Tracking and After the Shot Lessons Learned

[cdbing]

This was a PM hunt of a scrape line near bedding. The shot was taken about 25 minutes before sunset from a climber about 16 feet high and the deer was about 17 yards out. The deer was somewhat quartering to. The arrow hit around B8 but no pass through with the lighted nock confirming that the arrow was lodged in the deer.

The deer turned 180 degrees back towards bedding, and was out sight within 35 -40 yards in cover. The compass heading from stand to last sighting was due north. I heard what might have been the deer falling, but was not accompanied by the sound of kicking that sometimes occurs when a deer expires.

Roughly 20 minutes after the shot had passed with no further sounds at which time I descended and began the reconnaissance. No blood was found at the point of impact or within the next 20 yards of following deer tracks in the northerly direction at which point the broken arrow was found. The broken arrow was left as a marker with a strip of paper tissue on a twig as a marker. I advanced the track another 10 yards, at which point I heard a deer walking. Unsure of the hit and with no blood trail. I made the decision to back out.

Tracking resumed the following morning with my son's assistance, starting at the broken arrow marker. We advanced the track 20 yards, when the white belly of the deer became visible about another 20 yards and at that point we started to see some blood.

Total track was probably 80 yards and the deer died very quickly. In hindsight advancing the track on the previous evening another 30 yards or so and the deer would have been found. However, I think the decision to back out was the correct one given the circumstances.

Not sure if this is helpful to others, but figured I'd post it here and invite critiques.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[suburbanfarmer]

9 minutes ago, cdbing said:

This was a PM hunt of a scrape line near bedding. The shot was taken about 25 minutes before sunset from a climber about 16 feet high and the deer was about 17 yards out. The deer was somewhat quartering to. The arrow hit around B8 but no pass through with the lighted nock confirming that the arrow was lodged in the deer.

The deer turned 180 degrees back towards bedding, and was out sight within 35 -40 yards in cover. The compass heading from stand to last sighting was due north. I heard what might have been the deer falling, but was not accompanied by the sound of kicking that sometimes occurs when a deer expires.

Roughly 20 minutes after the shot had passed with no further sounds at which time I descended and began the reconnaissance. No blood was found at the point of impact or within the next 20 yards of following deer tracks in the northerly direction at which point the broken arrow was found. The broken arrow was left as a marker with a strip of paper tissue on a twig as a marker. I advanced the track another 10 yards, at which point I heard a deer walking. Unsure of the hit and with no blood trail. I made the decision to back out.

Tracking resumed the following morning with my son's assistance, starting at the broken arrow marker. We advanced the track 20 yards, when the white belly of the deer became visible about another 20 yards and at that point we started to see some blood.

Total track was probably 80 yards and the deer died very quickly. In hindsight advancing the track on the previous evening another 30 yards or so and the deer would have been found. However, I think the decision to back out was the correct one given the circumstances.

Not sure if this is helpful to others, but figured I'd post it here and invite critiques.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 

No deer was ever lost due to backing out. Maybe meat loss to coyote/fox

[crappyice]

Wow…B8 is high huh? but I guess with him being so close at that angle from the climber was the key. High shots often result in “late”!blood especially with no exit hole lower. Did you get 1 lung? Liver? Some blood looked “chunky-ish”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cdbing]

Looked to be both lungs. The deer could have been much closer to broadside than I recalled....either that, or the arrow deflected on a bone. Two blades on the broadhead were damaged, one blade looked almost serrated from the impact with bone. The entry was definitely higher than I was aiming (see photo that shows entry). When gutting, I felt around very carefully (obviously) for the arrow shaft before cutting the diaphragm and did not feel it. The arrow shaft was in the chest cavity with a lot of blood, as one might expect. I did not take photos of the eviceration.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[BowmanMike]

Ok my doe today.

Distance: 20 yds,down hill angle.

Entry at f 10,exit at first and stopped in opposite leg.

Reaction:  Deer whirled but stopped after 5 yds,a guy was jogging by and the doe watched him. I think she would have run because the autopsy revealed a sliced knuckle and split tibia if that is what it is called in a deer.

The arrow stayed in the deer and it ran off eventually. Not a mad dash at all. Opposite leg was not working.

I followed soon since the arrow was sticking out and I could not make sense of the deer being on its feet and looking still ok. Jumped her about 50 yds from hit site,then backed out for 20 mins. Jumped her again after she saw me and I tried to get another arrow in her at 40 yds but got a deflection and she ran again. I followed and she was bedded another 90 yds on. I couldn't shoot as she was laying in the brush. She got up without giving me a shot and looked miserable trying to go on. I followed and she bedded again 50 yds from the last spot. This time I shot through the brush even though I only saw her head. I thought I shot at her front but turned out I shot her through the ham and all the way to the sternum. That one finished her another 30 yds further on.

Far from ideal but I didn't  want her to suffer for any longer than she had to.

I was impressed by the sliced knuckle and split tibia. I shoot a 560 grain arrow with a single bevel head. A light arrow would have done the same job on the vitals,so nothing gained in this instance.

[Timeless]

Had an interesting one yesterday crossbow hunting.  I was on the ground and rattled a buck in from 100 yards off.  He walked right to me and eventually gave me a broadside shot at 18 yards hitting around area 6-7, C-D.  On impact there was a very loud THWACK sound and the deer took off running in the direction he was initially heading.  I feared I screwed up and hit the shoulder or leg bone.  However, being so close, I was somewhat confident the bolt would punch through.  I could see a good spray of blood right after impact then blood on the deer as it was running off.  I checked the shot location for blood and found good blood with air bubbles indicating a lung hit.  I found the bolt later and it had dark blood on it.  The deer died within minutes about 80 yards from the shot within sight.

Oddly, there was very little blood between where I took the shot and where the deer piled up.  I even tried to mock track the deer and realized that had I not seen the deer die, it would have been a difficult tracking job.

The THWACK sound was the bolt grazing off the shoulder bone and deflecting almost 90 degrees at entry.  The entry wound was a good 3-4" slice...and these are 3 bladed broadheads.  The bolt exited the opposite side around 11, C taking out 1 lung and the liver on its course.  The broadhead, an NAP Spitfire, has no obvious damage despite the bone hit.  I swear by these.

My only thought on the sparse blood is that between the somewhat high entry and exit holes, the body cavity needed to fill up with blood before it would really drip off or out of the animal.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Timeless

[cdbing]

Had an interesting one yesterday crossbow hunting.  I was on the ground and rattled a buck in from 100 yards off.  He walked right to me and eventually gave me a broadside shot at 18 yards hitting around area 6-7, C-D.  On impact there was a very loud THWACK sound and the deer took off running in the direction he was initially heading.  I feared I screwed up and hit the shoulder or leg bone.  However, being so close, I was somewhat confident the bolt would punch through.  I could see a good spray of blood right after impact then blood on the deer as it was running off.  I checked the shot location for blood and found good blood with air bubbles indicating a lung hit.  I found the bolt later and it had dark blood on it.  The deer died within minutes about 80 yards from the shot within sight.
Oddly, there was very little blood between where I took the shot and where the deer piled up.  I even tried to mock track the deer and realized that had I not seen the deer die, it would have been a difficult tracking job.
The THWACK sound was the bolt grazing off the shoulder bone and deflecting almost 90 degrees at entry.  The entry wound was a good 3-4" slice...and these are 3 bladed broadheads.  The bolt exited the opposite side around 11, C taking out 1 lung and the liver on its course.  The broadhead, an NAP Spitfire, has no obvious damage despite the bone hit.  I swear by these.
My only thought on the sparse blood is that between the somewhat high entry and exit holes, the body cavity needed to fill up with blood before it would really drip off or out of the animal.

I also like the NAP Spitfires. Even though I have damaged a couple on deer, they don't go far.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[chrisw]

Had an interesting one yesterday crossbow hunting.  I was on the ground and rattled a buck in from 100 yards off.  He walked right to me and eventually gave me a broadside shot at 18 yards hitting around area 6-7, C-D.  On impact there was a very loud THWACK sound and the deer took off running in the direction he was initially heading.  I feared I screwed up and hit the shoulder or leg bone.  However, being so close, I was somewhat confident the bolt would punch through.  I could see a good spray of blood right after impact then blood on the deer as it was running off.  I checked the shot location for blood and found good blood with air bubbles indicating a lung hit.  I found the bolt later and it had dark blood on it.  The deer died within minutes about 80 yards from the shot within sight.
Oddly, there was very little blood between where I took the shot and where the deer piled up.  I even tried to mock track the deer and realized that had I not seen the deer die, it would have been a difficult tracking job.
The THWACK sound was the bolt grazing off the shoulder bone and deflecting almost 90 degrees at entry.  The entry wound was a good 3-4" slice...and these are 3 bladed broadheads.  The bolt exited the opposite side around 11, C taking out 1 lung and the liver on its course.  The broadhead, an NAP Spitfire, has no obvious damage despite the bone hit.  I swear by these.
My only thought on the sparse blood is that between the somewhat high entry and exit holes, the body cavity needed to fill up with blood before it would really drip off or out of the animal.

I too love Spitfires, best head I've ever used. They aren't going to perform miracles, but every deer I've hit where I was supposed to has died in sight. There's a reason they've been around so long and have changed very little.

Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

[suburbanfarmer]

16 minutes ago, chrisw said:

I too love Spitfires, best head I've ever used. They aren't going to perform miracles, but every deer I've hit where I was supposed to has died in sight. There's a reason they've been around so long and have changed very little.

Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk
 

Agreed 100%

#1 Spitfire

#2 Truglo titanium 4 blade

#3 Ramcats

[ncountry]

Buddy shot a nice 8 2 days ago with his bow.  

He was sitting 20, in the air and the deer was 10yds away.It was quartering towards him.  The arrow with a 125 gr rage hypodermic entered tight to front LG at about midway height and exited on opposite side guts near the bottom.

We assumed worse case was 1 lung,liver and guts of course. We waited 5 hrs and began tracking. To our surprise we went approximately 800yds  .  We came to a spot where he had bedded down 5 times within a 30, circle. 

The 4 of us were in the middle of a discussion on whether we should back out when the buck jumped up within 50yds of us and ran over a hill. Amazed that he was still alive and worried about the evenings rain and snow that was coming we pulled out anyways. 

The next morning we went to the last spot we saw him and with alot of sleuthing we were able to pick up traces of blood . 200 yds later we found him.. 

It's tough because  there are never any rock solid rules to this game. I think if we had waited to the next morning to track  from the beginning , there was no way we would have found enough traces of blood after the light rain and 1-2" of melted snow to have found him..

We were able to continue the track by having one person stand at last blood and the others follow every faint trail that we could find until we found  blood . Most of the time the 1st obvious trail (based on direction of travel)was the proper guess 

Turns out the broadhead had cut a hole in the muscle of his leg (big enough for me to put all 4 fingers into) , cut through 1 lung, missed the liver and exited the guts. 

[johnplav]

On 10/20/2021 at 10:14 PM, crappyice said:

The doe I just shot last night presented so much varied sign that I was about to call off the search and return hours later to only find her laying 10 yards away out of the range of my flashlight. It got me thinking, let's put here any stories of the shot and what follows - share your successes, failures, observations and as much information that will be helpful to future hunters regarding the shot angle. This is not a place for the infamous "void" discussion or being judgmental about shot angles, distances, etc. Stay objective with your posting and add as many pictures as you can.

Suggested Format:

Date - Time - Region - Weather - Weapon of choice (bullet/type of broadhead)
From the Ground or How high off the ground
Distance of shot - angle of deer
Deer's reaction - direction of travel
Hit site/First sign - pics man!!!
Pics of blood - color, smell, location
How long did you wait before tracking?
Observations along the track?
Recovered? Backed out? Lost?
If recovered - entrance/exit wounds? What was hit?

After reading Dead On by John Jeanneney I am fascinated as much by the post-shot work as I am the pre-shot work.


 

We got a new deer book! 
 

[crappyice]

Buddy shot a nice 8 2 days ago with his bow.  
He was sitting 20, in the air and the deer was 10yds away.It was quartering towards him.  The arrow with a 125 gr rage hypodermic entered tight to front LG at about midway height and exited on opposite side guts near the bottom.
We assumed worse case was 1 lung,liver and guts of course. We waited 5 hrs and began tracking. To our surprise we went approximately 800yds  .  We came to a spot where he had bedded down 5 times within a 30, circle. 
The 4 of us were in the middle of a discussion on whether we should back out when the buck jumped up within 50yds of us and ran over a hill. Amazed that he was still alive and worried about the evenings rain and snow that was coming we pulled out anyways. 
The next morning we went to the last spot we saw him and with alot of sleuthing we were able to pick up traces of blood . 200 yds later we found him.. 
It's tough because  there are never any rock solid rules to this game. I think if we had waited to the next morning to track  from the beginning , there was no way we would have found enough traces of blood after the light rain and 1-2" of melted snow to have found him..
We were able to continue the track by having one person stand at last blood and the others follow every faint trail that we could find until we found  blood . Most of the time the 1st obvious trail (based on direction of travel)was the proper guess 
Turns out the broadhead had cut a hole in the muscle of his leg (big enough for me to put all 4 fingers into) , cut through 1 lung, missed the liver and exited the guts. 

So the high up a tree, close deer, quartering to shots are really tough to get a bunch of good stuff for a clean kill I am learning. Good on you guys for backing out again- it’s amazing how that deer was still able to go so far after 5 hours of air time.
Good Info shared - thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[johnplav]

Since I'm stuck in my office and can't hunt, I figured I'd share a recent experience:

My buddy called and said he shot a buck with his bow and it looked good but the deer ran toward a steep, overgrown part of his property and asked if Id help him get it out.  By the time I got to his spot, it was over an hour after the shot and it was dark.  Instead of going to his stand, I walked up the road until I could see his flashlight in the woods and found my way to him.  He told me he had really good blood for like 250 yards, without any obvious beds... but he just lost blood.  I went back to the spot he marked as last blood, and was able to further the track another 20-30 yards on my hands and knees finding specks, which eventually stopped.  At this point it was starting to rain and he was beginning to get discouraged.  We were hesitant to back out with the rain coming, and I decided to follow the trail beyond where we lost blood and after maybe 10 yards I heard a deer jump up and run straight up the hill.  As he ran I could hear him struggle as well as a weird sloshing noise.  We waited a few minutes and crept up toward where I jumped him.  He had been bedded down within 20 yards of us the whole time, and his path up the hill showed good blood again.  As we slowly made our way up the hill, we could see him at the top.  He was still alive, but couldn't get up, and was done after a minute or two. 

On the drag back, I crossed the blood trail a few times, and my buddy was right... there was a ton of blood.  It turns out the shot was a little back and perfectly broadside.  The rage caught the very back of both lungs, the diaphragm and the liver.  It appears that I jumped him from his first bed, and when he ran, I could hear the pooled blood in him.  Between the damage to the lungs and diaphragm, as well as the bleeding from liver, I'm surprised he was still alive after 2 hours.  They really are tough animals.  Had we backed out, I'm assuming he would've died in the bed eventually, from the bleeding liver, and I hope we would've found him the next morning while grid searching.  My only concern is if he got up from the bed and wandered further and rain washed away the blood, we could've lost him.

The lesson I learned on this one: 

-  Damage to lungs or diaphragm doesn't always mean the deer can't breathe. 

-  Organs overlap.  Just like how a heart shot usually gets lung as well, so can a liver shot... especially with a wide cutting broadhead.

-  Liver shots behave as described... good blood at first that can gradually fade away.

-  Check trail cams!  He passed a trail camera that showed him slowly walking away about 50 yards passed the shot.  Not the death run of a good heart/lung shot.    

We were both relieved to find this deer, and looking back, I don't think I would've done much differently.  And as a reward… I got a hindquarter!

Edited November 24, 2021 by johnplav

[biggamefish]

Specs. 30.06. Shooting 150grn. Hornaday super formance. 

Had a doe come in. Took a 50 yard shot. Doe was slightly quartering towards me. 

 At the shot doe took off down a hill. I gave it 15 minute and went to look at the shot site. Leaves were kicked up and one spot of blood the size of a pencil eraser. Only thing I could follow was the tracks in the snow. 

 I followed the the track for 30-40 yards and saw no blood on the snow so I circled back to make sure i was on the correct track. I was, so I then went back to where I left the track before and continued on. At 85 yards I saw a couple pin pricks of blood on the snow. At 100 yards I looked up to see the doe dead 30 yards ahead. The last 10 yards had a little more blood. I say more but you still had to get low and look for it. It looked like it was spray coming out of her nose.

 The shot was 6 inches back from the shoulder on entrance and the exit wound is in the picture.

You can see the fat that plugged the hole. 

 The shot took out the onside lung and took out half the liver. The lung was pretty much gone.

You could see the running track didnt look correct in the snow was kinda all over the place. Not straight like you would think.

Just for my own knowledge I went back when it was getting dark and tried a flashlight in the snow. I was able to pick up a few more spots of blood on the snow and some on the trees that I had missed. None were bigger than a flannel shirt button though.

This was a track that you easily could have said I just grazed her she will be fine. It made me second guess my shot for sure.

[outdoorstom]

Can’t believe I haven’t seen this thread until now!  You guys are nailing some great advice here.

There are a couple of hits that should be pushed immediately for your best chance of a recovery.  These are leg hits and shoulder hits. Sometimes you can get a deer to bleed out through the bone marrow on a leg hit, or at least weaken it enough to get you close for a finishing shot.  Shoulder hits can be even tougher….sometimes you catch up, sometimes you don’t.  Attached is a picture we pulled off a game camera as we pushed this shoulder shot buck over a mile.  The next picture was of Luna. He was 3 minutes ahead of us and we never caught up.  Of course pushing a deer that distance can lead to property line issues.  Always a good idea to have neighbors phone numbers ahead of time or have a standing agreement on entering to track. Even with the agreement, most people appreciate a courtesy call.

Just a quick point about pushing deer that should be left alone….liver and gutshot.  It’s crucial to avoid the temptation to go in too early. Good rules of thumb are 6 hours for liver and 12 for gutshot.  Sure, everyone has stories of recovering deer with these injuries much earlier than that, but there are more stories of non recovered deer due to going in early. Lots of people tell me they want to track right away because they have a coyote problem. A good way to look at this is, if you don’t push it, usually they’ll bed down within a couple hundred yards. If you do push them, they can literally go miles.  Coyotes have a much smaller chance of cutting the track of a wounded deer if the track is only a few hundred yards long as opposed to the much longer track of a pushed deer. 

As has been mentioned many times already, throw a roll of tape in your pack. Even if the blood is heavy and obvious, throw a marker up every now and then so you look back and see the line. If you leave the deer overnight, it’s amazing the number of times the hunter can’t find blood the next day. Also, if you call a dog in, trackers love to see their dog on the line as long as possible to learn the scent of that individual deer before the blood stops. I know this has been mentioned too, but it’s worth repeating…..walk to the side of the bloodtrail, not on it!  

The last point I’ll make is one of the biggest if you’re bringing in a dog……DO NOT GRID SEARCH when you lose blood.  You and your buddies will have scent from the blood and scent from the deers wound on you, leaving false trails throughout the woods.  Someone saying they haven’t grid searched is music to a trackers ear! (And the dog will quickly show the handler if this is true or not!)

Pic of a piece of a leg bone. Will be rounded on one side.

The neck/brisket wound is an old injury that the deer had survived.

[ncountry]

1 hour ago, outdoorstom said:

Can’t believe I haven’t seen this thread until now!  You guys are nailing some great advice here.

There are a couple of hits that should be pushed immediately for your best chance of a recovery.  These are leg hits and shoulder hits. Sometimes you can get a deer to bleed out through the bone marrow on a leg hit, or at least weaken it enough to get you close for a finishing shot.  Shoulder hits can be even tougher….sometimes you catch up, sometimes you don’t.  Attached is a picture we pulled off a game camera as we pushed this shoulder shot buck over a mile.  The next picture was of Luna. He was 3 minutes ahead of us and we never caught up.  Of course pushing a deer that distance can lead to property line issues.  Always a good idea to have neighbors phone numbers ahead of time or have a standing agreement on entering to track. Even with the agreement, most people appreciate a courtesy call.

Just a quick point about pushing deer that should be left alone….liver and gutshot.  It’s crucial to avoid the temptation to go in too early. Good rules of thumb are 6 hours for liver and 12 for gutshot.  Sure, everyone has stories of recovering deer with these injuries much earlier than that, but there are more stories of non recovered deer due to going in early. Lots of people tell me they want to track right away because they have a coyote problem. A good way to look at this is, if you don’t push it, usually they’ll bed down within a couple hundred yards. If you do push them, they can literally go miles.  Coyotes have a much smaller chance of cutting the track of a wounded deer if the track is only a few hundred yards long as opposed to the much longer track of a pushed deer. 

As has been mentioned many times already, throw a roll of tape in your pack. Even if the blood is heavy and obvious, throw a marker up every now and then so you look back and see the line. If you leave the deer overnight, it’s amazing the number of times the hunter can’t find blood the next day. Also, if you call a dog in, trackers love to see their dog on the line as long as possible to learn the scent of that individual deer before the blood stops. I know this has been mentioned too, but it’s worth repeating…..walk to the side of the bloodtrail, not on it!  

The last point I’ll make is one of the biggest if you’re bringing in a dog……DO NOT GRID SEARCH when you lose blood.  You and your buddies will have scent from the blood and scent from the deers wound on you, leaving false trails throughout the woods.  Someone saying they haven’t grid searched is music to a trackers ear! (And the dog will quickly show the handler if this is true or not!)

Pic of a piece of a leg bone. Will be rounded on one side.

The neck/brisket wound is an old injury that the deer had survived.

Great info Tom.. Our group ended up with a deer with a wound just like that one in the neck/brisket. Luckily there was snow. 5 of us trackes him from 10 that morning . He crossed the tail race of one of the dams in South Colton twice. Finally we had him pushed to an area we knew and we set up and ambushed him close to 5 o'clock as I was pushing him.. Only once all day did any of us see him, and that was just in time to get him turned and crossed back over the river.

It's funny. I hate wounding deer, but I do love tracking them. lol I see why you do what you do..

[crappyice]

It's funny. I hate wounding deer, but I do love tracking them. lol I see why you do what you do..

My daughter has already picked out the name (Felix)of the wire haired dachshund we should get since I always talk about dogs needing two purposes..pet and hunter…she’s pushing hard for a pup (as she leaves for college in September!!)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[crappyice]

So many variables which makes the puzzles so complex:
The arrow of the deer that started this thread showed gut-ish shot but now bloody like pic above. More washed out which was due to the arrow not clearly passing through and “cleaning off” some of the arrow as it dropped out.

Blood showed bubbles and spray , arrow showed guts. … assuming a one lung and gut how long do you wait…

My fear with leaving a deer is not really even knowing how long it’s dead. If I shoot at 5:00 ad don’t recover until 7 the next morning AND the deer died shortly after the shot…that a long time for the meat to be cooling down with the guts in there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[outdoorstom]

5 hours ago, crappyice said:

So many variables which makes the puzzles so complex:
The arrow of the deer that started this thread showed gut-ish shot but now bloody like pic above. More washed out which was due to the arrow not clearly passing through and “cleaning off” some of the arrow as it dropped out.

Blood showed bubbles and spray , arrow showed guts. … assuming a one lung and gut how long do you wait…

My fear with leaving a deer is not really even knowing how long it’s dead. If I shoot at 5:00 ad don’t recover until 7 the next morning AND the deer died shortly after the shot…that a long time for the meat to be cooling down with the guts in there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One lung and guts I treat as a gutshot.  Deer can go a long ways and sometimes survive a one lung hit.

[wolc123]

6 hours ago, crappyice said:

So many variables which makes the puzzles so complex:
The arrow of the deer that started this thread showed gut-ish shot but now bloody like pic above. More washed out which was due to the arrow not clearly passing through and “cleaning off” some of the arrow as it dropped out.

Blood showed bubbles and spray , arrow showed guts. … assuming a one lung and gut how long do you wait…

My fear with leaving a deer is not really even knowing how long it’s dead. If I shoot at 5:00 ad don’t recover until 7 the next morning AND the deer died shortly after the shot…that a long time for the meat to be cooling down with the guts in there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have the same concern and that is the main reason why I would never leave one overnight.  
 

If I ever served our kids some gut-tainted venison they would stop eating it completely, and that would be the end of life as we know it.  

Edited November 29, 2021 by wolc123

[mlammerhirt]

So opening day I shot a buck at 75 yards quartering towards me. He walked down the the edge of the woodline around 200 yards and when he hit 75 yards he began to quarter so I gave him a meeehh...which froze him in his tracks and I carefully picked a spot right behind his shoulder and shot. Shot looks good.....he does a 180...takes off across the field hauling all the way to the opposite woodline 225 yards away. My son and I go out and look....don't see the deer in the field laying anywhere..so I climb a near by ladder stand and nothing. Deer has vanished into the woods. So we go inspect POI and find white hair and no blood. Decide to wait an hour and make out way to the far woodline and start looking for blood. We come up with nothing....go back to POI and start over. Walk back to the woodline and still don't see anybody until I walk on a used trial a few steps and look down once hitting the woods and finally see decent blood. We visually scan the woods in front of us ans don't see a thing and decide to back out without entering. We went to lunch ans picked up the track around 1:45.....the deer was shot around 8:26. So we get on last blood and follow a drop here and a drop there. We are also realizing he is only bleeding from the entrance. We advanced blood a good 70 yards and finally find what looks to be a fresh bed with blood. Then one more drop and blood vanished as well did the deer. At some point he must have been bumped outta that bed and basically we knew the only he could go was down since this endge of the property funneled down to a creek. After about 5 minutes of searching in different spots I see my buddy raise his gun and put it down. He waves us over and says look across the creek I think the deer is dead over there. Sure as heck he was another 100 yards down the revine and across the creek piled up. Once I got across and lifted him up blood stated to pour out of the entrance....and he stunk to high heavens. I quickly gutted him and determined I hit back on one lung, basically went through the stomach and buried the slug in the opposite side hip. Long story short....this deer was tore up and traveled around 300 yards before bedding and another 100 when bumped. Bled very little and shot was pretty solid bit a tad high. Was my toughest recovery ever but also the most rewarding since it was my first opening day deer with my oldest son. 1st pic is of hair at POI. 2nd is first blood found 225 away. 3rd is his bed and 4th is where he died. 5th pic you can see where the shot entered the deer....it's near my sons left hand in the picture.

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

[crappyice]

So opening day I shot a buck at 75 yards quartering towards me. He walked down the the edge of the woodline around 200 yards and when he hit 75 yards he began to quarter so I gave him a meeehh...which froze him in his tracks and I carefully picked a spot right behind his shoulder and shot. Shot looks good.....he does a 180...takes off across the field hauling all the way to the opposite woodline 225 yards away. My son and I go out and look....don't see the deer in the field laying anywhere..so I climb a near by ladder stand and nothing. Deer has vanished into the woods. So we go inspect POI and find white hair and no blood. Decide to wait an hour and make out way to the far woodline and start looking for blood. We come up with nothing....go back to POI and start over. Walk back to the woodline and still don't see anybody until I walk on a used trial a few steps and look down once hitting the woods and finally see decent blood. We visually scan the woods in front of us ans don't see a thing and decide to back out without entering. We went to lunch ans picked up the track around 1:45.....the deer was shot around 8:26. So we get on last blood and follow a drop here and a drop there. We are also realizing he is only bleeding from the entrance. We advanced blood a good 70 yards and finally find what looks to be a fresh bed with blood. Then one more drop and blood vanished as well did the deer. At some point he must have been bumped outta that bed and basically we knew the only he could go was down since this endge of the property funneled down to a creek. After about 5 minutes of searching in different spots I see my buddy raise his gun and put it down. He waves us over and says look across the creek I think the deer is dead over there. Sure as heck he was another 100 yards down the revine and across the creek piled up. Once I got across and lifted him up blood stated to pour out of the entrance....and he stunk to high heavens. I quickly gutted him and determined I hit back on one lung, basically went through the stomach and buried the slug in the opposite side hip. Long story short....this deer was tore up and traveled around 300 yards before bedding and another 100 when bumped. Bled very little and shot was pretty solid bit a tad high. Was my toughest recovery ever but also the most rewarding since it was my first opening day deer with my oldest son. 1st pic is of hair at POI. 2nd is first blood found 225 away. 3rd is his bed and 4th is where he died. 5th pic you can see where the shot entered the deer....it's near my sons left hand in the picture.

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

Awesome tracks and congrats.

The “quartering to” shots are truly proving to be the most challenging. My biggest problem is recognizing what is truly broadside. I thought for sure my bow doe was broad side and yet looking at entry exit in the ribs clearly she was quartering to.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chef]

One lung and guts I treat as a gutshot.  Deer can go a long ways and sometimes survive a one lung hit.

My one question to this and not denying you are the expert but I’ve always recovered a one lung and gut shot deer pretty quickly. For a shot to hit a lung and also guts it would have to cut the diaphragm. Wouldn’t this kill pretty quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ncountry]

7 minutes ago, Chef said:

My one question to this and not denying you are the expert but I’ve always recovered a one lung and gut shot deer pretty quickly. For a shot to hit a lung and also guts it would have to cut the diaphragm. Wouldn’t this kill pretty quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm not Tom.;)

 But the buck I helped track this year was 1 lung and guts. I was amazed we jumped him over 5 hrs later.

In the past I was always insistent that if you punched through ,even a little , in front of the diaphragm they were dead in short order.. It has been increasingly obvious that doesn't always hold true.

[outdoorstom]

11 minutes ago, Chef said:

My one question to this and not denying you are the expert but I’ve always recovered a one lung and gut shot deer pretty quickly. For a shot to hit a lung and also guts it would have to cut the diaphragm. Wouldn’t this kill pretty quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not always. This pic is blood from a suspected one lung and liver hit and the deer was not found.  Unfortunately, no dog was available, but a lot of people grid searched for hours.