Decent Blood Trail

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Still-n-Quiet

Still-n-Quiet

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With all the varied discussion about what is or isn't a good bullet (I've heard good and bad about Powerbelts, SSTs, Barnes), what do you consider a "decent" blood trail? This is for those who take the heart/lung shot, by the way.

Would you consider one drop every 10 yards "decent"? I'm trying to understand what to make of all the differing posts about good or bad bullets.
 
Heart and Lung area...On a perfect hit in vitals...should be no trailing..deer should be dead on the feet...drop dead or no farther than 25 30 yards from where shot..agreed?? I'm going by my own experiences at that shot.BUT...depending where hit..to answer your question...good blood every 10 to 12 yards should be the case.
 
a heart shot should be a continuous trail for 40-80 yds.
double lung should be the same only a bit shorter(20-60 yds.)
most deer hit in the heart/lungs WILL run. rarely does that shot anchor a deer where it stands.
 
stik said:
a heart shot should be a continuous trail for 40-80 yds.
double lung should be the same only a bit shorter(20-60 yds.)
most deer hit in the heart/lungs WILL run. rarely does that shot anchor a deer where it stands.
Click to expand...

Fully agree.
 
stik said:
a heart shot should be a continuous trail for 40-80 yds.
double lung should be the same only a bit shorter(20-60 yds.)
most deer hit in the heart/lungs WILL run. rarely does that shot anchor a deer where it stands.
Click to expand...

For the most part I agree..I think the point is a deer hit it the heart or lung area..should fall within seeing distance..of the shooter..depending on cover of course...no arguement here.
 
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if im finding one drop every 10yds, then i'm wondering what the heck went wrong. A "decent" blood trail, is blood every 3 or 4 steps. A good blood trail, litterally looks like it was being poured out of a bucket.
 
rukiddin? said:
if im finding one drop every 10yds, then i'm wondering what the heck went wrong. A "decent" blood trail, is blood every 3 or 4 steps. A good blood trail, litterally looks like it was being poured out of a bucket.
Click to expand...

You and I think more alike. I have a hard time following a blood trail of one drop per 10 yards. If you miss just one, your circle that you are scouring gets pretty big.
 
Kinda looks like this huh?
bloodtrail.jpg


quartering shot/double lunger, went 45 yards died so fast didn't have time to stick his tongue out! ;)

downsized_1206090926a.jpg
 
It depends on how fast the deer is running. I like to be able to see the next drop of blood wihtin a few yards of where I'm standing, without bending over. As long as the blood is bright red and decent size drops, I feel pretty good. I'd feel really confident with drops like in the pics above.

This deer, believe it or not, had me worried for awhile. It was running downhill and taking very long jumps; thre was blood at the arrow (complete passthru) but not much more for 20 yards. The the drops were about 5 yards apart. When I got to the bottom of the ravine, this is what I found:

Striker_Damage.JPG
 
This is what I like to see.
Two seperate deer, taken from the same stand within seconds of each other.
Each blood trail was visible from the stand and visible the entire length of distance the deer traveled till they fell.
Both went about 50 yards.

bloodtrail1.jpg


bloodtrail2.jpg
 
In the second picture once the blood trail gets to the green stuff you can see it on up, past the little dip.

Pretty cool.
 
Yes, Ruger, those are GREAT blood trails! But I think the question was "decent" blood trials. As long as the blood can be followed and is a good color, don't be discuouraged that it was a non-vital hit. I've gotten deer where the total blood found on the ground was no more than a pint or two, yet the chest cavity was full of blood. Especially if the hole(s) is (are) above the centerline of the ribcage.
 
I centered heart in a buck one time with a 243 and i kid you not that buck ran 100 yards......blood pouring all the way! I was astounded. Was in rut and maybe that adrenaline rush pushed it. That was when i decided maybe a 243 was a little lite for my taste......
just saying.
 
camoman270 said:
I centered heart in a buck one time with a 243 and i kid you not that buck ran 100 yards......blood pouring all the way! I was astounded. Was in rut and maybe that adrenaline rush pushed it. That was when i decided maybe a 243 was a little lite for my taste......
just saying.
Click to expand...

i have seen many heart-shot deer run over 100 yds. whatever it was shot with.
 
shot 2 this past season with my 300wm,1 ran 80y the other closer to 100y,both were heart shot,i put a 2nd round in the farthest 1 or it might have went way more,blood every step of the way.never had them run anywhere near as far with my 243,cant have bang flops unless you like high shoulder shots,i dont so...
 
I shot an 8 point with my 270 once, severing the throat and arteries just above the heart. It ran for about 100 yards, and I watched it the whole time. It couldn't have taken him more that 10 or 15 seconds to run that far; I didn't have time to rack in another round and get off a second shot. The blood was everywhere. A deer with no structural damage can run a long way in a few seconds while the blood runs out.
 
I like high shoulder shots. I quit eating shoulder meat years ago-

A 195 Barnes @ 3K will not slow thru the 2nd shoulder- but you won't have that fancy blood trail.

However, what works for you is always best...
 
High shoulder shots drop them where they stand. If it don't drop him at least one of his wheels will be taken out and won't go near as far. I've lung shot a deer and had them suckers go 2 or 300 yards and hardly a blood trail to follow. I HATE that. If it's too close for the high shoulder shot I'll go for a heart shot(250gr XTP at 2300fps in the shoulder too close and they will blow up...it's happened to me) . A drop every foot or so is what I'm looking for.
 

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