Finding your animal after the shot when not in the open.

**Adoons** · 23-04-2020, 08:08

My method:

1. After the shot, be absolutely quiet and listen for hooves running or an animal going down or being down and still kicking etc. Don't start walking or running or fiddling with your rifle. Listen and take in your surroundings.
2. Mark the spot where the animal was. Confirm it with tracks of animal jumping away or blood or other indicators.
3. Follow the trail and keep the direction of the last heard noise in mind.
4. Mark my progress or definite indicators like tuft of hair, piece of bone, blood etc. (Hopefully not stomach fluids...)
5. If the spoor gets difficult or lost, bactrack to the last marker. Check to not step on indicators I missed.
6. If tracking is unsuccessful, I stop tracking and concentrating on the spoor. Then I start searching for the animal and keep on throwing a wider arc in the direction of flight or last noise.

**treeman** · 23-04-2020, 08:12

Originally Posted by BEX

Treeman
On how to use it , i suggest first just play with it in your garden. It can do so much that it will be hard to explain if you have not at least marked some positions in you garden of various sttuff , selected one of the satelite image databases to view your area with etc. Just play with it , the app gives you hints and small tutorials for each menu , read those. Once you understand the menu you can mark the Hints as "I Understand" so they dont show again.
The farm is only about 80 km from Addo in the Gamtoos valley just ont he other side of Hanekam, so not far from you and the vegetation is basically the same as Addo bush just much more dense, and on really steep slopes.

Yes and thank you.
If you had posted this picture I would have told you more, Euphorbia with Fynbos below - west of PE, Euphorbia with coastal thicket East of PE. If you drive your bakkie through that stuff you can smell the velt for days afterwards on bakkie.
Yes thats our bushpig country, it is amazing how many bushpig are in that bush.
I have little spot at Gamtoos with 2 carevans on it.
I have app now and info needed from you, will try it.

**Mudwall** · 23-04-2020, 13:20

I have the best method available. I hunt with BEX. So var in all my years of hunting only lost one animal that was wounded. I even found 2 cellphones that droped out of my pocket. I tell you guys, that BEX app works the best!! (not BEX's app - the app BEX)

**johanvb** · 23-04-2020, 13:24

Pse give a snapshot of the BEX icon, as there are about 4 in the playstore.

Thanks

**Mudwall** · 23-04-2020, 13:36

I will first have to ask BEX (the person) permission to post a picture of him!

I hunt almost every year with him and through the app he uses https://www.backcountrynavigator.com/ and him in person you can't go wrong.

Sitting still while the other person walk around to the spot where the animal was when taking the shot works the best in those dense bush. Once that person found the spot the shooter also moves over and the search begin

**johanvb** · 23-04-2020, 14:59

Oops, sorry thought BEX was an App. My apologies.

**BEX** · 23-04-2020, 17:01

Some Mudwall and my antics here http://bosbok.blogspot.com/

**DaavG** · 24-04-2020, 14:25

Originally Posted by BEX

My rangefinder died during a Hunt near Addo last year and i just switched over to using the app to rangefind with , once you get it it is easy enough and testing it against a pall's rangefinder I seldom differ more than 5m. it also gives elevation so you can work out how much you are shooting up and get your horisontal distance etc.

I am trying to work out how you do this on an App? Got me scratching my brain. I understand TStone method using a range finder and GPS to mark spots but on phone no idea?

**BEX** · 24-04-2020, 16:17

I donwload the satelite images to the highest detail and then use identifyable features in the landscape like cliffs, antheaps and clearings (as oposed to using trees in more open country) that I mark and then the GPS gives me the distance etc to that point marked. I do this for a number of landmarks before I start looking for animals.

**DaavG** · 25-04-2020, 08:47

Originally Posted by BEX

I donwload the satelite images to the highest detail and then use identifyable features in the landscape like cliffs, antheaps and clearings (as oposed to using trees in more open country) that I mark and then the GPS gives me the distance etc to that point marked. I do this for a number of landmarks before I start looking for animals.

Thanks!