Tracking

[TXGunNut]

I'm a pretty fair tracker but I got to learn from a master this past weekend. I'll call him Leonard, that's not his real name but he learned to hunt from a man with that name.
On Sunday morning Leonard shot an awesome buck that we'd seen on game cam pics, only one problem. This buck was standing behind a wire fence panel and the 30-06 (j-word) bullet somehow hit (and severed!) a wire before hitting this trophy buck. The wound was non-fatal so after I cooked a big breakfast I joined Leonard and his brother, T-Bone, in tracking Leonard's trophy.
I found the first droplet, actually two. First was scarcely 1/8" in diameter with a smaller droplet that indicated direction. Leonard and T-Bone were impressed with my find but we were soon on a pretty good trail. After about 50 yds of tracking in the heavy brush the trail was better but obviously not indicative of a fatal wound. Over the next half hour or so (and at least 100 yds of tracking in thick, thorny S TX brush) the buck laid down 3-4 times and changed directions somewhat at least 5 times.
I must admit the last time threw me for a loop. We actually heard the buck in one direction but the trail led in another direction. I'd heard the sound of a deer with a broken foreleg before but somehow I didn't think it was Leonard's deer. At one point Leonard backtracked on a trail from an area where the buck had briefly laid down. I told Leonard that he was backtracking but he continued to follow that trail while I circled the spot where the deer had bedded trying to pick up his new direction.

[TXGunNut]

I've tracked several deer and a few hogs and anything more than a slight heading change is unusual, in my experience. I've never seen a deer double back 180 degrees but this one did it...and Leonard figured it out! Within a few minutes he'd caught sight of his buck and finished it off....while I was still circling the last known bedding site. He was a mature, very heavy-bodied (for S TX) symmetrical 10 point with very heavy, low antlers with very long tines and the distinctive dipped brow tine we'd seen on the game cam.
It felt good helping a fellow hunter get his deer, even better when it's such an awesome deer. T-Bone tried to PM me the pics, I'll ask him to try again. I'm still nursing scabs from the thorns but I'd do it again any day and twice on Sunday to recover a deer like this one...or any deer, for that matter.

[35 shooter]

Great job on the tracking. Seems you learn something each time you have to do that, or i do at least. Amazing what they do sometimes.
I've always heard a mortally wounded animal will always take the path of least resistance and never head uphill. Some of the deer i've had to track evidently didn't know that lol.

[white eagle]

nice
win,win on the buck
deer will pull some crazy moves to avoid detection
wtg Lenard

[s mac]

I too have tracked a bloodtrail, a buck that did a 180, had me stumped for sure. Live and learn.

[missionary5155]

Greetings TX
That was a good read. Thank you ! I grew up near a Patowatame family in SW Michigan. Fred the oldest was an amazing tracker. He knew more about tracks and animal habits than I could dream. He smelled a fox once well over 100 yards down wind. Sure enough as we crawled over the high spot there stood a nice mail red fox. Tracked a mink once and I lost the track. Fred says "Mike look up that leaning log". The mink had walked to about 10 feet from a leaner and leaped to it leaving slight claw marks. Climbed up to the tree the log leaned on and leaped into the river. Fred showed my the slightly wet spot where water splashed up on the bank. He taught me to track the little I know. But he was a master. Walked point in Nam and never got hit. Never was ambushed.
Mike in Peru

[nagantguy]

Twice in my life I've been taking a deer and gotten on a second blood trail from an entirely diffrent deer. Also once shot a buck and he continued to run down the river, cross the road and when we fi ally found him by accident he had recrossed the road and died not more than 100 yards from where is shot him! On Wednesday night this week I arrow ed a very large doe, she went down 3 times before I lost sight of her, did a sharp right turn, then a sharp left turn and we found her dead heading back to where I hit her. Tracking g sure makes my inner predator instinct sing!!!!

[Beerd]

I've got a touch of red/green color blindness.
Tracking is a WHOLE lot easier on the snow.
..

[leeggen]

Crawled on hands and knees many times following small droplets of blood. Deer do some really unueqe things when wounded. Had one that was shot run around a pond then eased out in the water and layed down with just his nose on a pile of grass, he finally got nervous and leaped up to run and was shot again. Another guy had a dog that was tracking the deer and that dog would not leave the pond. Had them run and then hide up under blowdowns where if you were not on knees you would walk by them.
they are really amasing at times. Glad you all found the buck, makes for a great hunt.
CD

[Yodogsandman]

Good job finding that nice buck!

[rking22]

Good job on the trail, they can be crafty indeed! My son's first deer was also his first lesson in trackin. Hit a little far forward on a quarting away shot. Man, at 10 years old they have eyes like a hawk. I was on hands and knees to check what he pointed out form 10ft away! I like a DRT but actually the trailing to a successful conclusion made a memorable hunt and a lesson in tenacity and dedication to bring home the game you shoot,, always if humanly possiable. Looking forward to he pics of a big S. Texas whitetail.

[fouronesix]

Good tracking skills should be right up there in importance with good shooting skills for a hunter. In a past life I had to do it as part of the job. Even before that I was pretty good at it. The best I've seen here are some of the "old school" Border Patrol agents. The best I've seen anywhere are in Africa. I know it has become a cliché to refer to some of the African trackers as the best but until you see it, you won't really believe it. The Bushmen (San) of the Kalahari region are reputed to be the best of the best. Makes sense as they were among the last true "hunter-gatherer" humans on the planet. Some groups having only lost their completely independent nomadic ways about 1980.

There's a lot of information packed into this 6x8" piece of dirt. The track in the center is about 5 1/2" long.

[HABCAN]

Back in the mid fifties, hunting big whitetails in Quebec around Lachute, had a huge buck's track we were following hoping for a shot just 'stop', as in, he disappeared into thin air. Backtracking later we found he'd made a huge jump off the trail into a big snowfilled depression and laid down flat out of sight until we'd passed him by within a few feet, then snuck away. I think he'd used that trick before!

[waksupi]

Tracking is a real art. It takes lots of time to learn it. I was fortunate to have very good teachers.
Deleted the rest of the post, too grim, and I don't like to think about it.

[TXGunNut]

Back in the mid fifties, hunting big whitetails in Quebec around Lachute, had a huge buck's track we were following hoping for a shot just 'stop', as in, he disappeared into thin air. Backtracking later we found he'd made a huge jump off the trail into a big snowfilled depression and laid down flat out of sight until we'd passed him by within a few feet, then snuck away. I think he'd used that trick before!



Sounds like that doe I shot last week. Followed her blood trail twice but didn't see where she'd left the trail, could even smell her. Finally found where she'd leapt over a small bush and was hidden in some tall grass with her feet under her. I've used my tracking skills at crime scenes and have used what I learned from LE classes on blood spatter evidence in the hunting fields.
Yes, tracking is an art requiring the patience to look long and carefully enough to see things most folks miss and being able to interpret what you see. Experience and practice are important as well. Tracking is also more than an art, I think it's an important part of a responsible hunter's skill set. As most of us know "dead" deer can cover a fair bit of ground and it's every hunter's obligation to recover his/her game and quite often that requires tracking.
Photo was supposed to be posted on another site but it's not there. I will post another photo as soon as I feel like fighting with my phone & netbook, lol.

[44man]

Might be why I use a huge revolver, I hate tracking but have gotten good at it. Trouble here is so many tracks and trails. There is no way to follow a deer without blood. My friend can see a turned leaf but still calls me to help.
I have one advantage here, I know where deer are headed and know every inch of land until it is dark and you turn on a light. A light on the brush can walk you in circles. I prefer no lights to go in or out. Still even in the day, I can get turned. But soon I know where I am. But each year more growth pops up to blind me.
Be careful after dark, the deer can lead you to lost. If you have to give up or find it. What way to drag?

[Idaho Mule]

Good job on the tracking and recovery. Some times it ain't easy. We were lucky (or good) this year and nothing traveled more than 20 feet from point of impact. JW

[TXGunNut]

155475
As promised, not sure where the other picture went. This pic is more for scale, "Leonard" is a big guy, 6' easy. S TX deer don't generally get this big. Guess it showed up somehow after all.:veryconfu

[rking22]

That's not just a nice S. Texas deer, That's a nice anywhere deer ! Congrats to you friend!!!

[TXGunNut]

Congrat's to "Leonard", I just helped track the big fellow. I brought home a big doe and a management buck, not going to waste bandwidth on pics of them. I think my deer will be a little better eatin' with no taxidermy expense. The deer over "Leonard's" fireplace is his son's, looks like his son will finally get to hang his deer over his own fireplace, lol.

[Markbo]

That is a darned nice deer! I dont track many of my own deer. The .25-06 is near magical deer medicine but I have had the.opportunity with fellow hunters all my life. One guy in particular I hunted with for many years used a 7mm mag exclusively and he was very color blind. I would show him a big splotch and he could only tell "maybe" it's wet???

He shot more deer than ran off than anyone I have ever met. Often good shots... it just never dropped thhem. I learned to hate the 7mm because of that. And dont even get me started talking about tracking his bobcat in S Texas brush on hands and knees with a flashlight and a .22 pistol!

[Jjed]

Beerd
I have the same problem, I cannot see blood with out snow, this is why I gave up bow hunting, one time hunting with a bunch of my friends during muzzle loading season I watched as one of my group shot a large doe, I was on the hill above him and saw him shoot, the doe ran off to my left, He has the same red/green color blind problem as me, I walked down to him and we started looking for the deer, so there we are walking around in circles looking for a blood trail then my buddy Scotty shows up and ask who shot, I said Al shot a doe but we cannot find the blood trail, Scotty looks at us and says there is blood everywhere and starts walking up over the hill, found the deer about 100 yards away, Scott took us strait to it. I have very good vision can see thing's and read sign's before other most people do, but have to wonder what I am missing with this red/green color blind problem.

[M-Tecs]

I have very good vision can see thing's and read sign's before other most people do, but have to wonder what I am missing with this red/green color blind problem.

I am red/green color blind and I am not a good blood tracker but like you I read some sign's (non blood) before most other people. I don't take the shot unless am 100% confident about placement. Out of about 180 deer I have lost one with the bow and one with the rifle/handgun.

My current bow hunting buddy has the best blood vision of any I have very met. He see drops less than the size of a grain of rice from 20 feet.

[44man]

That is a darned nice deer! I dont track many of my own deer. The .25-06 is near magical deer medicine but I have had the.opportunity with fellow hunters all my life. One guy in particular I hunted with for many years used a 7mm mag exclusively and he was very color blind. I would show him a big splotch and he could only tell "maybe" it's wet???

He shot more deer than ran off than anyone I have ever met. Often good shots... it just never dropped thhem. I learned to hate the 7mm because of that. And dont even get me started talking about tracking his bobcat in S Texas brush on hands and knees with a flashlight and a .22 pistol!
Same here, most here use 7 and .300 mags and lose deer. I use revolvers myself but a 30-30 or 6.5 Swede is great. I gave up the 280 because of meat damage even at over 200 yards.
Then I went nuts with big revolvers that can do more damage. There is something about deer belly up at the shot though.