Can't find deer.. shoulder shot

[The_Field_Ager]

9 hours ago, Rabbithunter1 said:

Fixed.. I don't understand stand why there isn't any blood

Arrow plugged the hole, and you may have gotten mostly muscle n bone.

[phade]

There is way too much Tuesday morning quarterbacking going on right now. People are telling themselves stories. Inexperienced tracker, minimal details, and he needs to get back out there in light to make a better assessment. Let's not pull the cart before the horse.

The buck I killed this weekend entered the paddle and exited mid chest and about mid rib count opposite side @ 30 yards. Not a whole heck of a lot of blood due to the deer being slight quarter to and facing up a hillside. Both lungs were toast. Loud crack at impact going through paddle and ribs.

We failed to find blood on first 20 minutes of looking at last light and he only went about 70 yds.

Let's give this guy a chance this am.




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[Bowguy 1]

2 hours ago, Gencountyzeek said:

I broke my does shoulder this year, she was slight quarter towards me at 19 yards, shot high on this shoulder exited opposite arm pit rib cage, never cut through the hide. Top of 1 lung and center of the other. Obviously if he hit lower on the shoulder it's harder bone. Should've seen the arrow hanging out of the deer as it ran away giving an idea of shot placement.

Certainly not gonna disagree w ya if it happened but it's surely not common. Quartering to shots are ill advised. No dis just too much chance of hitting the shoulder n winding up w wounded deer

[Bowguy 1]

1 hour ago, phade said:

There is way too much Tuesday morning quarterbacking going on right now. People are telling themselves stories. Inexperienced tracker, minimal details, and he needs to get back out there in light to make a better assessment. Let's not pull the cart before the horse.

The buck I killed this weekend entered the paddle and exited mid chest and about mid rib count opposite side @ 30 yards. Not a whole heck of a lot of blood due to the deer being slight quarter to and facing up a hillside. Both lungs were toast. Loud crack at impact going through paddle and ribs.

We failed to find blood on first 20 minutes of looking at last light and he only went about 70 yds.

Let's give this guy a chance this am.




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Good post but shoulder blade pop n a shoulder crack are much dif sounding. 

[Matthewsshooter]

2 hours ago, Bowguy 1 said:

Good post but shoulder blade pop n a shoulder crack are much dif sounding. 

What about a shoulder blade SNAP? Shoulder shot rice crispies!

[phade]

Good post but shoulder blade pop n a shoulder crack are much dif sounding. 

Did you hear the guys shot?

Look, any quarterbacking beyond tips of where to start (from the beginning) does more damage than good at this point.

I don't think anyone wants to shoot the shoulder knuckle - that's what people refer to as the "shoulder". The shoulder paddle is actually very easily pushed through by most all modern arrow and BH combos for an adult bowhunter. It's not a goal for any hunter to have to hit it but most people will kill a deer easily should the shot and deer go that way.

The knuckle - it's a small area but if you hit it, odds go down big.




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[Bowguy 1]

20 minutes ago, Matthewsshooter said:

What about a shoulder blade SNAP? Shoulder shot rice crispies!

How many deer have you shot to see this? Come on now. Rice crispies? Gotta say that's a new one

Edited October 11, 2016 by Bowguy 1

[Bowguy 1]

6 minutes ago, phade said:

Did you hear the guys shot?

Look, any quarterbacking beyond tips of where to start (from the beginning) does more damage than good at this point.

I don't think anyone wants to shoot the shoulder knuckle - that's what people refer to as the "shoulder". The shoulder paddle is actually very easily pushed through by most all modern arrow and BH combos for an adult bowhunter. It's not a goal for any hunter to have to hit it but most people will kill a deer easily should the shot and deer go that way.

The knuckle - it's a small area but if you hit it, odds go down big.




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Phade I'm not sure I'm understanding you? I'm only giving the op some options so his detective work makes sense. Just don't understand your post. 

[LET EM GROW]

Tough to say what happened, the shoulder is the last place any one wants to hit a deer, but it happens. Id def go grid search the whole area, now that many of hours have passed. Kind of sounds like a shoulder or leg hit if he came off the ground like that.. No blood can mean a number of different things depending on the hit location. 

Ive busted through several shoulder "blades" as i call them and have killed each one. But also have had a big buck take an arrow at 7 yards in that shoulder "knuckle/joint" along with a lung, arrow went in half way and broke, and the deer lived. Saw him the following weekend, limping along on 3 legs with the one shoulder/leg creased up and bound right tight to his chest. Couldnt mistake him..  and missed in the same exact spot the weekend before.

 

Best of luck to you, Hope you find him, keep us posted. 

We live and learn.. its sad, but its the reality of hunting. We owe it to the game we pursue 

[growalot]

Both times I've hit near shoulder the deer tipped over on the spot...there is a nerve bundle there ....The times I've hit the far shoulder deer have been terrible to find and little to no blood ...lost 2 in a swamp...I makes a distinct crack ...I shoot low poundage long arrows and have had arrows just push the hide on far side...the one pictures I had to gut with the arrow in her because I could get it to push through the other side, it was stuck. You wouldn't think it but she died fast.

[Rabbithunter1]

Been out all morning searching for him.. got in the tree stand played back the whole scenario and got down started searching where I hit him for blood, hair, turned up leaves or arrow.. searched where he ran into and looked for the arrow and blood.. nothing. So I just started searching everywhere high grass, cattails, thickest brush & all in between.. couldn't find anything.. I've been hunting since I was 12 and this is my first deer I've ever lost.. it's a bad feeling.. I hate wasting an animal like that. I hope it was just a bad shot and he survives it and hopefully I get another chance at him..

[growalot]

Sorry to hear that...,No deer search in the area?.....It's one of those things that creeps into your mind every so often ...trying to figure out what went wrong...most have been there..

[Rabbithunter1]

3 hours ago, growalot said:

Sorry to hear that...,No deer search in the area?.....It's one of those things that creeps into your mind every so often ...trying to figure out what went wrong...most have been there..

I tried contacting deer search the closest one is an hour away unfortunately 

[ny hunter]

If you bow hunt it is going to happen sooner or later totally sucks I know the feeling.Not much you can do you well feel like crap for a couple of days...

[Fletch]

Just for next time...
If your broad heads were sharp you should have hair at the hit site. Sometimes one of the hardest things is finding the exact spot when your excited. I have tracked a lot of deer and helped quite a few others. At times I have had hunters adamant the deer was right here when they hit it only later find out by tracks, hair and even blood that they were yards off at times.

So when you shoot pay attention to a few things. Did you see arrow hit?
Is arrow still in deer? If so where and how much is in/ out of deer.
Deer reaction to hit and sounds.
Watch deer until out of site and immediately mentally mark that spot and where the deer was at shot. If you are elevated it all looks different from the ground.
Mark hit spot with flagging tape, and as you find blood it helps establish a line of direction.

Two things jump out to me. Not finding the hit spot and you should have seen an arrow in him running away. Could you actually have missed him and hit a tree or branches, rocks... Behind him?


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[wolc123]

Did you use a grunt tube or rattling to bring the buck into range?  When you drew your bow, was the buck's eyes partially in view?   If your answer to either in those questions was "yes", then the buck was in a state of "high alert" when you took your shot.  25 yards is just about the range where "string jump" is most severe, especially on a deer in "high alert".  I have hit a few in the shoulder, one doe (or another in her group) probably glimpsed my draw, one buck I rattled in, and the other I grunted in.    I know that feeling you have now all too well and I hope to never have it again.   I had some consolation later with one because a friend killed him with a gun a month or so later and he was healed up with just a big scar on the shoulder I hit.   The other two still haunt me more than 30 years later.   I don't remember all of the deer I have killed and recovered during archery season but I will never forget those that I lost.    

Lots of folks are not bothered too much by wounding deer and go right back out the next day, sometimes wounding more before the season ends.   I was never able to do that, and always hung up my bow for the remainder of the season if I could not recover my deer.  That is a personal choice for you alone and I don't mean to sway you one way or the other.  We all make mistakes and that is how we learn.   I have stopped using grunt calls and rattling during archery season (I don't want the deer to have a clue that they are about to get hit).  The last few seasons I have even stopped using my vertical bow, since they legalized the crossbow.   That eliminates the need to draw when the deer are in close.   

If the unthinkable does happen again someday, I picked up a product called "bloodglow" two years ago (about $20 for enough to track three deer).   It is supposed to make blood glow under the star and moonlight at night when mixed with water.  It is supposed to work even better in the rain.   I hope to never need it and the (3) deer I have killed since getting it have all died on the spot or within 40 yards of the shot.   I always used to pack it in a little early on afternoon hunts, to allow some time for daylight blood-trailing but having the bloodglow in my pack gives me the confidence to hunt right up until legal sunset.                   

Edited October 11, 2016 by wolc123
typo correction

[DirtyNailz]

Same thing happens to me this week. Try your best, I called three dog recovery groups to only get one response that he was busy and to call another group. I have nocturnal nocks so I let my deer sit 2 hours then went looking no blood no hair no nock. I searched two hours in the dark then the next day I searched for 8 hours until I had to watch my kids...I even sent my drone up with permission from land owners to check the corn fields...it snowed last night all hope is lost so at 8 am I left n spent 80+ dollars on primos blood tracker light in hopes if this ever happens again the light might help with the blood. As a hunter accidents like this are possible and do happen ...try your best and don't let guys on here make you feel bad we all took our bow course and if your like me read as much about every aspect of the hunt and try never to wound an animal. Good luck

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