johnf Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 I made what I though was a great shot on a really nice buck this morning at around 11:15. It was about a 40 yard broad side shot on his right side. He jumped about 6' off the grund and kicked his back legs out and came running straight at me. He went about 30 yards behind me and turned to the left and went into some bursh. I figured as good as he was I wanted to make sure I gave him plenty time to bleed out. At 11:45 I went to where stood, but didn't see any hair or blood. I started following in the direction that he went in hopes of finding a blood trail, but couldn't find one. I was on the trail in the picture below. There is a little arrow showing where I acually saw the deer go and my tracking. The tracking is in white, It's not really accurate, I went back and forth about 200 yards on both sides of the trail about 400 yards from where I made the shot about 5 or six times. I never found anything. You can see on the south side of the hill I didn't g as far. The picture doesn't show it, but about 75 yards south of the trail it drops off and is sheer rock drop off. I didn't figure he would have gone down that. Could be wrong. I stopped looking when I ran out of light. I figured 6 hours and no blood, I should just come back when it's light out. I'm planning on going out after school tomorrow and looking some more. Any advice? Here is where I aimed. I had a steady rest and just a 3lb pull, so I figure that's where he was hit. After loooking at an anatomy chart I think I went too high and too far forward. Could there be a chance he's still alive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhine16 Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 I see no ponds on the map, but would definitely check them if there is any. That looks to be a gravel road to the south, so i would check to the north farther. BTW-What were you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davetucker Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 well john as you know i had the same thing happen to me and never found the deer.no blood really puts a hurtin on the tracking.I thought for sure we hit that deer.we searched for two days we even had a dog for the second day.we had a beaten trail and lots of signs of deer even the dog couldn't get a trail.good luck sounds to me like you got a good day ahead of you.they say the work begins when you take that first shot.again good luck and happy trails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davetucker Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 oh better clarify myself.in maine it is illegal to hunt with dogs but if you got a wounded deer after you search for 1 day your permitted to use one to track it but you gotta have a leash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 The place where I shot him doesn't allow dog hunting, but you can track if they are on a leash. I'm new to the area and don't know anyone with tracking dogs. I could get about 1000 guys to run the deer with them. A buddy of mine told me sence I posted to make circles rather than zig zags. He said the deer would probibly circle around toward the side he was shot on. He did make a right turn and came toward me, and then made another right turn about 30 yards passed me. I'll do some searching tomorrow to the west of where I shot. The ponds are really small and are covered by trees. You wouldn't see them in the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 John that sucks. Wish you the best in finding him. Not really sure what to tell you to do. Seems like you did the thing I was thinking of zigg zagging. You going to look more? Hate to hear you lose a deer man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccwhitey Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 water is the first place i look after i hit a deer and have no luck blood trailing him. If he gets to water he'll be very hard to find. hope you fid him thou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Man that sucks .... :( Work a grid pattern John,, hopefully you find him, if not atleast you know you gave it all you had ... ;) GOOD LUCK on your search,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 If you hit him where you were aiming, you should get a good blood trail after 40 to 60 yrds It sounds like you hit him good. All the best tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 I'm going to take a roll of "tracking paper" out and work the west side. There are no creeks around for miles, just the ponds, so I'll hit them first. I'll only have about 2 hours of daylight after I get off work, so I've got to work quickly. Hopefully I'll find him. At least the horns won't spoil. If I find him, I'll tag him regardless of what the rest of him looks like. Here's a pic showing where the ponds are. The bigger one is about 15' accross and looks to be maybe 2' deep in the center the smaller one is where the buck was. It's about the same size as the other, but doesn't have much water, maybe 6' and it's only about a 6' circle of water. Here's where the closest creek is. I figure it's about 4 miles. The circle is the area I was hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 If you hit him where you were aiming, you should get a good blood trail after 40 to 60 yrds It sounds like you hit him good. All the best tomorrow. Yep, gun, at that distance that deer should be bleeding good. Hope you find him this afternoon John, hope it is not as warm there as it is here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 If you hit him where you were aiming, you should get a good blood trail after 40 to 60 yrds It sounds like you hit him good. All the best tomorrow. If you hit him where you were aiming you should find him in 40-60 yards. Good luck this morning!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 If you hit him where you were aiming you should find him in 40-60 yards. Good luck this morning!! I've never had one not leave a blood trail nor have I had one go more than 35 yards when I shot them there. I'm just sick with it. Do you think there is any way that it wasn't a complete passthrough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 ANY centerfire rifle at that range with that shot placement means a dead deer. Probably within 100 yards. You may have to dig into the really thick stuff to find him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKLambert Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Check on common entrances that the deer use to your hunting location. We shot a deer 2 weeks ago during ML season in a field and found no blood anywhere in the field. Started walking along trails they use to come in the field and finally found a blood trail. Good luck with the tracking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 What were you shooting John(rifle or ml, what caliber and bullet)? My oldest daughter shot one with a .243 a couple years ago using 100 grain corelokts, hit it a bit forward and dont think it passed through. We never found any blood leading us to think maybe she missed. If you hit shoulder on entry, there is a chance it could have shattered and been deflected never passing through, it happens. Would get low and look hard in the thick stuff, working lines back and forth, might even mark where you have been. The deer my wife shot with the ml on our opening afternoon here was hit a little further forward than your shot placement there, she hit bone hard on entry, the bullet was lodged in skin on the exit side, but it did not exit. No pass through no blood, but that deer only went a short ways. The near shoulder was a mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davetucker Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 i agree Check on common entrances that the deer use to your hunting location. We shot a deer 2 weeks ago during ML season in a field and found no blood anywhere in the field. Started walking along trails they use to come in the field and finally found a blood trail. Good luck with the tracking!john last yr i hit one right about the sme spot but was a little to the right.the only benifit was it was a close range shot with a 270.it hit him in the shoulder bone and didn't bleed out much at all.we found some main trails and kept branching off them were the thick stuff was.we ended up finding him in a dead huge blowdown looked like he dove in under it for cover.again happy trackin and hope you find him i know it sucks when you lose a trophy,but the saying goes good guys finish first and buy talking to ya your one of them so i'm confident it will pan out for you!!!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 It was a 243 single shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhine16 Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Good luck this evening John. I sure hope you find him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted November 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Well, I took one of my students out there and we searched the whole hill again, both sides. We spread out about 50 yards apart and went over the whole thing. First we started where I saw the deer and made circles untill we were out about 200 yards then we went about 100 yards past the clearing to the East and zig zaged each others trail untill we hit the road. My stomach's in knots just thinking about losing that thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hunt long enough and it's bound to happen to all of us John,, I've been there myself ... You did everything you could to recover the deer,,so you did you job. I know it doesn't make you feel any better,, but it's time to move on to the next hunt .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Don't beat yourself up John. You gave it your best shot at recovery. If there is no obvious blood-trail, I do exactly as mentioned above, by first following all existing game trails for 100 yrds or so, starting with the one or two, I think he may have taken. Then if no blood or deer is found after walking all game trails, I do the grid search. Around here, it's so thick, that when we do a grid search, we have to keep it tight so we don't miss any ground. scanning as far as we can see from left to right. I was just about ready to give up one time, when I jumped up on an old stump, and there, was my deer, about 20 yrds to my left, and about 150 yrds the where I shot at him. That was my last pass, and I was going to call it a day. You did your best, and that's all anyone can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhine16 Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Like the guys have said above, you did all you could do. It happens to all of us. Keep your head up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildlands Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 John, not that it helps now but for future reffrence if you need a tracking dog check here http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/find-map.php To see if any are near you. Not every state allows tracking dogs and currently we do not have a lot of people listed. But we are continualy adding people as members join UBT. Also do not forget to check surrounding states as someone might live near the state line to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan1990 Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Id go take a couple shots at a target. You may have bumped you scope and knocked it out of position Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.