jmbuckhunter

You would think with ice and snow on the ground it would be easy to blood trail. But the birds are ravaging the red berries that grow on the bushes, that seem to be taking over the woods I hunt in. The whole woods looks like a blood trail. I call them honeysuckle bushes, the leaves look like huneysuckle and they get loaded with red berries, that the birds just love. I have also seen deer eat the leaves as they stay green very late.

I went out tonight and saw 2 does and 2 button bucks. The buttons offered me a 20 yd. shot but I will let them grow up. If a doe would have offered a shot I would have tried it. Hopefully it would have been a short tracking job. If it was just a drop here and there, no way I could tell blood from berry droppings.

Anyone else noticed these berries on the snow and how confusing it could be?

HAZCON7

JM- where there any deer tracks next to the berry pee stains in the snow? If so, chances are you found yourself a hot doe

BowHunter46

yes i did notice those little red berries on the ground, unfortunatly it was when i was trackin a deer that i hit.[:'(] and to make it worse, there wasnt even snow on the ground. those bushes were all around where i had first hit him and there was no way to tell what was blood or not.we had to follow turned up leaves for about 25 yards until we were out of the bushes and into just some small saplings. there really wasnt a whole lot of blood to follow and we never did find the deer that day. but i saw him a week later while hunting and he was looking good. too thick to get another shot at him though.

jmbuckhunter

No the red is from the bits of berries the birds drop while eating them and from their droppings. On the ice they look just like blood splatters.

I wish it was from a hot doe!!!!!!

Scott/IL

I thought the same thing to myself when I walked into the woods this afternoon.

Lucky_13

Wow i figured that tracking in the snow would be easier, we don't get much snow around here until January