Trailing Big Game using a Blood Light.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

I'm so use to trailing deer after daylight hours with a flashlight its almost second nature to me after all these years. Let me be clear on this activity. "The deer are hardly, if ever mine."
Neighbors sometimes need help. Thus a call on their cell gets my attention as I'm always willing to give a hand in a evening/night recovery. This year I stopped at my neighbors farm to chit chat a little. One of his younger nephews staying at the farm and deer hunting came up and introduced himself and had something new in his hand. A Primos Product called the Bloodhunter HD Light. This light was still in its packaging and I told this young fellow to hold off using it until I got the chance to hear from others if there useful or not. They are kind of expensive at $60-plus. Especially for a young fellow relying heavily on such a product after shooting hours hoping to recover a wounded animal all by himself. So here's my question:

1. Has anyone tried or used a Primos Bloodhunter light?

2. What is your opinion on this product?

Thanks from the two of us, Your commenting is appreciated.

[fdf]

I am red/green color blind and have no idea if it will work. Trailing in the dark is a major problem fo me, being color blind. My best bet is my wife trailing while I hold he light for her to work.

This does not answer what you want to know, just know there are too many products which are being sold for hunters which do not work. It is all about making money.

My father bought a thing which was supposed to find dead deer based off body heat. Damn thing could not find a live cow in the field in the daylight, much less a dead deer in the woods in the dark. Cost him a bottle of Chivas on the bet.

[Art Eatman]

"I have heard" (but do not know) that blood is supposed to have some sort of glow under ultra-violet light. I've never had a portable UV light with which to check.

Interesting comment above about R-G color blindness. My father was R-G color blind. He said--and I've been along in trailing at night--that in the beam of a two-cell flashlight, blood "sorta shined". But he could see spots of blood where I and others could not. FWIW...

[Panfisher]

I have seen the Bloodhunter HD and other similar flashlights, have been told by their owners that they did "help", I haven't had the opportunity to try it myself yet. I have had the best luck with a White Gas style Coleman lantern, I don't really know what about the light makes the blood shine so well but it does. Certainly not the handiest thing to carry along, but it will burn a long time, and you can set it or hang it when field dressing, haven't figured out a way to get it in my fanny pack yet though.

[Art Eatman]

Dunno 'bout nowadays, but Coleman used to make a single-mantle lantern and a carry handle that clamped onto the side. Plus, a polished shield which reflected the light away from your face and outward to the front. Lighter weight than the standard size.

Great for flounder-gigging at night.

[Double Naught Spy]

Blood does not glow under UV light without the help of chemicals such as luminol.

[shortwave]

Blood does not glow under UV light without the help of chemicals such as luminol

Luminol will not only make blood glow under UV light but urine/feces as well.

[Double Naught Spy]

You forgot other bodily fluids as well, such as semen. The point is, without it, UV doesn't do anything useful.

You can buy Luminol to go with your UV light, but I would hate to go to the expense of using it for a blood trail. A 16 oz spray bottle would run over $50.

Other than Luminol and UV light, nothing I have read about any of the other blood tracking lights indicates that they perform in a superior manner to a standard bright white flashlight and often are significant underperformers that can actually make the blood harder to find in many cases.

[Panfisher]

Hmmm, a chemical that makes blood, urine and feces glow, sounds like a terrible thing to have within 1/4 mile of any deer camp!.

All my lanterns are double mantle, but one does have the reflector but not a side carry handle. Being cheap I would love to see someone make a cone-like device that would slide over the lens on say a mag light (think traffic control) that was the proper color wavelength or whatever the terminology might be to make blood more visible. As hunters we are suckers for anything that claims to make blood more visible. A few years ago I tried to help a gentleman track a deer he supposedly shot right at dark. He had a spray bottle and a packet of something like Starlight Bloodhound or something that would make blood glow. We had to turn off the flashlight and follow him as he sprayed a full two bottles of this stuff around, I admit that it did make many small specks of "stuff" glow slightly claiming it was blood. I finally asked him to spray my boots which had a fair amount of blood on them, and crap it looked like a neon sign the way it glowed. What I really really want is a pair of the cool gogles and a special light to use (just like on CSI) then I can identify blood, and many other bodily fluids, hmmm again many not the thing to play with at camp, but would look really cool in the woods trying to help someone track a deer. And while I am being sort of silly, I have thought about the yellow tinted glasses, or even the purplish tinted ones that are designed to create more of a contrast, ball players wear them often, so do some trap shooters etc. Who wants to sponsor me in this "test" of tracking equipment.

[shortwave]

... Plus, a polished shield which reflected the light away from your face and outward to the front. Lighter weight than the standard size.

Art,

Since we were poor, we used aluminum foil as a deflector.

There's just been sooo many tricks/gizmo's/gadgets that have been toted as being the latest, greatest hunting aid in doing certain hunting tasks at hand. Most gadgets sold to do nothing more then get our $'s.
Hell, I even tried the peroxide trick on a seemingly 'dried up' blood trail. Sprayed so much peroxide and the only results was a sore trigger finger from pumping the spray bottle.

To date, the most valuable inventions I have found for trailing is a good light and degradable toilet paper. Oooh... and a set of knee pads when the obvious blood trail goes from gushing to barely spotting.

1)Good light for obvious reasons.
2)Degradable TP so I can tear a small piece and drop at each spot I find blood at giving me a since of direction the deer is moving in.
3) Knee pads for when the blood trail seems to all but stopped and I'm down on my hands and knees in briars looking for that one droplet that I know is there somewhere...and... for praying whilst I'm down there that I find that hidden droplet.

[bird_dog]

Someone bought me a blood light (different manufacturer, same thing).

Honestly, I find a bright standard light much better. For blood-trailing (and I've done a lot of it over the last twenty years), nothing is better than a 4-D-Cell Maglight for me. It's bright, and that's what you need.
I've also used handheld spotlights and they're even better, but battery life generally is a limiting factor. A 4 cell Maglight can go for hours and hours.

You really need to illuminate the ground with something very bright. The woods are full of red colored leaves, and red mossy splotches on green and yellow leaves. The brighter the light, the easier to distinguish the 'wetness' of real blood, and the less need to bend over to get closer to find it.

As some have mentioned above, use toilet paper to mark 'last blood', a GPS (if you have one -- I do and I love it) to show you where you haven't yet looked, and a good bright light. That, and patience and unrelenting determination are what you need to blood trail successfully.

My hunting partner and I did a lot of testing under real trailing conditions with my blood-light and, frankly, it wasn't up to the task.

[Chad.C]

I saw one of those lights in a magizine I also wondered if it would work but one way or the other for $60 I don't think I would buy one

[shortwave]

nothing is better than a 4-D-Cell Maglight for me. It's bright, and that's what you need.

bird_dog

Have you tried the flash light called 'Defiant'.

I have several Maglights from two to five cell and have used them for years, but none come close to the brightness of the Defiant. They're about $40 bucks, built like a tank and the only place I have found them around these parts is Home Depot. Check them out.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Now I getting some pretty good comments on this young mans newfangled Blood Light. And that is helpful y'all.

My son had a new gizzmo to show his way out of the woods this year. He retired my Xmas present of 5 years or so a (2-AA Mag Light) As I recall he said his new flashlight was a LED light. Holy mackerel was that little thing bright. No need to try it out this year trailing. He harvested his in the early AM and mine as usual fell over before it could catch its next breath 20 minutes before dark the following day. As I say: 2 for 2 in 2._

[Panfisher]

I like the LED's a lot better than the old style maglites, the light is a whiter brighter light and the batteries last a long time. I also have one of the Mini-mag LED's and for a little light it is pretty darn good. I don't like really really bright lights like spotlights for bloodtrailing they seem to wash out stuff they are so bright and make me about half blind from the reflection. The 2 cell mag LED's are just about perfect. I also recently bought a head light from Lowes, it is an Energizer LED with an elastic band, now I have bought several of the various head worn lights and never really liked any of them even to the point of taking an old Hard Hat and a couple hose clamps and attaching two small LED mini-mags with the tail switch, I can easily turn one on or both if I need lots of light when fishing or whatever. however this new Energizer has I think 4 settings, one is a small dim red light which I have no use for, the LED side has a very bright "spot" about equal to an LED Mini-mag, then a dimmer setting and finally a "spread" with two smaller LED's that are perfect for working close like gutting a deer after dark etc. I like flashlights almost as much as knives.

[shortwave]

I believe I have the same Energizer headlamp as you Panfisher. And like it well for gutting in the dark.

I forgot to mention...on the Defiant flashlight, if you press the on button once the light is super bright. Press it twice, half as bright. Press it three times and it's a very bright strobe.

[thallub]

i use a high intensity light with a light blue lens. It makes blood "shine", for lack of a better word. It's easy to find small droplets of blood.

[Doyle]

On another forum I used to be on, the old timers would swear that the best tracking light is a coleman lantern.

[Panfisher]

Hmmm I think you just lumped in into the "old Timer" category. I can live with that, after lifting my wife's doe over the fence I sort of feel like an old timer.


Home depot lists a UV LED light, for things like checking for gas leaks or making sure your hotel room is clean, heck might be worth a shot at $11.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Curious. I have to ask. How is a Coleman white gas lantern any different than a bright flashlight when it comes to tracking blood?

I remember when I was just a little kid. (8-9) We had a couple old bachelor neighbors on a farm down the road. Both carried underground mining Carbide lights to track lost deer with. {at the time those two old timers were the best trackers in the area} I didn't think at the time those lights were all that bright compared to a Ray-o-vak 3 cell my father carried. Until I got close and looked directly into one's light beam in the dark. Whoa!! that was a mistake!! Not_

[Panfisher]

I am not sure what it is about the lanterns, the propane ones don't seem to work as well. It may just be the fact that it is a fairly bright white light with wide coverage so you don't just have that one little spot to look at. I've shown a couple folks who didn't believe me, they asked the same thing, why does it work, I still don't know the technical reasons.

[BuckRub]

First off. If hunter doesn't have a perfect shot he/she should never shoot. That's why I make all head shots. I don't like to track.
And for friends are whoever. If deer runs what's the matter with a good ole dog. Had a black lab that would take you right to them. He died and now we got a chiwawhua that will do the same. I don't have to track deer but do put my dog on alot of wounded hogs. I may shoot the first hog in the head then others are getting shot in butt, legs whenever I can just as fast as I can.

[Doyle]

I think Panfisher has it right. They aren't any brighter but they throw a nice white light evenly all around making it closer to true daylight. With a flashlight, you are constantanly having to work a cone of light where you want to look. I would imagine you would want a good shade on top so that light from the lantern doesn't go up hindering your vision.

[misterE]

I'll throw my eperience in here. All the older guys at deer camp, especially my grandpa, always insisted the best tracking light is a colman lantern with foil stuck to the side near you for a shield. They actually wait for darkness to track if it's an evening hunt. Say they can see the blood better using this method than in daylight. I've been along for many of these tracks and it definitely works great. Don't know about better than daylight, but it's definitely better than most lights. I say most because it seems to me that these led lights we have now do as good a job as the old lantern and foil. Much easier to haul around too.

[Doyle]

Much easier to haul around too.

True, but just see how far you get trying to warm your hands with an LED light.