Shot buck

hey all shot a buck at about 20 yards, found fat on arrow confirmed pass through some hair on the ground, no blood trail although there was slight blood on the fletchings of the arrow, what do you think?

 

White hair?

 

white hair on the ground, brown on the broadhead

 

Need a little more info. Did you shoot from a treestand? What was the deer's reaction after the shot? Did you track or back out?

 

yes from a treestand, the deer turned and took off real quick, waited about 45 minutes and looked for a blood trail couldnt find anything.

 

Where did it look like you hit him? What was his angle? Tail up or down when he took off?

 

looked like right behind the forward shoulder, tail up

 

not sure about the angle exactly not too sharp

 

I'd say wait until the morning before you start your search. If the temps are low enough then the meat should be good and you won't risk pushing the deer to the next county.

 

yeah thats what i planned on, does it sound like a fatal hit to you?

 

I meant more was he quartering to you, away or a perfect broadside. If you draw a line through the deer where would your exit have been? Angles can be everything, or nothing depending on where the arrow comes out. Almost sounds like you exited through the brisket. How high or low was the shot on the deer?

 

it was a broadside shot but my stand made it slightly quartering away, looked towards the lower end of the deer not too low though.

 

Kinda hard to say. I've killed deer where the arrow passed through clean just as yours did. On the other hand, you could have hit low enough and not caught any vitals. Good luck in the morning!

 

thanks!

 

It don't sound good. White hair is always bad sign and fat bad too

 

yeah, i'll go out and check anyways

 

Any luck?

 

Agree with 130W. At 20 yards, you should have hit brown hair on both sides. What color was the blood?

If you got fat...not lung tissue, but fat, on your arrow, it sounds like you might have hit lower than you thought and got the brisket. Remember the last spot you saw hit, and pick up from there. Marginally hit deer typically head towards water.

Hope you can get some sleep tonight! Good luck in the morning!

 

no luck, no blood, did a 3 hour search, i think he'll live to tell the tale. pretty disappointed in myself though my other deer haven't gone farther than 50 yards after being hit

 

apparently the same buck was spotted munching on some apples later on this afternoon with not even a limp to speak of, makes me feel a little better.