THE ESSENTIAL ART OF TRACKING

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There's been a good bit written about analyzing the blood trail in order to determine where an animal has been hit. According to the accepted wisdom, bright, frothy blood is evidence of a lung hit (which will usually down the animal within 100 yards), a dark spoor with bits of food in it indicates a gut shot (and a long tracking job), while a heavy trail of bright blood indicates a hit in an artery (which will most likely make for easy, and relatively brief, tracking). I must confess that this theory hasn't helped me very often, though. I've found such clear evidence to be rare. Still, try to notice those telltale clues. If nothing else, by doing so you'll be tuning your powers of observation for the job at hand.

If no blood is evident at the site of the shot, move slowly along the path that the animal followed after you fired. Look for tracks; if any are available, take careful note of their size and shape, and memorize any peculiarities (if you're lucky enough to be dealing with a distinctive track). You may have to pick out your animal's trail from others as the day goes on. Continue to look for any sign of blood. And don't limit your search to the ground. High grass, the leaves and stems of brush and the like will often pick up spoor from the animal's coat, even if the bleeding isn't heavy enough to drip freely.

Should you find no blood by searching up to the spot where your quarry disappeared, but feel that you did hit the animal, go on to cover the surrounding area. Mark the point where you lost sight of the beast ( a scrap of tissue paper is good for this purpose), and then scan out from that spot, looking for dense cover, fallen logs and anything else that might shelter a wounded creature. Once you've made a thorough search of the terrain without picking up any evidence of a hit, you'll have done about all you can do, other than hope that you did, indeed, miss, and perhaps check the area after 24 hours for signs of crows, turkey buzzards, magpies or other predatory birds that might lead you to a well-hidden animal.

More often than not, though, if you did score a hit, a careful search will turn up sign. Once that happens, your responsibilities multiply and real tracking begins. The first question you'll have to answer is when to start on the trail. Many authorities say it's advisable to wait before following a blood trail in order to "let the animal stiffen up." Advice on exactly how long to wait, however, can range from 15 minutes to 12 hours, depending upon which source you consult. Frankly, I don't think that any hard and fast rule can apply here. Factors such as weather, terrain, time of day and — when it's known — the type of injury sustained by the animal must be taken into account before making a decision.

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