Hit a nice one last night.......

[Trout_Slayer_77]

I hit a nice buck last night but we were not able to find any blood then it rained over night, washing away any blood that may have been there. We found all of the arrow except for about 4 inches with the broadhead about 100 yards away this morning. We looked and looked but could not find the deer. The deer was broadside at about 20 yards when I shot it, I was about 15 feet up in a tree stand. Any thoughts were I hit it? We are guessing the front shoulder being only 4 inches of the arrow are missing.

I am going to be sick for awhile over this one, I just hope he is still alive!

[Musky Buck]

I have no clue where you hit it, you took the shot, how dark was it ? What did it act like after the shot ? This is why I approve of a dog on a leash for recovery on private land for sure, my dog could find a mouse terd in a section of land. I'd rather have a hunter find a mortally wounded deer then to go back out and drill another. I'm not saying you mortally wounded it but my dog could find it in a heartbeat if it's down for good rain or not. My uncle found 1 a couple weeks ago, the hunter after discussion was within 50 yards of it when he lost blood, the deer goes to waste but I bet his black lab could've found it for him. Don't take any of this the wrong way, it happens to quite a few hunters. I just wish people could use a leashed dog on private land to help find it if other attempts fail.

[96trigger]

I don't know where you hit it, but it sucks. Tough call, I'm not going to judge you. You could have hit it just about anywhere. I have hit two deer that barely bled until the deer tipped over and died, then there was blood everywhere. You might need to just go out and look for him some more. Go in the morning and listen for the crows. I have never done that but I hear it works.

I would love to see the state allow for licensed deer trackers using dogs. I don't want joe blow's lab out there, (no offense to yours Muskybuck, but I'm sure, especially with some of your stories, that you can relate), but If a guy was trained, had a trained dog just for tracking deer, I do not see how that could be a bad thing?

[rbs]

di you hear a big "crack" when the arrow hit? might have stuck him in the shoulder with only 4" missing...might make it if you don't find him dead. Good luck and keep looking!

[sticknstring]

Sounds like a shoulder blade hit to me. With 3-4" of penetration, chances are pretty good that buck is alive and well. Not a good feeling, but it goes away. Pick a hair on the next one and redeem yourself.

[96trigger]

Was there any blood on the arrow? At 20 yards, what did you see? I'm wondering if the he hit vitals, the arrow lodged into the other shoulder blade and snapped off when it ran away. 20 yards is pretty close.

You gotta give us more info. Quartering away? Hit it high? How long did you let it lay, etc.... ? Be honest, good shot, bad shot? There are some very experienced people on here that might be able to help.

[mrklean]

i know a guy from wisconsin who just a few weeks ago did the same thing and it was a shoulder hit, never found the deer, keep us posted hope you find it

[sticknstring]

With only 4" of arrow missing, the arrow didn't travel through the deer into the opposite shoulder. It's possible he went through the scapula and got one lung though. Hard to say with no sign to follow. I would guess/hope non-fatal shoulder hit.

[96trigger]

I was thinking the arrow may have broke off inside the the deer, if the shaft was bloody that couild have happened, if not, you are definitely right, only 4 inches of penetration sounds like a shoulder hit and the deer will more than likely keep running.

[Musky Buck]

I agree with that trigger, I know what you mean. Leashed on private, the dog would be 5 feet in front of the hunter, if you come to a property line you'd have to head for home and contact that landowner and this doesn't happen too often maybe more often than I thought but only if a hunter comes forth with the news. I just wish some of the unwantonly wasted deer could get a tag on em because apparently the hunter wanted em. But, to every positive comes a negative, for me I wouldn't want my leg lifting canine smelling up my hunting grounds, but if he could find it I'd be happy. Then I'd take him home and kennel him up. Thus far I would've never needed him, but someday who knows.

[Trout_Slayer_77]

Honestly, when I shot I thought it was just behind the shoulder but possibly a little high. However if it was behind the shoulder I would think that I should have gotten a lot more penetration. It was pretty much completely broadside. I was hunting in a pretty think cedar swamp so the problem is I could only see it for about 5 yards after I shot, then I heard it crashing through the swamp for probably 100 yards or so. It was just before sunset, but in the swamp it was fairly dark already. I let it lay about 45 minutes last night, but we didn't get more than 75 yards from where I shot it when looking last night. We were out there at 7:30 again this morning. The arrow had some dried blood right where it broke off and there was one drop of blood on a leaf near the arrow. In the dark last night we could not find any blood and I assuming the rain washed away any blood that was there (the blood we found on the leaf was on the dry side of the leaf).

I am heading out hunting in the morning again, hopefully the rain will be done by then. I plan to sit in the same stand so it will give me a chance to listen for crows.

[Musky Buck]

Good luck and I hope you find em or better yet he comes limping by and you can tattoo him for good. That rain didn't help ya out. Best of luck.

[PC's]

Thats too bad. i feel for, thats my biggest fear. My guess is that buggers downed out in the swamp. Id give one more try even if it takes hours of hard swamp tredging. cause if it is dead theres going to be LOTS of maggots, coyote, crows, hawks, and other worthless scavangers having a free lunch. We wouldent want that. But things happen. I lost a nice doe back in 89, i was sick and dident hunt the rest of the season. i spent 3 long days looking and even brought the dog in but no luck. one can only hope it survived or was taken by another hunter, anything positive. my advice is to bring a good dog down there and just say your taking him for a walk, perfectally legal right?

[ChrisT]

It's possible you caught one of the bodies of his spine. There is a thick section of bone just below the spinal chord. I stuck a buck a couple years back at a very sharp downward angle figuring that if I didn't sneak past the spine I would drop him right there, but that did not work out. I got very minimal penitration and never found any sign or the deer.

[PC's]

Spinal shots are tuough. Its awsoeme when it works out though. But then ya gotta give them the coup de grace as quick as possible because ther still alive. prolly cant feel nothin though.

[james_walleye]

More than 1 person has found a lost buck by going out in the morning and listening for the crows. Give it a try...

[luckey]

Usually by the time the crows, ravens, and eagles are at the scene, it's too late to save any venison. However, you could recover the antlers and know that the deer is dead.

[PC's]

Yea by now that buck would be done

[walleyehunter80]

I have had the miss fortune of loosing 2 deer in the 16 years that I have been hunting, and a rule of thumb for me is If I hit and loose a deer my tag is gone and does not get filled.

[deerminator]

I have had the miss fortune of loosing 2 deer in the 16 years that I have been hunting, and a rule of thumb for me is If I hit and loose a deer my tag is gone and does not get filled.

That's a noble personal choice. I have hit and lost one in six years of hunting but kept hunting with the only tag I had in a lottery zone. I personally wouldn't quit or consider myself done for the year, but would rather get back out there and learn from the experience. Losing the deer I did sucked. There's no other way to explain it. I felt awful for weeks. But then a wise old hunter explained to me the need to learn from the experience and not make the mistake again, or at least do everything within my control to not let it happen again. And he explained how nothing goes to waste, how the coyotes, crows, and other varmints would feast. That at least made me feel better and go back out there and keep connecting successfully on deer with my bow. If I had quit for the year after missing on that deer, I believe I would have a poor attitude on bowhunting the next year and going forward.

[walleyehunter80]

thats how I lost my second deer, hit it high and it went about 200 yards into a very thick patch of willows so we let it lay for about 5 hours went in after it and had the rear half eatten off it by coyotes

[walleyehunter80]

oh yeah "The Feeling" you or anyone gets after loosing a deer I cant even begin to explain what its like. Made me want to quite hunting for a few years, i didnt, but have learned allot from the 2 situations

[John478]

Know the feeling, makes you sick to your stomach. Same thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago. Hit him in the shoulder blade, seen the arrow sticking out of him when he ran off. I didn’t have a good feeling about it right from the get go. I waited a hour before I started looking for him. Didn’t find any blood for about the first 30-40 yards but then he was leaving a pretty good trail. I called my son to come help look. We spent 4 hours tracking him for about a mile. Though some of the thickest [PoorWordUsage], up and down big ravens and we never found a spot where it looked like he had laid down.

I relive that shoot about 20 times a day in my head

[Jig4All]

I have only lost one deer in 20 years of deer hunting. I hit her high at 25 yards with my now and as she ran away it was below the spine above the lungs and sticking out both sides. She broke the arrow off running away and we tracked her for 3 hours in the dark. We then backed out and decided to let her lay. The next day we picked up the trail and tracked her 2 miles to a highway. She never laid down that next day. It sucked but after that effort I felt confident she survived the hit.

The only other deer I had lost was a paunch shot deer rifle hunting as a 14 year old kid. Tracked her for 2 hours and lost blood. My cousin found her 100 yards away from where we lost blood 2 hours later all piled up. At least we got her.

[bhuntr]

Take your dog out "hunting" they have a hell of a nose for "foul" a buddy of mine has stumbled upon a ____ he had shot while out with his dog bird hunting, IT PAYS TO LOOK. If there is any water in the area focus on that, liver or paunch hits will head for water, I heard those areas also hold birds, after all you were the one who dropped the string, you know what the hit was, THEY ALLLLL Deserve a second, third, and fourth look, if he was good enough to let er fly, it is good enough to take the dog out bird hunting! Good luck, I once found a elk due to those crows also!!