Brad6639 Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Long story short, I had a nice doe come in tonight and gave me a broadside shot at 35 yards. I had to kneel on my platform to clear a limb to get an arrow to her and it wasnt a real easy shot. As soon as I shot her she turned and ran back up the hill at a 45 degree angle from where she was. She didnt run far and I didnt hear her crash, but I didnt hear her run up the rest of the hill either. I got down right away as it was nearly dark and I found my arrow, and it had some real slight pinkish watery blood on the feltches, and some gray hair. (put it this way, when I first found the arrow, I thought it was clean, but then when I picked it up I saw the blood and hair. Now heres the dilema, I treated it like a gut shot deer and I backed out immediately and decided to give her the night. What I didnt know at the time was it was about to storm. So now I have what I think is a gutshot doe, and a thunderstorm going on, washing away any blood she left. Its also around 60 degrees out, although the rain cooled it down a little. Im going to go in first light in the morning and try to find her, but what else should I do. The closest water was 100 yards from where I shot her, and she ran the opposit way, and the next water from there would be 500 yards or so away. Anyone think she'd head there, or do you think shed bed down and stay put? When I first shot it sounded like a crack, then she acted hurt, then she trotted off like nothing happened. The hill she went up is fairly steep, so hopefully it will be toomuch for her. Also, assuming I find her tomorow morning anyone think the meat will still be good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razortec_hunter Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 deer can sense a storm coming......they are just like horses or cattle. and you said u are having a thunderstorm. and deer dont like to move much in a thunderstorm and usually bed down a little before the storm. my guess is that she bedded down somewhere. hope u find her!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam16 Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 I dont think the meat would stay good, but again if shes gut shot she may not die for a few hours, leaving the meat good. As for the tracking, if shes hit hard my guess is she bedded down not far from your stand and perished. Hope you find her tomorrow and give us a report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kid Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 my geuss is that shes gonna go the nastiest thickest spot she can find and then bed down for the night. good luck finding her. i think the meat would be good too expecially if its a cold night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad6639 Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 I forgot to mention, I was shooting a bow set at 65 pounds, and I had an easten full metal jacket arrow with a 100 grain montec on it, so where ever I hit her, she has a 1 1/8 hole in her. I feel good about the shot, and then a second later I feel like crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcs3344 Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 my buddy shot a deer just like this last year. he shot the deer at like 10 yards away and didnt think he hit the deer because it just walked off. he shot the deer in the morning and it wasnt but like 2 hours after he shot that we started trying to find the deer. there was no blood for a good 50 yards of where he shot the deer at, but once we found it the blood was great. the deer only went about 80 yards and bedded down. You could see how it just layed down. My guess is that she just walked off and probably bedded down. try and circle the area ... good luck !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad6639 Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Well I went and looked for her at first light this morning. I found my arrow and the little bit of blood that was on it had washed off. I saw several peices of gray hair on the fletches, and a fair amount on the montec. The last 6 or 8 inches of the arrow had white tallow or fat on it. I knew there was no chance of a blood trail isnce we got over an inch of rain last night. I just started gridding the area and looking in all the brushy spots. I did not find any sign and eventually abandoned search. I tried for several hours but it was just about impossible to cover every inch of the hill as its so brushy, but I give it my best attempt and hopefully she lived. Im thinking being there was little blood, and gray hair and white tallow, I think I hit her low, maybe in the bottom of the brisket where all that fat is. I hate losing a deer, but I felt like I did right by backing out last night even with the rain, because there was maybe an hour from the shot until rain, so I figured pursuing her right away might just push her further and then Id have even less to go on. I feel bad and guilty about not finding her, I just hoped she lived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildthing Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 tough call...I have had that happen to me in the past too! Deer are tough animals...truly it is going to depend on where you hit her. Some wounds may heal, some won't and she'll slowly bleed out. As long as a valiant effort was made to find her...that is all you can do. It took my brother and I 2 days to find the buck I shot last year in archery...he took us through some nasty stuff...and covered 2 miles! Chances are that the meat would not have been any good anyways. My neighbor is farmer and cattle / deer processor...that is his living, not a side gig. So I value his opinion...if the weather doesn't reach freezing or below temps...the meat will spoil or will be unhealthy to eat. The buck I shot last year, from a meat perspective, was no good...and it was early Nov....about 40 degrees as a low. Cool but not cold enough to preserve the meat. I try to make sure I start at where I last saw the deer and always track with a partner(s). Keep your head up and learn from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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