Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Anyone ever use one of those heat-sensing game finder gadgets?

Just thinking of ways to help retrieve game that runs off and doesn't bleed much.

Any experience here with the gadget in the thread's title?

I've seen them but not enough to feel comfortable with one or that they are sensitive enough to be of use.

i have one as well as my friend. it is called a gamefinder. they are very nice we have used them for doves in the corn . deer , and even human . our fire company use the to help locate lost or down people. they will work for any game you kill. i use the gf-a-e model. they will penetrate atleast 30 to 50 yards into thick or heavy foliage or several hundred yards in open areas.. . if you are interested my buddy might sell his he only used it 2 times . i use mine all the time .. the main reason i bought one is . i shot a nice buck . close to dark with my bow. we looked for it all night .. did'nt find it . the next day we found it . coyotes had their way with it . . if your interested let me know . i'll ask him .

Maybe they are better today?........I doubt it!

However I gotta tell you this story. A few years I had to review this thing for the magazine. So I went to my buddies house, he has some little kids and they have a few little kids as friends. I had them to go hide in the woods like a game of hide and seek. Then I would walk through and try to find them with this gadget.

After about an hour of this his son said "oh that is a green spy finder" I said what's a spy finder, so he went into the house to get it. He came back with a little gadget made from chromed plastic that was internally and functionally the identical item. The only difference was the "shell" or cosmetics.

The Spy finder was 19 bucks at "toys R us" and the game tracker gadget was well over 100 bucks. Neither worked better then the other. They were functionally identical!

In my opinion the use of this would work marginal at or below freezing. At near body temp outside they did not work well at all. I was never able to find anything I could not see already. Also the thick hide and warm fur of game will reduce the amount of dispersed heat from any animal.

In my book they rank right up there with Scent blocker suits, and cough supresser tubes, and UV soap, and ...... well you get the picture. PT Barnum was right, a fool and his money are soon parted!

I have had a game finder for several years and have yet to find a darn thing. except some trees warmed by the sun.

IMHO they just don't work. yes I bought the good one..

save your money. Had one a few years ago and it was good at finding everything that had a temperature different than anything around it. Like rocks, trees, cans, etc. I sent it back.

I can't imagine ever using one in a Fire Service setting. We have thermal imagers that are designed for fire service use. Our SOP says thermal imagers are not to be used for hunting.

I have used, rather attempted to use, a friends before with no luck. He on the other hand, can use it very effectively. I had the same problem as everyone else has said, anything and everything that was warm was showing and I could not interpret the subtle difference between a warm rock and a labrrador retriever. With a quality unit, it boils down to practice, practice, practice till you are sick of it. If you don't, it will never work for you. My friend said it took him half a year to be able to use it somewhat reasonably(he is the stubborn never give up type), I don't have the patience/desire to learn so it is a worthless toy to me and a nice piece of equipment to him.

A color blind friend of mine had one a few years ago and it worked ok if you were close enough. He couldnt see blood wide as a sidewalk, until you pointed it out. Im a semi retired dog hunter. so I have a kennel full of deer locators...they never let me down. All they ask is for a slice of the liver.

Try the Gerber Carnivore Blood light. Here's some info from another site.
Gerber replied:
" Thank you for contacting Gerber Blades. The Carnivore light would of course work best of fresh blood but it will work somewhat effectively on nearly dry blood, and not as well on completely dried blood. The lights are designed to make fresh blood stand out in contrast to its surroundings and of course the more dry the blood, the harder it will be to stand out.

Though there are several types of color-blindness, the Carnivore should work effectively in providing a goodly contrast to the surrounding area for tracking. The Carnivore is not designed to make the blood luminescent as blood does not have that type of property. However, with this light, the contrast is strong enough that you can easily differentiate blood from its surroundings."

I bought one but it's on back order. Everyone is sold out. Sounds like it works. Got mine on line for $32 + shipping.

I have been skeptical of them as well. A few years back I went into Bass Pro Shops in Springfield and on a table were several boxes of "returned" units for sale at reduced prices. I figured that with that many being returned they were not up to the task.

Save your money on the Gerber's. Try a black light if you want something effective.

That's interesting....

Take a spray bottle full of the cheap 2% hydrogen peroxide you buy in the first aid isle at wallmart. Spray it on anything that looks like blood. It foams up and only costs about a dollar a pint as apposed to $20 for a bottle of "blood hound" or other blood finding products. Plus, if you cut yourself, it is instant disinfectant. Flinch

Yes, and dont waste your money.............547.

The Game Finder is the biggest waste of money i've ever fallen for. Found everything except my deer, it sent me on wild goose chases all night long chaseing rocks and trees!!! Junk

not to get off the subject but, i used the gerber light last year on the first deer i arrowed & did not help much. i gave the animal time & tracked at dark. i was better off using my high powered regular flashlight to follow the blood trail to the deer.

-ken