Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Need help!!! Tracking buck shot with muzzleloader in shoulder

buckfever57

buckfever57

bowhunt or die
Lastnight was out hunting and had group of deer come out in field I was sitting in with a nice buck. I stalked down the field edge to get closer because was running out of day light. I got with in 150 yds of buck and the does hopped fence to my left and we're 30 yds from me. I waited till the buck was at about 100 yds and turned broadside and took the shot. After smoke cleared I saw him standing at about 80yds broadside and confused as to what had happened. So I reloaded and made sure I was dead steady this time and put it on him and shot again.

This time I see him react and fell face first and ran off. He wasn't in too much of a hurry just kinda slow trot but he lifted his right leg up to his shoulder and was not using it when he ran off.

We then backed out and went home to get better lights to track him. After 45 mins we got back to the field and started looking where I shot him. We found blood at impact and followed foot tacks in snow since it was in middle of bean field it wasn't hard to follow deer tracks that only used 3 legs. For about 150 yds there was little to no blood. And by that I mean maybe a drop every 20 to 30 feet. Once he got to timber edge.150 yds from where I had shot him there was a good spray of blood and that was consistent for 40 yds as he went down the ridge.

We followed his tracks to bottom of hill and lost blood 150 yds from the top of hill where the good spray was. I hung my orange vest there and backed out to look in morning. My question is has anyone had this happen or have any tips for me? I'm using 240 grain xtp bullets with 100 grains of white hots and I know I'm dead on at 100 with my cva optima with nikon in line scope. And also know the bullets expand very good after I dug them out of dirt at my shooting range. How should I go about tracking this deer? Do you think he will be dead with a hit like that? If I can't find blood how should I track him... just look for body? I can't follow tracks at bottom of hill because there is tons of other tracks from all the other deer so is impossible to track him. I'm gonna have a sleepless night for sure!!! Thanks for any help!
 
ive had multiple rough recoveries with my muzzeloader and I'm shooting same gun as you and my advise that ive learned the hard way is if I don't see that deer fall over or have an iffy
blood trail I'll back out wait till morning which is hard to do I've bumped a few and made it more difficult to find. sounds like to me you Definetly broke front leg or shoulder or combination there off assuming u probably got some vitals as well he should be dead. I've had bad blood trails with my muzzeloader despite bullet placed perfectly. I would wait till good morning light and try to pick up trail again you will be surprised what u can miss with a flashlight. if u lose it and can't find blood start doing small circle grid checks till u pick it up again and yes worse case get some buddies and do a grid search check the thickest cover u can find and don't leave any water sources unckecked. I think u will find him best of luck keep us posted.
 
I've had a similar experience this year with the 240 grain xTP. Several shots and almost no blood trail. Ive read that the 300 grain xtp are much better so im going to try them next year.

I'm glad you got a second shot of. It does sound like you made a good enough hit to harvest the buck. Good luck finding him. Post Picts when you do.
 
You blew his front leg off from the sound of it. A busted shoulder deer will not lift that leg off the ground because he can't. It will swing. Continue tracking but I doubt you find him.
 
If I'm doing the math right, you left the trail 300+ yards from where you hit him? Doesn't mean you won't recover him, but does mean you didn't get a solid double lung hit. You did the right thing by backing out. Grab a buddy or two this morning, and if you don't have blood, begin a grid search expanding from where you left off last night. Good luck…hope you find him!

NWBuck
 
I suspect you hit him low right around where leg is same height as belly. Most likely did not get vitals. I have done it before but eventually got them through a follow up shot or push him out.
 
Sounds like you hit his leg just below elbow, not in the body. That is only a fatal hit if you caught a big blood vessel too. If he keeps bleeding he will die. If not a broken leg won't kill him. Good luck with the search.
 
HorseDoctor said:
Sounds like you hit his leg just below elbow, not in the body. That is only a fatal hit if you caught a big blood vessel too. If he keeps bleeding he will die. If not a broken leg won't kill him. Good luck with the search.
Click to expand...

I don't think I hit in lower leg. I have hit some that way when I used to shotgun hunt and the leg would drag and dangle. This buck crumpled his leg to his chest and fell on his face before he trotted off. To me it seems like I hit shoulder but idk. This is first deer I have shot with muzzleloader. I switch bullets from the powerbelt aerolite because when dug bullets out of dirt bank all I could find were fragments and my cousin was using the 240 grain xtp bullets and when we dug them out it expanded to 3x the size of normal. I've seen awesome reviews of this bullet so I can't blame it on not performing unless if I did hit shoulder that it either fragmented or never caught vitals. I guess we will see when I head back out.
 
I'm guessing you got somewhat of a chest shot based on your description of the blood trail. From my experience, a muscle hit leaves very consistent blood for several hundred yards. Not a lot of blood, however, but consistent. Based on what you have described, I want to say perhaps you hit him a little high and a little forward up toward where the shoulder blade meets the base of the neck. Hard to say. If it was a fatal shot, I wouldn't think he would make it too much further than you already tracked him. Best of luck and keep us posted!
 
Sounds like a high leg shot @ the chest line. As far the XTPs, I've never had one expand hardly at all in a deer. They are too hard & usually just pass right on through w/ out much of an exit hole...for me anyways. But I agree, they do expand in dirt. Hope you find him, good luck
 
Well spent a day and half looking for the buck with no luck.. started back at spot where I shot him and there was blood splatter at impact and then followed his tracks for 50 yds till next drop of blood. Once he got to edge of timber there was a nice spray of blood then very little to bottom of hill. So in 300 yds there was only one good spot of blood. We searched our property and neighboring timbers with no luck or sign of the buck.

That makes 2 bucks this season that we have failed to find because blood stops and we searched every inch of the property. Both the one I shot at and the one my cousin shot were under 80 yds. We are both using 240 grain thompson center xtp hollow points and 100 grains of white hot powder. We are both sighted in for 100 yds and have under inch groups at 100. Idk bout his shot if he rushed but I know for a fact that when I shot the second time I had it square on his shoulder and I know I hit where I was aiming because his shoulder crumpled on impact.

I'm dumbfounded on what to do. If it only happened to one of us I could see it being our fault on shot placement. But I know both of us are better shots than that. I don't wanna blame the bullets because all the reviews I have seen is that they perform but maybe with only 100 grains they are not opening up like they should and are just punching holes in them. Maybe I should step up to magnum loads or a different powder.

I'm thinking bout stepping up to 150 grains of triple 7 and either the new federal 270 grain bullets or use a 300 grain bullet. What do you guys think? It don't make us mad that we can't find the buck but we both hate to wound the deer. I want something that with out a doubt will kill the deer quickly and with a good blood trail. It seems like all the videos I see of muzzleloader hunting is any shot under 150 yds most if not all the deer drop in their tracks or have a very hard time making it past 100 yds. Should I switch or stay? I just don't want to wound another one... thanks for the help
 
Why are you trying to punch through the shoulder? Check out the anatomy of a deer and go behind it. I would change to different bullets or head shoot them. Don't go to far then.:)
 
I have had similar experiences. It did NOT get better until I changed bullets.

Shoot in the head if you cannot pitch these bullets.
 
buckfever57 said:
Well spent a day and half looking for the buck with no luck.. started back at spot where I shot him and there was blood splatter at impact and then followed his tracks for 50 yds till next drop of blood. Once he got to edge of timber there was a nice spray of blood then very little to bottom of hill. So in 300 yds there was only one good spot of blood. We searched our property and neighboring timbers with no luck or sign of the buck.

That makes 2 bucks this season that we have failed to find because blood stops and we searched every inch of the property. Both the one I shot at and the one my cousin shot were under 80 yds. We are both using 240 grain thompson center xtp hollow points and 100 grains of white hot powder. We are both sighted in for 100 yds and have under inch groups at 100. Idk bout his shot if he rushed but I know for a fact that when I shot the second time I had it square on his shoulder and I know I hit where I was aiming because his shoulder crumpled on impact.

I'm dumbfounded on what to do. If it only happened to one of us I could see it being our fault on shot placement. But I know both of us are better shots than that. I don't wanna blame the bullets because all the reviews I have seen is that they perform but maybe with only 100 grains they are not opening up like they should and are just punching holes in them. Maybe I should step up to magnum loads or a different powder.

I'm thinking bout stepping up to 150 grains of triple 7 and either the new federal 270 grain bullets or use a 300 grain bullet. What do you guys think? It don't make us mad that we can't find the buck but we both hate to wound the deer. I want something that with out a doubt will kill the deer quickly and with a good blood trail. It seems like all the videos I see of muzzleloader hunting is any shot under 150 yds most if not all the deer drop in their tracks or have a very hard time making it past 100 yds. Should I switch or stay? I just don't want to wound another one... thanks for the help
Click to expand...

Pick up some 250 or 290grain Barnes TMZ or TEZ and you won't have to worry about blood trails from my experience.You still got to hit them good with whatever you use.

Hornady XTPs are about the worse bullet on the market. I wish they were outlawed. They punch through deer with little to no expansion. The blood trails are sparse. I have seen double lunged deer run 90 yards or so and die with only a few blood drops along the way. Hornady SSTs seem a little better but not much from what I have seen overall. Same for the TC shockwaves.

A buck shot square in the shoulders usually dies though.
 
Liv4Rut said:
Pick up some 250 or 290grain Barnes TMZ or TEZ and you won't have to worry about blood trails from my experience.You still got to hit them good with whatever you use.

Hornady XTPs are about the worse bullet on the market. I wish they were outlawed. They punch through deer with little to no expansion. The blood trails are sparse. I have seen double lunged deer run 90 yards or so and die with only a few blood drops along the way. Hornady SSTs seem a little better but not much from what I have seen overall. Same for the TC shockwaves.

A buck shot square in the shoulders usually dies though.
Click to expand...

Similarly, I have used Barnes 300gr copper Expanders for years and I cannot remember a hit on a deer that didn't result in a good, and short, blood trail and a dead deer on the other end of it. I don't know anything about the Hornaday XTP's, but it sounds like they do not expand, and if so, would not transmit much shock to the deer(target).

There is a lot to be said about the knock down value of a bullet that mushrooms on impact, as opposed to just piercing through the body. In fact, now that I think about it...at least a couple of times the Barnes Expander has mushroomed enough that it didn't create an exit wound. I know we have found the copper bullet on the other side of the deer, up against the hide, and then sliced it out with a knife.
 
Shot placement is still the #1 factor with any weapon. A deer shot square in the shoulder with a muzzeloader should have dropped in its tracks or ran a very very short distance. Ive seen a few double lung shots with hornady sst's that sure carried them a ways but they spewed blood.
Ive shot barnes tez's in 290's and 250's and ive personally never shot a deer that went more than 30 yards and that was a face on the ground skid.
Blaming a bullet is alot like blaming a broadhead, yes some may work better than others but it still has to go in the vitals for a quick effective kill
 
I shot a deer last night. Hit high shoulder and dropped him in his tracks. Then i watched him get up and walk off. I missed my second shot, started tracking last night and jumped him.

I backed out and resumed tracking this morning. Tracked blood for 3-400 yards but it was getting sparse. Ended up jumping him again but was able to finish him off. I was shooting 250g SST with 120grns by volume of Blackhorn 209. His shoulder was completely broken and had heavy damage. I had only got the top of one lung, luckily.

Feeling pretty fortunate. Might look into switching but also should have hit him better. Also, mature deer are just tough SOB with a hell of a will to live.
 
Rich77 said:
Shot placement is still the #1 factor with any weapon. A deer shot square in the shoulder with a muzzeloader should have dropped in its tracks or ran a very very short distance. Ive seen a few double lung shots with hornady sst's that sure carried them a ways but they spewed blood.
Ive shot barnes tez's in 290's and 250's and ive personally never shot a deer that went more than 30 yards and that was a face on the ground skid.
Blaming a bullet is alot like blaming a broadhead, yes some may work better than others but it still has to go in the vitals for a quick effective kill
Click to expand...

TaDah!!! I think we have a winner...;)
 
HorseDoctor said:
TaDah!!! I think we have a winner...;)
Click to expand...

Some of you guys just use this site to boost your ego don't you? I stopped using this site for a reason and looks like I'm gonna stop using it again.

There are a few people on here that are helpful and others that are idiots.... how dumb do you think I am that I would shoot at the head or not know how or where to shoot to kill and animal??? I'm more of a sportsman to shoot something in the head or spine to paralyze it.... this isn't video games.... for those of you that had intelligent answers thank you but to those others I hope you ego keeps getting bigger and you live a happy life......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom