My buddy shot a doe last night and he hit her high directly above center lung shot and the deer was 10ft out and he was 10ft up and he said the deer jumped and beat cheeks upon the shot and he saw the fletchings and the BH sticking out of her as she ran away! He said he didnt have blood till after 20yds or so and when he did it was a very good for 100yds or better and the blood was dark red, so my first thought was he hit an artery up along the spine somewhere or? He said she jumped a fence and the fence was just covered in blood and as she ran thru the woods and everytime she landed he said there was a huge spray of blood and then the last good blood after that was the size of a softball about 200yds from his stand and then just a drop and then nothing, so Im thinking she's dead! Last I talked to him was an hour ago and havent heard from him yet, so he might have found her! He waited like a half hr last night before taking up the trail and I told him he shouldve waited a bit longer if the shot was questionable, and then they took up the trail at 8am this morning...I told him to do a very tight grid search with his bro and see if they could find more blood or the deer. By the way he shot it with a 2 blade Rage head, so it was a pretty big hole in the deer! Any advice would be helpful
Well, any questionable shot I would wait a few hours minimum. Even vital well placed shots should be no less than 30 mins although when you hear them crash it's tough to wait. Not much you can do but grid search. Alot of blood being high is probably due to the fist size hole the rages leave. She may or may not be dead but have a massive wound. Dark blood is never really good but at least it is blood you can follow. Good luck!
Sounds all too similar to this. http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=6876 Don't make the same mistake I made.
Thanks guys keep em coming...I wish I was up north with him...its only his second yr hunting with bow
Sounds like another case of taking up the trail too soon. Can't go back now, but should've waited longer (especially on a questionable hit). I also agree with this. Exhaust every single possibility of a blood trail before trompling through the woods on a carcass search. The "give up on a blood trail" feeling is not good. I've seen a lot more unsuccessfull results grid searching than finding more blood and getting back on a trail. Look for actual tracks at last blood and try to follow those if possible. Best of luck to your friend.