String tracker

[Patcon]

galamb posted he is using a string tracker.
I have never heard of this before. Does anyone else use one on a crossbow? How does it work when you have a pass thru and the bolt is stuck in the ground?
I would consider this for where we hunt and especially for my 17 yr old son who took his first deer this year. We hunt in a creek bottom that is really thick. 50 yds away is a thicket that is almost impassable... If they run very far they could be super hard to find!

[W.Miguire]

When you get a pass thru you get a double string . they work great but make a heck of a sound when you shoot.
W.M.

[robertyb]

I used them some when they came out back in the 70s? They will work but the ones back then were a pain in the butt because if you set them up while heading to your stand they were terrible about grabbing anything around and the string pulling loose while you walked and if you waited till on stand you had to take the time to set them up and then hope they would work. Sometimes the string would wrap itself coming off the spool when you shot and would break. They might be better now but never really made it big back then.

[Patcon]

Thanks,
Neat idea, but I wasn't sure it was practical

[paulaboutform]

I've used it once and they do work. I used it with my compound bow, not my crossbow. They absolutely do what they're supposed to but do leave behind a mess of string that you must pick up afterwards.

Paul

[galamb]

I'm still a fan and won't hunt without mine.

I did test it extensively in my back yard range when I first installed it.

I didn't notice any (sound). I burned through a half dozen 300 yard spools (got a half dozen shots per spool) and never had a tangle.

I don't attach it to the arrow until I'm in the stand - simply loosen the broadhead, a couple of wraps around the threaded portion and tighten it back up.

Yes, a bit of a hassle but not as much hassle as having to track a deer by blood alone usually in the dark.

I have only tested as far as 35 yards so can't speak to longer distances.

On a pass through the (line) is right through the deer so the arrow anchors one end of the string, the other end is attached to the (dispenser) mounted on the bow.

If the arrow does not pass through it still anchors the string and it pays out from the dispenser.

I have had the deer bust off the string while crashing through bush but even in those circumstances the string still clearly shows you it's initial escape route so you have the first 20, 30, 40 (whatever) yards "displayed".

The string does come out at high speed so even on a 20 yard shot you end up with at least triple that length in string out before the deer takes up the slack.

After the deer stops moving I give it time to (expire), cut the string from the tracker and the arrow (if applicable) and start winding it over my hand as I follow it to the "prize".

A lighted nock might let you see where you hit and help find your arrow but the tracker shows you where the deer went..

[longbow joe]

Could you post a picture of how you mount it.

[galamb]

So it was easy on my bow because it originally had sights.

I removed the sight pin on the front mount, bolted on a bushing and screwed the tracker into it.

On a bow without the sight mount I would fashion a bracket of some sort to mount it.

Here's a couple of pics - a little fuzzy - sorry

[longbow joe]

Thanks l have no experience with them .An old man l used to go to bow shoots with in the 80s swore by them.