Traditional Archery Discussions on the Leatherwall


Night time blood trailing question

Messages posted to thread:
tradslinger 20-Sep-22
thekunk 20-Sep-22
limbwalker 20-Sep-22
jwingman 20-Sep-22
tradslinger 20-Sep-22
nocking point 20-Sep-22
HEXX 21-Sep-22
Beendare 21-Sep-22
olddogrib 21-Sep-22
Bootaka 21-Sep-22
TrapperKayak 21-Sep-22
Bigdog 21 21-Sep-22
Bigdog 21 21-Sep-22
76Aggie 25-Sep-22
From: tradslinger
Date: 20-Sep-22




Years ago, I hunted from before daylight until smooth dark which meant several night time blood trailings. As I got older, I began to struggle with seeing the smaller blood spots and counted on my son to help. We used lanterns at first but then went to various flashlights. I tried a couple of lights back then that were supposed to make the blood stand out but they didn't seem to help me much. So I quit the evening hunts unless I had better eyes with me. Now, possible hunting behind the house means evening hunts again. I have one good eye and it has a cataract so even more challenging. So, my question is have they figured out a better light for blood trailing at night? I'm not letting a deer spend the night in the woods again, too many coyotes around here. My wife will have to be my eyes unless I can get someone else to help. Thanks for any help, Jerry

From: thekunk
Date: 20-Sep-22




try a string tracker?

From: limbwalker
Date: 20-Sep-22




I've never had much luck with those lights that are supposed to make blood show up better. Not much beats a good, bright LED headlamp in my experience. Wish I could be of more help.

I'd loan you the wife to blood trail if I could. She is the best nighttime blood tracker I've ever met. Found a couple deer thanks to her spotting blood 50 yards from where I was looking!

Even helps me drag them out too! :D

String tracker isn't the worst idea though. They were invented for a reason.

From: jwingman
Date: 20-Sep-22




Check with your local game people. If you have trouble, they sometimes have names of people that run blood trailing dogs. One of my hunting partners has trained his lab. He finds them really quick now. Works like a charm. Just a suggestion!

From: tradslinger
Date: 20-Sep-22




years ago I had a beagle basset mix that I used. he never barked but would just sit down beside the deer. No pet dogs now, Part of me wishes we did but wife says no way. My son-n-law used a rat terrier for years but he lives a long ways off

From: nocking point Professional Bowhunters Society - Associate Member Compton's Traditional Bowhunters
Date: 20-Sep-22




Dog if legal

From: HEXX
Date: 21-Sep-22




I use a Seek thermal image adapter for my iPhone. It will even pick up the heat from a

blood trail. I used it two years ago to find a buck after the blood trail ran out.

From: Beendare
Date: 21-Sep-22




A very bright LED headlamp with high CRI in the 3500-4,000 Kelvin range works great and makes blood pop…maybe even more so than in daylight.

The lantern works great to show blood, but the problem is it kills your night vision.

I never leave an animal out overnight…. especially in grizzly country.

Zebra has some good headlamps with that 18650 battery and high CRI .

From: olddogrib
Date: 21-Sep-22




I keep an ancient Coleman white gas accessible for that purpose, but until I run out of fanny pack options I use a 1000 lumen LED rechargeable in neutral white(mines an EagTac D25C2 clicky). That said I usually slip out before the very end of good shooting light, if I can do so without busting deer. I have crossed the north fork of the New river to recover wounded deer, which can be an adventure depending on the water level. I'd still do it, but I try to avoid that scenario....I'm not as young as I used to be!

From: Bootaka
Date: 21-Sep-22




Get a UV light. If there's blood, you'll see it.

From: TrapperKayak
Date: 21-Sep-22




Yup, dog was my answer too.

From: Bigdog 21
Date: 21-Sep-22

Bigdog 21's embedded Photo



Good light and spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide. It will foam up

From: Bigdog 21
Date: 21-Sep-22

Bigdog 21's embedded Photo



Good light and spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide. It will foam up

From: 76Aggie
Date: 25-Sep-22




That is why I have a Jack Russell terrier. Really smart dogs and easy to train but they do have a mind of their own. This will be Jackson's third year to hunt and I really expect a lot from him.





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