Thread: Tracking wounded animals. Mistakes and lessons

Most excellent thread, thanks @akaroa1

Sometimes Refraining from taking the shot is not always a bad decision either ….good on you for persevering and finding her at the end.

Originally Posted by Friwi

Sometimes Refraining from taking the shot is not always a bad decision either ….good on you for persevering and finding her at the end.

I'm not noted for my restraint
This was a semi work situation where I'm expected too shoot what I see.

But if it had been a recreational hunting scenario and I had a long carry out I wouldn't have taken the shot.

Frankly the shooting is a bit embarrassing but the learning ( never too old to learn ) that came out of it was worth sharing.

And I forgot too mention I don't have a gun dog now so I'm both the shooter and finder

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Yes a head torch can help even during daylight

The real bugger is needing to put Reading glasses on to check if it's actually bloody or a pigment spot on a leaf

It's surprising how many native plants have brown and purple blotches on their leaves

I have to put them on to use a bloody camera now.... Anything less than arms length and I'm stuffed. Fresh blood...whipe on fingers n look works.

Put a bit of toilet paper on the end of a stick and wave it across the grass slowly. Any blood will easily show up on it.

Use a dog...

@akaroa1
Thx. A good honest post.

Thermal are handy for this type of work, whatever you think about them. Was surprised how well the blood showed up if you are onto the trail quick enough.

Originally Posted by No.3

Thermal are handy for this type of work, whatever you think about them. Was surprised how well the blood showed up if you are onto the trail quick enough.

Yup but limitations are heavy cover and broken terrain.

Lack of field of view hurts a lot.

Excellent post! Thanks for sharing this.

I think a lot of people tend to forget the issue with different light conditions and open sight.
We are just not used to that fact anymore...
I have a modified 1937 Portuguese Mauser with a peep sight.
It shoots amazing at the 100m range.
If you go out to the field and try that in the morning and evening and especially outside a 100 m you start to see the POA/POI issues rather soon...

Good advice you are giving here regarding the use of morning hours!

That is true for me even with all the modern scopes and thermals.
When I need do be selective (like with reds or roe) I almost exclusively go for a hunt in the morning.
I can make good use of binos and spotters and after a first shot I have all the time in the world for tracking (if necessary) and field dressing.
Only downside: In summer I have to get up around 03:30 AM in my free time for this.
On the other hand you come back around 09:00 AM with a full day of experiences under your belt already and another full day still ahead of you...

Good stuff and thanks again for the post!

Cheers
Ben

Originally Posted by caberslash

Use a dog...

Also, very helpful! No doubt.
Especially in dense cover or in rainy/wet conditions.

But (after doing this for some years now) I think there are some things to consider when using dogs for tracking wounded game:

If you know it was a good hit and it just ran out of sight or into cover:
Wait a couple of minutes and let (almost any dog) do the search for you.
Even the neighbour’s Maltese can be a good helper in such a case.

If you know you hit a leg or the jaw (maybe tooth at the place you hit the animal):
You need very skilled tracking dogs and maybe another one or two to bigger dogs to corner the wounded animal if you are able to get close.
The hardest stuff!
Maybe other hunters can be posted ahead of the known or estimated position of the animal in order to get it when you move in with a dog.

Anything in between or you have no clue at all:
If possible, then by any means call someone who tracks game on a regular basis and has an experienced dog.
Even they only have a 50 % success rate over time.

If no help is around:
Give the animal as much time as possible (maybe overnight) to lose blood, develop fever and become incapacitated.
Then track it. Slowly and quitly!
Mark every drop of blood or print you can find in order to find it again and retry.
Look at a map from time to time and try to figure out where this may lead...
Water, cover, known tracks...
And then do not give up!

Just my 50 cent after tracking wounded game with my dog for a couple of years.

Cheers
Ben