Shot a nice 8 pt last night at last light. The deers knees buckled it looked like then he headed down hill. It was a clean pass threw and I found my arrow with decent blood on it where I had shot him.. Waited 1.5 hrs before tracking last night with no luck of blood at all. I am hunting a strip of timber about 50 yards wide with fields on both sides. Any help would be great thanks
Look for anything. Hair tracks follw their trails. Seen them go towards water or the thickest stuff they can find. I have had to follow track for a little ways till i found blood.
Call some friends, as many as will come. Get back out there, start searching for the deer using either circle or grid patterns. Take some markers with you for the trees, so you can keep track of where you've searched.
I looked last night for a couple hrs. Going to go back out in a little while to look....really depressing to find no blood on the past deer I have shot with a bow found lots of blood after 20-30 yards. Even though it was dark i thought I would find some sign.
It sounds like you've already given up. Don't let it get you down, you should be happy right now, you got a deer last night! Now you just have to find it. You probably couldn't see the blood because it was getting late. You'll be able to see much better this morning. Take some snacks and some coffee, get out there with an attitude that you're going to find that deer, think logically, remember to not only look directly at the ground, but look at the high weeds too, that blood is not dripping, it's spraying. Don't just wander around, approach it using a system like the grid or circles. If you've got buddies that hunt, and even if you don't. It's time to get them out of bed. They're going to need you one day, you might as well get the ball rolling. Goo luck! Just keep a good attitude, don't let your emotions get involved, and get out there. Keep us posted, bring back some pics for us And don't feel bad for calling your buddies, not one of them will hesitate if they're hunters too. They've probably been in the situation themselves. I wouldn't doubt if you get some offers from the members here. What State and City are you in?
The doe I shot yesterday was leaving no blood that I saw and I had a clean pass through from the facing side ribs to the opposite shoulder that took out both lungs and the liver, she went maybe thirty yards but no blood that I found. Both holes were wide open but she was in fescue which is hard to trail blood in. I watched her go down so luckily I didn't need a blood trail. Point being don't get discouraged because of no blood, it means nothing other than a tough tracking job. He could have been dead as a hammer and just piled up in something thick. Good luck.
Hold off on the calling in a gang of people.... Wait for good light, go back to the exact place you shot him and find his trail... It's there, you had a pass through and decent blood on the arrow...that will leave sign(tracks, blood hair) ! Stay with the track!! Don't leave it! Only start random and grid searching when tracking fails.
Thanks guys will look for it hope to have pictures. It was in the mid 50's last night. So hopefully deer will be ok. The deer was just south of Norman oklahoma....
If the arrow had good blood on it there is blood to be found. Hopefully daylight will help you find it easier. Take a pair of binos with you. You didn't mention shot placement, where do you think it hit?
It was getting dark. Honestly too dark to probably take a shot looking back. But I am confident middle height wise if anything it was back towards the middle of the body vs closer to the shoulder. But forsure not in the shoulder. I got a little white hair on my arrow but I was shooting down hill from a stand about 14 ft up. I got pictures of the arrow just not sure how to post them
All of the above and look at the wind they will break into the wind after the initial bolt from danger so take a look at what the wind did look for the thickest cover when the end is near if organ or gut shot they head for water
Well what I thought was an 8 point because of the lack of light turned out to be the biggest deer to date for me. 17 pt....I found it 50 yards from my stand never did find any blood just found it in the field. Made a good shot it was quartering away and exited the shoulder, maybe causing the lack of blood since it's muscle and meat there. Not really sure but I am thrilled thanks for all the responses I was pretty shook up about it...I got some pictures if anyone can help me get them posted. Thanks again.
WOw, that's an awesome ending to the story! I'd be glad to help you with the pics but you'll have to help me help you, lol. No idea what your capabilities are to get them posted. You can use photobucket, you can email them to me or text them to me. Pm me if I can help out, anxious to see this deer! Congrats and job well done!!!!!
Congrats what a nice surprise. I only know how to post pictures on the Tapatalk phone app. Just add it as an attachment if that's what you're using.
go slow, and don't keep your eyes glued to the ground. Scan ahead and up for signs of passage, tracks, broken branches, tine gashes, and blood splashes higher up on tree trunks and leaves. Look for variations of color shades ahead, as well as laterally-lined shapes (most vegetation naturally grows vertical.) If he was hit hard, he will likely have kept running in a straight-ish line until forced to turn by the contour of the terrain or another source of alarm. If given the chance, a lot of times even a gut shot deer will lay up w/in 150 yards or so. If he bedded for any length of time then got up, then he will head deeper into the thick stuff and/or towards water. In my experience, so long as you are still on any semblance of a trail the ideal number of trackers to work a blood trail is you and one other helper... Maybe 2 helpers max. Any more that that, and people start tromping on sign. Don't call in the cavalry to grid search until you have really given up on the trail. Regardless of where you hit him front/back, if you hit him in the middle laterally, he will likely be dead by this AM. *** awesome job, OP. The advice still stands, though. Maybe help someone else out later.
Congrats, about time one of these threads has an ending like this. And yeah, figure out the picture thing and git er done. Was expecting to see 6 point not 17
Here you go guys! Good job Justin, outstanding buck! Way to stick with it! (The third pic didn't download from my phone for some reason)
