Lots of hunters I know use surveyor’s tape to mark the last known sign when trailing a wounded animal, but there’s a better alternative: toilet paper. TP has several advantages in this situation:
- It’s easy to attach to leaves and branches, even if your fingers are too cold to tie a knot. Just poke a hole in the middle of a square and stick it on.
- It will be readily visible in all conditions except solid snow.
- TP is biodegradable. If you forget to pick up everything you’ve left–easy to do when you’re dragging out a deer in the dark–TP will eventually take care of itself.
- During the fall, many kinds of leaves and vegetation can look as if they have drops of blood on them. When in doubt, apply the corner of a piece of toilet paper to the spot. If it absorbs a red stain, it’s blood.
- Finally, it’s easier to use toilet paper to do the job of surveyor’s tape than vice versa.
TP is fine to mark a bloodtrail, IF, you know where other hunters are. Waving white paper around could easily be mistaken for a deer’s tail-some hunters don’t verify their target before shooting.
Excellent tip! That has been my solution for quite a few years now, for all of the stated reasons. The biodegradability of TP does not relieve me of the obligation to pick up after myself, but it certainly makes it less of an issue if I miss a piece.
Might I add if you store it in a water proof bag in emergency situations it can also be utilized to add layers to wound dressings and to help start a fire.
Toilet Paper is the Best for marking Blood Trails. I have been using it for over fifty(50) years. I also use a close-pin with reflective tape or Bright Eyes attached to mark the beginning and end of the trail if I have to leave it to go get help. I pick up the close Pins when we leave the woods. Toilet Paper kept in Zip lock bags can also be used to help start a fire, to remove items from yours eyes, and many other uses while Hunting or Fishing, or just out enjoying the Outdoors.
You have to be careful using this method, we ran in to a situation this year where the tracking went on for a long time and quite some distance. This could result in you retracing your steps quickly if you run out of tracking materials as this does serve another purpose. I would also say that you would want to check the weather to ensure rain or snow is not in the forecast.
I enjoyed your humorous conclusion. And yes, TP is a better alternative than surveyor’s tape.
Have used to for eons as blood trail markers..rite on Don
Thank you for throwing this great tip out there! It’s use is so second nature with me, that I have often failed to share this valuable tidbit with others, assuming ( and that’s always a mistake) everyone already knows.
Like was mentioned above, I too have used TP on blood trails for decades, and am positive I have brought a few deer home that I would not have recovered otherwise.
I often use tiny pieces to mark sign every few feet.
When the tracking gets tough, being able to look down your back trail with ease is a huge asset in helping determine the critter’s forward trajectory.
Thank you again for a tip that I know will help everyone that is not already taking advantage of this great idea!
This is excellent advice, but, frankly, I thought everybody already did it this way.
Thanks Don. I never hunt w/o TP in my pack. Have trailed a lot of critters for myself and others. Many times others have no idea where the animal was standing or exactly where it ran. I tell them not to call me unless they had TP with them and marked these spots. Have gone back the next day and still can follow the trail of white. Its great to be able to look behind you w/ a light and see a pattern with that shiny white path.
When I started bowhunting 35 years ago, I had heard or read this tip. Great stuff! Ive been carrying a roll in my hunting pack ever since. I have been on several trails where I was the only one who had some TP and the guys thanked me for it. Or, someone is alway needing some for “personal reasons” and I always have it. Great idea, great tip!
Quite a few years back a hiker/outdoors-man friend of mine commented that the cost of a roll of surveyor’s tape should be $100 or more. He was tired of encountering it in the woods in varying stages of slow decay and long after it’s usefulness. I truly agree. Too many evidently have meager respect for the outdoors.