What did I do wrong?

[pikehunter]

Great stuff guys.

To answer your questions:

* Yep, plenty of water around. Right in the middle of the public parcel is a pond/marsh. She only could have gotten into it if she doubled back, which was possible, so I walked the exterior of it looking for sign. That said, the last blood was very close to a thicket I crawled through that led to more marsh. I covered that area as best I could because it looked like the perfect place for it to have tried to get to.

* Deitz: Arrow was in good shape, and I recovered it right where the deer had stood. Plenty of pink blood on it from tip to fletch, and just a small bit of brown hair on the very tip of the broadhead. And a tiny piece of flesh, lung, or something that was stuck to the broadhead. Never thought to smell it ...

* Something I hadn't really thought about until you guys were talking about angles - the shot I took was ever-so-slightly uphill. Seems like that would probably lend itself to a single lung hit ... if in fact I hit lung.

I'm pretty sure it's dead - to respond to some other queries. While new to bowhunting, I gun hunted some in my youth, although not in the past 10 years. And this deer lost alot of blood.

My gut tells me this deer went over the hill and stood around (it's where I found the first spot of "good" blood) and spooked during our arrow recovery, ran, and then stood for a long time in the comnfort of the woods where I found last blood, and clotted slightly, at least enough to lose trail. Depending how hard it pushed, my bet is it died shortly after it started bleeding again.

Thanks for the info, honesty, and encouragement.

[spivak]

For your own peace of mind you can always go back and look for vultures, crows, eagles, or ravens. We drag our carcasses back into the trees on our land and I am amazed how they find things--even the first of the season.

[fishermatt]

Pike, I think you're getting the total picture now. After you whacked her, she stopped right over the hill, stood there, then ran to the edge of the grove when you got out of your blind. Then when you came back 90 min later she moved again. Maybe if you'd waited 4 hours instead of 90 minutes that may have been where you would've found her dead. She's bleeding out, but not all that fast. (hindsight= 20-20 of course!) It's super hard to wait when you think you made a good shot, which I think you did.

Hard lessons to learn. Most of us learn them the hard way.... like me last season....Did almost the exact same thing, but I only waited 1 hour and lost mine too. Don't be too hard on yourself, but instead learn as much as you can from the experience.

[Bear55]

Got a chuckle out of that photo.

Pike you didn't see a white cat just before you shot did you?

[pikehunter]

spivak: I actually saw vultures circling when I went back that afternoon, which was encouraging. Unfortuantely, they were so broadly circling that they offered no help.

Fishermatt: Couldn't agree more. And, lesson learned.

Bear: Yep. Cat was quartering away, or I would have shot it too.

[Scoot]

Cat was quartering away, or I would have shot it too.

Another important lesson to learn here-- cats are fair game at any angle!!!

Get back out there and get us a report about the one you double lunged and found piled up 30 yards from where you shot it!

[InTheNorthwoods]

To answer your questions:

I'm pretty sure it's dead - to respond to some other queries. While new to bowhunting, I gun hunted some in my youth, although not in the past 10 years. And this deer lost alot of blood.

Not that it relates to your situation - though it well could - but it takes a significant loss of blood to cause death. While at the same time, it can take a very little amount of blood to create a trail that you would swear was caused by a bomb going off inside a deer.

For example, think of the last time you spilled just the smallest amount of soda from a can or milk from the bottom of your glass and think of the mess it made, or think of a spray bottle of liquid that you can make a large spray pattern with quite little liquid. This is what often happens with a blood trail and often confuses most people when they see what looks like a heavy blood trail. Most kills are caused by going into shock, internal bleeding, or a loss of oxygen supply or brain function rather than by external loss of blood. So don't assume because you have what you think is a lot of blood that the deer is dead.

After reading you points, my inclination is that you hit the animal high and on an incline, and that you either missed the vitals entirely and caused a superficial wound (which can also bleed "heavily" for the distance you stated) or that you hit lung(s) high. Hearing of a deer living from high lung hits is not the most weird thing I've heard, and I believe it happens.

Hit the range, learn from your mistakes, and do everything you can to learn from this experience to be as sure as possible it doesn't happen again. It probably won't be the last time it happens, but you can and should do everything in your power to minimize the odds in the future.

[walleyemaniac]

I'd expand out farther, 200 or 300 yards isn't far for a dear to cover in a short period of time. We've actually crossed fields over a mile wide and started looking for blood along the edge of the woods on the opposite side and picked up trail again there. If you think about, it a deer crossing that open country, it's only going to take a couple of minutes. If she's filling up inside, by the angle of the shot, she might only loose a few drops covering that distance. 100 yards seems like a long ways when your on a blood trail but when you look back over your shoulder at where you shot her it's not really that far.

I'd go back out and still try to find her even if she's spoiled or half eaten by coyotes. If the area hasn't been disturbed you might still come across blood trail and learn from that for future reference. I know with the warm weather and possible rain your probably at a disadvantage but it's still a fun part of the hunt. If nothing else you'll get a better lay of the land, maybe find new trails, bedding spots, even an idea of where she was trying to get to for safety.

Just another thing I observed from the story, and I know it doesn't always work that way, but try to set up your stand to the game trail, clearings... that your hunting so the sun is at your back not the deer. They can't see into the sun any better then we can, use it to your advantage when you can.

Just my 2 cents, good luck, and like eveyone else has said it's happened to the best of us!

[pikehunter]

I might try to get back this weekend, for the sake of continued learning, but the land I was hunting is a couple hours away. You make a good point about learning more about the parcel of land however. Did I mention that during my afternoon search for the fallen doe, I pushed a big-basket-8-point out of its bed?

Thanks again to all. I've sent a link to this thread to a couple of buddies, to show them just how valuable a tool this site can be.

[vister]

I think you hit the doe low. If you have a "heavy" blood trail, that is not a characteristic of a high shot. High shots typically don't bleed out too heavily. Look at it this way. Poke a hole in a bottle of water near the cap. Take another bottle and poke a hole near the bottom. Catch my drift?! I'm going to leave it at that, as the guys have given a good amount of advice. Not much else I can add that they haven't said. Good luck

[vister]

I'd also like to add is the one thing you did wrong was let the excitement of the hunt get to ya, and you left the blind to soon!! Like mentioned, if a deer gets hit, it will likely lay down soon after bolting. But if it senses danger, you, it is going to run a lot farther trying to avoid danger. Lessons learned the hard way I guess! Deer I've lost blood on before were usually found within 20 yards of last blood, usually directly left or right. But that was on fatal shots on blood trails less than 100 yards.

[SartellMN]

I do not fault you for trailing after 90 minutes. With temperatures not that low, and good blood, I would not want to risk the meat spoiling. It is a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation.

[pikehunter]

Agreed Sartell. That was my thinking. That said, Vister - you hit it on the nose as well - it's the fact that I got out of the blind to retrieve the arrow after 10-15 minutes, not thinking she could have been standing right over the hill, 75 yards away. If I had spent that 90 minutes silently in the blind, my bet is, I'd be grilling backstraps this weekend. Rookie emotions = rookie mistakes.

[Bear55]

For example, think of the last time you spilled just the smallest amount of soda from a can or milk from the bottom of your glass and think of the mess it made, or think of a spray bottle of liquid that you can make a large spray pattern with quite little liquid. This is what often happens with a blood trail and often confuses most people when they see what looks like a heavy blood trail. Most kills are caused by going into shock, internal bleeding, or a loss of oxygen supply or brain function rather than by external loss of blood. So don't assume because you have what you think is a lot of blood that the deer is dead.

Just to add to this a little bit, often times on a good double lung hit you will see sprays of blood when the deer is running. If she ran right away and then again when you got out of the blind it would have been likely you saw some of these sprays. Like InTheNorthWoods said a little big of blood can look like a lot, if you find good but not great blood it can sometimes be a marginal hit. Pretty much all of the archery deer I have shot have been spraying blood, the couple of that I have lost had good blood and I thought I was going to find them but never did. The deer very well could be dead but I think a high or low hit is very possible here and the deer is fine.

[propster]

"I pushed a big-basket-8-point out of its bed..."

Now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one! It's a tough deal for you, and I'm not as convinced as some others about the high/low possibility. Lung blood is lung blood, and pass through helps. I do agree she's probably laying nearby and you just missed her. Or maybe not, coyotes gotta eat too. If you do go back soon and she's there she'll smell. Great effort though.

[pikehunter]

Ha! Valid point propster. To clarify: Looked like a big-bodied deer, disproportionate to the size (or at least width) of its rack.

[Bear55]

"I pushed a big-basket-8-point out of its bed..."

Now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one! It's a tough deal for you, and I'm not as convinced as some others about the high/low possibility. Lung blood is lung blood, and pass through helps. I do agree she's probably laying nearby and you just missed her. Or maybe not, coyotes gotta eat too. If you do go back soon and she's there she'll smell. Great effort though.

Even though the original poster said he thought it was lung blood I don't think we can say that with 100% certainty. I've tracked a couple of deer that were double lunged (spraying trees) and only went 50 and 75 yards and the blood looked dark. Other times I have tracked deer for myself and others that appeared to be bright red blood, with bubbles on the arrow that went miles and we never found them.

We will probably never know for sure but I think this has been a great thread, especially for those new bowhunters to read.

[fishermatt]

One more small thing I've learned: As soon as you shoot, watch and Listen. Watch where the arrow hits and how much it penetrates. Listen super carefully as the deer runs away, as you might be able to hear it stop. It might just make a few bounds to get out of sight, then stand still and try to hear or smell where the danger came from. If you know the deer is still there because the crashing away sound suddenly stopped instead of faded, stay put for a while or you might bump the deer and make your tracking job a lot harder.