Guest gliderman Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Stuck a dandy buck last week. 25 yard, broadside shot. I didn't see arrow hit, but it passed thru. He ran about 150 yards and laid down.(I could still see him). 15 minutes later he got up and moved about 10 feet and went back down. 30 minutes later and no movement I got out of my stand and found my arrow. Bloody, but fletchings not soaked. No stink of gut shot. Found good blood trail and started to follow. Got to about 40 yards from buck and he lifted his head. Crap. Back tracked out of there keeping an eye on him . He didn't get up. Came back an hour later. No deer. Followed a diminishing blood trail for another 150 yards before stopping for the night. Came back the next morning and followed an even more diminishing trail for another 200 yards. 4 guys combed the area for hours. Nothing . And finally the question! Where could I have hit him with a pass thru, no guts, good blood 150 yard and then slowly drying up? And is it possible he made it? Thanks for reading and any replies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedicast Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Those are all the classic signs of a gut/paunch shot. My guess is dead deer. I have seen it twice where a gut shot deer bedded within sight of the shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gliderman Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 wouldn't there be an odor on the arrow with a gut shot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Those are all the classic signs of a gut/paunch shot. My guess is dead deer. I have seen it twice where a gut shot deer bedded within sight of the shot. Yup. My first impression also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I'm gussing you hit him in the liver, was the blood dark? I shot a doe last year that I hit back just a little and she acted the same way. Sorry you didn't find him but, that is part of the game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 That deer is dead, cant live with two holes in him! You probably hit low stomach or liver high, about where do you think you hit him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Liver hit was my first thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IowaDeerHunter Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Last year I shot a buck and hit him in the neck just in front of he shoulder. Complete pass thru with a little blood on the arrow. He ran for about 50 yards, then stopped and walk away...never seen him bed down. Blood was pretty good and just eventually dried up. It ended up just hitting above the spine, center of the neck. Buck was eventually killed in shotgun season. Not sure if you hit it here but just another possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutchies Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Sounds like Liver or Gut..........I have never seen a deer make it over 100 yards on a liver shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeyenut Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 It is so IMPORTANT to give a questionable hit adequate time. 30 minutes isn't near enough time for a gut shot deer or even for a marginal liver hit. If you center punched the liver- the deer would have been dead within a couple of minutes, so I guess a gut shot. Any creek, river, or pond on the property? If so, I would give it a check. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghunter777 Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 It is so IMPORTANT to give a questionable hit adequate time. 30 minutes isn't near enough time for a gut shot deer or even for a marginal liver hit. If you center punched the liver- the deer would have been dead within a couple of minutes, so I guess a gut shot. Any creek, river, or pond on the property? If so, I would give it a check. Good luck! ditto. what he said the amount of time you said you allowed was not nearly enough. you should have given the buck a minumum of 6 hours when you saw him bed the first time. try again to grid the property or even the neighboring properties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeN Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 same exact thing happened to my buddy this year although we never recovered his deer... the deer is dead somewhere.. as said before i find it hard to believe that the deer is alive with two holes in him.... good luck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Same thing has happened to me in the past. I knew it wasn't gut shot becuase a tree blocked the mid section. A gut shot wasn't possible because the arrow would have been in the tree. In addition the blood was bright red. (No bubbles) but bright red. The arrow was covered in hair and blood coated, but not much blood on the feathers. It was right at dark and a 25 yard shot so I wasn't exactly sure where it hit, but I think it might have been a little high and towards the neck. I waited 45 minutes then I followed the bright red blood trail for about 100 yards. Then it went from great to average. I followed another 50 yards and started finding blood clots. The trail went from average to poor. That's when I decided to go back the next day. The problem was that it was 60 degrees at night and I knew the meat wouldn't be good because I had to work in the morning and wouldn't be able to get to the woods until afternoon. I hated to call off the search, but since my flashlight was failing I had no choice. The next day I picked up the blood trail and followed another 50 yards up a steep hill until at last there was no more blood. I did several circles covering hundreds of yards, but no deer. Never did find him. I doubt he survived, but I'd sure like to think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Im am sure he is dead but finding a needle in a haystack is very tough. You may find him in the spring when shed hunting or scouting. Thats a tough break, Im sorry for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gliderman Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 (edited) thanks for all the replies. I'm sure the shot was somewhere behind the front shoulder but that's about it.Good red blood (no bubbles). I agree that I started tracking to early, but I thought it was at least one lung. Bad news is that the property is 6 hours away and I only get up there 1 week for bowhunting; and it ended up on neighboring land so if they do find him I doubt I'll see the horns. Good news is that I stuck a decent 8 pointer the last day up there:) But always gonna have a bad feeling about killing something for nothing:( My season is over, but good luck to the rest of you. Shoot straight! Edited November 12, 2008 by gliderman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoyt03 Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I hit one real low behind the shoulder one time missing all the vitals low. Had an excellent blood trail for awhile and the deer kept bedding down and I kept jumping it. It was bleeding so good I just kept pushing it and it finally got so weak I was able to get another arrow in it. I'm guessing you got a low leg area hit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natethebowhunter Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 i shot a doe two years ago and had a complete pass through but never found her. Followed the blood trail but it ran out after about 150 yards. I saw the arrow hit and my guess is that it hit above the lungs but below the spine. I've heard of that happening and the deer surviving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born4it Posted November 13, 2008 Report Share Posted November 13, 2008 It is so IMPORTANT to give a questionable hit adequate time. 30 minutes isn't near enough time for a gut shot deer or even for a marginal liver hit. If you center punched the liver- the deer would have been dead within a couple of minutes, so I guess a gut shot. Any creek, river, or pond on the property? If so, I would give it a check. Good luck! Exactly. I would definitely say gut shot...even if it doesn't smell. If you're ever not positive the deer is dead, I'd give him at least 2 hours, and if he acts like your did, at least 4 hours. Live and learn! Take care, and I hope you find him! The water thing is a definite must for searching for the body. My buddy shot a nice 8 the other day and I ended up finding him floating in their creek. They'll go to water if injured a lot of the time! Good luck, Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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