Tracking

When many hunters go out looking for big game, they hope to drop the animal in its tracks after being shot. However, sometimes this does not happen and hunters are spending hours tracking their animals. Tracking is the science of observing animal tracks and trails. This is used when trying to find animals to hunt. It is also used to find a dead animal after it is shot. Following an animals track, trail, or signs is called spoor. Spoor is the feathers, scratching posts, kills, drag marks, sounds and many other things to identify where an animal is going. Blood is one of the main things hunters follow when tracking a shot animal in the woods. They also look for drag marks and foot prints. Trackers look for spoor in obvious places like thick brush and opened clearings. It is easy to track shot animals in the winter because the bright red blood is easy to identify in the white snow. Injured animals tend to bed down.

When tracking a wounded animal, it is crucial to wait at least 30 minutes and up to even 4 hours. If you start tracking too soon, animals could get an adrenline rush and chances of finding the animal are slim. Take it slow and mark spots of blood with flagging tape every 25-50 yards to trace the trail from far distances. Be sure to pick up the tape when you're done. You should walk on the side of the trail so you do not mess up the signs. If you lose the trail and can't find anymore blood, go back to the last place you saw blood and scout around that area. When tracking a wounded animal it is easy to get caught up in just looking at the ground, trying to find that next speck of blood. You should be aware of what is 100 yards out in front of you because if the animal is bedded down and you spook it, be ready to shoot.

Curtis, Rick. “Outdoor Action Guide to Tracking Animals.” Princeton. N.p., 2010. Web. 7 Jan. 2011. http://www.princeton.edu/‌~oa/‌nature/‌tracking.shtml.
“Tracking Animals.” Wikipedia. N.p., 30 Nov. 2011. Web. 7 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/‌wiki/‌Tracking_(hunting)>.