Deer down!

[threeway]

last night I put a pretty good hit on a nice buck. My question is, have any of you not found blood? Then found the deer? I know a hit him, besides the smoke, I heard the definent "thud" or hollow sound of hitting his chest. He was only 20 yds away, so I cant mistake that sound. With the smoke, ground hunting, I couldnt really see his reaction. But, I looked where he was standing and there was no blood. I didnt persue him yet, until later today. Is it possible he could be bleeding internal? At that distance I would imagine there should have been blood, right? Any suggestions or stories would help.

Thanks

[BucksnDucks]

If you hit him, he will bleed plain and simple. The red snow should be ur tell-tale sign if theres a hit. No red no hit!

[Realtor Boy]

I had one this year do the samething. He didnt leave blood for 40 yards or so. With this snow that came inI would have looked for him lastnight, there will be no blood trail anymore..

[tedl]

I have had this happen to me before. I had no blood, found him maybe 20 yards from were I shot him. When I did find him there was no blood on his hide, but when I opened him up he was full of blood. I think you will find this guy for sure. Keep us posted.

[Matt Breuer]

Shot one w/ the smoke-pole last year at 20 yards, didn't find blood for 30-40 yards, then just a few sprinkles. He was dead 10 yards up-trail. No clue how it's possible, exit-hole was nice, right through the cavity.

Adversly, my buddy shot at a nice 10 last weekend at 23 yards. Looked everywhere for blood, and followed his tracks for 200 yards to his bed. No blood. He swore he hit him, and at 23 yards I would sure hope so, but he must've clean missed!

[NoWiser]

Two years ago I was muzzleloader hunting after a fresh snowfall. A nice doe came by about 30 or 40 yards away and I took the shot. It was so easy of a shot I thought nothing of it and walked down to where she was standing when I pulled the trigger. I could see her tracks in the fresh, white snow, but not a drop of blood or hair on the ground. I was in disbelief. I followed the tracks for 50 or 60 yards and not one single speck of blood on the snow. I was going to walk back to my stand to wait for awhile before I continued looking (figured I missed her, though) but decided to follow the tracks up a small hill and peak over the top to see if I could see the deer, and she was laying dead at the top. I couldn't believe it so I retraced her tracks to where I shot her and there was absolutely not one speck of blood on the ground. When I dressed her out there was a hole right through her heart, the bullet never expanded. Two days earlier I had taken another "gimmee" shot at a doe and after hours of looking (took the next morning off of work) could not find blood or the deer so now I always wonder if the same thing happened. I was shooting Powerbelts, by the way (for the last time).

So, the "no red no hit" is definitely not always true. The first speck of blood was 3 feet from where she was laying.

Good luck finding your buck.

[mabr]

Word of advice! get on him asap! There should be some evidence of a hit in the immediate area but unless your very diligent alot of people overlook it or just dont look good enough. Take your time, dont get frustrated, keep a positive attitude in trailing. It a rewarding feeling finding a deer after a long trailing job, knowing that most people would have never found that deer, but you did.

If you dont find him youll know you gave it everything you had and it will make the nightmares somewhat easier.

Good luck.

Oh if you have anyone to go help you it will make it alot easier too. designate one person to be the tracker, to many people can be a hinderance more than help when following blood. Just dont get ahead of the sign.

[RumRiverRat]

I killed a doe in WI this with a 1 oz Federal Barnes Xpander 12ga slug.

There was not a drop of blood on the ground.

I just went to where I shot her and followed the trail she took after the shot. It was a 15 yard shot so I knew I hit her, I watched her go down the trail and heard her fall and thrash in the brush. She was dead 30 yards away.

[Musky Buck]

The buck I hit 8 days ago bled internally, but there was no snow yet and the swamp wasn't frozen, but I saw him go down so I didn't worry about trailing or looking. I would've got on him last night knowing what the weather was going to do, good luck though !

[jnorm1984]

Buddy a mine shot a doe last year with the muzzleloader, only about 30 yrds away, got down couldnt find any blood, no sign, went and got back up in the stand...luckily enough I was sittin about 500 yrds away and saw the deer hobble real bad as it went down into a thicket. When it was time to leave I walked up his way and looked where I saw the deer go in, and sure enough she was layin dead. I followed the blood back toward his stand, and the blood didnt start for a solid 100yrds from where he shot her-- Good luck finding you deer, dont know why they dont bleed all the time like they should- but deer can go a long ways in a short amount of time after you shoot, especially if there keyed up when you take the shot.

[BobT]

If you hit him, he will bleed plain and simple. The red snow should be ur tell-tale sign if theres a hit. No red no hit!

Not necessarily. We hit two this year that had to be tracked with no blood trail to follow.

My daughter lung shot a buck but there was no indication at the site that she had hit it. No blood, no hair, no tracks. I began a systematic grid-like search and found it about 25 yards away. The only blood I found was at the place where the deer laid.

My nephew hit one that same day with about 15 minutes left in the day. We found about 6 tiny drops of blood where he hit the deer but no trail to follow. Based on his description we figured the deer traveled south. It got too dark to track so we waited until the next morning. I again began a search and eventually found that one about 30 yards away from where he hit it. Again, no blood anywhere accept where it laid. It too was lung shot.

[Musky Buck]

Right on mabr, without snow or in water etc. sometimes you can think you are looking where the deer was standing when you shot, sometimes it's closer but often times it's a bit further away then what a guy thought especially once you climb down and realize how thick of cover you are hunting. Also, morning hunts are different then evening, morning you have time on your side, evening you have darkness etc. making it tougher.

[fr0sty]

I second this. The deer I shot during mz was about 30 or 40 yards away. I thought I hit it.

Got down and looked where I thought she was standing. Didn't see any blood. Went back to my stand and thought some more. Went back down and looked around more, finding the tracks and following them a bit. Didn't find any blood.

From that I thought I missed. On the way out we found the blood. It was at least 40 yards from where I thought she was standing when I shot. It didn't start real fast either, but as the trail went further, it really started spraying out. She ended up going about 130 yards from where she was hit.

The shot was a pass through with a good exit hole plus it went back in and broke her shoulder. It was a t/c shockwave 250 grain.

For me it's hard to know for sure where they are when I shoot. It's something I need to work on.

I had one this year do the samething. He didnt leave blood for 40 yards or so. With this snow that came inI would have looked for him lastnight, there will be no blood trail anymore..

[threeway]

So far good news. The gentlman that are looking for this deer, bless them, -27 wind, -2 below, for me, FOUND BLOOD! ..... So its hit. They will be looking until they find it, I'll start after work as well... I would imagine I should look off main trails, under bushes, etc.....

[Musky Buck]

Good deal and good luck, wasn't sure how much snow you got your way, might have to thaw it a bit to gut it at this point, hopefully he'll have to deal with that.

[mabr]

Good to hear they found blood. Good luck and keep us posted.

[panthrcat]

any luck finding him??

[threeway]

Looked for two hours last night, more blood. But very little here and there. I believe now its headed toward some very thick cover that is only 15 acres. Sat, we have a search party of about 12-15 guys searching with me. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[Archerysniper]

The yotes will have him drug out for you by then

[threeway]

The deer has been found! 19.5 inside, 21.5 outside spread, 10 pts. Thanks for all the input on this. The deer was 50 yds away from where last blood was found, and about 300 yds from where I shot it. It was hit just above the lungs, and under the spine. Not a great shot, but still got him. No yotes, either. The deer was still warm enough for gutting? Believe it or not, but it was still not frozen solid since Tuesday night. Anyway, I can finally sleep!

[Muskie456]

Congrats and good job sticking with it. Let's see photos!!!!

[Musky Buck]

Sleep away threeway and way to persist. Sounds like a good deer and I'm sure if you can post a picture we'd love to see him. Good Job and it raises a good ? for hunters, knowing it's a good good buck does that make people persist harder then lets say a fawn ? I would tend to think so and 3way I'm not trying to guess as to if you guys would've kept after a fawn or whatever, I know the answer should be any wounded deer should get maximum effort but in reality like the scenario I mentioned would it? Interesting on still being warm enough to gut, but can't doubt ya because you gutted it !

[InTheNorthwoods]

The deer has been found! 19.5 inside, 21.5 outside spread, 10 pts. Thanks for all the input on this. The deer was 50 yds away from where last blood was found, and about 300 yds from where I shot it. It was hit just above the lungs, and under the spine. Not a great shot, but still got him. No yotes, either. The deer was still warm enough for gutting? Believe it or not, but it was still not frozen solid since Tuesday night. Anyway, I can finally sleep!

Congrats on finding the deer, now lets see some pics!

By the way, I don't think its possible to hit under the spine but above the lungs based upon anatomy, so you likely got the top of the lungs if you were under the spine. Its amazing how far a deer can go on a high lung or one lung hit. Tough buggers.

[threeway]

I hit it in what bow hunters call the "dead zone".

[threeway]

I hear ya on the fawn thing. Even though I'm only a trophy or quality deer person, I guess I would persue any animal and give them respect regardless of size. But, I can see how some may not think its not important because I can shoot another the next day or evening, or think they missed and not check. But, I believe most hunters give it a good effort until satified.

The guts were just starting to get cold, but not froze. Cant determine if the meat is good or bad yet? Let you know after skinning. The deer are REALLY feeding with these temps. I must have had 60-70 deer in the field last night while I was in the swamp looking for my deer.