Been years since I lost one .

[Nomad]

I normally don’t talk much about losing one , fortunately it’s been awhile , but for some reason I feel like sharing this tale . Friday the 13th ,bored nothing moving , then a buck heading straight to my tree , I get the xbow up , I will have no shot as he heads straight on , then he turns and is going to pass broadside , I get on an opening ,but he passes to fast, I swing ahead a bit ,he enters the opening and stops ! Whack ! Nice hit he runs 40 yards or so and stops , I see entry hole ,half way up, ( I try for 1/3 )  but a few inches back, but I’m confident he’s going down , bolt is hanging out off side just flopping around ready to fall out . I’m sure he’s going to drop right there , but he jogs off .

I got a hot doe and two other bucks running the other side of the woods , why he branched off idk .

30 minutes later I get down and slowly move to check out the closest blood , I send some pics to a couple guys , could be liver . Moog asks what I’m going to do, I say I’ve already backed out and will come back in the morning, he says I’ve got to many coyotes, and he’ll come back with me tonight . He graciously picks me up and we blood trail for two hours ,he’s heading right to a thicket I call the double buck field ,trail is waning it’s getting thick ,we call it for the night .

I come back at 7 takes some time to find next blood but it’s a straight line East towards double buck . I circle around and decide to just search the double buck ,working into the wind as I’ve smelled them before seeing them in thickets before ,nothing found .

Get back on blood which is now spotty , takes time but he turned 90 degrees and is going South , but only for a bit then he turns 90 degrees and goes West, right towards the wide open hard woods, he’s paralleling the East ribbons I’ve marked just ten yards over . I find the bolt, covered in red blood and a puddle of blood next to it , I figure the trail will be better now ,but no I lose blood for good 20 yards away . Well maybe he went South towards the big thicket, there happens to be a wide over grown trail he’d have to pass through, its impossible to pass through all the tall weeds with out leaving blood one some . I spend and hour looking on weeds, nothing .

I hop into a stand that overlooks that part of the woods and glass it ;nothing , I go into thicket ,nothing . 
 

It’s now been 7 hours and the trail has dried up .
 

I returned Monday to check the woods more and the open fields around them , nothing . Three blade mechanical, 1 3/4 inch , pass through , tracked about 250 yards , never bedded ,blood dried up . I can’t believe I didn’t find him . Here some pics the long dark streak is at the beginning ,then some night time , the bolt , and puddle , and I forget I snapped a pic. after the shot as he stood there . 

[Robhuntandfish]

Any ponds nearby that he could have gone into? 

Sucks losing one and always amazing how tough they are. 

Sounds like a liver hit to me. Some of that blood looks dark. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Robhuntandfish

[Nomad]

There’s  a hidden pond close by in the big thicket,  it’s dried up this year, I did however circle it . Also measuring the blood on saplings it brushed against on the entry side , the entry hole was about 23 inches off the ground, which is in the sweet spot. 
 

I know because the top of my knee cap, when I’m wearing muck boots is 22 inches .

[Jeremy K]

I know the synergy wasnt in the shop that day ...

[rob-c]

Is sucks but does happen , to all of us. I’ve lossed 3 my entire time hunting. Strange things happen, especially with arrows/bolts. I remember this one time like it was yesterday but it was 20 years ago . Now I did find this deer but she ran 350-400 yards after the shot. I shot her at the base of my climber with a 385 grain copper solid out of my 870 -12 gauge  straight down through her shoulder from 20 feet up and it just obliterated her heart. My dad came to help me drag her and he couldn’t believe how far she ran with the damage that was done. We do everything in our power to make a clean kill but sometimes stuff happens . 

Edited November 18, 2020 by rob-c

[BizCT]

Damn sorry to hear. Agree that blood looks dark like liver.

[biggamefish]

I have found that when a deer stops bleeding they are usually within 100 yards. I call it the last 100 yards. I dont know why but I have had many deer stop bleeding then 100 yards later they are dead. Usually a straight line from last blood.

 Sucks, sorry to hear. Redemption on Saturday.

[moog5050]

Thing is, this buck never bedded, or at least in the hundreds of yards we tracked.  

[doebuck1234]

Dam thats rough and sry to hear it.amazing on how tough they truly are!ill also agree on liver blood

[moog5050]

Thing is, this buck never bedded, or at least in the hundreds of yards we tracked.  

[grampy]

It hurts bad to lose one Larry. Believe me I know. It was my main reason for joining Deer Search in 1998 and becoming certified through NYS. 

So hard to tell from pictures sometimes. As in a couple of the pictures the blood looks dark. And in another it almost appears to be watery and light colored? My guess, and that's all it is, based on what you described and the pictures, is likely a kidney/front of gut/liver hit, just slightly back a little from the lungs, but vertically good? There is a lot of internal fat in these areas, that tend to plug up the holes leaving a very spotty blood trail most times. "Usually" with this type of hit they will bed down fairly quickly, and if left alone, you will find them in the first bed. Strange that this one never bedded??

Thanks for sharing your story my friend. As It gives us all a little bit more info to pull from, when something out of the norm happens. 

This is the worst part of what we do as hunters. We never want it to happen, but if you hunt long enough it likely will. It truly does hurt. All we can do is try to learn something from it. Move on, and strive to always be better. And even at our best, stuff just happens sometimes. Just the way it is. 

Wishing you nothing but good luck, for the remainder of the season sir.

[Zag]

That stinks, sounds like it’s a dead deer IMO. Maybe try deer search next time, I have direct contact with one locally FYI.

[Nomad]

Zag,  thanks I’ll file that away, I didn’t call them at first as I was certain ,I’d find him .

Biggamefish. After consulting my copy of “ Dead On “ and it said a rutting buck that runs onto your land , when shot will often try to get back to his home turf. That last straight line was in that direction,which is one reason I went back a third time , to search straight away . 
 

Moog , that is troubling, but I had a hot doe and two, other chasing bucks right where he ran , did that keep him on his feet and in the chase instead of bedding ? Idk . Plotted it on my Hunt Stand App, total track 280 . Not certified measurement lol 

Between Gun and shed hunting , I’ll find his remains .

[Steve D]

To bad you didn't post sooner. Could have looked for him with thermal while he was still warm but it's a little late after 5 days. It always sucks loosing one. I take it you didn't contact deer search??

[Cabin Fever]

That sucks Larry and sure makes you sick when it happens! Sounds like you went beyond due diligence to locate him, so you did your best.  

[GreeneHunter]

Happens to the best of us .... keep Hunting !

[moog5050]

38 minutes ago, Steve D said:

To bad you didn't post sooner. Could have looked for him with thermal while he was still warm but it's a little late after 5 days. It always sucks loosing one. I take it you didn't contact deer search??

I had thermal with me that night.   Saw a yote but no deer.   A few warm mossy spots had me excited though. 

[Nomad]

39 minutes ago, Steve D said:

To bad you didn't post sooner. Could have looked for him with thermal while he was still warm but it's a little late after 5 days. It always sucks loosing one. I take it you didn't contact deer search??

Thanks Steve . Thermal was used that night .

No on deer search, I was certain I’d /we find him , then I reached that point I knew meat would be no good .  I have used my Beagle years ago for one of mine and some others , he’s was very good, to lame now .
 

It took me three plus days just to come to grips with it , I told very few . I posted mostly to get others thoughts and ideas , 

[johnplav]

Sorry to hear this.  We all know it happens even with “good shots” but it still sucks. 
 

You had Moog helping you so I trust you guys did all you could.  
 

But for anyone else in the 8H/Rochester area... I’d be more than willing to help out in a similar situation.  I’m no Luna or Konux, but I’ll gladly get down on my hands and knees to search for blood.  Same thing if anyone gets a deer in a steep, deep or dangerous area and need help dragging it out. 

[chrisw]

I agree with above, he's most likely dead. That makes it even tougher to swallow. I watch alot of deer tracking dogs online and it's crazy how far deer can go on great hits sometimes. It could be as simple as he just went 500 yds before bedding versus the typical 150yds. Tough critters sometimes. With any luck the hit wasn't what you think and you'll see him again in the near future. Do you have pics of the buck on trail cam so as to recognize him in the future?

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[Nomad]

Here for your viewing pleasure .  Blue 1,2,3 are very thick areas , 1&2 require both hands at times to move through , and you’ll get stuck a few times . Red line is bucks path when shot from stand 2 .

Anything from stands 2&3 back is wide open hardwoods .

I have to wonder if the hot doe over there kept him moving to points unknown.

[Robhuntandfish]

I have to agree with chrisw .   I just think the hole kinda plugged up a bit and was prob a liver hit.  He was able to keep going. You may even have bumped him and not known as well.  

I double lunged a doe this year and she still went 120 yards.  Gut shot a buck once and he went over 700 yards to where I found yotes got him.   

Tough to track when there is no blood and they go so far and you don't know what direction.  

Prob a dead deer but might not even be on ypur property and over 500 yards away.  He jjust didn't bed down. 

Sorry to hear it. Esp since knowing you it was probably a nice one.  

[Steve D]

 

2 hours ago, Nomad said:

Thanks Steve . Thermal was used that night .

No on deer search, I was certain I’d /we find him , then I reached that point I knew meat would be no good .  I have used my Beagle years ago for one of mine and some others , he’s was very good, to lame now .
 

It took me three plus days just to come to grips with it , I told very few . I posted mostly to get others thoughts and ideas , 

2 hours ago, moog5050 said:

I had thermal with me that night.   Saw a yote but no deer.   A few warm mossy spots had me excited though. 

It sounds like you did all you could have and while it does suck it happens to all of us at one time or another. I have personally never used the thermal for tracking but glad to have it if and when I ever need it. I would have been glad to help look but is sounds like you and Moog covered all the bases. Just make a note I have it available if ever needed.

 I know how a lost deer can make one feel.

Edited November 18, 2020 by Steve D

[moog5050]

9 minutes ago, Steve D said:

 

It sounds like you did all you could have and while it does suck it happens to all of us at one time or another. I have personally never used the thermal for tracking but glad to have it if and when I ever need it. I would have been glad to help look but is sounds like you and Moog covered all the bases. Just make a note I have it available if ever needed.

 I know how a lost deer can make one feel.

The thermal does work but I don’t like relying on it as it means we lost blood.  Saved us one deer last year when we were just about to call it.   And that deer was shot 14hours earlier.   As you know it’s doesn’t see through objects so it fairs better in more open areas.  Golden rod or thickets are tough.   But it’s a nice tool to have.   

[Steve D]

1 minute ago, moog5050 said:

The thermal does work but I don’t like relying on it as it means we lost blood.  Saved us one deer last year when we were just about to call it.   And that deer was shot 14hours earlier.   As you know it’s doesn’t see through objects so it fairs better in more open areas.  Golden rod or thickets are tough.   But it’s a nice tool to have.   

AGREE !!!!