Im going to be sick

[TruthWalleyes]

I've only taken 1 shot on a Deer with a bow. Thought it was a bad shot. Turned out to be a great shot after I found the deer 75 yds and hour and a half later after waiting. Deer hopped and casually walked away after I hit her.I ran that shot through my head for the hour and a half I waited a thousand times. Each time I figured I shot her low and maybe even a little back. I finally got up and stepped off the distance to where I hit her as there was fresh snow pinpointing where I let the arrow fly. After I stepped off 25yds and still hadn't hit the tracks I knew I had misjudged the distance. It was 35yds. Great blood spray. Found the arrow 15 yds further.

Good red blood on the entire arrow indicating a clean pass through. Hair all brown with no white or black indicating it wasn't extremely low or high. After examining the arrow I started looking at the blood on the ground. It was spraying out the side on the exit and entry side of the deer indicating that air is blowing the blood out of the entry and exit.

I lost a deer two or three years ago with the exact same blood splatter because I immediately chased the deer. Ended up tracking it over 5 miles of extremely tough terrain along the root river only to loose it at dark when I found its blood trail heading down the river where it likely crossed into the amazingly thick thickets by the golf course that I had been in a previous day. That deer bedded down 10+ times and I didn't know they had so much blood in them. Still amazed I lost that deer.

Any who. I was glad I had let this deer sit after the shot as I've learned that patience can mean the difference in a dead deer and a failure. Found her noproblem with what ended up being a great shot.

I love the idea of the rake.

You can learn a lot about the shot from the arrow.

If I think I hit an animal, and I haven't missed since I was a kid. I'll take the 2nd shot if given the chance.

Leave the the bow in the truck and get dog.

Walk further past the immediate area into major funnels and start looking for blood. I've seen them go 75yds before finding any blood in cattails with others deer. Nothing's perfect, glad you are putting in the effort bud.

[96trigger]

I agree with everything everyone has said. I would most definitely try and line up some buddies and see if they can help you look. Judging by your circle outline, you maybe only went 100 yds as the crow flies. If you have the spot where he stood, keep looking for tracks or any indication of where he might have went, mark it with colored tape, keep moving until you find the next track or indication. I too think you hit him forward and it went through the shoulder and never got much for penetration. This will mean very little blood but probably a dead deer somewhere.

Right now, you are probably all set to give up. Find a friend and take them with you. Somebody that can help and keep you positive can go along ways. Looking by yourself can make you stir crazy and miss things someone else might have picked up on.

[archerystud]

Zach,

It happens to everybody at some point in time. I shot my bow the other day and my arrows were 6 inches left at 20 yards. Had a big buck walked by I probably would have had a horrible shot. Bow shot fine all summer and early fall but my rest moved. A lot of different things can throw you off.

I wounded one a long time ago early season. I couldn't hunt for the next 3 weeks as I felt so bad I had hosed up an easy shot. Learn from your mistakes and make yourself a better hunt.

GOOD LUCK!!!

[Meat-Run]

You might not like this but it's your last chance of finding your buck but you need to return daily. Watch for crows, eagles and turkey vultures, it's almost a gaurantee it's something dead in the woods.

MR

[ZachD]

Just picked up some tall rubber boots its on tomorrow...

[92GSteve]

Not what I expected to hear but glad to hear you are sticking with it. Been there before and all you can do is keep looking and learn from it. Amazing how tough they are though.

[92python]

From what you drew it looks like he headed South into the swamp and there is a big trail to the West of the "pond" that runs through alders which are spots they like to bed in. The trail goes onto the next oak island South of your stand. Which way did the doe go?

[Scott K]

If you can get a metal detector, it will also help you search for an arrow on the ground.

I lost a deer last fall, and I was using lighted nochs. I could see it running away with my arrow. It was a perfect lung shot, no blood until I found my arrow about 50 yards away, then the spray was all over on the left side, entrance side. I couldnt believe the blood this thing was giving out, we ekpt thinking it cant be far, but we came to an open field, and never found a drop of blood after that. I looked for 3 days, nothing. I week later while sitting in stand, I saw crows, I walked over to the crows, and there it was. It must have walked to the field, then cut backwards, because it was about 50 yards from where I found the arrow. But the blood trail kept going solid out to the field. I assume he got to the open field, then circled back.

[Bear55]

Hit those islands to the south and west, see if you can't find him dead in some thick cover near the edge of the wet stuff. If that doesn't work and you can't find anything else start looking for crows.

[hockeybc69]

Man tough spot to be searching for a needle in the haystack.... not much worse than hoping to stumble on a deer in swamps. Walk within feet of it and wont even know it.... Take a dog for a walk as was mentioned before....

[Dave S]

Is this a drainage ditch or something zig-zagging above your area in yellow? I have seen wounded deer bed down in water to help slow the bleeding. Very good chance he laid down in there or any other pocket of water in the area.

You deserve a lot of credit for the amount of time you've put into tracking this deer. It's what any responsible hunter should do. If it turned out to be an errant shot, don't sweat it. It happens to all of us whether it's a bow or gun. Take solice in the fact you've done all you possibly could to retrieve this deer.

[ZachD]

Shot my bow this morning hoping it would be way off from walking through thick cover and its dead on.... I'm pretty confidante to say after replaying the shot in my head over and over in 90% sure I hit him. The doe went northwest an hour before I shot him and the 6 from what I could tell went straight west. The doe and the deer I shot came in from the south west corner. I will search the south west of that pound today... I'll check that drainage ditch and the little pound north of me as well

[deerminator]

Good luck and if you're that sure and didn't bump him. He has to be out there somewhere so don't lose faith. I second the dog walking. One of our beagles, one who was bred for rabbit hunting, meaning his ancestors are field champions or whatever according to the papers, goes bezerk whenever he crosses a known deer path in our woods. As an experiment, I set up a trail cam over one of the trails and when going for walks in the Summer, would run him over the trail. He would go particularly nuts if a deer had just been through the night or evening before. Also, I just got my Cabelas predator hunting catalog. Thermal scopes are about twice the cost of a guided hunt in Buffalo County WI. Would be pretty cool though for predator hunting.

[snapcrackpop]

Access to a Dog or pilot?

I m sure you dont want to give out your spot, but a crew of friends could help also.

[mrklean]

I second what Dave said gut shot deer have been known to bed in water i would walk the ditch

[ZachD]

I second what Dave said gut shot deer have been known to bed in water i would walk the ditch

I will but do you think it would head for water like that if there is a whole slough of water everywhere else some spots are a good foot some deep

[Dave S]

That might depend on if the deer felt pressured and moved out of the slough. With minimal blood to track it's hard to say but I would definitely check it out since you haven't gotten a visual on the deer after your shot.

There's also a good chance you maybe walked within a couple feet of the deer and didn't know it. I was eerily close to the biggest buck of my life as he was hiding in a clump of grass the size of your average dinner table. Bad thing was I was pheasant hunting in ND. I was within 2 feet of another on pheasant opener in SW MN.

I know this doesn't make it any easier. I hope you find him.

[Coach1310]

In following this thread a few things come to mind...

#1- The water is a good tip, but there seems to be water everywhere around there.

#2- If he is badly wounded, I have to believe he eventually sought out easy walking. I am curious as to if he doubled back from where he came. I assume he came from his bed and he feels safe there... just a thought.

#3- Good luck! It is a crappy feeling, but you never know. I was almost certain I had missed a doe a few years ago... no blood, nowhere to be found, etc... A buddy came to give it one last try and we found her about 30 yards from where I had stopped looking...

[ozzie]

A few years back my buddies and I did a drive and a doe busted out in front of us and ran in front of all 3 of us...we each put off a round or 2. We looked all over the tall grass looking for this deer for a couple hours. The next day we went and pushed the same tall grass and walked right up to the dead deer. We don't think we passed it but then again we don't know what happened as we never found a blood trail to follow even after we found the deer. We are pretty positive we had walked by that spot 3 or 4 times..in fact we took a break right near there as there was a creek we had to jump across. Deer are ftrong sneaky animals. Good Luck Zach and hope you can find him!!!

[Double]

Whether you succeed in recovering this deer or not, I applaud you for your effort & determination. Sometimes it happens, that's the nature of the beast. Even if you don't recover him, I firmly believe the Hunting Gods will take care of you one way or another. The Hunting Gods see all.

[nofishfisherman]

Something just tells me its in that swamp. Could be half covered in water or half buried under grass. I have a feeling you'll find him if you criss crossed the swamp moving over just a few feet with every new pass. This is where friends can help. You'll have to get right on top of it before you'll see it. Chances are you walked right by him on your previous search, a few feet can mean the difference between finding it and not.

We should start forming FM search parties when deer go missing like this. Not everyone has friends who can come out and help search but I bet a few local FM members would be willing to lend a few hours. If I wasn't at work and lived reasonably close I'd be more than willing to come out and search with you for an afternoon. Of course discretion would be important in not sharing others secret hunting locations.

[Musky Buck]

Keep an eye out for hawks, eagles, ravens and crows.

[mwal]

My son shot a doe and we found about 3 or four cut hairs and no blood.

Waited about 4 hours then searched could not find a trace made grids went out of our minds searching. Retraced to about 100 yards from shot sat on blow down to rest. when we got up noticed hoof tip sticking out from under grass under the blow down. She crawled under the blow down head first to the base just like a rabbit or a pheasant if I had not seen the shiny hoof tip we would never of found it. High hit never bleed externally only went approx 100 yards. Make sure you are not looking for a whole deer. You may only see a hoof tip some disturbed grass an antler tip. I could not believe she would crawl into such a tight space. I wonder how many deer we have all walked past in the woods where there are lots of blow downs? Good Luck on your search to bad MN does not allow blood tracking of wounded deer on leash as some states now do.

Mwal

[ZachD]

So with my new tall rubber boots I was feeling pretty good that I could easily cover more area. That and that I got sleep I was feeling refreshed yesterday when I started looking I was on almost 24 hours of no sleep so I am sure my mind was not the best. In the morning I shot my bow at 20 and 30 yards and it was dead on so that just made me sure that I hit him when he sat at 24 yards. I began my search on the north side of the island and walked up and down where the water ditch is no luck. I then went to where my stand was and tried to find my arrow again. Nothing, ok now time to put the new boots to work I began by starting where he went out and did zig zags back and forth 50 yards to about 300 yards from my island then i would turn around move over 50 yards and zig zag back and forth back to the island nothing. I then tried to walk through as much as this tall stuff as I could

I was feeling pretty discouraged as it was tough walking through all of this as there was some ice on top of the water I fell a couple times on some uneven ground

I wanted to give up but I didn't want to leave a deer in there dead I wanted to find him so bad. I walked across the swamp and found an area that looked like he could have bedded down

I began to zig zag the bedding area and that is when I found this

There was more snow on the ground in this area and I was able to follow the tracks that where by the first sighting every once in awhile I would find smaller drops

This led me to a pretty beaten down looking trail

I followed this for awhile and I came across

Notice in that pic there is boot prints now that came off from a different direction... I followed the tracts and then ended at this

A big drag line that went straight out of the woods My guess is the someone was walking to there spot last night for the evening hunt stumbled across those blood drops and saw that there was no other boot prints around it and decided to follow them. it looked like there was another set of boot prints that led away from the drag line and came back I dunno if he went and got more people but i looked all around and they must have dragged it without field dressing.

in the end this was the route that led me to him or " what would have been him"

The blue dot is where I first spotted the blood, the green line is where i found that good good spot and that is where the boot prints came in from. The red dot is where the drag marks first started and the pink is the direction it went.

So now I am stuck at home with no deer and a new pair of $140 boots and A bad attitude toward people...

I am going out Monday for shotgun there but in a different spot, I will be looking for crows and what not over the swamp just in case I stumbled across someone elses deer blood trail by dumb luck and mine is still out there.

[nbadger23]

That sucks! Did you think about following the drag trail to see where it went or do you have any idea who it may have been? I want sure if you were on public out private land?