TP saves the day...

[OkKeith]

Sitting here watching the freezing rain and snizzle come down reminds me of a  hunt where toilet paper saved the day... but not in its usual way.

I was deep in the Arkansas River bottom hunting a north-central Oklahoma property that had very little pressure. It was big timber woods, Ash, Red Elm and Black Walnuts the size of truck hoods with an open understory. I had a pack stool and my ghillie suit so was basicly a walking ground blind.

When I got started the weather was dry and cold. The kind of Oklahoma morning that can freeze the inside of your nose if you breath in too fast. I managed to get over the fence at the edge of the field and down into the bottom that, according to the land owner,  had never been logged, never been farmed. As I got set up the weather started to get darker instead of lighter. By 730 it began to mist and the temperature drop.

As the temps continued to fall a big doe came by well within my range so I drew, released and made a good shot. As I packed my gear up and waited the usual half hour, it began to rain. Not just rain but that kind of rain we get here in Oklahoma that is half rain, half sleet and half snow... snizzle. I picked up the pace and got after the blood trail before it washed away.

I found the arrow with good bright blood and was standing where she had been when I turned loose of the string, but how to mark the spot in the fading sight conditions? I reached in my pack and grabbed the one thing you never leave home without, TP in a ziplock bag.

I twisted a square around some brush at chest level and began to blood trail. Everywhere I found a drop or a dribble I twisted a square in the brush. After fifty yards the wet conditions took their toll... washed out. I began the slow ever widening circles that might show me more, but didnt. As I paused and looked up I could see my white markers making a sharp curve towards the river. I went back to the beginning and followed the curve of  markers and when I got to the last one I continued the arc. She was piled up another twenty yards along the circle back towards where I was sitting and behind a log.

I eventually would have found her. I definitely would have been wetter and colder than I was if I hadn't marked the blood trail.

TP is a magical thing... for many reasons.

Stay warm, stay dry.

OkKeith

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[Hatrick]

Yep, I've used TP many times over the years to mark a trail, especially if it's a spotty one. It works great on an evening hunt if you need to let the animal go over night and come back the next morning to pick the trail back up. Congrats on your deer.

[Trenton G.]

I never go out without a roll. Have used it to recover a couple of deer.
Congrats on the doe!

[Roy from Pa]

Congrats...

[Macatawa]

Yep...my dad taught us four young boys that system. 
Found many a wounded deer that way...especially when there was a threat of rain. 

[katman]

Congrats,
TP is a very good trail marker, helpful once deer is located deep in a SC swamp at night, especially when cloudy and no moon/stars, easy to shine your light and follow the trail backwards. Always trail with tp and a compass reading to nearest road.

[Orion]

The nice thing about TP is it's biodegradable.  If you forget to pick it up, it will degrade fairly quickly and won't leave an eyesore.

[Pat B]

TP is a great trail marker. It's biodegradable, easy to see and helps to see your back trail when the blood gets sparse. We've used it for years and recovered many deer using TP as a trail marker. It's always with me while I'm in the woods. Never know when you need it for one thing or another. 

[old_goat2]

I used it this year for blood trailing, but it was a bluebird kind of day!

[pavan]

I detest that red plastic crap that guys use here on public land.  It hangs on the branches for years, they should getting a littering ticket for leaving that stuff out there, tp goes away very quickly with rain and spring thaws. 

[LC]

Always have it with me on every hunt! Just for the same exact reason.

[pavan]

I prefer Huggies Wet Ones for the other reason.

[GCook]

Wise move. 

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[Cory Mattson]

congratulations - and agree - I went to using toilet paper blood trailing this year a few times - and hadn't really used it since the 70s much - having gone to using clothespins with flagging - which worked great but I had to go back and get them - with a paper trail one rain and gone! - back to carrying half rolls - my eyes need help now and the toilet paper helps me stay organized.
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[YosemiteSam]

Never thought of that.  Good idea.  Seems that whenever I'm lucky enough to find something to shoot, it's always that last hour of daylight.  I almost had a heck of a tracking job on my hands this year but was lucky enough to get a follow-up shot as he ran off (rifle).  Seems that TP would be perfect for headlamp trailing.

[TooManyHobbies]

I've used TP for many reasons while hunting.

1) The obvious
2) Cleaned my foggy/wet glasses
3) Blood trail
4) Blow nose
5) Stuffed some up my nose when I broke it with shotgun scope, bled like crazy.
6) Used TP and a small sapling to clean my shotgun barrel after dropping straight down into the mud on a goose hunt.
7) Makes a decent bandage for superficial wounds. i.e. broadhead slice on finger.
8) Tear off tiny pieces to use as wind drifters.

[NY Yankee]

I take a roll and wrap a couple dozen wraps around my hand and put it in a zip loc bag. Works great for blood trailing and, that other thing too. And, it's bio, biod, biod, it breaks down in nature ok.