Blood trailing wounded deer

If a buck lies down, gets back up and runs off, stay on the trail for this trophy.

As much as a bow hunter may dislike it, some knowledge of blood trailing is required for those occasional times when a shot is taken just as a deer begins to move. The result may be the arrow entrance wound is off slightly, and a trailing job is required.

There are several rules to follow. The first is to use people with excellent vision to follow the blood trail. I used to be sharp on spotting blood until glaucoma robbed me of some of my vision.

Now, I am always ready to help. I always stay with the last blood as people with keen eyesight take the blood trail. I help keep the trailers centered and keep us from following a blood trail that we've already covered.

Three people make an ideal trailing team. Forget the mob scene.

Another part of a this necessary trailing job is to limit the number of participants. Mob scenes with six or eight people casting about for sign makes an easy job much more difficult. Often, blood can only be seen when traveling in one direction, and too many people usually manage to trample most of the sign into the ground or snow. Use only those people who have demonstration a keen ability to spot blood, know enough to check other trail when the sign is lost, and who can anticipate when the wounded animal is close.

We've learned over many years to give suspect (those hits that may not be immediately fatal) two hours before we take up the track. We head back to the house, relax, warm up, have something to eat, and then return to pick up the track. Often, if the shot is suspect, a two-hour wait will result in finding the deer immediately.

Here's how we do it: Two people take the track with each person walking two or three feet off to each side of the trail. A third person hangs back to stay with the last blood sign. Lacking a third person, small strips of white tissue paper or orange surveyor's tape will work although it won't prevent someone from doubling back and picking up the same blood trail again. A person sticking with the last blood can usually help prevent unintentional back tracking.

The two men work slowly if necessary or fast if a good blood trail is present. It's important they don't over-run the blood trail very far.

A wounded deer usually follow a well established trail, and then start to circle or meander around as blood loss takes over. Or, the trail may peter out and the trailers must spread out, and follow other trails until more blood is found again. Often, if a deer is hit on higher ground, the animal will almost always head downhill and back toward bedding cover.

Stay with the blood trails and don’t get off that trail.

I was with a friend who wounded a deer. He has eyes like an eagle, and saw where the deer entered heavy cover. The blood trail was weak but we found several places where it laid down and bled, and then got back up and ran without bleeding at all. We found the animal only 75 yards into the woods, but some of the trailing was done on our hands and knees, and covering those 75 yards took us over one hour.

It's important to know where the deer was hit, and often the hair color or texture will indicate the wound location. As much as a blood trail is important, and a knowledge of hair color and texture is, it's vitally important to see where the arrow struck the animal.

A deer hit in the guts or liver should be given at least two hours to lay down and stiffen up. A minor flesh wound, if quickly followed, will result in a fast trailing job. The faster the travel, the less chance there is of the blood clotting, and the greater the chance of recovery. However, such marathon trailing jobs may cover a mile or two as the deer continue to run in front of us.

Hunters must learn to think like a deer. Most deer will stick to main deer trails, but as they begin to weaken, they often begin to circle, bump into trees or stumble. That deer is usually recovered within 25 to 50 yards.

Use a Game Tracker when bow hunting. It will help hunters recover more deer.

We advocate the use of a Game Tracker tracking device. It gives us a clear line of travel, but sometimes the line will break. The longer the string stays with a wounded deer, the better the chance of recovery.

There is an art to blood trailing a deer. It's not difficult to learn, but experience is a great teacher. None of us enjoy a blood trailing job, and most of us don't enjoy moving through the woods after dark, but it is a job that ethical deer hunters must do.

Reducing a wounded deer to possession is our No. 1 priority. Giving up on a blood trail after five minutes is not acceptable. We stay on the trail until it becomes obvious that the wound is not life-threatening, and even then, we often return the next day and try again. Sometimes coming back during daylight hours will make successful blood trailing much easier.

One important thing to remember is that an unrecovered animal will usually be tracked down by a pack of coyotes, and they will eat a deer alive. Nothing should suffer that kind of death. Coyotes are on the rise everywhere that deer are found, and often it becomes a race to see who gets to the deer first.

True deer hunters respect the animals we hunt, and following a blood trail to the deer is what we do. It's our responsibility to do so.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Beating up on the salmon

Hundreds of coho salmon were holding in the clear current of the Platte River near Honor, Mich., and as guide Mark Rinckey and I looked around, we never saw another fishermen.

Anglers were conspicuous by their  absence. He handed me a jar of spawnbags, and take my choice. The jar contained pink spawnbags and yellow ones.

"Take your pick," he said. "Yesterday's guide trip produced lots of salmon on the yellow bags. Pick your favorite."

Pink or yellow-mesh spawnbags work best.

So my choice was pink, and I hooked a two-pound jack coho (a precocious two-year-old fish) on the first cast. The fish fought the limber rod and four-pound line before coming to the net.

"These silvery youngsters are really good to eat," he said, unhooking the fish and placing it on the string. "We're catching a mixed bag of Chinook salmon, cohos and the occasional steelhead. The best of the steelhead fishing will begin in about 10-14 days as the salmon run ends.

"For now, it's mostly salmon. Once in a while we catch some adult 9-10-pound cohos, and they are pretty wild.

We were using lightweight 10-foot rods, the four-pound mono and a No. 8 hook with spawnbags. Two or three small splitshot are crimped to the line about 18-24 inches above the baited hook.

I baited up again, and sticking with what worked before, threaded a pink spawnbag on the line. It took several casts before an adult coho picked up the bait rolling along bottom, and as a tap was felt on the line, the hook was set.

An adult male ripped off on a 20 yard run, jumped once, turned and ran back downstream, switched directions again, and headed back upsteam. He wallowed on the surface, and unexpectedly the hook pulled free.

Hard hits and short runs are the rule right now.

"I haven't had a strike on yellow," he said, "pink seems to be the color. I'll keep trying it because I know it works."

I was into another jack coho, and this guy was two pounds of high-stepping dynamite and fought like a fish three times his size. One thing is true about river guide Mark Rinckey of Honor: it's possible to get ahead of him, but look out when he  works things out.

We never compete against each other when we fish on a busman's holiday -- a day when he doesn't have a trip -- but the man is a magnet for fish. He promptly hooked a big adult male coho, fought it hard for 10 minutes, and then it burrowed into a beaver house along the bank, crocheted the line through a maze of small alder sticks and broke off.

"I lost a coho and Chinook salmon to the beaver house yesterday, and if a big fish wants to go there, it's hard to stop them on four-pound line. Many of the adult fish are still silvery from Lake Michigan. The trick, if possible, is keep the fish away from debris in the water."

He then hooked another jack, fought it to a standstill, netted it, and added it to the stringer. I then hooked another good fish, and lost it after a five-minute struggle as it rolled in the line and broke free.

Seven fish for four hours, and several lost fish, is common.

Time passed as we went through one dry spell after getting hits and failing to hook up. The salmon were cooperating, but were hitting light. The soft takers were hard to hook well.

The sun was well up in the sky, shining bright and full on the water, and the wind died for a spell. Action slowed until the wind picked up slightly, riffled the water, and the salmon began hitting again.

We fished hard for about four hours, and landed seven salmon including one of about eight pounds. The jacks averaged from two to three pounds, and we danced with the fish during the morning. Eventually, as with many things in life, all good things must come to an end.

Dances with salmon can be a pleasant interlude for river fishermen before the fall steelhead runs pick up in a couple of weeks. Until them, anyone looking to book a guided salmon trip on the Betsie or Platte rivers, can call Mark Rinckey at (231) 325-6901. He also is booking steelhead trips for late-September, October and November.

Light line, nice fish and autumn color go together like bacon, eggs and toast. Some dates are still available, and anglers are advised to call soon to arrange a great fishing trip.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors