I was on a blood trail the last couple of days. The hunter swore up and down that he hit guts. This hunter Is very well respected by me so I don't doubt a thing he says. Anyhow the shot was just below the spine but In back of the ribs. The shot was close (7 to 8 yards) and the hunter was about 18 feet up In the tree. Do the guts go all the way up to the spine? If Indeed this Is a gut shot this Is the 1st ever gut shot that I've been a part of In tracking that we didn't find. We didn't track till morning which was 16 hours after he hit this buck. When he hit this buck he bolted big time and didn't stop the 90 yards he saw him run. Not a typical response for a gut shot deer. No hunching up or nothing. His arrow buried up to the nock and 20 yards down the trail It came out the other side. Arrow kind of had a smell to It but not your typical gut smell I thought. We got an unexpected light snow that night so blood trailing sucked just as the weatherman did. Wasn't suppose to snow. We went and tried tracking with a dusting of snow (1/2 Inch) but that wasn't working. We went and got a leaf blower and tried blowing the dusting off. We were able to take this buck 200 yards but gave up on that method as we couldn't find anymore blood. We then went through 3 different properties searching and walking. The next day (yesterday) we went back about noonish as the snow finally melted. We took the trail another 150 yards and then lost blood. The blood was tough to see as It was watery but we made the best of It. Not one bed was found, again not typical for a gut shot. Again we grid searched the whole area. We covered all the neighbors property also for the most part. This Is definitely not a typical gut shot deer If Indeed he hit the guts. His blood trail led to 2 different beds that either had doe's In them or not. Was he rutting around sniffing? Kind of looked that way. Weird If he's gut shot as I wouldn't expect that. Also he don't think this buck Is from around this woods. I'm guessing this buck would be heading back to his area (where ever that may be) If he's hurt. Anyhow like I asked earlier In this post, do the guts go directly up to the spine? I looked up some anatomy charts and It looks like they do but thought I'd ask as I don't have any experience with "high" gut shots on deer.
There is no empty or vacant spot with in the body cavity.. this is the best anatomy photo I know of.. maybe someone has a better one? The stomach, spleen, intestines (large and small), liver, kidneys, gull bladder (do deer have those lol) fill the area behind the diaphragm. Not sure this helps Steve... I'll try to read more into what your writing. Anything behind the liver, under the spine would be a "gut" shot... (intestine/stomach) Edit: what we as shooters think we see, isn't always what actually happens. I've been guilty of this (impact assumption) myself.
I've hit that area on a deer 3x. High and at the VERY back of the ribs. 2 were in tight, like 5-8 yards range, one was out a little farther 13-15 yds. All 3 deer died in short order with very big blood trails spewing out of the entrance hole. They all caught partial guts, but also something that made them bleed a lot. None of deer made it 150 yds. The closest went 40. I'm not sure what else to tell ya.
Thanks Ryan, much appreciated. Rob, outstanding picture!! What's that white thing above the Intestines?
Interesting. That's where It sounds he hit him. I forgot to mention that when he grabbed his arrow that was 20 yards down the trail he found what looked like broken down/digested food. Thanks much Rob.
Now I could be wrong here, but I believe a deer hit in the large intestines can live for days .... not a typical "gut" shot that most people talk about where the deer will hunch up, walk away slowly and die within 8 hours There is a major artery that runs along the back there and when you have the results that Ryan was talking about, that is what gets hit ... instant death...your buddy must have missed it ..
How broken down was the food. If you could recognize it as such, I would think it might not have hit the LI. Aren't deer LI like human in that they are basically pulling the remaining moisture out of the scat? My inclination would be concentric searches from last blood... Btw-there were a bunch of good anatomy pics in PT's thread on "The Void" a few weeks back.
