I shot a huge buck Friday evening and unfortunately hit him far back. It was an extremely bad shot and I hit him in back legs. I actually got a complete pass thru though. I tracked him Saturday for well over 400 yards. Most of the time there wasn't much for a blood trail, maybe a few drops here and there. But at other places there was a good trail. I actually found a spot he bedded down and there was a good amount of blood, but other than that I was down on hands and knees looking for blood. The last blood I found was 3 very small drops of blood and they were about 10 yards from the last blood. I had to of missed that main artery that runs through the back legs, so I am hoping he is still alive.
Well hopefully you get a sighting to know for sure. Anythings possible with these tough animals but there is no way to know for sure untill you see him again. Here's hoping you get to settle the unfinished buisness! :cheers:
If he went 400 yds and is not bleeding profusely, he isn't going to die. Just a nasty cut is all that you gave him. I did the same type of thing 2 yrs ago & tracked him 600 yds (3 farm fields) and found where he bedded down, but never found him. If it was an artery, he would have been dead within 100 yds. But you never know. You can always go out & poke around for him, but don't expect much.
If you had hit an aorta or vena cava, he would have dropped just as if you were to have hit the heart. Depending on where you hit him, keeping whitetail anatomy in mind, he may have only muscle tissue wounds. If youhit in front on the back legs(just in front) you will likely have severed the intestines, and, he will eventually expire. If you hit in front of the hip, you may have caught a kidney, or its blood supply, and, he will be dead. However, if you did hit the kidney, he would have died very fast because his blood pressure would have crashed. Not sure where you hit, maybe you can show us on an anamation or photo of a deer, but, when this happens and we fail to recover, we can only hope that our quarry makes a full recovery. Tough break..
if you put it through the legs and low, he is fine. you cut almost anything back there thats major and they wont go far
I agree; if you miss the main one that feeds down from the femoral he's more than likely still running around, though a bit more gingerly now.
You definitely missed the main artery because there would have been blood everywhere and the deer would have bled out 10 min tops and that is a stretch I'm pretty sure he is still alive didn't sound like it phased him to much what was the deers reaction when you hit him?
It is reassuring to hear from you all that he is most likely still alive. It still really sucks that I didn't kill him, but maybe I will see him again. As far as his reaction goes..he just took off. I didn't watch as well as I should have b/c I was cussing myself as soon as I saw it hit him.
