Recovering Game
Even the best of hunters will sometimes hit an animal that does not go down in the open or while it is still in sight. Each hunter is responsible for verifying that game has either been hit or missed cleanly and for making every effort to retrieve any game that has been hit. Legally, hunters may be required to “avoid wanton waste” or to “make every reasonable effort to retrieve” game animals. Ethically, hunters are constrained to search for wounded animals until they are sure that recovery is impossible or the animal has been retrieved. Although there is no real waste in nature, ethical hunters attempt to eliminate the “waste” of game animals by recovering every animal they hit and adding it to their daily or seasonal bag limit. This prevents suffering on the part of the animal and provides useful meat and other products for the hunter. It also promotes the image of hunters as responsible and caring individuals rather than irresponsible killers and wounders who have no sensitivity to the living things that they hunt. Having the knowledge and skills to successfully recover game is a prerequisite to ethical hunting. Both art and science, these abilities grow with experience.
Retrieving Game Without Dogs
Well-trained dogs are extremely valuable in the recovery of upland birds, waterfowl, and small game mammals, but many hunters must take to the field without canine help. Adequate guns and loads coupled with accurate shooting will minimize wounding. Hunters without dogs must rely on visual marking of downed game. In heavy cover or during the excitement of a covey rise or a multiple bird flight, it is easy to fail to make a good mark on the fall or to become confused about the location of a downed bird. Wise hunters will concentrate on a single animal, making sure that it is well marked visually.
Visual marking involves watching the bird to the ground or at least as long as possible to get a projected spot. The hunter should pick a landmark, like an obvious piece of vegetation or some other structure. If hunting with a partner, they should remain where they are and send the partner to the spot without looking away from it. Some hunters use a heavy washer with bright streamers attached as a marker they can throw at the spot of a downed bird. Others use a cap or some other easily located object as a reference point. Once the mark has been reached, the spot should be marked with an obvious marker; and a circular search pattern should be used around the mark. The hunter should look for blood, feathers, or fur to indicate the spot where the hit or fall took place. They should also look and listen for movement while searching dense cover for the animal.
Rapid response is critical to successfully retrieving downed game. This takes advantage of shock and temporary disorientation on the part of the game animal and reduces the potential for the hunter to become confused about the spot or look away. This is critical with pheasants, quail, grouse, or prairie chickens that tend to run and hide in heavy cover if they are not killed cleanly. Many hunters who hunt without dogs advocate shooting a game bird a second time if it shows any signs of life as it falls to the shot.
Turkeys are extremely hardy birds. Head shots are strongly recommended to ensure quick, clean kills. Even then the hunter should get to the bird quickly after it is shot and anchor it in place to be sure it does not escape. One hunter emphasizes arriving at the bird “right behind the shot and just ahead of the wad.” A freshly downed turkey may explode into wing flapping and spurring actions when touched. As a result, many turkey hunters tend to step on the neck rather than picking the bird up by the feet. If you elect to hold one by its feet, watch for the spurs and try to avoid taking a beating from the wings. If a turkey flies off after being shot try to visually follow the bird as far as possible. If it goes down, proceed to the spot as quickly as possible. If the turkey runs away from a hit, trailing can be very difficult. They tend to leave little if any blood trail and may drop only a few loose feathers to mark their direction of travel. If a turkey is wounded and runs out of sight, it is usually best to leave the animal alone for about 30 minutes before beginning to search in the direction the bird was headed when last seen.
Where their use is legal, blood-trailing dogs can be used to recover big game animals as well. Well-trained animals, often working on leads or leashes, can be used to follow up hits that were impossible for most trackers to follow on their own. Often this results in recovering wounded animals that might otherwise have been lost.
Trailing Wounded Game
When a game animal goes down in sight of the hunter, recovery may be quite easy if the hunter exercises a little caution and care. Before moving to the animal, the hunter should remain poised for a follow up shot for a few minutes. If the animal stays down, it should be approached cautiously, generally from the back while the hunter looks for signs of life. As before, he or she should be prepared to shoot the animal again if it gets up or shows other signs of recovery. The basic rule of thumb is to use another shot if there is any doubt about the animal staying put. Often the follow up shot results in having a very short and quick recovery when failure to use it can result in a long trail or even a lost animal.
If the game animal goes out of sight before going down, the demands on the hunter trying to retrieve the animal are much greater. Recovering big game requires knowledge and persistence; but when conducted properly, most big game that is mortally wounded can be recovered effectively. Hunters with well-developed skills in locating and retrieving wounded game are an asset to any hunting group. These skills are one of the marks of an accomplished hunter. Real experience and plenty of practice are the best ways to develop these skills. Simulations have proven themselves effective teaching tools to accelerate the learning process or to review techniques, compressing years of field experience into a relatively short time period.
Marking the Spots – When a hit is made, the hunter needs to mark three spots visually so they can be found and marked physically with surveyor’s tape or some other visible mark. The hunter’s location when the shot was taken should be marked with a noticeable object. The hunter should mark the exact spot where the game animal was standing when the shot was fired, and he or she should mark the spot where the animal was last seen as it left the area. These latter two marks must be set visually before the hunter moves. The first spot helps to relocate the others if necessary. The site of the animal at the shot allows the hunter to assess the hit (or miss) and to locate the appropriate trail. The line from where the hunter stood to where the animal stood points to where the arrow might be found and/or where blood and hair might be found to give some clues as to where the animal was hit. The location and direction of the last observation give both a possible direction of travel for the animal and a likely spot to begin trailing the animal if the initial blood trail is weak but it becomes better with distance and time. Many hunters take compass azimuths on each of these points from their shooting locations.
The hunter should observe the game animal as carefully and for as long as possible after the hit. The animal’s behavior at the hit and as it leaves the area give important clues to the hit location and severity. Immediately after the hit, the hunter should make every effort to keep disturbance of the area to a minimum. Until well after the wounded animal is out of sight, remain quiet and motionless. Listen for sounds that might indicate the animal’s direction of travel. Breaking limbs, rattling rocks, and hoof beats can help you track the animal by ear. Listen for sounds of falling or crashing into obstacles, which indicate a weakened animal. Scan open areas in the direction the animal disappeared. Often a faint glimpse through the trees can add valuable information on the hit and direction of travel. Avoid all unnecessary noise, like calling to a hunting partner or whoops of excitement, and movement. The animal may have moved into the nearest cover and bedded down. If left undisturbed, it may be found right there. If disturbed, it may move to another location, making recovery both longer and more challenging.
As soon as you think about it, note the time that the hit was made. After examining the evidence at the hit site or the beginning of the trail, it will help to determine how long to wait before starting to trail the animal.
The hunter also must avoid disturbing the site of the hit or the trail, since this might eliminate sign that is important to recovering the animal. Start with a careful examination of the area where the animal was standing when it was hit. Examine the area where the animal was standing when the shot was fired. Look for hair, blood, stomach contents, tissue, or anything else that might provide a clue as to where the animal was hit. On most deer-like animals, hair on the back is very dark, getting lighter as it goes lower. Hair color and texture give important information on the hit location. The color of the blood is also a vital clue. Bright, frothy, or foamy blood usually indicates a lung hit, while bright crimson blood indicates a heart or major artery hit. Dark red blood may indicate a hit in a major vein, a major muscle mass, or the liver. Dark blood mixed with bits of pulpy vegetation or material looking like ground twigs indicate an abdominal hit or paunch shot. Heavy blood trails at or very near the hit site usually indicate a short trailing job. Bowhunters should locate the arrow if it passed through the animal it fell out. Even broken pieces of the arrow can give the hunter important information on the nature of the hit.
How Long to Wait
Determining how long to wait after a hit to begin trailing is often a challenging decision. It is easy to set recommendations for various types of hits under ideal conditions, and using them generally increases the recovery of wounded animals. However, the hunter must consider overriding conditions first. Heavy rain or snow, or the threat of heavy rains or snow, can force the hunter to take the trail earlier in order to avoid losing it to wet conditions or getting it covered. Time to darkness, particularly if the hunter is a long distance from camp, may be an important consideration. Heavy hunting pressure or a shot from the direction the animal was going might dictate an immediate follow up to prevent losing the animal or a discussion of who should tag or posses it. The personal circumstances of the hunter also influence he decision-making process. Lack of a flashlight or lantern, the necessity to leave the area immediately after the conclusion of the hunt, work, or school commitments, and many other factors can enter into the decision to follow an animal more quickly than one would normally like.
Gut-shot animals, usually indicated by food particles found in dark blood, ideally should be given a wait of about 8 hours. Even though the wound is fatal and sometimes quickly so, an animal that is pushed too soon may be able to cover a considerable distance. If forced to follow up an animal with an abdominal wound quickly, a wait of about one hour is just about the minimum elapsed time to allow the animal to stiffen and weaken. Firearms hunters may follow up more quickly, but they risk he necessity of a running shot.
Light blood trails, about a drop every three feet of trail, with either bright or dark blood often indicate a muscle wound with a bow, or a grazing wound with a firearm. Conventional wisdom is split on muscle hits. The majority of hunters favor following the animal right away and pushing it hard. A strong minority suggests a wait of at least an hour to permit the animal to stiffen. Light muscle wounds with a bow usually heal quickly with no permanent damage to the animal.
Hits that penetrate the chest cavity, particularly with complete penetration of both sides of the chest, may produce either light or heavy blood trails. Light blood trails require a wait of about 30 minutes to an hour before beginning to trail the animal under ideal conditions. Profuse bleeding usually allows the animal to be followed up with a minimal wait of about 15 to 30 minutes. These trails often include hand-sized drops of blood or steady streams or sprays of blood on one or both sides of the trail.
Game Recovery Equipment
Good trackers have a minimal amount of equipment to aid them in following a trail. Most carry some sort of trail marking materials, like toilet tissue or surveyor’s tape. Toilet tissue is an excellent choice. It can be torn into very small pieces and hung on twigs to mark a trail. Since it breaks down easily once it gets wet and it biodegrades quickly, it need not be recovered unless excessive amounts have been used. Surveyor’s tape is also an excellent choice as a trail marker. A small, tight roll is usually adequate for most recoveries, and it fits easily in the pocket or fanny pack. It has high visibility in a variety of colors, and it can be used as a flag to mark a spot for returning later. Since it breaks down slowly, it must be recovered and removed after the tracking process is completed. Spot markers can be as simple as a cap, hat, or other article of clothing. Some hunters use heavy washers with streamers of brightly colored surveyor’s tape as spot markers, even throwing to mark a nearby spot. Others simply use a small piece of toilet paper or engineer’s tape on a prominent twig or other object where it can be seen easily.
A good compass and at least a minimal map are important when tracking. The map can help in areas where the terrain is unfamiliar. Both a compass and a map are extremely helpful when coming out of the woods at night, even in familiar areas. For night trailing, a good source of light is critically important. Propane or white gas is excellent for this purpose. They can be hung from a convenient limb to provide a flood light for field dressing an animal in the dark, and with a shield they can be used for tracking without throwing a great deal of light into the face of the trackers. They are also long lasting sources of light that tend not to fade a long as they are fueled and kept pressurized. The carbide miner’s lamp used by raccoon hunters is also an excellent tracking light, particularly if the reflector allows it to be focused. With either a carbide lamp or an electrically powered headlamp, be sure that the use of these types of lights is legal in your area before going afield with them. Battery operated headlamps with krypton or halogen bulbs produce an intense light that is excellent for night tracking. Even large flashlights or small, high intensity flashlights can be used effectively for trailing at night, but they are much less useful than the lanterns or headlamps. Any time a hunter is following up a wounded animal legally after shooting hours, it is a courtesy to the local conservation officer or game warden to notify them, if possible, of your location and activity. It can save them a lot of effort and time that could be devoted to other duties at that time of year.
Following Up Blood Trails
Following a blood trail involves a few basics. Most experienced trackers refer to “bringing the ground up to the eyes.” They remain upright as much as possible, but do not hesitate to stoop, squat, or get on their hands and knees to check for sign. While their movements are kept to a minimum, almost stalking, they keep their eyes extremely active, probing the trail for the slightest hint of blood or other sign, watching vegetation or other obstructions for blood, and looking ahead and to both sides of the trail for moving, bedded, or downed animals. They track from the side of the trail to avoid disturbing it, and they use enough marks to maintain contact with the trail when it gets sparse. When trails are in dense cover or sparse, they will look at twigs or even the underside of leaves for evidence of blood. Tracking requires intense concentration and finely tuned awareness of the environment. Sounds, from hoof beats or the breaking of brush to scolding jays or other birds and small animals, like squirrels, are important clues in recovering game. Even scent plays a role since many game animals have a distinctive odor, at least to those who have trained their sense of smell to be aware of it.
Since tracking is often challenging under tough conditions, using a team approach is frequently a good idea. Although several trackers make a bit more noise than one, the advantage of extra eyes and ears is usually worth the risk of moving an injured animal. Usually the best approach is to have one tracker stay on the trail, keeping to one side of it to avoid disturbing sign while the other(s) stalks slightly to the side. The distance away from the trail depends upon the cover and conditions, but it may range from a few yards to as much as 50 or 60 yards to the side. These flankers should watch for both the animal and for sign as they keep pace with the tracker. Often they can help when the trail takes sudden turns of direction or locate an animal that turned to bed or as it went down.
Faint or intermittent trail should be marked periodically with a suitable material, like toilet paper or surveyor’s tape, to establish a line of travel. One person can stand where the last drop of blood was located until the others locate another one, and then move up to mark that one. Where several potential routes are clearly evident, a tracker to determine the route taken can check each one. If no clear line of flight is evident, carefully searching in concentric circles around the last bit of sign give good coverage and usually results in picking up the trail or locating the downed animal. Even sparse, intermittent blood trails can result in a quick recovery. This happens most frequently with small caliber, high velocity firearms that fail to exit or with high chest hits with a bow. Both of these may result in quick kills that leave very little evidence of the hit, at least for some distance along the trail.
Good trackers observe all sorts of signs to assist in tracking wounded animals. Other signs, like disturbed leaves, rolled rocks, or tracks can be important; but they also can be misleading. Unless the animal has distinctive tracks or show evidence of a wound in its gait, trails are easily confused in the absence of blood. Sometimes even good blood trails can be lost when other signs are followed without using blood to confirm that the right animal is being followed. Remember to look for blood at wound level on trees, leaves, twigs, or other cover. Often a high hit will result in large quantities of blood being retained in the hair. AN animal leaving a very sparse blood trail may literally paint boles of trees or other cover when it brushes against them. Remember, too, that blood can be very bright crimson for fresh blood that has been exposed to the air is nearly black for dried splashes on hard surfaces. Blood on porous surfaces like rotten wood or exposed soil may leave very little evidence on the surface, so the tracker must be extremely observant to see it. Drops left by moving animals will often have a “tail” or a splash mark. This generally points in the direction the animal was traveling when the drop fell. Practice is the best teacher in spotting and interpreting blood trails.
Common sense is a sound aid to trackers. Wounded animals that are still able to control brain function will usually follow the easiest path. They will usually go around brush piles, tangles of briars, or similar cover unless they are going to use it as a hiding place. On the other hand, once an animal is beginning to show signs of oxygen deprivation or circulatory system failure it may run headlong into trees or other obstacles and continue in the direction of their deflection from the obstacle. The best blood trailers are persistent, use their experience and common sense, and do not hesitate to get on their hands and knees if necessary to search for sign.
Tracking Devices
Many archers “shoot string” as an aid in game recovery. Game tracking devices that leave a trail of fine string can be attached to the bow or slipped into the arrow shaft. If the arrow stays in the animal, these tracking aids can lay a trail of string from the hit site or the bow to the downed game animal. These devices are heavily used by bear hunters, where wounds may seal with fat or other tissue and by hunters who are unsure of their game recovery abilities. At short ranges, they do not influence arrow performance excessively, although they do add weight to the shaft. Some hunters have begun using infrared detectors as a game recovery aid. These devices, which operate on differences in the temperature of objects in the environment, may have some use in searching for downed game while the carcasses are still warm enough to be hotter than their surroundings. They do have the disadvantage of high cost, and they may not be valuable under all types of hunting conditions.
Game Behavior as a Recovery Aid
Studying the behavior of game animals can be a great aid to the hunter in assessing hits and recovering downed game animals. While every animal tends to react as an individual and some may show absolutely no response to a vital hit, some common responses are known to experienced hunters. White-tailed deer, for example, often react to a chest hit by bolting with their tails clamped down tightly to their rumps. A liver or abdominal hit often results in the animal humping its back at the hit before either bolting or walking away “acting sick.” Seeing animals that are normally extremely nimble bouncing off obvious obstacles or crashing through seemingly impenetrable cover usually indicates a mortal wound with massive blood loss. Everyone knows of exceptions, but generally, animals resist climbing as they weaken. Thus, they tend to head down slopes or in the easiest direction. Wounded big game animals usually follow a direct line, avoiding windfalls, rock piles, or other obstacles. Wounded animals may pause to check their backtrack before changing directions or lying down, and they most often lie down where they can watch their backtrack or smell approaching hunters. Normally, a wounded animal seeks the shelter of dense cover or places where they can remain hidden when they lie down. They may seek water as well, even lying down in shallow water.
Birds and small game animals tend to run or seek dense cover immediately. Species that are prone to running and hardy, like pheasants, should be shot again if they show signs of life after an initial hit. Using an extra shot can reduce both recovery times and the possibility of losing an animal that was not killed cleanly with the first shot. Birds that are hit in their air sacs, or lungs, may tower or fly straight up before collapsing. Some species may simply continue to fly or glide until they hit an obstacle or the ground. Wise hunters follow up their shots, even if no evidence of a hit is observed and always do so when they draw feathers or see the bird falter in the air at the shot.
Since these animals are commonly prey for many species, they tend to seek the shelter of heavy cover. Signs of the animal may be sparse – feathers or fur, tiny specks of blood, or trails in soft soil or mud. They will tend to stick to trails or other narrow openings if they continue to run, but they may seek cover in ferns, depressions, or dense brush or similar places. They may even hide under a downed limb or along the edge of a stone wall. Easily anchored species usually go to cover quickly and depend upon their coloration to hide them. They can be extremely difficult to locate unless the hunter has the help of a canine assistant or is extremely persistent.
Summary
Being proficient at recovering downed game is both a legal requirement and an ethical responsibility for hunters. Making every reasonable effort requires both preparation and practice. Common sense and persistence are vital components of consistently effective game recovery with either small game or big game animals. Game recovery requires the development of observation and tracking skills. Practice using artificial blood trails is an effective means of developing and honing these skills, which combine art and science. Trained dogs are extremely helpful in the recovery of upland game birds, waterfowl, and small game animals. Where they are legal, trained blood trailing dogs can be used to assist in recovering big game as well. The skills of game recovery add to the enjoyment of hunting as well as enhancing hunter image and increasing the proportion of game animals that are brought to the bag for use by the hunter. Regardless of the techniques used, hunters need to work to perfect and maintain their tracking and game recovery skills.
