Game finder

[BackWoods]

Wasnt sure where to put this and seems that this is one of the most read topic i figured I would ask here. ###Has anyone ever used the electronic game finder and what are your thoughts on them. ###

[ToddP]

Illegal to use while hunting in PA.

[BackWoods]

I just want to use it for tracking wounded game.

[spectr17]

Backwoods,

From using two of the units one was a Game Finder, I'd say save your money. We tried them on my buddies dog in the tulies duck hunting and we couldn't find the dog. I tried another ###time in the snow figuring the IR heat against a very cold background would help and they didn't do any better. 1 out of 9 tries and we found the target, a freshly whacked rabbit.

I've read many other opinions on the Bowsite and other forums and most say they don't work. I don't know if the unit just isn't sensitive enough or what, I know our IR units we use in the military worked good. Of course they cost a few thousand dollars each.

Use a dog if it's legal in your state, they have the best odds of finding a lost kill. After that, work on blood trailing every chance you get. Use hydrogen peroxide with some green food coloring in it to make the tiny blood specks bubble up. Coleman lanerns seem to make blood stand out at night the best. Become the best tracker you can by reading tracker books and practicing tracking all kinds of animals whiel you scout. Learn how to do grid and circle searches which is a last resort but has worked for me when all else has failed to turn up a animal.

Here's a couple of posts from other hunters.

Sling
Fawn


,WI
USA
37 Posts Posted - 03/07/2001 : ###18:10:58 ### ### ###
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I have one of the game finders, and they are not as easy to use as the advertisements make it sound. The biggest problem with them is that they give many false “hits.” In other words, any rock or tree that has the sun hitting it could cause it to register as something that is warmer than the surroundings (which is basically how it works). What you need to do is scan the devise and then go in the direction that gives the strongest signal. If you discover that it leads you to a false hit (like a tree), you need to repeat the process. You do that over and over until you supposedly find the animal. On a sunny day, you will spend a lot of time walking up to trees. You will still need to track the animal first and get as close as possible before trying this, because of all of the false hits.

What they also do not tell you is that the terrain and weather affect the effective range. Rain interferes with the devise. During warm weather, the temperature difference between the game animal and the air will be closer, therefore, you will need to be closer to detect it. Hills and thick brush can prevent you from registering the animal. The stronger the wind, the shorter the range. The size of the animal will also affect your range for detecting it.

I was a little disappointed in mine for what they charge for those things. I guess if all else fails, it would be at least one more thing to try. If you buy one, just don’t expect to point it and go pick up your animal.

Sling
Fawn


,WI
USA
37 Posts Posted - 03/08/2001 : ###21:22:18 ### ### ###
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Lance – I have not used it pheasant hunting or in tall grass, so I am not sure I can help you on that one. One thing I do know is that the more stuff that is in between you and the animal, the less likely it is to register on the detector. I would think that if light cannot pass from you to your target, it may not get picked up. Also, you may have the same problem with some patches of grass being warmer than others and giving false hits. Maybe someone else has more info on pheasant hunting.

Deerslayer69 – They are legal to use in Wisconsin (that is where I am from). They are just used to find a downed animal. They would not give you any advantage in a hunting situation (live animal), so there is really no reason to outlaw them.

Antler Eater – I have the Pro model. I think they run around $250. It is kind of a cool high-tech toy, but an expensive one. You can actually place your hand on a table for a few moments, then remove it, and the detector will react to the heat left behind from your hand when that area is scanned. If you are sitting indoors, you can detect light bulbs that are on in the room.

The only animal I have tried to track with it so far is a turkey. I was hunting on the edge of a field and I hit a gobbler (rolled it) and it ran into some thick cover. I thought that was a perfect opportunity to try the thing out. I step in to the woods and scanned the area. Got plenty of hits but they all led me to trees or openings where the sun was hitting the ground. The frustrating part is that you will scan in every direction from the first spot you try, check out the hits, and then what do you do? It is all guessing after that. You move into the woods farther and try again. The same thing happens and you are no better off than before. You don’t even know for sure that you are heading in the right direction. I finally gave up on it and just started making circles like I normally would have. I found the turkey about 50 yards from the spot I had tried first. He had angled off along the field and ran a ways, but he was dead.

There are ways to manually adjust the sensitivity on the detector or you can have it done automatically, but again, turning it up gives you more false hits and turning it down may prevent you from finding the animal. I thought about trying it at night so that the sun would not be a factor, but you are really racing against time, because the animal will begin to cool down as soon as it dies.

You will actually need to practice with it a little to get the hang of it. The trickiest thing is learning to scan it at the correct speed so you can eliminate all but the strongest signals. A video comes with it to kind of step you through the process.

Ron128
Spike


,new york

83 Posts Posted - 03/07/2001 : ###19:53:59 ### ### ###
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save your money I had one and it was junk, I gave it away . and the guy i gave it to said that he should not have waisted his time trying to use it.

[BackWoods]

Thanks spectr, that was exactly what I was hopeing to hear, something very positive or very negative. ###We ended up last year losing a very nice 8 pointer. ###A neighbor called about 5 days later to tell us that he had found it but it had been way to warm. ###was hoping that something like this would just increase the odds of recovery faster.

[Gun Docc]

i own one of the higher end units by game finder and it does mostly what has already been said above by others .

for the money they cost they are not worth it, spend your money elsewhere.

i have thought very seriously about tearing into mine to make a game camera sensor from it....lol