Back in the day tracking a blood trail was a skill only left to expert hunters. It took a lot of skill and a little bit of luck to follow a blood trail. Unfortunately most of us don’t have the time and ability to track like our ancestors did. Lucky for us modern technology has picked up some of the slack. With the help of tracking tools we’re able to follow trails through uneven terrain. Modern blood tracking lights will help you compensate for those long lost tracking skills.
What’s The Best Blood Tracking Light?
1. Primos Bloodhunter HD Tracking Light
Check Price: Amazon
When the sun goes down and you’ve got a trail to follow bring along the Primos Bloodhunter HD Flashlight. There’s no other tracking light that even comes close to Primos. With its extremely bright light and powerful filter the Bloodhunter HD is at the top of its class.
Primos’ Bloodhunter HD makes tracking blood trails easy. It has an extremely bright 600 Lumen LED bulb paired with Primos custom optical filter. With a 600 lumen bulb you’ll easily brighten up your surroundings to make tracking easier. On the other hand the filter significantly reduces color to amplify the blood spatter. When you’re done tracking choose between two modes to reduce the lights intensity level.
It’s a little thing, but I really like the Primos bloodhunters design. The flat handle design makes the light very easy to carry. At about the thickness of a wallet it can easily be slipped into your rear pocket. Featuring a shockproof design this Primos filter is sure to last for years.
2. Gerber Recon Multicolor Tracking Flashlight
Check Price: Amazon
Gerber’s known more for making knives than flashlights. Obviously nobody told that to the designers behind the Recon flashlight. With an extremely durable design and multiple brightness filters this light is sure to impress.
This is the perfect little flashlight to keep in your hunting pack. It’s both inexpensive and extremely versatile. You can choose between 4 different lighting modes designed for various tasks. There’s a white general use mode,green for map reading, blue for fluid identification and red to preserve night vision. To switch modes simply spin the rotating head until you dial in your desired mode. All of this is powered by a single super bright LED bulb.
This flashlight was designed to be as durable as Gerbers knives. Built from anodized aircraft grade aluminum this light is built to last. Gerber even offers a limited lifetime warranty if the light fails. When your hands are full filling out your tag the lanyard and clip are perfect for hands free use.
3. Rayovac Sportsman 18 Lumen Blood Tracking Flashlight
Check Price: Amazon
Rayovac’s Sportsman flashlight is a cheaper option that performs well above its price. Rayovac has long been a major player in the electronics market. Offering the perfect blend of affordability and quality. You won’t have to give up much settling for the affordable Rayovac tracking flashlight.
Rayovac designed this flashlight to be affordable for the average hunter. Powered by an 18 Lumen bulb, it’s more than powerful enough to track through the woods. Compared to the above 600 lumen Primos Bloodhunter, the 18 lumen bulb doesn’t seem like a lot. The excellent Rayovac light filter more than makes up for the dim bulb. Featuring three different tracking modes for various tasks. There are 3 red LEDs for night vision, 3 violet LEDs for blood tracking and 2 white LEDs for standard mode. With a push of a button you can quickly switch between these three modes.
Durability is where the Rayovac flashlight really shines. The durable housing is impact resistant up to 7 feet on concrete. Made out of a durable anodized aluminum body with O-Ring seals. The housing was designed to be water resistant in light rain. You can either store this compact flashlight in the included holster or just slip it into your pocket.
4. Vastfire Multicolor Blood Tracking Light
Check Price: Amazon
Vastfire’s blood tracking light is another affordable option that’s well worth a look. It has a long lasting rechargeable battery and multiple color options. With all the different modes you’ll be able to spot predators and track them down.
Vastfire’s multicolor light is perfect for spotting predators at night. Whether it’s fox, coyote or another nuisance animal the red or green filters won’t scare them off. With a range between 50 and 100 yards it allows for easy spotlighting. The blue light is perfect for tracking blood and reducing the surrounding color. You really can’t complain about the filters at this price.
My favorite thing about the Vastfire flashlight is the battery. The pack includes everything you need to charge the rechargeable batteries. The battery powers the super bright LEDs for up to 5 hours on a single charge. You’ll probably notice that the red and green bulbs are significantly brighter than the blood tracker. Rated at 500 lumens this light will really light up the night.
UV Lights vs Blue LED Blood Lights
A lot of people are under the misconception that UV lights are used while tracking blood. UV lights will illuminate blood in a controlled setting, but the forest isn’t a controlled environment. There are loads of leaves dirt and other grime covering the ground. UV lights might work in a crime scene with a special chemical spray, but that isn’t possible in the forest.
Well the easiest way to track a deer is to get off a clean shot. In the real world that isn’t always possible especially while bow hunting. Inexperienced bow hunters are notorious for poor shot placement leading to drawn out kills. Unless you want to waste your harvest you’ll have to learn how to track. There are a ton of tricks to help spot blood, but none are better than a standard blue led flashlight.
Blue LED Blood Trackers
With the fairly recent price reduction of high powered LED bulbs trackers are getting much cheaper. Modern trackers use a series of powerful LED bulbs to dial in different hunting lights. Red and Green bulbs work best for spotting predators at night. Shine the light out into the woods and I guarantee you’ll see a few eyes staring back at you. The red and green light is perfect for hunting coyotes, fox, possum, raccoon and wild hogs. If they’re wandering around at night you’ll be able to spot them. To track a blood trail you are going to want to use the blue LED light. The blue LED works to reduce the color in the surrounding landscape, while the blood reflects the blue light. Depending on the surrounding ambient light the blood will either glow or stand out among the rest of the landscape.
There are a ton of different options on the market and all of them work the same way. You’re going to have to decide if you want a light that has multiple color modes or one specialty. Specialty lights like the above Primos tracker are only designed for one specific task. I would definitely recommend sticking to separate specialty products. Pairing the Primos tracker with a hunting spotlight would give you the best of both worlds.
How to Track a Deer
Even the best hunters in the world sometime miss their shots. Your arrow may even pass through the deer leaving it fatally wounded, but not quite dead. All the patience waiting for your shot can be ruined with poor tracking skills. You’re going to have to identify the occasional turned leaf and spatter of blood to keep your trail alive. With good tracking skills you might just salvage your hunt on a misplaced shot. If you hunt long enough you’ll eventually have to track a wounded deer. The following keys should help you on your way to finding that lost deer.
Make Sure You Observe The Shot
After you make the shot try and determine exactly where you made contact. This will give you a good sense of how far the deer could travel. How long before you can track the deer will depend on your shot placement.
- Leg Shot: A shot high in the leg or to far back is one of the trickiest shots to track. You’ll have to wait three to four hours before you can track the deer. After the deer is wounded it will naturally go off to start bedding. Tracking it before it’s truly dead will likely force the deer off the property and farther than you can track.
- Broadside Hit: A good broadside hit in the vitals will most likely be a very fast death. Plan to wait between 30 minute and 1 hour before tracking the deer.
After you make the shot try and remember where the deer disappears from sight. Take note of the direction it was going and if you noticed any limping or wobbling. Try and identify a landmark where you last saw it from your stand. If you don’t immediately spot a blood trail knowing the traveling direction is a good place to start. Take note of how the deer was running a limp could mean a fatal leg shot. A hunched over back most often means a fatal gut shot.
Finding Clues in The Blood
Blood is by far the best way to determine succesful shot placement. It will leave a visible trail telling you exactly how and where the deer was shot. A little bit of blood goes a long way while tracking a downed deer. If you can get enough light try and determine the color of the blood.
- Pinkish Blood: blood that looks pinkish and possibly bubbly typically indicates a lung shot. Lung shots almost always take a deer down a short distance away.
- Bright Red Blood: Bright red blood is going to come from somewhere that pumps a lot of blood. Most of the time it will indicate a heart shot or other large tissue area. The more bright red blood there is the better chance of a fatal shot. If there’s not a lot of blood it often implies a non fatal shot. When there’s not a lot of blood finding the deer is going to be completely up to chance.
- Dark Blood: Darker blood is going to indicate a shot to the liver or kidneys. This type of shot is often fatal, but takes a long time to play out. Just be patient and wait at least 4-5 hours before setting out.
When a deer is walking normally blood droplets are going to be fairly uniform and evenly spread out. The more erratic the droppings get the closer the deer is to collapsing. When the deer runs the blood will splatter on impact leaving long runs. Pay attention to the direction of the splatter to determine the direction he’s running.
Try Bringing Along Some Hydrogen Peroxide
On your next hunt try bringing along a little bit of hydrogen peroxide. It may seem funny that you’d use the same thing your mom put on your wounds, but it makes sense. When hydrogen peroxide is sprayed onto blood it’s going to foam up. When the peroxide reacts with the enzyme catalyst it’s going to foam, so you’ll be able to tell the difference between that red speck and actual blood.
Just throw a small spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide into your hunting bag. Whenever you see what looks like blood using your tracking light just spray a few squirts and you’ll know for sure. This works especially well for color blind hunters that aren’t quite sure what they’re reading.
Width of The Blood Trail
When examining the blood trail take note of the overall width of the blood trail. A wide blood trail is going to indicate a fatal shot to the heart or arteries. A 2 feet wide spray indicates the heart is actively pumping the blood. Most of the time this indicates a pass through shot.
When there’s a narrow blood trail this normally indicates that the arrow didn’t fully pass through. Since the blood is slowly leaking this type of shot is much harder to track. If you don’t notice any blood trail this doesn’t always indicate a miss. It often takes a while for the body cavity to start leaking blood. When this is the case make a wide sweeping arc slowly compassing the area. Once you find blood determine the location of your stand and try to determine the deer’s path.
Which Blood Tracking Light is Best?
Finding a good blood tracking light is the easy part. The hard part is everything that brought you to the point of needing to use it. It really shouldn’t matter which of the above lights you finally choose. The only thing that matters is how you use them. If you have a little extra cash I would definitely purchase the Primos Bloodhunter HD Tracking light. The extremely high lumen bulb will make it much easier to find blood spatters. If you’re on a budget the Gerber flashlight is another excellent pick.