[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Where the Bucks Go!? #32591

No need to apologize for the rant Steve. It is refreshing to hear, because most of the time I feel like I’m the odd ball in a group of hunters. At work the other day I was talking with a customer about shooting rifles. He was saying how he wouldn’t shoot past 600 yards, I made a comment like “That’s a pretty far shot.” That’s when another coworker said “That’s not a far shot.” I made a few comments about how hunting is not about shooting, but getting close. Not sure if it registered at all.

Well, there’s the reason I check in on this website as often as I can.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Where the Bucks Go!? #27318

Hey Wojo. Some radio-collared data on black-tailed deer in coastal Oregon has shown that deer do not move out of an area when there is hunting pressure. Rather, they stick tight to really thick brush and are more active at night. So I’d say go find the densest brush you can, look for a deer trail coming out of it, and hunt the crepuscular hours over that trail. Good luck, I’m jealous of you eastern hunters still out in the woods.8)

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Website Upgrade #33366

Robin,

That issue I had now works. Thanks for your help.

Preston

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Blood Trails #33356

That’s a good point Don. It would be unethical to perform a scientific study like this. I just like hearing other’s experiences, and hopefully can learn something along the way so I don’t repeat other’s mistakes. But there’s only so much we can affect by listening to advice, mainly our equipment and what to do in very specific circumstances. Otherwise, hunting is largely a matter of personal experience, time on the ground and in the woods, doing it.

Really, I enjoy having something intellectually engaging to discuss since my big game seasons are over (until I get invited on a hog hunt this winter, fingers crossed). I think I need to go squirrel hunting.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Blood Trails #22785

Don & Jason,

You both make good and valid points, and are speaking with lots of experience, way more than I have. But you cannot deny that recovering an animal is much easier with a good blood trail. It sounds like from your experiences, Jason, that you have not noticed better blood trails based solely on the type of broadhead used.

I guess the question is, do some broad heads create better blood trails than others? Assuming all else is equal (as you guys pointed out) same species, same shot placement, exit wound present or not. It seems like from people’s experiences that single bevel heads kill animals efficiently, but do they create better blood trails?

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Blood Trails #13328

Ptaylor wrote: Smiley and you both shot deer and got pass through shots, and very little in the way of a blood trail. The big bear I shot a few years ago did not have an exit wound and I only found one spot of blood on that trail (thank god I found him). The white-tailed buck I shot last year had no exit wound (one lung shot) and left a great blood trail (wish I had given him a few more hours before tracking, jumped him out of his bed after 3.5 hours and never saw him again). The bear I shot this year had an exit wound and left a great blood trail, but the shot was steeply angled down so the exit wound was in her brisket, that may be the reason the blood trail was so good. Your friend shot 2 hogs with exit wounds and found them, then shot 2 hogs with no exit wound and couldn’t find them.

I should have mentioned the above comments were some of my experiences with single bevel heads. I did kill a deer with a double bevel, 2-blade broadhead. That shot hit him through the heart, he died in 30 yards. But it was so thick I didn’t see him go down. The tip on the soft BH curled on impacting a rib on the way in, then stuck in an offside rib. So no exit wound. The blood trail was easy enough to follow. But that might have only been because of the thick brush. The blood sign was up at waist level rubbing off the deer’s side, I didn’t need to look for blood on the ground and don’t know if any fell to the forest floor.

I know there’s a lot more people folks with more experience than me out there and would love to hear your thoughts. Who has been hunting for a long time and made the switch to singe bevel? What are your experiences with blood trails & recovering game before and after?

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Website Upgrade #57669

Robin,

I am on a computer. I have not tried clearing my caches. I kind of like them because my computer remembers things I forget :D, but I’ll try it and let you know if it works.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Blood Trails #57642

Shoot, if the dog couldn’t find it that’s tough tracking!

Interesting. A few things come to mind while I think about this:

Smiley and you both shot deer and got pass through shots, and very little in the way of a blood trail. The big bear I shot a few years ago did not have an exit wound and I only found one spot of blood on that trail (thank god I found him). The white-tailed buck I shot last year had no exit wound (one lung shot) and left a great blood trail (wish I had given him a few more hours before tracking, jumped him out of his bed after 3.5 hours and never saw him again). The bear I shot this year had an exit wound and left a great blood trail, but the shot was steeply angled down so the exit wound was in her brisket, that may be the reason the blood trail was so good. Your friend shot 2 hogs with exit wounds and found them, then shot 2 hogs with no exit wound and couldn’t find them.

I’m wondering why the deer you guys shot with pass throughs did not leave a blood trail? It makes sense that your friend’s hogs without an exit wound didn’t leave much of a blood trail. But then I had that buck last year with no exit wound leave a great blood trail (I may have hit a muscle in the leg on the way in, not sure exactly).

If the deer you guys had shot, had not died so quickly, might they have started to leave a good blood trail after 50 yards or some distance do you think?

I always thought the exit wound was the factor in getting a good blood trail, but not sure about that now.

I know one thing for sure: The more I hunt, the better tracker I strive to be. I tried to help a few hunters find bears they had shot this fall (rifle hunters). One was injured and eventually stopped bleeding, got on a road, and cruised never to be seen again. The other was shot on the top of the back and only left fat smears on branches that his back would rub up against. I followed that bear for 3 hours until the hunters (who had been out there for 3 hours before I showed up) were worn out and ready to quit. I actually think that bear was dead we just needed to find it, I had tracked it maybe 300 yards. Man it was tough tracking. They were ready to quit. I regret not being more upfront with those guys and pushing on for another couple hours. It’s really dry during our hunting seasons and the tracking is tough. It’s hard to age tracks without rain, and animal’s like bears just don’t leave much sign after the plants are doing growing and the ground is so hard packed. Without blood it sure is tough to retrieve an animal, but it makes me want to be a better tracker.

Thanks for the info Steve.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Blood Trails #50830

Steve Graf wrote:

A fellow I know just got back from hunting pigs in SC. He shot 4 pigs, 2 with simmons, 2 with abowyers. He recovered the two shot with simmons and neither of the two with abowyer. He’s a good hunter who has killed many animals. I trust his description of what happened. Anecdotal I know. But I’ve heard it too many times to ignore.

Steve, I know this is getting off topic from the original thread, so maybe we should start a new one. But would you be able to describe to us where your friend thought the arrows hit the hogs? (The ones he couldn’t recover. And maybe a bit of what happened while he was tracking them?

Thanks,

Preston

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Blood Trails #38354

Smiley & Steve- Interesting phenomenon you are observing. Hopefully I’ll have something to add to it in a few years 😉

DWC- Congrats!!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Just checking in… #38224

Dave,

I’ll never forget my first arrow released at a deer, and it was a miss too. being away from the TBM campfire forum is not so bad. When you come back there’s so much good stuff to read! Enjoy the woods when you can.

Preston

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Website Upgrade #50579

Robin,

First off, great job with the website. I’m sure it can’t be easy. And you’ll hear more about what’s wrong than what’s right.

Here’s the only issue I have with the new website. Previously, when I went to the campfire forums and opened up one of the main forums (campfire forum, friends of FOC, etc…) I could see what topics have new posts. Then I could click on the user who made the last post to the topic. Then I would be directed to the last post for that thread. Now, when I click on the last post it just takes me to the top of the thread. Does that make sense? So now I have to scroll down through all the posts I’ve read instead of being immediately directed to the most recent post.

I know, it’s just lazy on my part to not want to scroll down. But I was used to the old way and I liked it.

Preston

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: PA hunt #32919

Sweet hunt and awesome fridge!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: My beautiful NY buck #32874

Beautiful buck Alex!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Blood Trails #60785

Nice hunt Smiley!

Last year I hit a deer in one lung, and after tracking him for a ways (maybe 600 yards) he had stopped dripping blood and was only leaving blood in the track that the blood was flowing down the leg. So I was following a bloody footprint when I came on a small puddle of blood with bubbles in it. I guessed at the time that he had coughed it up.

[Author]

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