Rifles Believing it's a Miss?

[tony m]

There was a buck laying next to the creek at the front of camp property. I went to the local living right next door and inquired about it. They are very upfront, nice people. He was bummed, and stated his wife shot at it, did not see hair or blood and thought she missed.

I inquired about the big buck in the area and he stated it was found in the swamp not far away. Also a big 8 point was also found near the swamp.

Each was shot with a rifle.

The guy who shot the big one stated he found no blood and thought he missed.

We discussed this and i agreed with our neighbor. Is it that unlike the slug, which puts the big hole and a large blood shot, the bullet is not. Obviously, it depends on the caliber and bullet but still, it seems like a pattern has developed. The deer is actually being hit but there is not initial blood and therefore the shooter does not track due to no blood.

Hearing about these bucks getting left like this is a problem that was not consistent like this before.

Edited December 12, 2012 by tony m

[IRL]

That is a local problem not a rifle problem.

[Dan92]

could be that people are lazy or that they didnt look hard enough

[shawnhu]

Also a confidence problem due to lack of range time.

[Pygmy]

Well, with that kind of reasoning, there must be 1000s of unrecovered deer in the many states and provinces where rifles have been used for many years, including the northern zone and catskill zones here in NY.

BTW..Although the entry hole might be smaller, the exit hole is often larger with a rifle than with a shotgun.

Edited December 12, 2012 by Pygmy

[G-Man]

It happens a lot.. small bore rifles .30 cal and under , using an improper bullet weight or style, punches thru and plugs easily. No blood-didn't drop- must of missed. Hate to say it but so many hunters expect the bang flop, if it doesn't happen they figure a miss. To much tv time and not enough on the range. I have a neighbor who kills and loses multiple deer ever year, i gringe every time i hear him shoot cause i know i'll find it dead in a few days and he swears he missed clean.

[wooly]

Absolutely NOT just a rifle problem. I can tell you with 100% certainty this happens all the time in slug country as well.

I see a lot of this especially around field edges and the surrounding woods a few hundred yds in. My guess is that many of these field deer get shot, and with the lack of landmarks in a field setting, often the exact spot the deer was standing is incorrect leading to no sign of a hit or the wrong spot entirely to begin taking up a trail.

Alot of dead deer I find in the closest thickets off the fields where there are stands or blinds on the edge. Heck, many of them die right out in the open woods which really makes you wonder how that deer went unrecovered. The wrong starting point to a bloodtrail is the most likely culprit I can think of.

[zoschag08]

It happened to me this fall, I tracked my deer for over 150 yards before I found blood. If there's no exit hole there isn't much blood, the majority of the blood lost was out of it's nose or mouth. I found the deer after tracking for another 100 yards beyond the first blood sign. I use a 30.06 with 165 grain bullets, you would think there should have been blood or hair but there was nothing for a long time. Not even sign that the deer was struggling. I guess what I'm saying is that even with a good hit and a larger caliber gun you can still have occurrences like this happen.

Edited December 13, 2012 by zoschag08

[shawnhu]

It happened to me this fall, I tracked my deer for over 150 yards before I found blood. If there's no exit hole there isn't much blood, the majority of the blood lost was out of it's nose or mouth. I found the deer after tracking for another 100 yards beyond the first blood sign. I use a 30.06 with 165 grain bullets, you would think there should have been blood or hair but there was nothing for a long time. Not even sign that the deer was struggling. I guess what I'm saying is that even with a good hit and a larger caliber gun you can still have occurrences like this happen.

A 30-06 didn't cause an exit hole? Did you shoot it head on?

[G-Man]

Its not so much the caliber of rifle or gun but type of bullet,or improper type of bullet, partition bullets,ballistic tips,accubond, hollow point, soft point, jacketed. They all have specific duty's, unfortunately the average hunter goes in buys 150 grain bullets and goes hunting. Bullets should match the game u hunt at the expected ranges you will be shooting at. If not, pass thru with out expansion,or bullet fragmentation happens. No bang flop, no blood no tracking.. the rule i was taught was if you shot at it you hit it better put the time in to find it or find the bullet in the dirt or tree.

[wdswtr]

I cant help but think its from poor shots. I have taken alot of deer with my 30.06 and I can say I never had to track one more than, well I have never had to track one. They all dropped within eyesight. The last doe I took and most all the others there was blood everywhere from the get go too. This baffles me, unless one is under caliber and taking poor shots there is only one thing to blame and its certainly not the rifle.

[bubba]

Speaking from 35 years of rifle hunting, it is not the rifle. Get to the range get good with the gun as mentioned. If you are placing high lung hits, there is a bit before you will see blood as the cavity needs to fill up. As far as having enough rife, and brace yourselves, I have seen more and quicker recoveries with lighter faster bullets. I use a 25-06 with 115 grain bullets. Fast flat and hit hard. The other thing you should do is learn to track. There are more signs than blood on the ground to look for. Look on saplings, as they brush against things as the run. Also look a little higher too. If a deer is bleeding through the nose, it will spray, and you will find it at nose level. And my last thing, when a deer is hit and runs, sit down and wait a while. If you go right after it, you will chase it. Most times if they are hit hard, they do not go far and lie down. The more you chase, the further they will go. I could not imagine giving up if I did not see blood in 100 yards. OOPS one more thing. Watch how the deer reacts when you shoot it. How did it respond, when it took off was the tail up or down, was it running like it was hit. All tell tale signs.

[erussell]

Thats why I treat every shot like its a hit and track it out for atleast 300 yrds in the direction the deer ran. Even if I think its a clean miss. Ive shot deer with sabots that never dropped a single drop of blood, I could find, till they dropped.

[Terry]

Thats why I treat every shot like its a hit and track it out for atleast 300 yrds in the direction the deer ran. Even if I think its a clean miss. Ive shot deer with sabots that never dropped a single drop of blood, I could find, till they dropped.

Same here. I once shot a doe with a shotgun at about 40 yards, she was broadside. There was snow on the ground and I never found blood or hair until I found the deer. She ran about 60 yards and was hit right behind the front shoulder. I was a little shocked, but learned a valuable lesson first hand that had luckily already been taught to me.

[Dad 6424]

Its called hunting Means (hunt look seek find pursuing and much more) so keep at it you will find it

[ants]

I cant help but think its from poor shots. I have taken alot of deer with my 30.06 and I can say I never had to track one more than, well I have never had to track one. They all dropped within eyesight. The last doe I took and most all the others there was blood everywhere from the get go too. This baffles me, unless one is under caliber and taking poor shots there is only one thing to blame and its certainly not the rifle.

Same here. I've killed a pile of deer with a 30-06 (and a few others with a 7-08) and they pile right up with a good hit. I have seen deer taken with smaller cal. rifles and noticed that a lot of times the deer will run and leave no blood, causing some hunters to think they missed.

I remember a while back, one of the old timers shot a big doe at about 250 to 300yards with a 223. He shot it from a logging road while the deer was out in a big meadow. He pointed out where the deer was standing, when he shot ( he knew he hit it good) and I headed out on the ATV to get it for him. I found it dead just inside the wood line. There was zero blood from the spot the deer was shot to the spot where I found it. It ran a good 150 yards. I couldn't even find a bullet hole.

[YFKI1983]

I found it dead just inside the wood line. There was zero blood from the spot the deer was shot to the spot where I found it. It ran a good 150 yards. I couldn't even find a bullet hole.

maybe it died of a heart attack : )

I dont get this either. I use a 30-06 and ive never had no blood. Exit hole is always so big that blood splatters everywhere.

[zoschag08]

A 30-06 didn't cause an exit hole? Did you shoot it head on?

Nope, more broadside then quartering. Bullet went in behind the shoulder and never came out. When I skinned it you could see where I hit the back rib on the far side but it never found an exit on the hide. It's weird because the week before I shot a bear went clear through there.

[shawnhu]

Any pics of the bullet? This is very interesting.

[bubba]

what brand and weight of bullet?

[erussell]

Same here. I once shot a doe with a shotgun at about 40 yards, she was broadside. There was snow on the ground and I never found blood or hair until I found the deer. She ran about 60 yards and was hit right behind the front shoulder. I was a little shocked, but learned a valuable lesson first hand that had luckily already been taught to me.

I find that copper sabots seem to not expand very well, especially on short distance shots. They just burn right through the deer leaving a little hole. I once shot a small 8 point at 20 ft broadside. Deer never flinched just stood there looking at me then started walking away. I then shot him 3 more times before he fell over. All 4 shots were in a hand size pattern through his lungs. I was flabergasted. I then switched to muzzleloader and used the T/C sabots. Same results small hole little blood to follow. I now use the Hornady XTP hollow points. They leave a hand size hole with lots of blood to follow.

[bubba]

gotta love the xtp's in a ml. no reason to worry then.

[erussell]

gotta love the xtp's in a ml. no reason to worry then.

I would have been horrified the first time I shot a deer with them if I hadnt been so happy.

[zoschag08]

what brand and weight of bullet?

Winchester .30-06 Springfield Ammunition - 165-Gr. Pointed Soft Point. I've always used this load, this is the first year the deer didn't drop or leave a blood trail a blind person could follow. There was snow too, so it's not like I was missing just missing it.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I shot a doe the morning we had snow out here. It was that very light fluffy snow. I thought she left no blood trail until I back tracked from finding her to get a ranged distance to the stand I was in. To my surprse there was a blood trail but you had to be directly over it becasue the hot blood fell right though all the snow ans was resting on the leaves and rye under it. The snow surface had no sign of blood on it.