TaperPin
WKR
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2023
- Messages
- 3,234
It‘s always fun hearing hunter’s techniques and frustrations tracking wounded game, and I’ll gladly change my technique as better ideas pop up. I don’t have 3d vision, so tracks are a little harder to see.
Maybe the hardest thing is to keep calm enough to pin point the exact location the animal was standing when it was hit, and that spot never looks the same as you move closer. I keep a small roll of plastic flagging for marking trails, kill sites, or whatever - unless I’ve been somewhere multiple times I never seem to intuitively find the same path twice bushwhacking. If an animal runs off I try to remember to put a few inches of flagging held down with a small rock or stick on his exact track before looking around. Unlike bow hunting I don’t tend to wait before looking for an animal because the assumption is it didn’t go far - if a quick 50 yard scan doesn’t show the animal I may go to 100 yards rather quickly, but really just guessing at the direction. Even in the thick sage an antelope can be a few feet away and be almost completely camouflaged. If nothing shows up, then it’s time to go back to square one and actually follow the tracks.
Of course if there is snow on the ground, or the ground is muddy it’s a no brainer to follow, but during dry late September or early October hunts it’s a bugger to see let alone follow tracks in the pine needles. Since the animal’s tracks were marked where it was shot that helps a ton. At every visible foot print or drop of blood I’ll put a few inches of flagging there - if the track is totally lost just looking back at the trail of flagging shows a pretty good direction. In sagebrush, flagging is tied on top so it’s visible. Focusing downward it’s easy to forget the big picture.
Staring at the ground looking for hoof prints, a freshly broken plant/limb, or blood is so tedious it has to be one of the hardest things we do. Forest that opens up and crosses a mostly rocky ridge is almost impossible, at least for me - instead of tracks, a turned up small rock or indented patch of dirt of a partial hoof is all there is.
If an animal made it 100 yards I’ll try to be patient and take a break, although that’s easier said than done when it seems like it took forever to follow the track this far. Mulies seem to lie down rather quickly in cover, antelope run until they can’t stand up, and elk are tough and seem to head for dense areas even if it’s quite a ways away before feeling safe enough to lie down. I‘ve assumed a hurt deer or elk will go downhill, but that varies with topography so much maybe not so? At timberline often the easiest cover is downhill, but I’ve seen mulies work their way across or up a steep slope almost impossible to follow on foot.
If I jump the animal and it looks healthy, I’ll try to give it 4 hrs before following it further.
If the tracks are headed in a specific direction and you’re not sure why, a quick look at a topo map can show a saddle, thickly vegetated drainage, or some other feature that’s funneling them in that direction.
I‘ve pushed an unwounded big wide deer over a ridge where it was shot by other hunters who traveled 10 miles in from the other side - it was close enough I could hear them cheering and probably doing a happy dance. That experience makes me cautious popping over a saddle if some trigger happy goof thinks my pant legs or daypack is the big deer he just got a glimpse of.
Has anyone had luck with the pocket size flir cameras picking up body heat at night?
Thats about all I’ve got. . .
Maybe the hardest thing is to keep calm enough to pin point the exact location the animal was standing when it was hit, and that spot never looks the same as you move closer. I keep a small roll of plastic flagging for marking trails, kill sites, or whatever - unless I’ve been somewhere multiple times I never seem to intuitively find the same path twice bushwhacking. If an animal runs off I try to remember to put a few inches of flagging held down with a small rock or stick on his exact track before looking around. Unlike bow hunting I don’t tend to wait before looking for an animal because the assumption is it didn’t go far - if a quick 50 yard scan doesn’t show the animal I may go to 100 yards rather quickly, but really just guessing at the direction. Even in the thick sage an antelope can be a few feet away and be almost completely camouflaged. If nothing shows up, then it’s time to go back to square one and actually follow the tracks.
Of course if there is snow on the ground, or the ground is muddy it’s a no brainer to follow, but during dry late September or early October hunts it’s a bugger to see let alone follow tracks in the pine needles. Since the animal’s tracks were marked where it was shot that helps a ton. At every visible foot print or drop of blood I’ll put a few inches of flagging there - if the track is totally lost just looking back at the trail of flagging shows a pretty good direction. In sagebrush, flagging is tied on top so it’s visible. Focusing downward it’s easy to forget the big picture.
Staring at the ground looking for hoof prints, a freshly broken plant/limb, or blood is so tedious it has to be one of the hardest things we do. Forest that opens up and crosses a mostly rocky ridge is almost impossible, at least for me - instead of tracks, a turned up small rock or indented patch of dirt of a partial hoof is all there is.
If an animal made it 100 yards I’ll try to be patient and take a break, although that’s easier said than done when it seems like it took forever to follow the track this far. Mulies seem to lie down rather quickly in cover, antelope run until they can’t stand up, and elk are tough and seem to head for dense areas even if it’s quite a ways away before feeling safe enough to lie down. I‘ve assumed a hurt deer or elk will go downhill, but that varies with topography so much maybe not so? At timberline often the easiest cover is downhill, but I’ve seen mulies work their way across or up a steep slope almost impossible to follow on foot.
If I jump the animal and it looks healthy, I’ll try to give it 4 hrs before following it further.
If the tracks are headed in a specific direction and you’re not sure why, a quick look at a topo map can show a saddle, thickly vegetated drainage, or some other feature that’s funneling them in that direction.
I‘ve pushed an unwounded big wide deer over a ridge where it was shot by other hunters who traveled 10 miles in from the other side - it was close enough I could hear them cheering and probably doing a happy dance. That experience makes me cautious popping over a saddle if some trigger happy goof thinks my pant legs or daypack is the big deer he just got a glimpse of.
Has anyone had luck with the pocket size flir cameras picking up body heat at night?
Thats about all I’ve got. . .
