Forums46
Topics537,992
Posts9,731,502
Members87,053
|
Most Online25,604 Feb 12th, 2024
|
|
|
Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
#6940869
10/31/17 04:35 PM
|
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,239
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
|
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,239 |
I get asked this question quite often. This is a little video I put together that demonstrates why thermal generally will not work for this purpose.
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6940943
10/31/17 05:16 PM
|
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 18,951
ChadTRG42
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 18,951 |
Yes, I agree. We have seen the same thing. I have seen a large chunk of exit wound stay warm enough after a few minutes, but it does fad fast, or adjusts to the ambient temps within a few minutes.
What we have used the thermals for, is finding downed animals in the dark following the trail that they ran down. You can often see the animal down when scanning when you know the animal went this direction, and look with the thermal. We have recovered several deer and pigs doing this.
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6941082
10/31/17 06:55 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
|
Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
I found a sow I shot Sunday night with the thermal. She ran into some very thick brush around the base of a tree. I finally spotted her heat sig and even with the flashlight I could barely see her in there. Thermal is a great tool for many things including scouting, spotting, identifying, shooting, and finding downed animals.
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6941455
10/31/17 11:53 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,495
der Teufel
Veteran Tracker
|
Veteran Tracker
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,495 |
Agree with the above. While thermal may not be very useful for tracking blood, it can certainly help to find a downed animal. --
I have two unwritten rules: 1. 2.
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6941539
11/01/17 01:02 AM
|
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,239
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
|
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,239 |
Right, but that hasn't really ever been in question, LOL. Spotting a downed animal is about like spotting a live animal. If you have direct line of sight, you can spot it with thermal, at least for a few hours. It is when you can't see the animal with thermal that is at issue...and people ask if it can be used on blood trails.
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6941580
11/01/17 01:41 AM
|
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
|
Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
Good video
I’ve been told if you carry a spray bottle with peroxide in it you can spray the ground and where there is blood it will bubble up and it’s easier to see. This is of coarse if you lose a blood trail.
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6941604
11/01/17 01:57 AM
|
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,239
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
|
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,239 |
That will work, particularly in dark ground cover. In lighter ground cover, the bubbling can be hard to see. Hydrogen peroxide is an eye and lung irritant and goggles should be worn if spraying a mist. Unlike a couple of the demo vids on youtube, hydrogen peroxide should be kept in an opaque container to prevent breakdown by UV. You may want to consider a sprayer you pump up first as you may be finger pumping a hand sprayer hundreds of times, LOL.
Last edited by Double Naught Spy; 11/01/17 02:00 AM.
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6941617
11/01/17 02:06 AM
|
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
|
Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
That will work, particularly in dark ground cover. In lighter ground cover, the bubbling can be hard to see. Hydrogen peroxide is an eye and lung irritant and goggles should be worn if spraying a mist. Unlike a couple of the demo vids on youtube, hydrogen peroxide should be kept in an opaque container to prevent breakdown by UV. You may want to consider a sprayer you pump up first as you may be finger pumping a hand sprayer hundreds of times, LOL. I don’t wanna find a hog or coyote that bad but a deer maybe lol
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6941665
11/01/17 03:00 AM
|
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 23,177
Bee'z
The Beedazzler
|
The Beedazzler
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 23,177 |
Ramsey used his Pulsar weekend before last to find my pops doe that was down but not where she should have been. She was 25 yards from the truck when we found her.
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Bee'z]
#6941683
11/01/17 03:23 AM
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 35,891
txshntr
T-Rex Arms
|
T-Rex Arms
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 35,891 |
Ramsey used his Pulsar weekend before last to find my pops doe that was down but not where she should have been. She was 25 yards from the truck when we found her. He found my BIL's doe before they even got out of the truck before that
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6944247
11/02/17 11:31 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 406
fr3db3ar
Bird Dog
|
Bird Dog
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 406 |
The have been several occurrences of me looking for my coyote 20 minutes after the shot and tracking blood with my HD38A
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: fr3db3ar]
#6944278
11/03/17 12:03 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 314
HCHunter28
Bird Dog
|
Bird Dog
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 314 |
What about finding downed pheasants with a thermal?
|
|
|
Re: Can I Use Thermal To Follow A Blood Trail???
[Re: HCHunter28]
#6963804
11/17/17 05:11 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 62
He'sDeadJim
Outdoorsman
|
Outdoorsman
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 62 |
What about finding downed pheasants with a thermal? Birds are hard to see with thermal in general. Their plumage appears "cold" while their bodies are in fact quite "warm."
|
|
|
Moderated by bigbob_ftw, CCBIRDDOGMAN, Chickenman, Derek, DeRico, Duck_Hunter, hetman, jeh7mmmag, JustWingem, kmon11, kry226, kwrhuntinglab, Payne, pertnear, rifleman, sig226fan (Rguns.com), Superduty, txcornhusker
|