Recovery, What To Do After the Shot.
12-27-2009 | 10:12 AM
#82
Fork Horn
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
From: Redding, CA
Great initial post, Rob! And an awesome thread. Tons of good info.
One thing I could add that applies more to elk than deer, is use your sense of smell. We have recovered a lot of elk by walking around the last known spot of blood in large concentric cirles, and walking slowly into the wind. Elk have a pretty powerful odor that is pretty easy to pick up in a light breeze, and we have recovered a lot of them over the years using this method.
Knowing how the animal is hit gives you a good idea of the general area you should find it down, and sometimes as mentioned before, the blood trail can peter out.
Most important, as Rob mentioned, do not bump the animal. Give them a good long time to lay down and die, without knowing there are humans in the area.
One thing I could add that applies more to elk than deer, is use your sense of smell. We have recovered a lot of elk by walking around the last known spot of blood in large concentric cirles, and walking slowly into the wind. Elk have a pretty powerful odor that is pretty easy to pick up in a light breeze, and we have recovered a lot of them over the years using this method.
Knowing how the animal is hit gives you a good idea of the general area you should find it down, and sometimes as mentioned before, the blood trail can peter out.
Most important, as Rob mentioned, do not bump the animal. Give them a good long time to lay down and die, without knowing there are humans in the area.
12-28-2009 | 04:10 PM
#83
Thread Starter
Boone & Crockett
Joined: Oct 1998
Posts: 18,322
Likes: 0
From: Hughesville, PA USA
Great initial post, Rob! And an awesome thread. Tons of good info.
One thing I could add that applies more to elk than deer, is use your sense of smell. We have recovered a lot of elk by walking around the last known spot of blood in large concentric cirles, and walking slowly into the wind. Elk have a pretty powerful odor that is pretty easy to pick up in a light breeze, and we have recovered a lot of them over the years using this method.
Knowing how the animal is hit gives you a good idea of the general area you should find it down, and sometimes as mentioned before, the blood trail can peter out.
Most important, as Rob mentioned, do not bump the animal. Give them a good long time to lay down and die, without knowing there are humans in the area.
One thing I could add that applies more to elk than deer, is use your sense of smell. We have recovered a lot of elk by walking around the last known spot of blood in large concentric cirles, and walking slowly into the wind. Elk have a pretty powerful odor that is pretty easy to pick up in a light breeze, and we have recovered a lot of them over the years using this method.
Knowing how the animal is hit gives you a good idea of the general area you should find it down, and sometimes as mentioned before, the blood trail can peter out.
Most important, as Rob mentioned, do not bump the animal. Give them a good long time to lay down and die, without knowing there are humans in the area.
08-23-2010 | 02:34 PM
#85
Typical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 547
Likes: 0
From: The mountains of Southwest Virginia
Walk NEXT TO the blood trail and not in it. I think I post that every year on this thred but to me it is super importaint not to mess up the trail. You never know when you are going to have to backtrack and if you have stomped thru it you can't see small clues like disturbed leaves and so on.
09-07-2010 | 07:15 AM
#89
Typical Buck
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 814
Likes: 0
From: N/W WI.
This is the most important thing I found, to do when taking up a trail. It will show which direction the deer is going as well and help you if the blood trail begins to slow down.
09-09-2010 | 07:40 AM
#90
Typical Buck
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 974
Likes: 0
From: Northern Michigan
solid post!
My pops taught me that back when, I started using bio-degradable when it became available. If you hunt public, I tried to recover it, points like a smoke trail back to your spot!