We all know that most game activity is at first and last light of the day and sometimes the shot comes just before dark. Tracking at night presents a whole ‘nuther set of challenges and can test the patience of even the most skilled tracker.

Even though it will mean staying in the woods until well after dark, it is imperative that you give the animal plenty of time to expire before taking up the trail. This is even more important on a night track because often you can’t see the animal run more than a few yards if the shot is taken right at the end of legal shooting light. All the other rules stated in the previous tips should be followed as well.

It goes without saying that a good light is critical when tracking game at night. I love the gazillion candle power spotlights but most of them only hold a charge for a few minutes and therefore are not the best choice for night tracking. I do like to have my back-up person carry one though to scan the trail ahead from time to time. Once in a while you get lucky and the light will pick up the eyes of the downed animal or the white belly of the deer.

Many hunters like to use a gas lantern and claim it makes the blood “stand out”! I haven’t found that to be the case, but it does put out a good light and you don’t have to worry about batteries going dead in midstream. When using a lantern, I like to fashion a reflector of aluminum foil to direct the light downwards and out of my eyes.

I recently purchased a new light made by Gerber called “The Carnivore” that employs multi-colored LED bulbs that are supposed to make blood easier to see at night than with a conventional white light. I’m anxious to give it a try. Preliminary tests of my own look promising.

Tracking at night requires lots of patience. Even on a pretty good blood trail, it’s easy to loose the trail if you get in a hurry. Get on your knees and go slow – stay with it until you find the animal or all hope is lost. If you do lose the trail – mark the spot well and come back the next morning. Most times during deer season, the nights will be cool enough that the meat will not spoil if you find it pretty quickly the next day. Use good judgment in that area to avoid eating tainted meat.

Next week we’ll wrap up this series with a discussion of various other gadgets and methods that can be employed if conventional tracking fails.

And this is your Bowhunting North America Tip of the Week!

John Shelley

Pro Staff

Bowhunting North America, LLC