Aversion to Blood Trailing

[Seacoal]

I just gotta know, what's up with it? It seem's everytime I look at a thread about shooting something it's about how this caliber will make a deer drop in it's tracks every time or how this bullet will cause em to be DRT.
What's the big deal about blood trailing? I've seen ton's of deer shot in the right place still run 80 yards, regardless of what caliber or bullet they were shot with. Is it truly so much of a pain to follow blood?

Maybe I'm the only one, but blood trailing is one of my favorite parts of the successful hunt, always been that way for me, and it's probably why I'm pretty decent at it and don't mind doing it. I just don't get what's so special about a deer not running away

[BrandonA]

Having that sinking feeling that you may not recover him is the reason if I am hunting with a rifle I want him to drop dead.

[dragonsdaddy]

i prefer the game to suffer as little as possible, so the shorter the trail, the better. i do enjoy trailing as it is like working a puzzle. i always backtrack even if i see the deer drop. i assume every trail has a clue i might use later.

[panhandlehunter]

With a gun, I want them to fall. I accomplish that with a high shoulder shot, DRT.

[GarGuy]

Great post Seacoal. I absolutely love a blood trail. I guided a 15 year old to his first doe this past weekend. He shot her with a 3006 and I saw the bullet impact perfect behind her shoulder. She ran like she wasn't touched into a terrible thicket. Blood was easy to find with lung at the bullet exit trail. I think the 85yd blood trail was more educational for the kid and his Father than the hunt.

[Savage Coyote]

i prefer the game to suffer as little as possible, so the shorter the trail, the better.

This is me as well

[Stick-Launcher]

I don't mind tracking in the morning, but I hate it on evening hunts... or maybe I'm just lazy... hahaha

[32drawlength]

Great post as mentioned.
I've shot animals both that DRT or left a trail, but the anticipation of trailing blood excites more.
The biggest buck I ever shot had the heart blown apart but the 80 yard blood trail was incredible.

[Arrowflinger84]

They are tough animals. But they aren't so tough if they drop in their tracks!!! It goes back to the thread that was talking about shot placement. It makes the track job a lot easier.

[Seacoal]

I've shot deer before that left chunks of their heart on the blood trail, and still followed em for 80 yards. My first buck I shot in the liver and he dropped. I have noticed that mid shoulder shot's drop em right there, but I never ever shoot that shot on purpose because I want to preserve as much meat as possible

[Slick8]

I don't mind a blood trail but with a rifle IMO;
One, it's just cool to fold em up with a DRT and agree with Phillip that the high shoulder shot is the way to go.

Second, if you're a really long way off and not shooting a deer at the feeder or along a road (sendero if So TX) then it can be difficult to find where the deer was standing and the blood trail.

Again, JMO...it's cool.

[PROUDREDNECK]

I just gotta know, what's up with it? It seem's everytime I look at a thread about shooting something it's about how this caliber will make a deer drop in it's tracks every time or how this bullet will cause em to be DRT.
What's the big deal about blood trailing? I've seen ton's of deer shot in the right place still run 80 yards, regardless of what caliber or bullet they were shot with. Is it truly so much of a pain to follow blood?

Maybe I'm the only one, but blood trailing is one of my favorite parts of the successful hunt, always been that way for me, and it's probably why I'm pretty decent at it and don't mind doing it. I just don't get what's so special about a deer not running away

Yes!! blood trailing jobs are great! , very exciting, interesting, a BIG part of the hunt itself! I would preferer trailing blood and be more excited about getting my prey than seeing it inmediately lying but we all have differente points of view... all very respectable

[Deer Tracks]

Well, we hope for good blood tails because we're usually training a dog.
Years ago, I used to shoot bucks in the shoulder (rifle) and they always dropped in their tracks. These days, I try to avoid breaking shoulders so they run a little bit.
Still hard to get one to go further than 50-60 yards with a well placed shot...which isn't much of a practice track for a dog.
Occasionally, I have one that leaves about 100 yard trail - if they are standing in a field or out in the open - but it's not common.

[Killer]

The only thing better than a good blood trail is the BB laying 5ft from where he was standing when you shot him!!!!!!

[Txdeerhunter243]

Personally, with a rifle I try to make them drop on the spot. I punch the bullet through both front legs, 1/2 to 2/3 up, and they go straight down. I do not like to have to track them, especially in the dark and in thick country. I feel a lot better when I drop on them on the spot.