Shot a doe tonight she was at 32 yards minutes before last light. I shot heard a twack she kicked and took off sprinting looked like my arrow may have been still in her when she turned but I could not tell for sure. I watched her as far as I could which was about 90 yards then she went into a wood line. She was with another doe which was still standing at 20 yards in front of me so I waited for her to run off. I got down and went to the spot where she was standing easy to find since there is about a inch and a half of snow on the ground. Im looking around and no blood no arrow. I start following her tracks in the snow no blood no arrow. I follow her tracks all the way to the wood line. No Blood No Arrow. Shoulder Shot?
If you are positive you hit her, it sounds like a shoulder shot. The muscle in the shoulder will contract around the arrow and the blood will be very scarce if any. I would wait until the morning and go back out and try and follow her tracks. Chances are if there is no blood at all, is that you got little to no penetration. I shot a doe in the shoulder last year and there was no blood for about 150 yards before she broke off the arrow, then she was pouring blood and I found her after another 50 yards. Best of luck. There is always a deer at the end of that trail.
Did you ever start over at point of impact? I'd go back to square 1, then follow her. Then youre sure youre on the right track. With snow no matter where you put an arrow into her you will find blood.
Yeah I backed out. I went back to the POI and started over, but still did not find any blood or arrow. We are supposed to get 3 more inches tonight. So following the tracks in the morning is out of the question.
Doesn't get much easier than snow, definitely backing out was right call. How high up were you? Could have been high entry no exit(opposite shoulder) so may take a bit for blood to hit the ground. If the arrows in her you will find blood in snow
Guess it should be asked as well, is it done snowing? Blowing snow or anything? That could potentially make it difficult
I'd give her an hour, get on the track and see what happens. Should be easy to follow even without much blood. If you find a bed without her back out another hour and try again. When there is poor tracking weather we as bowhunters need to consider the situation. Snow or rain my shot distance decreases and nervous deer get a pass. It time now for you to put in the work, good luck.
That's a tough call, I know eastern OH is expecting more snow with a sharp cutoff in amounts. How long ago was the shot? Been dark here at least an hour so imagine at least 2 hours ago?
I would head back out then. If it snows a ton more tonight, you'll loose the tracks. Tonight might be a long night for you, but finding that doe would be well worth the work.
I'd get after her, slowly. The snow should allow you a bit better visibility at night and also allow you to be a fair amount quieter. Follow the initial trail and look for blood and her tracks. A thwack and no blood tells me opposite shoulder, normally the arrow comes out with lack of penetration and blood is heavy for a short time before drying up.
Shoulder shot for sure i did that to a buck this year no blood 3 weeks later i see that deer with a huge hole in the side, i got a fifteen yard shot from the same stand.
No luck last night tracks were hard to follow. Im headed out this morning to check some thickets where she might have gone.
Did you see where the arrow impacted? If you didnt, maybe it was a little too dark? Well if you did hit her and didnt find the arrow, most likely still in her. If you made a good shot she will be filling up with blood. Since you're 22 feet up, the entry should be a little higher which would make it unlikely to have blood trail. Give it some time then go check in the direction she was headed. I can't imagine her going too far IF you made a good shot.
