PotashRLS Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 Lost a nice doe last night. Here's the scenario...what do you think happened? I had a yearling doe and an older doe(much larger) walk toward my tree along the north edge of our 2.5 ac corn field/plot. Both turned onto a trail 14 yards from my tree and were leaving the corn. I grunt-stopped the larger doe which was at a slight quarter to angle, nearly broadside. I moved the pin from her shoulder to just behind and released. She ran without kicking and the arrow looked to hit just above center and a few ribs behind the shoulder. My stand is in a thick white pine and I could not see the deer or hear her running. There are areas of grass and pine needles the direction she ran. The area was farmed 40 years ago and has areas of open ground and wooded swales and brush/cattails. I waited 20 minutes to get down so I had enough good light to see before it got dark. I found my arrow immediately as it passed through and was firmly in the ground just past where the doe stood. The arrow had good blood on it but also had some slimey stomach/esophagous smelling film on it. I found no blood at the site nor any at all!!!!!!! We backed out for 2.5 hours and came back with portable spotlights and found nothing! We went back this morning with 4 people and grid searched the entire north 40ac. parcel and found nothing. My brother was hunting 400yrd NE of me that night and heard some brushy commotion north of my stand around the time I shot. The commotion even spooked the deer near him as they clearly heard it also. We really looked over that area also. My specifics are. Treestand 18', 14yrd shot, slight quarter to angle, 3 blade Rage broadhead, 2317 xx78 Easton arrows, 82lb Hoyt Dynatec Cam and a Half bow. My brother and I have tons of tracking experience as we are always the ones that get the phone calls to help others. In my mind the arrow would have hit the closest lung to me, the diaphram and possibly the liver/stomach. The slime could be from the esophagous as I have seen many double lung shots produce some slime on the arrow and even kernels of corn along the blood trail. I don't believe I was angling far enough back for the stomach entirely but right now I don't know. I AM IN TOTAL AMAZEMENT AND CONFUSION. I can't be sure the broadhead opened on the deer because the blades appeared to deploy at least from penetrating the ground. If I had the deer I would know. Even if the head didn't open, the low exit wound and a closed cut of about 3/4" should produce some blood and a dead deer. I'm pretty bummed wasting a beatiful doe and not knowing any of the CSI part of the hit. What do you think happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad6639 Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 It is a long shot, but you might have caught a rib just right and deflected the arrow while it was in her, and had it punch through the stomach. Normally there would be stomach content on the arrow but I guess thats only if she had eaten just recently. If thats the case, as you probly already know, often times the stomach and intestines plug the holes and make it hard to find any blood if any. If theres any water sources nearby, might want to check there if you havent already. Hopefully you get her, but it sounds like you guys searched long and hard already. Good luck, hope you get her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 Wow, sorry to hear you couldn't find her. My guess would be maybe your broadhead didn't open properly? From the sound of it, you should have had a blood trail... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig mack Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 Sounds like the shot was probably more quartering to than you thought. If you caught one lung, they can go along way. Go the next day and look for crows circling in the air. I hope you find her, it is always a bummer when you lose a deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedicast Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 Sounds like the shot was probably more quartering to than you thought. If you caught one lung, they can go along way. Go the next day and look for crows circling in the air. I hope you find her, it is always a bummer when you lose a deer. This was my exact thought as I was reading your story. I'll put money on it that she was a little more quartering too then you think. A shot "a few ribs behind the shoulder" on a quartering too deer, is gonna exit through the paunch. A lot of times an exit on a gut shot deer plugs right up with intestines ,and barely bleeds. Your entrance hole, being higher is gonna take longer to drip blood. My first archery deer was the same shot. She was quartering too, even though I swore she was broadside. I got one lung, and exited the guts. I watched her bed down about 70 yards out. At dark, an hour later, I could she was still alive. My bro and I went back an hour and a half after dark, figuring she would be dead, and as we walked into the area, I shined with my flashlight where she layed down, and she was still alive with her head up. It took another arrow to finish her off. Upon field dressing we could see that she was a lot more quartering then I ever imagined. It sucks to lose a deer, but keep at it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adrenaline_junky Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 That's to bad, like craig said i would look quiet a ways. If you only caught one lung she could go quiet far. Check water sources too. Sorry to hear bout your bad luck, and Good luck hope you find her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryland_Bowhunter Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I love how people try to blame the broadhead for their crappy shot choices . Next time pick a better shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123 4/8 P&Y Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I'm guessing it was 100% guts. Those rage broadheades are supposed to be pretty dependable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiganbowhunter_SQ2 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I love how people try to blame the broadhead for their crappy shot choices . Next time pick a better shot Comments like this should be kept to yourself. No where in his post did he blame the broadhead. He stated he did not know if it opened, which is understandable with any mechanical. as for the original poster, sorry to hear about your deer. like others have said, check around any water in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 Comments like this should be kept to yourself. No where in his post did he blame the broadhead. He stated he did not know if it opened, which is understandable with any mechanical. as for the original poster, sorry to hear about your deer. like others have said, check around any water in the area. ditto. stay with the positive, and we all prosper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedicast Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I love how people try to blame the broadhead for their crappy shot choices . Next time pick a better shot No need for that whatsoever! No where did he blame the head. He took what he thought was a good shot. Hunters are supposed to help other hunters, not bash them....are you a hunter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganHunter Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 There are alway thing that can go wrong with a shot, could of hit a rib, a stick, you shirt sleeve any thing, you might of bumped your sight gettin in the tree, I do know that there was a RECALL on some of the Rage Slip cams because of that reason, the heads were not opening right, u might want to look up the recall and see if your heads were part of it. and if u think u made a good shot and you can replay the shot in your mind and it looks good than more than likly it was (but you never know) go out back a shoot you bow with another head and see if it opens on your target (not 100%) but if it dont open than that might be a good indication of the head malfunction, if you see you are shootin off than u know u must of bumped your sight which happens to all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I'm not blaming the head in any way. I'm just stating that for the first time in my 20 years of bowhunting and many many dead deer, I have never had a bloodless track. There was no hair and no blood where the deer stood either. I'm just stating the facts. I am confident the deer was not quartering too much as I refuse to ever have to take a shoulder shot to get to the vitals. I intend to go back out and shoot another one with another Rage. I appreciate the constuctive criticism and even the nonconstructive too. I just wanted to share my experience so we can all learn or at least show that seemingly sure things aren't always so sure. We intend to keep looking for her eventhough she has already spoiled. I'll break out the clothespin and Vicks Vapor Rub for my nose if I find her and figure out what happened. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 Sounds to me...just from reading your post...that you may have just missed the liver and got some of the guts. My next guess (if thats true) is you prob. bumped her when you went back looking for her. I didn't make a great shot on my buck last season (not proud of it...but it happened). Hit a little far back (using Rage 2 blades)...after seeing some white hair...little blood and smelling the arrow, my gut told me that I hit too far back and I needed to get out of there. After arguing with my brother and buddy about leaving it and coming back the next morning...I went home and didn't sleep well. The next morning my brother and buddy were there to help. We started tracking and found some good colored blood (not alot) and chunks of matter here and there. Long story short, we found my buck about 150 to 200 yards away and he wasn't real stiff. He hadn't been dead long! I think most people don't wait near enough time and want to try and recover too soon. Anyone that has hunted long enough been in your shoes before...stinks I know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDAWG Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 Like some others have said before, I would look around the water first, and keep an eye out for crows. They are a sure indicator of a dead animal. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildthing Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I haven't heard anything good about the Rage 3 blade...it may have not opened properly, you might have hit a rib...who knows. That happened to me last year. I drilled a doe, broadside at 20 yards, and never found her...I was amazed! keep your head up! Get back in the woods and take another...it stinks to lose an animal or even feel like you may have wounded it...but it happens...to all hunters...with all types of equipment! The whitetail is a strong animal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckbuster11 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I pretty much agree with everybody else, sounds like you hit liver/stomach/guts....maybe one lung but they can go a long way on that. Even if the broadheads malfunctuned somewhat, if you put it through the boiler room, she is probably down. Let us know how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mule659 Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I love how people try to blame the broadhead for their crappy shot choices . Next time pick a better shot Wow way to make rude comments without even properly reading what happened...try reading his post again and you'll see he did not blame the head in any way. Anyway about the deer...that really suck man i've been there and it is never a good thing. Best of luck to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Folks...I can see where that above comment seems rude and maybe shouldn't have even been posted...however, the thread was titled "rough hunt with rage 3 blade". So I can sorta see how someone may think that the poster is blaming the head. Let it go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Folks...I can see where that above comment seems rude and maybe shouldn't have even been posted...however, the thread was titled "rough hunt with rage 3 blade". So I can sorta see how someone may think that the poster is blaming the head. Let it go. Any hunt resulting in a lost animal, regardless of the reason, is a rough hunt. If the title of your thread doesn't sound interesting, nobody will read it and reply. I posted the story of my hunt with factual information and my personal observations. I believe learning from unsuccessful hunts is as important as learning from successful ones. If someone posts their successful hunt, the equipment they used may be viewed as top notch. Why is it assumed that an unsuccessful hunt is blamed on the equipment? People ask for one another's experiences so they can form their own opinions and maybe learn something. Only posting the successful experiences won't accurately depict the real world of hunting. Every bow, arrow, broadhead combination has lost an animal. Does that make them all bad? Obviously not! I appreciate all your opinions!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razortec_hunter Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 was there any dew on the ground?? or a slight drizzle???? any form of moisture will wash all the blood away.........found that out the hard way i know what it's like to be in your shoes. but i found my deer the next day........sry to hear about that. but i also agree that u might have clipped one lung and then guts. and i know how excited you get after the shot. you may have bumped her. sometimes after the shot u are so excited u think it's been 30 min sense you shot the deer when in reality it might have only been about 10 min. sry to hear about that. hope u find her and get a tag on her........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Have to agree with Snapper here. Sounds like a paunch hit, and I'll bet that deer went a loooooong way. Heck, I double lunged one once and she went well over 400 yards on a dead run through a picked bean field. They can be tough critters when they want to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jereseyhunter101 Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Bad shot thats why you lost the deer. Never take quarter 2 shots with bow. Only quarter away or broadside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earnhardts12000 Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 keep your head up there right probably in water keep lookin you'll find her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 sit in your stand for an a.m. hunt, and listen and watch for crows..they will go right to it first thing.. let us know if ya find her ..by now it may be impossible to figure out what exactly happened with the shot placement..as far as shot placement accusations go....anyone here that has never had a less than perfect shot is a liar! MHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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