I know the old timers will crucify me on this, but has anyone ever thought about the feasibility of electronic tracking devices for deer? It would have to be some sort of a very small transmitter with a barb of some sort that attaches to the front of the arrow, forward of the rest at full draw, that disconnects from the arrow and attaches itself to the deer on contact, whether a pass thru or not.

My initial thoughts would be something like a barbed fishhook, with the barb bending up and around towards the front of the arrow. The transmitter would fit on shaft of the hook. The barbs should help ensure a good embedment in the deer and keep it from falling out, even if the arrow does.

The the hunter could then use a hand held tracker that either beeps louder the closer you get to the deer or could be a gps type of deal to track the deer with afterward, actually telling you where it is laying or if it is still moving.

I know I would pay $300 or more for such a set up. It would probably run closer to $500, I would imagine. Any of you guys think it could work?

sounds like great idea. i know that many people like the work of crawling on their hands and knees to find blood and stuff. i do to, and this device shouldn' t stop you from doing so. but i believe that we should give the deer everything that we have to find them. its only fair, and if this device would ensure that, i dont belive it is wrong. i think it is a great idea!!

In PA, anything like that is illegal. No electronic devices may be attached to the arrow or left behind in the animal by the arrow for the purposes of tracking.

It would be a nice idea, but what about the times when you don' t get full penetration the animal breaks off the fletch end of the arrow during the escape (hit the opposite side shoulder)?

My concern would be that many hunters would rely on that method of tracking as opposed to blood trailing, so when things go wrong....and they always will, they will not be able to finish their hunt and find the animal.

It would be illegal in Oklahoma also. The heat sensor things are too.

I would think that it would be very expensive because you' d not only have to have the barb transmitter, but then you' d have to have a receiver that not only is accurate (and user friendly) but very small as most bowhunters don' t like packing extra stuff.

Then you have the extra cost of replacing the transmitters if it fell off the deer or got damaged. I imagine those alone would be about 50 bucks a pop.

It' s been done before. It' s been about 10 years, and I don' t remember the name, but it was basically what your describing. Never caught on.

Next, we will have hunting being done by remote control from the warmth of the person' s home. [:@]

Whatever happen to the uncorrupted hunting mentality in the strictest sense? Already, too much technology has been responsible for putting the wrong people in the field. It used to be that most shooters spent their time trying to outsmart the deer and then tracking one, and knowing how to track one -sometimes with very little blood on the trail, if a hit was made.

Now, many of today' s shooters spend more time playing with gadgets and trying to outclass other shooters with their gear, than they do with learning how to hunt and know all they can and should know.

I say that there should be a reversal of much of the advancements to return bowhunting to what it was and should remain.

PS: Those so called " old timers" have forgotten more than many of today' s shooters know and may ever know.

It would probably be illegal in many states that do not allow a barbed arrow that would prevent an arrow from backing out. I know it' s not the same but it probably would be illegal. I use bloodtrails.[:-]

C903, I agree 100%. I wish I had one to learn from, but I don' t. You would have to walk a long way to find someone who respects ' old timers' and farmer' s common sense more than me. My library is full of books about those things, like the Fox Fire series and Eric Sloane and his Americana sketches and lore. I can read all about it, but when I' m tracking a deer and the blood suddenly stops, at least to my eyes, the books don' t find the next clue for me. I know I could really use some one-on-one instruction on tracking. The Marines taught me some decent wood lure, but the tracking aspect wasn' t what it could be, and unfortunately the liberals would frown on them shooting somebody or something so we could track the blood trail.

It was just a whim of an idea, and hopefully I' ll find someone to teach me better tracking skills someday. In the meantime it is trial and error...

There' s one on the market now, transmitter fits in your arrow, grippers over your arrow designed to keep the shaft in the animal, and a receiver you follow the beeps with...

I don' t know what they cost, I' m not interested...

by23856

I wasn' t climbing your case, just presenting another side.

Semper Fi!