Does anyone have any experience with the flashlights that are designed to help the blood trail stick out? How well do they work?
We tracked a deer one night for 4 hours in the dark and one of the guys had one....notice I said had one.... I was seeing blood better than he was with a $5 flashlight.....I think you put that "blood tracking flashlight" in the river!! I tried it by shinning it on some blood and it was very hard to see.
Jayb--be patient. There are some guys on here that use laterns with certain lights, even use peroxide to help out the process. I am sure some will give you some hints.
My g/f bought me one 2 years ago for Christmas. Last year tracking my doe I brought It with just for the hell of It to see If this thing works. Their a hoax If you ask me. I use a lantern, been using these for 30 years. Lanterns are the best light out there If you ask me.
My brother always said that too, Steve, until I introtuced him to the light that I use. It's a 2 bulb florescent light that came with a Craftsman cordless tool kit I got back in 2007. It puts out a bright white florescent light and really works well. The whiter the light is, the better the colors will show up. The down side is that the rechargeable battery will die out if it's a long trail, so I have to carry a spare 19.2 volt battery just in case Another thing - for anyone who is red/green colorblind, a bright green light works great for blood trailing at night. I don't know about those of you with normal colorvision, but for me, it makes the blood drops show up extremely well - dark (almost black) against the background of the leaves. I usually use the florescent light until the going gets tough and then switch to my green LED light, slow down and get down low.
Their much brighter and they light up a bigger area. My lantern uses Coleman fuel. The propane lanterns are better then mine, their brighter.
Interesting. The light I have Is very similar to yours and I couldn't tell the difference In seeing blood. The big difference to me Is that the lantern lights up a much bigger area. Glad It works for ya though.
I'm glad it works for me too. You have no idea how helpless I felt the first time I tried to follow a blood trail by myself at night. I did try the propane lantern, but the light is more yellow and it's so much more difficult for me to see any blood with that light. Hey, what ever works, right?
I have never used any of the tracking lights so I can't comment on them. However, I will echo my preference to a lantern over a flashlight or headlight. When using a lantern, put foil in the back half of the glass so that the light doesn't shine back in your eyes but rather illuminates out in front of you.
We use one from time to time, it's "okay". I think you can use a gas station flash light just as well. It some instances it proved to be worth it, but it didn't make blood pop out.
I use a Mag Lite, it works pretty good. One of the foot long ones, I still haven't had to change the batteries in it yet, and I used it all season. Shines really far when you have the top twisted to the beam setting, but you can also set it to a flood setting for blood trails.
For me, I'm a big fan of LED lights, but I will say a lantern is pretty good, and the flourescent light lanterns aren't bad either.....until the battery dies.... I carry a small LED light with me, and can generally find 'em with that. The "gut-shot" doe I killed this year was tracked with a combination, of LED, Mag and the Flouro Lantern a buddy brought along. Each has it's place for me if I have a tough trail, fortunately, about 97% of my kills were easy trails.....:D
We always carry one of these with too when tracking deer and bear. Shining ahead a ways can be very beneficial.
The inova X5 torch with green LED's is one of the best, considerably better than others. It also shows tracks up clearly so if you loose the blood trail you can track the animal in the dark and you don't loose your 'night vision' using it. Yes, a lantern is brighter and turns night into day but negatively effects your 'night vision'. The X5 is what many 'professional trackers' use. (and its not too expensive really)
