Lost a deer

[Buck_shooter]

Got a broadside shot on a calm doe just after 9 am around 25 yards. Looked a little low, thought possibly heart. Waited a little over an hour before climbing down and looking for blood and found some right where deer was standing and a good trail with big puddles everywhere she stopped. After a couple hundred yards I bumped a deer from some real thick brush but couldn't ever get a good view of it. She looked to have veered to my right just as she disappeared. In the brush pile I found a bed with tons of blood, some already dry and a short but good blood trail going to the left that abruptly ended in a puddle of blood with nothing after in any direction. I bumped this deer more than 2 and a half hours after the shot. I'm thinking maybe I ended up low and just hit muscle but nothing vital. Couldn't find my arrow. She trotted at the shot with her tail down. Just looking for some opinions from some better trackers. The bed was 40 yards from posted property and that's the way the spooked deer went.

[The_Field_Ager]

How far in each direction did you look from the last puddle? Did there appear to be a trail of disturbance in the leaf litter going in any direction? Do you know if there is water or lower ground in the area?

[borntohunt10820]

Get some help if you can, get permission and go look .  Get on your hands and knees. Any hair .white hair would mean a low hit .Possible gut shot?

[Jmp209]

How far in each direction did you look from the last puddle? Did there appear to be a trail of disturbance in the leaf litter going in any direction? Do you know if there is water or lower ground in the area?

I went to a posted line and followed along that in each direction for about 100 yards. And from the last pool I did small arcs in each direction increasing the sweep each time until I hit 4 wheeler trails which I walked up and down looking for blood on each side. It was a real bright crimson red blood and a real easy trail to follow up to the last pool. I checked leaves on shrubs and bushes that it might have passed through as well. The last puddle was starting to coagulate. Don't know if it will gel up after coming from the deer or if wound was starting to clot.

Forgot to mention this was my friends buck from a couple weeks ago that we tracked from 7:45 to 3:20 before finding. Very similar scenario, I wouldn't stop looking yet.

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[Buck_shooter]

20 minutes ago, borntohunt10820 said:

Get some help if you can, get permission and go look .  Get on your hands and knees. Any hair .white hair would mean a low hit .Possible gut shot?

No hair where it was shot. A few pieces in the blood drops, some white some brown. Watched the arrow hit, no possibility of gut shot. But can't find arrow either 

[Jmp209]

Get some help if you can, get permission and go look .  Get on your hands and knees. Any hair .white hair would mean a low hit .Possible gut shot?

Good advice. I've done this a couple times. Even with really good shots sometimes stuff plugs the holes which is a possibility if the arrow wasn't recovered yet. Blood trails can be sparse or Peter out completely right before they go down.

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[Buck_shooter]

I'm going to go back out again tonight after sundown and look some more. When I shot I was confident it was a good hit but now I'm really second guessing and keep replaying the shot in my head. The only possibilities I can think of are heart or muscle/brisket. Can't believe my arrow isn't right there if I didn't hit anything solid but can't believe a heart shot deer could go that far and still be alive that much later.

[moog5050]

I shot a buck 3 years ago just below the heart.  Two holes in the cavity. Bled like a stuck pig but we kept bumping it.  Eventually finished it off when it could barely get up again.  Keep at it

[Buckmaster7600]

You say tons of blood, it is very possible that she has bled out but was able to get up. If that's the case she won't go far at all.

I shot a buck a few years ago in the ADKS that I had tracked all day and shot him when he was getting out of his bed. I got 1 lung and clipped the liver I followed blood for 400yds found a bed with a ton of blood I followed his tracks for another 40yds and found him dead. There was not 1 drop of blood in his last 40yd dash and I had snow. When I gutted him there was almost no blood in his cavity.


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[outdoorstom]

Where are you located? Any trackers with a dog nearby?

[wooly]

Return to where you found the last blood pool and back track her trail from there.

She may have blew a U-turn and doubled back the way she came from.

Keep your eyes peeled to the sides to see if you may have missed where she cut off the main blood line.

[Buck_shooter]

2 hours ago, moog5050 said:

I shot a buck 3 years ago just below the heart.  Two holes in the cavity. Bled like a stuck pig but we kept bumping it.  Eventually finished it off when it could barely get up again.  Keep at it

That's actually where I was thinking I may have hit. I wasn't sure if it was better to push it to bleed it out and not let it bed down and clot up or if it was better to let it bed down and not run any further. I've kind of done both at this point.

[Buck_shooter]

1 hour ago, wooly said:

Return to where you found the last blood pool and back track her trail from there.

She may have blew a U-turn and doubled back the way she came from.

Keep your eyes peeled to the sides to see if you may have missed where she cut off the main blood line.

I never even gave that a thought. Definitely a possibility that I will look into.

[Cabin Fever]

1 hour ago, wooly said:

She may have blew a U-turn and doubled back the way she came from.

Keep your eyes peeled to the sides to see if you may have missed where she cut off the main blood line.

I've had that happen before. Good bloodtrail just abruptly comes to an end. It's like the deer stops, changes it's mind, turns around, backtracks a little ways, then shoots down another trail. When you're following a bloodtrail and it's following a certain direction or path, you assume it's just going to continue. Then, BAM, no more blood and panic mode sets in! Always backtrack, and check side trails!

[moog5050]

11 hours ago, Buck_shooter said:

That's actually where I was thinking I may have hit. I wasn't sure if it was better to push it to bleed it out and not let it bed down and clot up or if it was better to let it bed down and not run any further. I've kind of done both at this point.

We pushed the crap out of it and it worked.  It doubled back twice. bet you find it today.  Good luck.

[Cabin Fever]

Any luck?