Sometimes you can make a great shot, sometimes you can do everything right, and yet sometimes the blood trail is just almost non-existent!  This seems to be the case often on feral hogs especially. Their thick coarse hair and layer of fat have a tendency to stop the flow of blood from even a well placed shot.  It also happens often on deer that are shot a tad too high or from a shot that doesn’t get a complete pass-through. The animal still bleeds out and expires rather quickly, but with a high or no exit wound, the blood often stays inside the body cavity of the animal and leaves a very sparse blood trail.

When this happens you can give the tracking job your best effort and still not find your trophy by conventional tracking methods. Sometimes you have to call in reinforcements or make use of other means of finding your game.

Most all the outdoor supply catalogs offer an infrared tracking device that can be useful in finding downed game by detecting the variation in temperature of the animal and the surrounding terrain. These devices have been refined and improved in recent years, but still take a little practice for you to realize their full potential. I’ve used them before and they work great. In fact, until you learn to fine tune them, they can work “too good”! I spent a lot of time tracking rats and grasshoppers until I learned to adjust the thing properly.

Some consider these to be a little pricey, but if you’ve just shot a potential record book buck deer or bull elk and are having difficulty finding it – I’m betting you’ll think this little item is worth the price many times over.

String tracking devices have been around a long time and are still popular with a lot of hunters. This device attaches a spool of dental floss type string to the riser of your bow and the string clips onto your arrow and spools out with the shot. Assuming the string doesn’t break and the arrow doesn’t come out of the animal, it’s a simple process of following the bright florescent orange string to your downed trophy.  These devices are generally recommended for shots in the 20 yard range as beyond that, the string can sometimes affect the arrow flight.

I like to do this with about 5 to 6 helpers and each person spread out about 10 yards apart and walk in the direction the animal was known to run. You need to keep the distance between searchers at about 10 yards or less as even a big buck can hide in the least of ground cover. This is especially true in thick vegetation. Make a pass through the area and then have everyone shift to the side 50-60 yards and come back through the area again. Do this until you feel you’ve thoroughly covered the search area or until the animal is found.

A well trained tracking dog can be your most valuable asset in situations where other tracking methods have failed. I’ve never owned one, but have watched several work and it’s absolutely amazing to watch them find an animal when virtually no blood trail was visible. Several breeds tend to be well suited for this type of work, but I’m not qualified to recommend one breed over another. I’ve seen amazing work from Wire-haired Dashunds, Jack Russell Terriers, Catahoula, and just plain old “mutts”!

I’ve even known hunters who have employed pilots to fly over their hunting area in search of a lost animal, but that’s a little beyond the means of most hunters and in my opinion would be a “last ditch” effort.

In summary – try to remain calm during the shot, take the shot only when conditions are right, give the animal plenty of time to expire and be tenacious in your search. Sometimes an animal just cannot be found and while it’s unfortunate, Mother Nature doesn’t waste anything. Coyotes and buzzards have to eat too.

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

John Shelley

Pro Staff

Bowhunting North America, LLC