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

Question on shot

cybball

cybball

Well-Known Member
I hit a nice buck last night at 5:30. I hit him a little higher than I wanted (5 inches from top of back). Thing is, I was really high up in a stand, so my arrow angled down a bit and came out lower. My arrow was sticking out of both sides of him equally when he turned and ran. The shot hit him about mid body, but I thought it may have been forward just enough to possible clip a lung (hopefully). He ran north along the timber and then cut in to the east. I saw him running in the timber with his tail up. We looked for blood at around 7:30 and found absolutely nothing. I'm going back out today at noon after work. Anyone ever had this happen? I'm going to walk the deer trails in the woods where he went, but without blood, its going to be tough. How should I tackle this? I can't imagine he's alive.
 
I hit one similarly a few years back. Ended up liver/ gutshot. No blood since intestines blocked the exit hole. Thought the deer was lost but a close friend told me to look at the closest water. Ended up finding the deer belly down in the water a quarter mile away.
You probably will have a good chance finding the arrow if it was below the belly (might get pulled out or break off in the brush). Take a friend and do a grid search from the last point you saw him. I know it sucks to lose one /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif hope this helps. Good luck
 
I agree with the water idea. If your arrow was lower it may pull through or snap off on the brush.

Good luck
 
Are you sure you were on the right trail? Sometimes in the dark its simply that DARK. When you go back today start over from your stand, and move slow. Im sure your going to find this one today so let us all know.
 
Not sure on the trail. He ran 70 yards north and cut in. It was dark dark last night and we didn't find any blood. As far as water, there is a large creek 10 yards from my stand, so he won't have to go far to get to it. He may have actually crossed it. The block of timber he ran into borders this creek. I never saw him come out.
The hit was 5 inches down and I'm guessing it exited 3 inches lower on the far side. I hit him at 25 yards. The exit hole was definately lower, but not a ton. I know there is a space that you can hit that is "empty". I'm hoping that's not the case. I'm wondering if he's bleeding internally.
The plan is a grid search if we come up empty on blood. Should be an interesting afternoon. I can't stomach losing him. Nicest buck I've ever hit with a bow.
 
that sounds like liver for sure, id bet he's dead out there waiting for you to come give him a ride in your pickup!
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
keep us posted!!!!
 
I am very confident that deer is dead. 5" high on the entry side at 25 yards is borderline but hopefully you caught vitals on the way out. I PROMISE there is blood but at night it is VERY difficult sometime. You can be 2 feet off the blood and think he isn't bleeding at all. Start where shot him and find blood first and then go from there. I would bet alot of $ that if you are persistent and take your time you will find him. High wound will take a bit to fill and flow and especially when he starts walking is when he'll bleed well. Don't quit on this one...I think you will have your best bow kill!
 
One thing that most people probably don't realize is that the liver is located on the right side of the abdominal cavity (between the body wall and the midline of the abdomen). The large rumen (holding tank of 4-part stomach) is why. So dependiing on which side the deer is hit and the angle, not all deer hit to the far tail end of the chest cavity will get hit in the liver. There are blood vessels in the abdomen that will kill a deer as fast as a double lung hit, but won't hardly leave a blood trail: Portal vein, descending aorta, caudle vena cava, etc. Ask me how I know.
 
Good luck. At midbody with a high entry point, sounds like a good potential for rear of lungs. With the arrow shaft blocking both entry and exit though, not surprising there's no blood. Hopefully you can track his movement or guess it correctly to the point where he sheared the arrow if he did. Maybe blood will pick up at that point. Otherwise it's grid search and hope. I just went through that and hope you have better results than I.
 
No luck. I looked EVERYWhere for blood. Nothing. I did a grid search of the entire block of timber and nothing. I walked every deer trail and persistantly looked for blood on every trail. Nothing. No arrow, no nothing. I can't believe it. Must have hit him just high enough not to hit vitals. Not one single speck of blood, that I could find anyway.
 
That makes me sick for you and brings back bad memories for myself... Try takin a dog, I know several people that have pickem em up that way...
 
i had one like that last year. shot him at 25 yards broadside with a crimson cuda expandable (which are junk broadheads). found just a few drops here and there, just enough to let us know which way he is going, even after the arrow came out. wasn't a pass thru though, it hit the rib cage on the other side and stopped. shot him at about 8:30 a.m. called a buddy to help search. we finally found him about noon laying dead by the side of the creek. arrow had dark blood with a few bubbles on it, indicating a lung hit. turned out i hit the back of both lungs, but he still ran about 500 yards. the morel of the story is blood means everything in this game. i switched to the rage 2 blade. i have some people i know that shoot them and swear by the blood trail they leave.
i hope you find him, but unfortunately it happens to the best of us.

good luck
 
Thanks guys. Totally stinks. I'll be back out this weekend. My main focus now will be my 13 year old getting one.
I'm using a Wasp Jackhammer expandable, which normally open deer wide open. Just my luck.
Good luck to you guys and shoot straight (lower than me /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif )
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom