Paranoia on the blood trail?

[GMMAT]

Anyone here have any funny things they always do or avoid when blood trailing? This is the one aspect of deer hunting....that when I started....I could never have imagined would be so chock full of emotion. The highs and lows along the trail are part of it.....and I love this apsect of the hunt.

A good majority of my kills have been in the evening.....with night tracking jobs. I've got an "unknown" out there....that I'm not proud of. I don't know whether that deer lived or died at my hands. So I ALWAYS have that fear in the back of my mind.....or RESPECT for the task at hand.

There's one thing I try not to do.....and that's shine my light out way ahead to see if I see the deer. Paranoia? ....lol...probably. But, TO ME, it seems like bad luck. I try to stick to the blood trail and follow what I have to the prize.

I also don't like skipping ahead to where I "think" the deer was headed to try and pick up the blood trail, there. I go to the POI and try to keep to the basics.

These are things I've "acquired" after learning the hard way not to get ahead of myself. It's also why I love blood trailing deer.

My wife and son are damned good at it, too. Younger eyes have their advantages....and my son is methodical....and doesn't get ahead of himself.

Lisa's a "shiner", though....lol...and loves to look ahead. Dammit!

Anyways....it's about time for Rob's "So you've shot one....no what" thread to re-appear....and I was wondering of you guys had anything that you did/didn't do while you were tracking.

[MOTOWNHONKEY]

I have only had trail 2 in the last 12 years. One was last season and it was a night-mare. You tactics are sound and noted.

[BobCo19-65]

I also don't like skipping ahead to where I "think" the deer was headed to try and pick up the blood trail, there. I go to the POI and try to keep to the basics.

I wouldn't do this at night or if I was alone. But it sure can work to your advantage in certain circumstances.

[salukipv1]

I goto where I last heard/seen the buck, check for blood and pursue from there, if I see the buck topple over dead, no reason to track IMO.

My view is why work hard to get to where you konw he last was, go there, and start tracking from that point, if it was a good shot etc...

If you have a friend/pal you can send them ahead to where you last saw the deer, ie from your treestand etc....sometiems you get on the ground and over to where you think the deer was but on the ground stuff looks different, from the air you can mark it....send someone over....

Either way, don't prssure a buck I say if you're worried about the shot.

[JoeRE]

I become really focused and slow down and that helps me be successful. I help out as many people as I can every fall trailing, there is more to it than the blood and I look at it as a challenge.Last year I trailed two different deer well over a mile each. I taught myself a bit about it, with some advice fromTom Brown Jr's books. They were the only two I didnt find for other hunterseither[:@]. I still cannot be certain if they survived, particularly with the record winter later on.

[huntingson]

I am colorblind and so almost always have help to blood trail. Generally I go ahead and just look for the body while someone who can see the blood atually trails them. It works very well.

[Steven McBee]

for some reason, i always try to find clues like not just blood, but tracks or where the deer has hit a tree or run through brush, i dont know why but following a blood trail is one of the funnest parts of hunting for me

[TexasBowHunter]

A lot of my friends and I used to travel a lot and make day hunt for hogs and exotics, so with 8-30 bowhunters in camp at a time I have had quite a bit of time tracking. GMMAT, what you said about skipping ahead is one of my pet peeves, I am always afraid someone will step on a speck of blood that might lead us to the next one....

[GMMAT]

I have only had trail 2 in the last 12 years.

That's awesome, Chris.

I wouldn't do this at night or if I was alone. But it sure can work to your advantage in certain circumstances.

Agree, Bob. In daylight things just seem so much more familiar. I do go ahead if light isn't an issue....and if I KNOW the hit was sound (Emphasis on KNOW). At night....I've been turned around more than once in a SMALL woodlot.

If you have a friend/pal you can send them ahead to where you last saw the deer, ie from your treestand etc....

Another admission. I NOW leave my stand attached to the tree until I recover my deer. I do this because I HAVE climbed back up to re-assess the scene. I also (now) use the "wait" time to decipher everything about the scene.......certain trees....a deadfall....etc...

I've been guilty of not doing this in the past.....and it was back up the tree, for me.

I become really focused and slow down and that helps me be successful.

Sage advice, right there. Kudos.

I am colorblind and so almost always have help to blood trail.

Can't even imagine....

what you said about skipping ahead is one of my pet peeves, I am always afraid someone will step on a speck of blood that might lead us to the next one....

Absolutely forgot about that point......and I'm glad it was mentioned. Thanks.

[huntingson]

A good thing that my father taught me to do (and it applies more to spot and stalk hunting) is to mark where you shot theanimal from, where theanimal was when you shot it, and where you last saw theanimalas soon as you possibly can. It is amazing how quickly the memory starts to slip when it comes to exact details.