Tracking Wounded Elk, Deer and Bears: Tactics Based on 100s of Blood Trails

[@WanderingTatonka]

The fact you put this out there for free is awesome, I’ve paid to learn less about hunting. Thank you for what you do, I’m an appreciative consumer.

[@CliffGray]

Glad it is helpful! thanks man

[@timleininger7789]

Couldn't agree more. Serious value.

[@CliffGray]

@@timleininger7789 thanks Tim!

[@McDanielRanch]

Yes sir thank u Clif we all can lean a lot from you. The more people learn the safer the hunt.

[@jackdundon2261]

I consider myself a GOOD hunter, MANY trophy OTC kills. but, man, I have probably learned as much from your videos as I have learned from EVERY other "expert", I have have talked to COMBINED.

[@chipcarver2489]

In 2009, I guided a husband and wife for rifle elk in Wyoming, where I saw one of the most impressive displays of toughness from any animal. The wife was shooting a 7mm-08, and we got her lined up on a raghorn at 400 yards. She had performed well at the ranch shooting range at 200 yards, and she and her husband were confident she could make the shot. We were shooting from a ridge top to an adjacent hillside with time and visibility. When she took her first shot, I watched the bull hunch up and knew he was hit but not sure how well. He turned downhill and took a few steps but did not run. She took a follow-up shot, but I could not see an impact, nor did it sound like a hit. The bull continued quartering downhill into a group of trees. We had an excellent vantage point, so we set up for a long wait before we would go check the shot area. 20 minutes later, the bull ( visibly sick) came back up the same path he went down to almost exactly the same spot. This time, I asked my client to hold for the top of the shoulder because I believed, if anything, her shot was low, or far back, and if not, a high shoulder hit would put him down. Her shot hit exactly where she held, and he went down immediately. When I gutted that bull, there were two rounds in him. One at the top of the shoulders, and one perfect little 7mm hole through the top of the heart! The bullet missed all bones going in and going out and never expanded at all. That bull was dead on his feet for over 30 minutes, with next to no external blood loss.

[@CliffGray]

Wild! Thanks for sharing man. They are tough beasts.

[@yanceymcdonald6017]

“We all have lives and pissed off wives!”- most relatable quote I’ve heard in a while! 😂

[@CliffGray]

HA!

[@paulh32042]

Two things I will offer is don't walk through the blood or tracks. Whether it's rocks, leaves, or whatever, you can upset blood and destroy finer sign. Stay off to one side a few feet and occasionally cut the trail to get a realignment if necessary, but drop back off to the side when moving forward. Also, read the drops. Round drops are slow moving or stationary animals. Drops with a tail, or multiple tails from spatter, are high speed drops. The tail will point in the direction of travel. If the blood is visible, you can match the pace of the animal according to the blood spatter. This will also help if an animal doubles back on its trail. When they're moving slow, you move slow. I prefer the downhill side of the trail since animals will typically go downhill when hurt and trash from my trail isn't falling into the game trail.

[@CliffGray]

great additional tips. Thanks Paul

[@Paul-q3m7k]

This is great ! I’d have never thought I’d that . Not your first day is it ? Lol

[@yanceymcdonald6017]

Great video! So I watched my father shoot one of the biggest bulls that I’ve ever seen with his bow. We watched the 6 x 7 bed up on the opposite hillside after the shot. We were about 300 yards away from him, we were steadily watching him and he would put his head down and then occasionally pick it up just to put it back down again. My dad was afraid of trying to move too close for another shot out of fear of spooking him as he was bedded in a pretty open area. And I’ll admit that I thought he was going to die. After a weight of about an hour and a half he proceeded to stand up and started walking up the trail to go over the ridge. The last time we seen him was when he crested over the ridge. We searched for about 3 1/2 hours before it got dark and then searched another three hours in the dark, all trying to find him again. When we called it quits for the night. When we did, we fail to realize that there was supposed to be a storm the next day. Well, the storm hit early and dropped almost a foot to a foot and a half of snow in the area where he shot the bull. We had to get snowmobile’s just to get back in the area. We searched for two more days, trying to find it. And it wasn’t until the next year that we went back in there hunting and found his remains. That story still haunts me. One lesson that I learned, was always check the weather for the next day if you’re going to let them sit overnight. If you were in that situation what would you do differently?

[@CliffGray]

great tip on the weather. I don't think I would have done anything differently... pushed the envelope on an additional stalk/shot if I knew weather was coming, but that's me knowing the full story ahead of time. They are big, tough animals. I have almost the exact scenario happen to me. thanks for sharing

[@kriskodisko]

The fact that this has under 1k likes is astounding to me. My first ever track with my uncle, he was so hell bent on finding the next blood in the trail, but I was piecing together the overall direction the animal was running, and keyed into *HEAVY* blood 30 yards oast where we were looking because I just thought "If I'd been shot and was running away, what course would i take based on where I've come from up until now?" That mindset has helped me trail a few times when blood got sparse and I thought I lost the trail.

[@CliffGray]

for sure! thanks for the comment. appreciate it

[@ejwight]

Thanks Cliff for all of the great videos. I rifle hunted this year, we had a lot of fresh fluffy snow fall overnight before the hunt. I shot a bull early in the morning at 200 yards. I was sitting with a very good rest, and was very confident that I had a good shot. The bull took off into the timber at the shot, as did the whole herd that he was with. I went to where he had been standing and I found his track, but no blood. I followed his track and found just a couple of small specks of blood on top of the snow, I started to think maybe I had just nicked him. His tracks mixed with the herd and I lost his individual track. I tracked the herd for over an hour and never saw any blood, so I went back to where I had last seen just a small speck of blood. I was in the process of studying the tracks from the herd, when I noticed pink "clouds" under the snow. By this time, the sun had been on the snow for a while, and in the full sunlight I could seen pools of blood underneath the snow. The blood had cut through the snow and left no visible marks on the surface. I was able to find where the bull had split from the herd and headed downhill, a track I had missed before. I found him dead about 80 yards from where he was shot.

[@CliffGray]

That is awesome and a great detailed story. Great tip for what to look for in the snow. Congrats on the tracking job and bull! thanks for sharing

[@TheBowhunterinNB]

Cliff your videos give us years of experience in 30min. Many of your tips I have learned the slow hard way . So thank you truly for the years and hard lessons you save me with the tips .

[@CliffGray]

thanks man! appreciate the support for the videos

[@georgemorrison1888]

Excellent information. Last season I shot a bull elk with a bow and had a very poor blood trail. When the blood trail would peter out we noticed that if you looked for the yellow jackets buzzing around the ground nearby the last blood you would often find a few drops of blood and be able to take up the trail again. Ultimately we did recover the bull.

[@04lucasromero]

I shot an elk this past Sept. 2022. I double lunged him in the lower half of the lungs. Had initially found blood, than nothing for 60 yards. I knew where he walked through. Followed tracks. Got to the edge of the hill and once he started going down hill. He was spraying blood everywhere. And was pulled up 30 yards down.

[@CliffGray]

nice! congrats

[@Eiflerisch]

Again, great video! I liked your comment on the so called "missed shot" in Germany we have this saying that "only the dog can tell you'ved missed your shot" because we track every "missed shot" with tracking dogs. That makes you think twice about your shot selection, so you don't have to call your hunting buddy with the tracking dog at 5:30 a.m. on a sunday to help you out... "Waidmannsheil" to all Hunters out there!

[@CliffGray]

I love that tracking dogs are integrated into your hunting over there. I wished we used them more. 👍

[@jwjenkins421]

My first buck was a 400-yard shot. I saw the shot hit the buck in my scope. I got excited and didn't reload immediately. I saw him go down, and then he started moving with a limp across the face of the hill in front of me. I reloaded, but I couldn't get a second shot on him as he moved in and out of scrub oak. He went into a clump of trees and then didn't come out. There was other hunter pressure, and I was worried about one of them finding and claiming the buck i just shot. So I mentally took a picture of where the buck was at the shot and where he'd gone. I ran down the mountain and across onto the next face and talked to the other hunters to let them know what had happened. They were nice and offered to try and help locate my buck for me. Unfortunately, one of them spooked my buck out of where he had bedded, and according to them, it didn't look like he was injured... I've spent hours reloading ammo and making sure that I'm confident in my ability to place a shot, and I'm 100% confident that I hit this buck. I go to the shot location, and there is no blood. I can see where the buck was standing, I can see the depth of the hoof print change as he jumped from the shot. The other hunters couldn't see blood, so they gave up and went elsewhere to find other animals. I followed every hoof track to the bed, where the other hunter spooked a deer. After closer examination, I found a golf ball sized blood patch mixed with snow on the edge of the bed. I sat down there and waited about an hour just to be safe. Then I picked up the trail again. It turned out only about 15 yards from the bed the deer had turned down hill on a death run. He emptied his bowels and then was found 15 yards further down the hill, total he had only gone about 50 yards from the bed, and about 50 yards from the shot to the bed. Aside from the golf ball sized patch of blood, I had no other blood along the entire trail. I turned out that my shot hit in the middle of the body top to bottom, but was further back than I would've liked. My shot hit the buck in the rear portion of the shot side lung, diaphram, and liver. Both the entrance and exit wounds were middle of the body, so the animal was bleeding to death internally, but very little was coming out the wounds. I was extremely grateful I just kept going when I finally found my buck. I can't describe the stress and sorrow that I felt during the tracking process, and the relief and joy when I found that buck.

[@CliffGray]

great story of patience and persistence. until you do it, people don't realize how difficult it is to track something for even a few hundreds yards without blood. thanks for sharing

[@jamesmooney5348]

Great video. I'll have to watch again.

[@charlesbond4413]

I don’t have much to add to your complete experience. On several shots, one on blacktail in the Cascades and the other open sage rangelands for mulies, I had to finally backtrack to my shooting spot to get a fresh perspective. Both times I instantly saw a flaw in my initial search. The first, the deer went on a slightly different track through the firs. It made all the difference. The second, I climbed too far, past the Bush I had visually marked to a slightly larger one about 30 yards further upslope. Only by returning to my shooting spot was I able to see my mistake and quickly find the animal. Quickly that is after wasting an hour in the wrong trail or spot. Therefore, I carry precut pieces of surveyors tape. I mark my shooting spot before moving. Then mark place where animal was hit before tracking and marking the place where I last saw it. Stay off the sign, track, blood, fur. I enjoy your life experience, your ability to say it clearly and your enthusiasm for ethical hunting success.

[@CliffGray]

Thanks Charles! Also great examples. Appreciate the comment 👍

[@prez803]

Great tips! I had an unfortunate situation a few years back where I shot a nice bull elk in archery season. My girlfriend and I spent all day following his blood for about a mile until we lost the trail. We came back the next day and I thought maybe he went down to get water so we grid-searched the entire hillside below. This was all steep, nasty, brush and beetle kill, mind you. Nothing. So I called a blood tracking group to see if someone could come help. Nobody could but they gave me some pointers: that wounded elk will rarely go down but will keep on the same path as their blood trail or go up; and that they're usually dead within 500 yards of where you lost the blood. On day 3 of searching we found him 400 yards straight ahead in the direction of travel from where we lost the blood. Sadly, the meat was ruined and I felt like shit but it was nice to know he was dead. BTW I too am a little color-blind but it helps to have a girlfriend who isn't!

[@Cjdklh]

Best on youtube. As a new hunter I've already learned a lot from you and appreciate it. I lost my 1st deer last year and feel 100% more confident in my tracking next time because some of these tips.

[@CliffGray]

good to hear Carl. good luck this next Fall

[@JAL94]

Man you’re spilling all our secrets! But really, it’s awesome to have an experienced voice in this space. Breath of fresh air from the TV/Influencer BS. Thanks for keeping it real 👊

[@keithross4511]

Always enjoy all the great information you share! Won’t go into the story of my first whitetail deer kill, but I was almost positive 99% of a miss. I waited almost 3 hours before following up, along with my brother and nephew. My final shot at about 80 yards, tail up and it bounded off into the cedar trees and brush. Well 3 hours later we found a blood trail or better blood, LOTS of it. From the point I’d last seen the deer, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder could tracked it. 30 yards later it piled up. NEVER just THINK you missed and give up. Go be sure!!

[@EzekielHayes-h4f]

Cliff, Your videos are top notch. Thank you for the information you share, Coming from the world of stand hunting whitetails and black bears in the Appalachian Mountains, one thing I have found that I really put a lot of confidence behind is the sound of a bullet impact when using a suppressor. On a sub-300 yard shot, I can usually tell by the distinct impact sound of whether I have hit flesh and bone, or dirt, rocks, trees, etc. I realize that wouldn’t be practical on mountain hunts, but could be useful on certain muley and late season cow hunts. Thanks again for the info you continue to share!

[@CliffGray]

I think the impact sound is a great indicator. This is especially the case with a suppressed rifle. It's insane to me that suppressors are so difficult to obtain in some states.

[@markkillingsworth9529]

Shot a buck at 14 yards from a tree stand years ago. One spec of blood on the ground. No more blood anywhere so I thought. "I thought that was a perfect shot". Gave it a few hours due to stomach/gut on arrow. Went back and tracked for hours and my cousin's dog found my buck. Perfect hit from a tree stand but angeled back and poked the gut out of the exit wound. So the gut plugged the hole. I use 4 blade broadheads now instead of 2. Thanks

[@CliffGray]

👍

[@monsterman2u]

Great video...I've been watching so many of yours and this one brings me to so many stories and how tracking is so key.

[@CliffGray]

👍

[@Thezachofalltrades1]

Such an appreciated wealth of knowledge. Love the lack of wasted time in this video, straight to the point! Thanks Cliff

[@wadehunnicutt4131]

Thanks for all your videos!! I’ve just recently found them and have been binge watching so to speak. I shot a big whitetail buck at last light, no blood to be found. I tried tracking him but had no luck. When I gave up for the night I turned wide to go back. Walked back halfway and there he was. Never heard the term J hook but I’ll be damn that’s exactly what he had done. He was about 80 yards from spot of shot but went well over 120 yards total. I always check this now when tracking. Now I know what it’s called!😁

[@Sadielady2024]

I can't tell you how much I have learned from you. Thank you, I truly appreciate you sharing your knowledge!

[@jefferywilliams7687]

2 years ago I shot a 6X6 Bull Elk at about 175 yards in a steep down hill angle. Heavy cover prevented me from seeing him exit. However, I listened and could hear his exit direction over the rocks. I never saw the cows exit and expected him to run up the far side of the canyon on 2 different escape routes. I shot him with a 300 Weatherby Magnum with a 180 grain Nosler Partition bullets. When to impact site and found no blood. It was a water hole with that had dried up considerably and there were a lot of elk and cattle tracks. So I liked back up to where I had left my pack. 30 min to go before dust dark and could not glass him up. Went back to where I thought he was standing and started thinking about what exit trails could be and how sound traveled in the canyon. Headed out to get to opposite to gain elevation to see if he circled around ‘“j-hooked”. Started up the trail and up under the pinyon juniper I could see his rump. Watched him and then approached him slowly ready to shoot. Scope on lowest power in a shooting position. Poked him with the gun barrel and he was dead. The 180 grain Partition entered his right shoulder right on the joint, passed thru his rib bone, took out part of his lungs, passed thru his heart and exited left side thru the rib cage bone. Still a big believer in the Nosler Partition Bullet. The wound channel was a 3 inch diameter hole all the way thru.

[@CliffGray]

thanks for sharing the story! congrats on the bull

[@wcndguy5302]

Awesome video, I just added a lot to the toolkit. Not a guide so my experience is limited. Shot confidence is key for me. I haven’t missed an animal that I was confident shooting at. If I make a good shot I wait and listen. I walk to the spot that I shot and look for blood and tracks. If there is nothing to follow I move back 50 yards and start walking in a grid pattern 200 yards wide with the last place I saw the animal in the middle. I methodically search every piece of ground. I’m hunting the bush in bc. Not a lot of open country.

[@CliffGray]

That is a great way to do it, particularly the type of terrain/vegetation you have up there in BC. Very true on the confidence component. thanks

[@epa-c7007]

thanks again, Cliff. Great points as usual.

[@CliffGray]

thanks!

[@clayrichardson1839]

You are Great wealth of first hand experience & knowledge! I would add that ants, flies & even bees can put you back on the trail when blood seems lacking.

[@CliffGray]

thanks Clay! great tip, too

[@sasquatchrosefarts]

Scent also. A hot huffin shot elk puts off a lot more scent than a normal one. Just like when you turn on your kitchen stove electric burner and smell traces of the last meal. And if it's gut shot you may smell scent off it from that.

[@CliffGray]

@@sasquatchrosefarts that makes sense!

[@wallacejeffery5786]

Outstanding advice. I knocked a bull elk on his butt . Double lung but high. Spotted him with head up pointed down. I waited and moved until I could see him good. I shot him again and glad I did. I backed up to where I hit him the first time, and found disturbed ground but no blood. The bullet did not exit . 180 grains federal trophy bonded from a .300 H&H. Before the second shot, I watched the elk exit without the bull I shot. Then after glassing we found the bull.

[@CliffGray]

Thanks for sharing Wallace. Great story. I'm always shooting if they have their head up!

[@spodyr6]

My spring bear this year didn't bleed out at all. Thankfully it dropped close to the spot I shot it because that would have been a nightmare to track in the thick timber we were in. Excellent information in your videos Cliff. Thank you !

[@MiddleOutdoorsman]

I already know this comment is going to get long, the beginning point I'd make is to never stop learning. Every encounter or experience, good or bad, analyze and try and learn from it. What did I do wrong? What did I do right? What could I have done better? I can think of three encounters that I still think about in that context. Before I get into those, I'll want to throw out one preliminary piece of information that might explain at least one bone headed shot. I used to do A LOT of archery growing up. My folks lived on a hill, with an undeveloped backyard, nestled up next to an undeveloped valley. I used to shoot archery at some haybales, two to three hours a day, every day, during high school, from all angles, and ranges, usually using a 8.5" X 11" piece of notebook paper as a target. It was my time of zen. I'd shoot a compound bow, instinctive with no pins, using fingers, and a leather archery glove. (90s archery tackle with longer ATA) Just keep that in the back of your mind for a bit. Elk Number 1: Literally. Shanked this cow in the afternoon, on opening day of archery on my way back to camp. I was using a 28 year old compound bow, with 2 pins, no rear peep, and I think I was using a finger tab. No mechanical release. I don't remember what Pin i used honestly. But this much I know, I was aiming for the vitals, and I hit the base of the neck. At first I thought I missed, only upon further investigation, I found that cow was leaving a blood trail even a blind man could follow. I heard it moan and die 5 mins after the shot. I waited at least 20 mins before tracking it down even though I had recovered my arrow ( went straight through) and enough blood on the ground to start making comparisons to a stuck pig. The blood was dried in the leaves, august is hot. When I recovered the elk (wasn't hard to follow), it had been dead long enough to where the eyes were glazing over and flies were forming in a large cloud. It was clear I hit what I'll call a carotid artery at the base of the neck. Again, I was aiming at vitals. It was blind luck I hit that cow where I did. What I think I learned: 1. Don't trust myself completely no matter how much I practice. What i think happened is that in the heat of the moment, I torqued the bow string with my fingers. When you do that your shot will go off. After this season, I moved to a mechanical release even though my ego was slightly bruised. 2. I'm not sure there are any hard and fast rules. Should I have waited 20 mins on that elk, given I heard the death moan, and it was during an august afternoon? It died in the sun, not that I would have anyway to know that. So I'm not sure, and I'm still mulling that one over. Elk Number 2: This one I *THINK* I missed, but I'm not sure. Long story short, I was again too confident in my own abilities. Took a downhill, traversing angled shot at a cow elk and missed. I heard that arrow go off in the woods. Took a second shot at the same cow, and I could have sworn I heard it hit. Probably the two most boneheaded shots I ever made because.......... I didn't use my range finder. (see growing up story above). It looked like 50 yards to me, but given the downhill traversing angle, it was closer to 80. I was falling back to my archery growing up shooting at this cow. Because of that, I'm willing to write that one off as a miss, except for one thing. I have NEVER recovered ANY of those arrows. I hunt the same area year after year, and I've been looking for them for a few years now. I wouldn't be surprised to find an elk skeleton with my weather beaten arrow in the pile of bones some day. I will probably never know. Yeah, it bothers me a little. What I think I learned: 1. Always use my range finder.... obviously. 🙄 (told ya it was boneheaded.) A Buck Deer : This is getting long, so I'll try and keep this one shorter. I think it was a 170ish yard shot with a muzzleloader, which I had zeroed for 150 yards. So I was using my first subtension. Again, I thought I missed. I shot at this buck 3 times, which adds to the stupidty. Now, as he eventually ran off, I *thought* I saw a limp, but wasn't sure, as he moved fairly quickly, along with the rest of the herd. Searched the area most of the evening, no blood, no fur, nothing except green scat. So I dismissed that limp as just me seeing things in the confusion. A muzzy shot leaves a huge cloud of smoke. Now, I had been in this area 9 days total up to this point, and hadn't heard a peep from a single coyote. The next morning, I heard a TON of them, and they sounded pretty happy. Given the situation, I saw which way the buck ran, and then off into the woods, but heard the yotes uphill and behind to where I had shot at the buck the previous day. I'm guessing I gut shot that buck, he J hooked up the mountain, and died somewhere overnight. Things I wonder: - What if I had looked further outward from my search area? Would I have found sign then? No idea, but it's a festering thought. What I think I learned: 1. Make sure you zero correctly. My zero WAS off, because of a breeze when I was out zeroing. I thought it wasn't enough to make a difference. In hindsight it did. It's been my habit to take whatever it is i'm zeroing to an indoor range and test the zero there. A 1/4" or 1/2", or worse yet a full inch, at 25 yards indoors, makes a big difference later. 2. Don't trust pelletized powder beyond 100 yards. This is a debatable statement, and falls into the realm of nerding out on muzzleloader specifics, but it is a thought. Muzzy in general isn't as accurate as centerfire. I'm also mulling over what is an appropriate distance for me, with a smokepole in my hand. Longest.... comment..... ever. I probably should have made a video with this. Oh well. No fun telling on yourself.

[@CliffGray]

Great stories and thoughts man! I think we all have these tales... Problem is they linger in your mind but you will never know what the right choice would have been - because you only get to see the outcome that happened. But as you said first... we can learn from every experience and analyzing helps. You thoughts on looking for your arrows reminded me of a range finder and a knife I lost up in the mountains... right in the center of an area I was always guiding in. Walked by those spots hundreds of times... always looking for those two things. To this day can't figure out where they went - mountain ate them. I've lost a few arrows too!

[@sigspearthumb1056]

Don’t mean to jump into your post but reading your story on your first elk. You also could have at the very last second of when you released arrow you not knowingly subconsciously looked at the animals head/neck area like super fast not even noticing and just that small change caused you to move your shot and hit high. Reading you post just made me remember when my dad got me and my little brother into archery. It was out thing to do when we would go visit on weekends and summer and at a 3D shoot one of our group members was shooting and the rest of us waiting on turns we started talking about the targets and we just so happened to be talking about the antlers and right when our friend was shooting someone said something about the antlers again and he shot the target right in the antlers on a 35yard broadside shot. And he was absolutely positively positive he was holding on the 10ring. Turns out he subconsciously looked away up at the antlers as soon as he clicked his release to shoot as we were talking about the goofy antlers. Ever since then. We have always made sure to shoot with a clean non filled thought process and only thinking about where we want that arrow to actually go. It’s crazy to think that you can be holding and aiming at a specific part of a target and subconsciously not even noticing you looked away as you released your arrow and you miss and hit the thing you subconsciously looked at/thought of. Again sorry to jump in on your post and stuff and I’m also not saying your not right. Just tryna throw out some examples of what I’ve also seen and possibly give another example of what coulda happened.

[@davidstonkus3288]

Excellent video. Lots of tips. Let me give you guys one. I call this my post shot call. After shooting an animal (eg. deer). use a grunt call immediately after the shot. This might confuse the animal and stop it for a second shot, or it may feel it is in friendly company and stop sooner.This does not always work but it could shorten the track job. Hope this helps someone.

[@Kevan808]

"Run until you throw up" Love it! 😂

[@CliffGray]

Ha! I'd rather throw up now than be tracking for 16 hours!

[@joshsmith3650]

I didn’t realize my kids make a bear’s death moan every time I ask them to do chores lol. Now when they do that I will giggle at them

[@bigdogdjango]

Hey Cliff, refreshing to hear your approach to hunting that is more than just regurgitated dogma from previous generations. I too have found animals buy ignoring the tracking sign and honing in on the sound of death kicks as the animal tries to run while lying flat and passing out. I’ve also lost a few from bumping them because I started tracking too early. As far as mortally wounded animals running down hill, and poorly hit don’t run straight up. I did have 1 case that challenged that theory. Anyway thanks for the vids, hope if I come state side my guide is as knowledgeable as you.

[@CliffGray]

Thank you! I hear ya on the wounded animal running straight up hill. I am sure there are exceptions. What species was it and where was it hit?

[@bigdogdjango]

Hey Cliff, so stoked u wrote back! It was a Sambar deer hind in Victoria, Australia. It was hit in the back of lungs. Definitely still had both shoulders still working. Amazing animal somewhere between a red deer and an elk in size with a very cautious disposition. Love the videos mate, keep ‘em coming. Nick

[@supermo26]

When blood trailing very little blood, pay attention to spiders, flies, and bee's. They have helped me find specs of blood. Especially in the dark. Also, illuminate from different angles to see the shine. Sometimes, a flashlight that is too bright limits the shine you would see with a lower luminous light.

[@tyb3938]

Son dropped a large 6 in his tracks this year, his first bull. At first I said hit him again, even though he was down and shaking but then he stopped shaking and legs were high in sky. 10 minutes later herd walks up, we put rifle away and glassing herd approach him. Cow starts talking to him, he wakes up runs off like nothing happened. By time rifle was back out, son missed him running through trees. Searched forever, found tons of hair where he slid 50 feet down mountain but never any blood and there are so many elk in our hole, his tracks merged with others and lost him. Talked to others, hydrostatic shock from bullet in chest cavity will knock them out, normally undisturbed they bleed out an u think u killed him instantly. Good chance shot passed above lungs below spine. Kills me that I didn’t have him hit the bull again. Old rule: if they are standing hit them. New rule: empty gun into them even if down, reload and hold for hour. I will take a little meat loss over loosing a nice bull again

[@CliffGray]

Bummer man. Great story though. I had a similar situation with a buck, but we did end up killing him. Stone cold drop on shot... down into the brush but dead as a door nail. 20 minutes later we see the butt of the buck going through the timber... what in the world? Turns out hunter hit him on main antler beam and knocked him out. Possible yours was an antler hit?

[@tyb3938]

@@CliffGray I could have sworn it hit him in chest, wife and I were on tripods with good glass at under 300 yards and the bull lifted up his chest and then rolled over slid 50 feet down lying 15 feet from the bulls carcass my wife took last year. Wherever it hit him, the shock sent electrical impulse and knocked him out cold, same as your buck. He was a real nice 300-330 class bull. Hard to watch the video of us celebrating before he ran off. Like you said, celebrate later and my new practice: rifle has five rounds, use them. Love your videos, and credit your glassing with the grain video along with pick one area and get to know it well with our success finding animals. 10 minutes prior to bull coming out I told my son where the elk would come out, and how he had plenty of time to wait till they cleared the trees and where he would shoot him. It happened exactly how I told him except the big bull came out first instead of the cows. We know our area and our elk because we climb up to a glassing spot around 10k feet. I picked the spot using google earth after watching your glassing with the grain video. We can see everything from that spot. Huge thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@CliffGray]

@@tyb3938 that’s awesome to hear man 👍 I’m always grateful when I hear about folks using this stuff up in the mountains. Thanks

[@TheBowhunterinNB]

I once shot a nice whitetail buck . Just shy of 300yards. He did a big donkey kick and bolted . My brother and I walked to where it was standing and didn’t see any blood or hair. My brother instantly started teasing me about missing . He was ready to walk away. I just started walking in the direction that his tracks went and found him within 50 yards piled up . No blood until I opened him up and his chest was full, high double lung . On closer inspection we found hair at the spot he was standing that we missed

[@CliffGray]

Thanks for sharing the story - happens pretty often, nuts how a good shot can have so little blood at impact. That high lung shot can be one of the toughest.

[@francoisbm6785]

Deer and moose hunter in big woods here; tracking is sometimes part of the game. Animals know their territory and know where to go for dying to escape predator and it's typically a combination of down hill thick stuff and water (knowing your hunting territory helps a great deal). I always mark my shooting position and then every evidence of the animal I shot (GPS and flag tape should be part of your kit), this include blood, fresh tracks, broken branches, troubled waters etc. If I loose the animal's tracks, I can always go back to the last firm evidence I marked (you can then make circles around that mark and try to find the track again). You need to go in there with the conviction you've done a good shot and keep the spirit high. At one point, you'll need to make a decision to seek help from other hunting buddies and using some kind of communication device is helpful. The worst case scenario is a bad shot during last hour of light with some rain, in those times I move quick, I always carry a tactical flashlight and a headlamp with me. The headlamp is for tracking and the flashlight is to emulate day time. Before your hunting trip you can always inform yourself about dog tracking services and keep that phone number with you and give it a shot as a last resort.

[@CliffGray]

👍 good tips. Thanks

[@ArrowForceOne]

Great content Cliff! I shot a bull once and thought it was a pretty good shot but not 100% sure. I decided to just sit still and continue calling while I gave him time. 20 minutes later the bull snuck back in to my setup and I was able to get a second and final shot in him. Sure glad I wasn't celebrating instead!

[@CliffGray]

awesome story. wild stuff. might have been a tough tracking job after just that first shot!

[@ArrowForceOne]

@Cliff Gray Definitely!

[@Wyatt9627]

No blood at all on my archery bull. Hit double lung and went through both sides but got lodged in the leg on the opposite side. The height of the shot in both lungs filled the body cavities before coming out and took my arrow far enough I couldn’t locate it. No blood, no arrow to check. Tapped the exact shot location, and followed the easiest path of exit in the thick timber. Sometimes they’ll just follow the easiest way when they are hurting. Also, bring extra batteries for a head lamp, if you’re leaving the next morning like I was you can run a grid all night if you have a shit load of marking tape and patience. 🤙

[@adamvisser9815]

Hahahaha we all have lives and we all have pissed off wife's hahahaha Awesome podcast cliff. Thanks for the info. This has been a vary informative episode

[@branndonbowman]

Appreciate all the knowledge man. I shot a black bear last year and hit him a little back, gave him overnight and searched the next day for hours and couldn’t find him. I knew I had to look harder, so I went back the next day and ended up finding him 60 yards from his den where we had last blood in a creek bottom trying to j hook just like you said. The video is on my channel if anyone wants to see. Also I really like that bear rug

[@CliffGray]

good deal! congrats on the bear and being persistent on the tracking!

[@allenwignall569]

Thanks for sharing this information as I shot a black on the weekend with my crossbow lots of blood at the shot site and on the bolt I heard the death moan so I knew the bear was dead I tried tracking for a couple of hours, but found nothing went the next day. Spent the whole day and still nothing. I feel bad and a very disappointed hunter so you information you are sharing I thank you so very much good hunting stay safe .

[@jasongupton7858]

Great real world advice. I've noticed shooting Barnes ttsx bullets that there is very little blood coming out of the animal. These were deer, 270, 130 grain bullets, ranging from 100 yards to 320 yards. Now, five deer, all shot behind the shoulder. The furthest went 30 yards, BUT, the chest cavity on all of them was full of congealed blood. Never had that happen with accubonds. In heavy cover or a less than perfect shot, tracking without blood is critical. Not knocking Barnes, it's just different in my experience.

[@craigholland2274]

I like accubonds but unfortunately finding bullets from nosler are almost impossible . So I'm all barnes now. They are definitely different but barnes terminal damage is really good.

[@jasongupton7858]

@@craigholland2274 Yeah they definitely do the job and are very accurate, just noticed the lack of blood.

[@andrewleonard4490]

I love the 130 Barnes from my .270. I would agree with your statement about little blood, but in my experience, I've never had to track an animal using a Barnes 130 from a .270.

[@CliffGray]

Thanks Jason. Are you getting exit wounds? As you say, nothing wrong with it... all that internal damage is partially a function of so much energy transfer on impact.

[@jasongupton7858]

@@CliffGray all were complete pass through, and the bullet performance was perfect. It just seemed like the hydrostatic shock kinda jellied everything in the chest cavity. The furthest one traveled was about 30 yards, the other four less than 10.

[@terrybritton1355]

It depends on how long to wait! I have single lung shot a doe that after 20 minutes and jumping, we continued to push her. She would only go 20-30 yards. If we didn’t push her, we wouldn’t have found her or temps would have ruined the meat. The temps went from 50 in the am to 90 by noon. We had her meat on ice within 20 minutes of her expiring.

[@waynesmith5629]

Another great food for thought video! When I shoot i listen carefully for bullet impact, bone will crack making an unique sound. After that is we’re I struggle thanks for some insight

[@CliffGray]

thanks Wayne

[@sheerwillsurvival2064]

Channel is getting their 👊🏻👍🏻

[@CliffGray]

thanks man! you've been there from the start man!

[@sheerwillsurvival2064]

@@CliffGray I will be helping anyway I can you were great to me with a couple e mails back when I came to Colorado to hunt . Your good people 👊🏻👍🏻

[@socalhuntinglandairwater9146]

Love the spearfishing analogy. Hope all is well brother. When ever in LOS ANGELES hit me up. I'll take u spearfishing.

[@CliffGray]

We’ll do it man 👍

[@qpayne89]

My brother shot a bull a few years ago just before dark. He couldn’t find him that night and figured he had missed. My dad and I got there late that night. We went early the next morning figured out exactly where the bull was when he shot. We found two small drops of blood right where he was standing and that was it. We started searching in the direction he last saw him go. I figured he just skimmed him and we’d never find him. Just as I had that thought I turned and there the bull was just laying there. We searched for about 3 hours before we found him. The only way the blood helped us was to know he didn’t miss and that we needed to keep looking. It was much more useful to think from the perspective of an injured bull and where he would go to hide.

[@mattproffitt4570]

Great advice Cliff.

[@tims.9883]

Appreciate the information, thank you.

[@franktostanoski8136]

40 years ago I arrowed my first whitetail buck. It was a good shot right behind the shoulder. I saw the deer go down about 60 yards away. I was too confident that it was dead. I climbed down out of my tree stand too soon and rushed to it. This buck looked dead. It was laying there with its head on the ground. I was standing over the buck. When I poked it in the eye with an arrow it bolted to its feet and run off. Scared the crap out of me. The area where it was bedded was covered in blood. I should have backed out for a couple of hours, but I went after it thinking it was a terminal shot, and it couldn't go far. I tracked this buck for an hour and found about three spots where it had bedded down again. I pushed on thinking it would expire any second. The blood trail took me to a river's edge. I crossed the shallow section of the river and walked up and down the shoreline on the other side but never found the blood trail. The buck must have been swept downstream before I arrived. I never recovered that buck. It was a lesson learned for sure. Now, I never rush to recover an animal. Even if it is dropped in its tracks, I will wait at least 30 minutes and like you said hunt your way to the animal and obverse to ensure it is truly expired before recovering it.

[@ertreeservice9558]

Since you mentioned.. I got a 6.5 creedmore I lost so many bears with that gun, the bullet just went straight through left a pencil hole pass through I’m guessing never find em

[@B_r_u_c_e]

Thank you.

[@danielbeach4855]

Great content - thanks for tutoring us.

[@CliffGray]

thank you!

[@serosedserio6531]

I have found that when archery hunting and I have a gut shot deer, I always get disappointed if I don’t wait at least 12 hours to track the deer. I have 9 kids and six of them are old enough to hunt. I always start them first on archery. When I started waiting 12 hours on gut shot deer, we increased our success rate exponentially. If I do bump it I try to gain elevation and look for it.

[@CliffGray]

Thanks for the comment. Great advice for many situations. 9 kids! that's a lot of hunting just to get everyone there first deer! awesome.

[@serosedserio6531]

@@CliffGray it can be challenging, but it gives everyone a lot of good experience in the last 12 years my kids and I have collectively shot 94 big game animals. I am hoping we will break 100 this year. One of my sons made a KZbin video about tracking gut shot deer. Do you mind if I post a link to it in the comments here?

[@CliffGray]

@@serosedserio6531 that’s awesome! Yeah, go for it. I do notice that KZbin sometimes hides comments with links in them, but give it a try. I’ll check it out 👍

[@serosedserio6531]

@@CliffGray Awesome, my sons tracking video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKbClYB3e9urgNE&feature=shareb In case the link does not work it is on KERROUTDOORS and is titled “Learn how to track/ find gut shot deer no excuses not to harvest”. Thanks. Your channel is one of my favorite on KZbin with no non sense advice. Your videos actually helped me skin my first bear last year! 😉

[@mrm5515]

As an additional resource I would find out if you are in a state where blood tracking is legal with dogs, If so, I would recommend finding out if there is an organization that keeps a list of dogs/handlers. If not, try to find one before your hunt. Before the hunt is, by far, the best time to reach out.

[@jonathanbarthel6403]

Awesome info. Thanks from a color blind guy

[@CliffGray]

haha! thanks

[@supermo26]

I took a 20 yard braudside shot on a bull. He aggressive turned but the just walked up and away the same way he came in. He paused at 50 yards with a ton of branches along the line of sight. His head bobbled as he passed out of sight. I didn't cheer or anything. I could smell him for a while so I proceeded to look for my arrow to no avail. Spent time listening and smelling for a while and the smell went away. I walked all over the area for days. Nothing. A few days later, saw a bull on the trail cam but can't be sure. It's been a year and I still look for that arrow when I hike through there. From the super excited to bummed in the same hour. Buddy shot his 1st bull the day before.

[@FATBIKEHUNTER]

I had a 20 yard shot on the biggest buck of my life a few years ago. I was elk hunting and the seasons overlapped a few days. I had not seen any deer until two big boys came out of nowhere. I had a shot between two trees and just as I was drawing back, a third even bigger buck came out. I let the arrow fly but had changed my stance to look at the other buck and rushed it. Too far back but maybe alright? The three deer trotted over the ridge. We gave it an hour and then found my arrow. It smelled like bile! We started quietly walking and listening. I heard a stick break and looked up. Another hunter which surprised me because I have never seen a hunter that deep. He said he saw the deer and the buck was wobbly legged. He said he didn't shoot because he saw my shot and didn't want to take my deer. I wish he would have shot and then worked something out. We found some blood and began marking with tape. Something stunk really bad and I was sure it was the buck. We lost the blood and searched until dark. We came back the next morning and the smell got really strong again. I was sure the buck was near and was dead. Nothing! I reached into my pack to get a snack from the day before and found the cap to my elk piss sitting in the bottom. The smell wasn't a deer but my pack! I notched my tag and never found any sign. In 40 years of hunting, I have only lost this one animal so I feel good about that but I would love to find the dead head to show everyone the size of the buck I shot at. Thanks for all your advice and reminders! We learn from mistakes also but it haunts me to this day. Please give the FATBIKEHUNTER KZbin Channel some love! I drew a multi-season elk and deer tag this year in WA so I will have some great footage from September to December.

[@CliffGray]

Great story man! The smell 🤦‍♂️ I’ll checkout the footage on your channel.

[@adamboone6864]

Not only a hunting guide but a truth guide as well… “You’re hunting until you touch the unresponsive eyeball of the critter”. And “we all have pissed off wives”

[@CliffGray]

HAHA!

[@anotheryoutuber_]

thanks

[@alancarothers3616]

I have two great stories that I have no doubt the animals would have been lost to most hunters. If you are interested, I will send.

[@SuperP37]

don't forget that an Animal hit (in my experience) with a high powered rifle will often run in the opposite direction than it was facing when the shot was taken.

[@AndrewMoleschi]

If you have a dog with you as I most of the time as my wife asks me to bring him; then they can find game better than even the most experience trackers. My dog with no training found a deer in ten minutes that me and my son looked for many hours. I finally went back to camp to get the dog after giving up and it was getting dark.

[@mountainpoo1066]

Good content.👍

[@CliffGray]

Thanks!

[@stevencochran4274]

Yeah I’m with u if game hits deck and nose not in dirt fire again!!

[@CliffGray]

yes sir!

[@walczysgarage696]

Well Done!

[@vincethewoodlander]

1. Flagging material when tracking....I use toilet paper that way I don't have to go back and pick up the flag tape. 2. I never track with more than a party of two DEDICATED quiet hunters. 3. On tough track jobs... Usually sign (blood, tracks, other) occur in intervals. I.e every 10 feet, I don't move along the track any further until I've search 360* a distance of that internal, then I leap forward and search another 360* 2x the interval. Etc. Etc. I measure that interval with bow, equipment, steps, or stick. Good shit you put out Cliff

[@CliffGray]

Great additional tips 👍 thanks man

[@vincentdimick7012]

I have a rhyme based off this video: Lack of blood don’t mean shit, bursting sprint??? Could be hit!!!

[@CliffGray]

Bwhaha i like it

[@user-ju9mx2ik2k]

The link appears above the hand wearing a watch. 😉.

[@smchambs]

Shot a doe from treestand with a 70# compound bow with a 2 blade expandable. Complete pass through boiler room, arrow come out and stuck in a corn stalk 6" off the ground. Absolutely 0 blood on arrow, looked like it was brand new. No blood for 10 yards, then it looked like some through red paint in both sides of the corn rows as she ran off, stone cold dead 40 yards from where I shot. I wouldn't believe it unless I saw it with my own 2 eyes. Really bizarre, guess anything is possible.

[@connergiven89]

Great video, but I'm curious from where you're pulling your statistics you quote 😉

[@CliffGray]

Right out of my ass 🤦‍♂️ but they’re my best estimate from what I’ve seen 👍

[@connergiven89]

@Cliff Gray Lol I definitely recognize your overwhelming experience. Anecdotal evidence is still evidence when collected over thousands of hunts. 🫡🫡

[@redsmitty748]

We all have pissed off wives! 😂😂😂

[@fishermanjacob4477]

Ive got a couple different instances where weve shot animals and couldn't find blood the first is we shot a doe at 100 yards she mule kicked and barrelled into the timber we thought for sure she would be dead we go up no blood or hair at the shot we search all over the property for the dead deer and couldn't find it to save our lives. So we get on a different one this doe is about 150 and broad side we shoot and hit the doe and im able to keep eyes on it the whole time and i watch her fall after going 100 yards so we give it 15 mins or so to make sure its dead and we went in and we found the deer but there was no blood anywhere to be found further examination after the shot the bullet hit square in the shoulder couldn't find a exit hole and after we butchered it we found a bullet in the rear ham of the deer we still have no idea how the bullet got there but it was there. Hopefully this gives some information to keep looking and pay attention to the deer till you can't see or hear it if i didn't see the deer fall we probably wouldn't have found her due to thick crp and no snow being on the ground.

[@CliffGray]

thanks for sharing. Another great example

[@southernhood5145]

😢such great information

[@CliffGray]

Thanks

[@southernhood5145]

@Cliff Gray lol, didn't realize I added the crying face. you were probably wondering what the hell does this mean

[@CliffGray]

@@southernhood5145 bwhahaha I'm an optimist narcist - I thought you were crying because the video was so great😀

[@southernhood5145]

@Cliff Gray o it was great. I was tearing up a little I guess

[@CliffGray]

@@southernhood5145 ha!

[@carypeaden4147]

I believe you, but I don't understand why a wounded animal going uphill will be harder to find than one going doing hill or laterally. Can you explain why a wounded animal moving uphill makes it less likely we will recover the animal?

[@CliffGray]

I apologize I didn't make that clear. When animals go up hill they almost always have full use of their lungs or full use of one lung and some use of the other. My experience with elk, if that is the case, you are looking at a several mile tracking job before they even lay down, let alone die.

[@carypeaden4147]

Later in the video you say that an animal going up hill is generally a miss or a poor hit, so that general observation is probably why the going up hill animal will be harder to find.

[@carypeaden4147]

@@CliffGray Makes sense. Thanks.

[@YoureSoVane]

Every time he says "animal" his voice goes up in pitch. Starting at 23:30

[@motionsickness4088]

Will an elk survive a liver shot?

[@CliffGray]

They usually die from blood loss on liver shots but it can take a long time and they can travel a lot of distance. Many bulls are lost that are liver shot.

[@danielbeach4855]

The closer you get, the easier it is to hit.

[@CliffGray]

very true - simple but spot on advice there!

[@thomaspitcher2335]

dark as a bag of black cats. track real slow. dont take long or imperfect shots. don't shoot too close to dark and leave enough time and light to track right. all of the lost animals Ive seen have been shot near dusk and bumped in the dark. flagging. expect a second shot.

[@CliffGray]

" all of the lost animals Ive seen have been shot near dusk and bumped in the dark" this is very common. Thanks for the comment!

[@ngallakp62]

This is why i got a dog lol

[@CliffGray]

I hear ya.