A big reason I asked is because MBtGE is partly color blind. He is TERRIBLE at tracking red blood trails, and freely admits it. I think the reason he likes to drag me along is that he wants my eyes to help him out if a deer works up a head of steam running off.
But he also has hunted and harvested dozens upon dozens of deer, and they mostly fall down where they were standing, for him.
A lot of our hunting season is right after peak foliage; tracking red dots on orange leaves can be a pain in the ass. I've gotten in the habit of using a penlight and looking for reflections, not just color.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few other tricks out there. UV lights supposedly make blood fluoresce although I've not tested it. I've also heard of hunters that carry a small spray bottle of drugstore peroxide and mist likely spots, then look for the foam when it hits blood.
The hardest trail I've had to deal with was a doe in mid-summer (nuisance tags from a farmer). It was a good hit from 150ish yards with my .270, and she barreled into a field of chest-high goldenrod. I spent half an hour following pinpoint drops of red blood on bright green leaves about 90 yards and into a hedgerow, where she'd piled up under a honeysuckle. A high lung shot was a definite killer, but didn't leave much of a trail to follow.
On the opposite, I shot a doe on a nuisance tag the following year from a rough-measured 260yd and she literally dropped. Same gun, just better shot placement.