nose to the ground when searching for tiny drops of blood, but you may look 100 yards in front of you and be able to put eyes on the animal. I was tracking a wounded elk with some friends one time and my eyes were so glued to the ground in front of me that I would have walked right up into the bull if one of them didn't put their hand on my shoulder...we put the kill shot on him from no more than 5 yards away.

If you have good blood and tracks at the initial site of the shot, take mental note of what the kicked up/fresh dirt looks like compared to the settled ground around it. When you lose blood and resort to following tracks/trails alone, look for the dirt/tracks that look different or stand out. Deer and elk dig deep enough in almost any ground that a very fresh track will have a different moisture level than the surface around it.

Keep in mind that a running/bounding deer or elk covers a lot of ground very quickly. A stride or two for the animal (especially elk) may be several steps for you, and they may take several of those strides or leaps between spurts of blood.

At the end of the day, a lot of it comes down to being patient and not giving up. If there is blood on the ground there is a wounded animal ahead. It may or may not be dead, but you will never know if you don't keep following the trail.

 

[Johnny_Yemon11]

That being said, sometimes it's easier to track when it's not your animal. The actual shooter is often distracted by what they could have done differently, making a poor shot, feeling guilty, all that. If that's you, sometimes it's best to take a few minutes, eat something, switch gears mentally, find your focus and get back after it.

I was just going to add this, don’t have much experience. But I read this same tip in this forum and it has helped with my hunting partners and I. Taking the emotion out of the track is a huge help.

I've stumbled on more than a couple animals by guessing their direction based on trajectory and terrain just imagining in my mind as if I'm watching them in a movie running down this path and which fork they would take and where they're trying to go.

I’ve see a couple people referencing “trajectory”. I obviously understand it’s the direction the elk went off, but are you guys saying generally speaking a wounded elk is going to continue roughly in the same line unless the topography makes it change course or it expires?

 

[*zap*]

Lightweight glow cord is a good way to mark a blood trail if there are brush/trees available to tie to. Works like a charm at night.

 

[intunegp]

I’ve see a couple people referencing “trajectory”. I obviously understand it’s the direction the elk went off, but are you guys saying generally speaking a wounded elk is going to continue roughly in the same line unless the topography makes it change course or it expires?

I know it is not what you're looking for, but the answer is maybe. A wounded elk will run straight up and over topography that would make most humans say "let's go around". I think the point that is being made is that sometimes it can help to use your intuition...without blood or tracks, if you look in front of you and think that it makes far more sense to take potential route A versus the other options, there is a fair possibility the animal thought the same thing.

I've followed wounded elk in a nearly straight line, and I've followed them when they've made big loops or gone around a terrain feature they could have easily gone up and over. Very generally speaking, a wounded animal is trying to put distance between itself and the perceived threat as quickly as possible, and the quickest way to get further away is run in a straight line. That doesn't mean it will stay straight indefinitely.

 

[hibernation]

I’ve see a couple people referencing “trajectory”. I obviously understand it’s the direction the elk went off, but are you guys saying generally speaking a wounded elk is going to continue roughly in the same line unless the topography makes it change course or it expires?

Sort of. Figure that immediately after a hit, they're often in "predator evasion" mode, going any direction at any speed. But if they slow down they'll start moving more normally, following trails and easy paths across the terrain. How much they travel at one speed or the other varies, it depends on the shot, whether it ever saw/smell/heard you before or after the shot, whether it thinks it's being pursued, other animals in the group, and the individual animal's disposition.

You can use this to your advantage when the blood trail starts to get so sparse you can't directly follow it anymore, when there's significant distance between blood drops. Look at the trail as a whole leading up to the last blood, then look up at the terrain and think "where would an animal here be mostly likely to go?" Then follow that route for a bit, see if you can confirm it by finding more blood.

If you don't, return to that last spot and see if there's another alternate path. Search it next.

It's always a balance though, you have to bear in mind that animals can suddenly change direction for any number of reasons. So sometimes you need to explore every direction, cut concentric circles out from your last blood, or even grid search. But looking at the landscape as a whole, sometimes you can see the most obvious path and gain some ground by following a trail and confirming a good spot of blood further down it.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I’ve see a couple people referencing “trajectory”. I obviously understand it’s the direction the elk went off, but are you guys saying generally speaking a wounded elk is going to continue roughly in the same line unless the topography makes it change course or it expires?

Most of my experience is with deer, some exotics, and a few Nilgai and handful of elk. I'd say pretty universally though if they're hit and hurt they're running afraid they tend to go the path of least resistance if they're still thinking clearly so if a heavily used trail splits right that's going to be my expected trail. If it leads to nowhere though and there's a big thick sanctuary to the left that could lead to a change of direction. In the areas that I hunt that I know really well I can get an idea of where they're trying to go to begin with and that helps a lot, if I know they come from a certain bedding area 3/4 mile away and I'm hunting a feeding area that helps. Sort of a game of probabilities. But yes, a straight line is the fastest way to get away (shortest distance between two points) but they also often will follow a trail that leads the general direction. Except for Nilgai, those bastards just point and run and it doesn't matter what's in front of them they just plow through it.

 

[velvet muley]

Agree with the above statements, also remember after they put some distance between you and them they will most likely be looking for a "safeish" place to bed down. In not super thick country, that can help you mark some potential spots on your map according to the direction they were headed to comb through.

 

[Macintosh]

I was just going to add this, don’t have much experience. But I read this same tip in this forum and it has helped with my hunting partners and I. Taking the emotion out of the track is a huge help.






I’ve see a couple people referencing “trajectory”. I obviously understand it’s the direction the elk went off, but are you guys saying generally speaking a wounded elk is going to continue roughly in the same line unless the topography makes it change course or it expires?

Take with a grain of salt, as I havent had to blood trail elk. But with deer, I really believe they are usually heading to a specific location. They may initially run in the direction away from a noise, impact, etc, but they quickly curve around and get on a “path” that follows terrain but is +\- a straight line. I think they are making a beeline for security cover. So yes, “trajectory” of a wounded animal ime seems to be more or less the path of least resistance to a specific location, which seems most often to be a pretty straight line.
Usually, of course there’s exceptions.

 

[Erict]

- Stand upright as soon as your eyes have acclimated to seeing the blood spatters. Most of the tracking I have helped with is at night and human nature seems to be to bend over to avoid missing anything. Half an hour later, you are still bent over and your back is feeling it.

- Don't be "that guy" who doesn't have 1 or 2 good bright lights that will last a while. Farmer friend likes to use his 12v Dewalt handheld with the old school bulbs that give off yellow light. Almost worthless.

 

[mad_angler]

A few thoughts...

Have survey tape in your binocular case. Immediate at the shot, tie it to something at the shooting location.

Take a physical picture of where the animal was and where it went. Do a voice recording like "left of the big bush, in front of the double tree. It took off left and disappeared behing the big cedar"

When you get to the shot location and find the first location, tie another piece of survey tape.

(I won't talk about how long to wait. That is too controversial.)

Drop toilet paper and any speck of blood you find. If you loose blood drop back a bit and look at the TP. It might suggest a path.

Two people can work together. One guy is on his knees looking for any speck. At each spec, he drops some toilet paper. The second guy is a bit further ahead and looking for bigger sign. When the second guy finds blood, the first guy gets up and goes to that location and puts TP on that blood.

Walk on the side of the blood trail and any game trails.

 

[np307]

I know this is a western focused forum and there are a number of factors that dont make this as easy of a proposition out there, but I cannot overstate the ability of a good tracking dog. Even a dog that hasn't been trained for it will surprise you with its ability.

 

[RockAndSage]

Quick tips:

1) Practice when you're not tracking down a wounded animal.

2) Learn to identify doe from buck, walking animal from running animal.

3) Learn to assess how old a track is by how the edges and fine features age, especially with 1 or 2 morning's worth of frost or dew.

4) It's toughest to see tracks at mid-day, because there are no shadows. So, make your own shadows. Carry a bright flashlight for daytime use - aim it horizontal just above a track and the shadows will make the track much more clear to your eyes.

5) Get a stick of some kind and measure the distance between the animal's tracks. When the trail "disappears", pull the stick out, put one end down right the last track you can see, and somewhere in a 360 degree circle (usually dead ahead) you'll find the next track, almost exactly at the end of that stick, 1 or 2 stick-lengths away.

EDIT: It usually takes me a day or two for my eyes to tune up at the beginning of scouting season - it's a perishable skill. But after a couple of days on the ground looking for sign, and picking apart how they're moving between food and bed, your eyes dial in much more effectively. With a few days in the field, you'll start spotting faint sign out of the corner of your eye that you'd have been oblivious to on day 1. After a week or two of scouting, you'll even see them clearly while driving on a dirt two-track from a truck or side-by-side, if you're not going too fast.

 

[Ross]

When you have gone a long period of time with zero idea of line of travel, go back to the last known track or blood and take a break. After several hours it gets very taxing on the brain mentally and cause you to lose hope. Stay as positive as you can, because the longer you go without any verification hope becomes lost.