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Written By - bloodglow.com - 05/22/2007 |
Link to Original Article
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They average amount of blood in a deer or any other animal is 1 ounce of blood per # of body weight.
Example 160# = 5 quarts of blood. (Live weight)
The amount of blood loss to affect a deer, not including any body
injury, is approximately 32 ounces. Death occurs after about 45 ounces
of blood loss.
Most likely animals are going to die from trauma injury rather than
bleed to death. Blood loss starts after the animal is wounded and the
blood trail is affected by the area it was wounded. Higher hits leave
less visible trails, as the body cavity will hold large amounts of
blood.
The blood gives us a lot of information about where it was wounded.
Dark blood that seems almost brown is from the paunch and sometimes has
food or liver matter included. Dark blood that is red is from muscle.
Bright or pink blood is from the arteries around the heart and lungs
and is high in oxygen content.
Blood droplet size varies on the amount of force used to propel it. The more impact energy the smaller size the blood drops.
High Velocity Impact Splatter caused by gunfire will leave blood drops
at the site of impact about one millimeter or .03937 inches in size.
Such blood drops are almost invisible even in the snow.
DO NOT BE FOOLED INTO THINKING THAT THE ANIMAL WAS MISSED.
Medium Velocity Impact Splatter caused by bow and arrow impacts will
leave a droplet of almost three millimeters, but in a smaller area than
gun shot splatter, but is still going to be hard to see in most cases.
From here we have a trail in many, or most cases of a running animal.
Running raises blood pressure, increasing blood flowing from wounds,
but it spreads this blood over a larger area.
A deer that is running full speed up to 35 mph can cover 188.22 yards
in 11 seconds. So the question is, How long did it take your deer to
die?
If you have a choice, stay off the trail and away from the
spot of impact for at least 30 minutes. Most unfound deer are pressured
into running and also into HIDING, making for a very difficult
recovery.
STAY OFF THE TRAIL!
If you walk on the trail the animal takes, you will alter or cover the blood pattern, making it even more difficult to follow.
Always walk on the side of the trail. If you have a narrow space, walk
around and pick up the trail on other side of the obstacle.
Always mark your trail. Toilet paper works well, but do not use white
if you can help it. Or be very careful not to wave it around making you
look like a fleeing deer. If used, consider using colored toilet paper,
perhaps It is made in blue or and other colors.
A pattern with lots of large drops most likely comes from the mouth, or
from standing or slowly moving animals. The largest amount of blood
loss is from the side of the animal that has the exit wound. Many times
an animal will come to a field, road, fence, or maybe even a person,
and or has a reason not to follow the trail any farther, Then we have a
trail that has a small amount of blood, then a trail of twice as much
blood, and then nothing. This may indicate the animal has revisited the
trail. In other words, it made a 180-degree turn and walked both
directions on the same trail, then and made a cut off.
Remember animals have a tendency to try to go back to where they were
before being wounded, because they were safe there. Returning to places
such as Bedding areas usually traveling in curved or arcing trails.
Blood droplets are round as they fall but blood droplet shape is affected by impacting surfaces.
Blood droplets that are teardrop shaped fall onto a surface that is not
flat or from a moving animal, the point on the teardrop will indicate
direction of travel. Remember that a slanted or angled surface that has
a slant or angle will cause tear dropping as the blood rolls or slides
downward from gravity.
The Angle of impact can change increase or decrease blood patterns, as
horizontal shots leave less blood then vertical shots (Hills or tree
stands).
There is less resistance to blood traveling in a downward motion than a
horizontal motion and also there is less chance of blood build up in
the body cavity. Blood will not drip until there is enough gravity to
over come resistance.
Lung, heart and arterial shots causes the most blood loss. Lung shots
after about four to seven seconds will expel out of the mouth and nose
if there is enough volume of blood in the lungs. This will make it
harder to get oxygen into the body, greatly reducing lung volume,
causing cramping, light-headedness, confusion and even drowning.
However, within four to seven seconds, a deer can travel more than 100
yards or more.
Arterial bleeding in many cases will cause gushing and fine mist
spraying, careful as this can also happen with a leg wound. Neck wounds
are usually cause very heavy bleeding and a lot of side to side
movement when traveling.
Transfer patterns happen when the animal rubs against things like
trees, fences, grass and the ground when they fall or lie down. These
are important because the animal is in panic, and may be leaning
against the trees and fences or just running into them.
When they do lie down they are having trouble traveling or are hiding
in these spots we find large amounts of transfer pattern blood.
After an animal had been shot STOP and wait at least thirty minutes to
an hour and allow the animal to lie down and die. When an animal lies
down and then moves again it finds a place with a view or scent of the
trail you are traveling which can make recovery even harder. Even if
the animal has been pushed it WILL LIE DOWN AGAIN SOON.
Maybe for the last time.
Hunters have a hard time tracking because they keep pushing the animal
into fleeing farther AND faster. Even if there is darkness or rain,
there is no reason to push animals because now there is a product
Bluestar®, which was developed for police to find blood, is sold in a
hunting version.
Again, rarely do animals die from blood loss; they usually die from
trauma. And quite often many times the blood can not even be seen.
Don't be fooled. Turn doubt into success by checking every trail with
Bluestar®, it will immediately tell you if there was a hit and giving
you a pattern to follow to the dead animal EVERY TIME.
