These animals are tough!!!

[SplitG2]

i think if it was the same deer it would be favoring that leg..JMO  Some advise...always follow your arrow to impact..this help you determine what you must do next.

[josephmrtn]

Better that you saw him up and around than wondering if he died and you couldn't find him.  You will have other opportunities.  Learn what you can from this experience.  Good luck.

 

Exactly! live and learn

Might have hit the shoulder facing you then, who knows? That would explain the thump and limp and blood, muscle hits bleed like SOB and then stop. But thats all a guess cause I am not there.

Im realy not sure but i know 2 things 1 i hit bone 2 i hit something w a lot of blood in it

[phade]

Why was it you had no bow with you this a.m.?

[Pygmy]

My experience has been the same as Doewhacker's..Muscle hits leave a lot of blood at first and then dry up.

Maybe he'll survive...Perhaps he won't..

That's one reason I gave up bowhunting...Too many blood trails( a few mine, many of my buddies when I went along to help track) WITHOUT a dead deer at the end.

[ncountry]

Why was it you had no bow with you this a.m.?

Probable ....

Beginner's assumption that the deer was dead..

Deer are way tougher than people give them credit for..

[Lawdwaz]

If the deer was quartering away a bit......the arrow could have buzzed under the belly and caught the inside of the off side leg, hitting the artery (?) the runs down the inside of the leg resulting in false hopes.......and a hurting but survivable wound.

[Dinsdale]

Learn from it.

And not just that deer are tough critters.

Re focus on what you are doing out there; you owe the game we shoot that much.

[phade]

If the deer was quartering away a bit......the arrow could have buzzed under the belly and caught the inside of the off side leg, hitting the artery (?) the runs down the inside of the leg resulting in false hopes.......and a hurting but survivable wound.

 

If you hit an artery anywhere on a deer - that's going to be a fatal shot within minutes, if not seconds in most all cases. I'd think an artery can't stop itself from pumping long enough to clot/heal, but anything is certainly possible as deer are resilient. Been there done that - and Joe is experiencing it now.

 

I hope Joe sees him again, but I'd be more inclined to think he didn't graze this deer. We don't know because we don't have much to go on, but foamy blood doesn't come from an artery, that conerns me a bit.

[Honest hunter]

Shot a big boy last year from five yards away with a 70 lb now using full metal jackets. Caught him forward a bit a hit shoulder found plenty of blood and tracked for two days with no deer and no arrow. Killed me!! Ge if inches. Tough !!!!

[Honest hunter]

Shot a big boy last year from five yards away with a 70 lb now using full metal jackets. Caught him forward a bit a hit shoulder found plenty of blood and tracked for two days with no deer and no arrow. Killed me!! Ge if inches. Tough !!!!

[shawnhu]

My experience has been the same as Doewhacker's..Muscle hits leave a lot of blood at first and then dry up.

Maybe he'll survive...Perhaps he won't..

That's one reason I gave up bowhunting...Too many blood trails( a few mine, many of my buddies when I went along to help track) WITHOUT a dead deer at the end.

Bow hunting isn't for everyone. I respect that you admit it, and spared the deer needless suffering.

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[irish_redneck]

i think if it was the same deer it would be favoring that leg..JMO Some advise...always follow your arrow to impact..this help you determine what you must do next.

I've found that illuminated nocks help tremendously.

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[First-light]

Joe always bring your bow when tracking a deer, that is a rule. I think something is up here and that wasn't your deer.  I would look again when you get home.

[BizCT]

Joe always bring your bow when tracking a deer, that is a rule. I think something is up here and that wasn't your deer.  I would look again when you get home.

 

+1. If it's hunting season and legal hours, I would never walk in the woods without my weapon.

[jjb4900]

good rule to follow is allow yourself enough time after a hunt to follow up on any deer you shoot...........if I knew I was leaving at 9:30 the next morning and had no way around it, I doubt I would have hunted.

[ncountry]

As for the toughness of deer..they are amazingly resilient. I am still a believer, that if you puncture their body cavity pretty much anywhere ..it is a death sentence. If it is quick and humane or drawn out over months of sickness depends on where they are hit. A "meat" hit can heal..I have seen a 9 point with a broadhead buried in his hip /spine that had calcified around it. I think ...all to often hunters will comfort themselves with the thought that the deer will survive, while in fact the deer is going to die..Early in my archery experience I hung up my bow after a lost deer ,disgusted ..The itch would always overcome my shame though and I would be back out there within a week..Mistakes do happen, we just need to do our best to avoid them...

[BUCKANDAQUARTER]

_{I agree they are about the toughest critter out there.  But don't rule out infection. I have shot bow for  over 20 years off and on. I bought a good bow when I was 18 and had every intention of bow hunting. I never got confident enough with that bow to hunt with it. Last year I bought a BowTech and I am back on and confident. I missed a coyote the other day and then harvested a buck. Sometimes things just don't go as planned regardless of how prepared you are.}

[First-light]

Hey Joe you ever go back to look again, maybe still out of town?

[thphm]

Bubbles in the blood means a Lung was hit,Put markers on the  spot you hit it.And the last spot you saw blood,Go back tommorow and keep looking, start with small circles and go to larger ones.If it bleed's out you will find it. If you find it and I hope you do Condgrats on your first bow kill.

Years ago a fellow Dear Search member got a call to blood track a big buck on the  end of L.I. 2 days later they found it a really nice huge racked 10 pointer.

[jjb4900]

Bubbles in the blood means a Lung was hit,Put markers on the  spot you hit it.And the last spot you saw blood,Go back tommorow and keep looking, start with small circles and go to larger ones.If it bleed's out you will find it. If you find it and I hope you do Condgrats on your first bow kill.

Years ago a fellow Dear Search member got a call to blood track a big buck on the  end of L.I. 2 days later they found it a really nice huge racked 10 pointer.

unfortunately, he shot this deer 5 days ago..........

[CuseHunter]

Just use this as more motivation to practice shooting. I've personally learned just in the past year the difference between bow hunting and archery. Once I change from field points to broadheads, and add the fact you are 20 ft up a tree in gear and a harness, everything is different. Try practicing as if you are hunting and use some creativity so that you will be 100% confident because you've made that same shot 10 times before.

Best of luck, the season has just started and there is a month even left of bow. You might just end up getting a 2nd chance again.