Shot a PIG..Bad hit. Need help, please !!!!! (photos)

I'm home for the weekend. So tonight I decided to head into the woods on my friends farm. We have a few decent bucks on camera there.

I set up on some trails leading to an oak flat. W/NW winds all day. I knew the deer would come in from the South. Sure enough, they did.

I'm watching a spike and 2 does come in from my left. This spike ALWAYS runs with big bucks. Every time he is on trail cam, so are 1 of 4 shooters(shooters to me).

I hear a crunch, and look to my left. No more than 8 yards out stands 2 massive(again, massive to me) 8 pointers, with the first one being the biggest. I'm guessing around 125-130 deer. I know you guys on here shoot monsters, but thats a monster to me, AND the first buck I will have EVER shot.

He starts to run towards the spike. Wind howling, branches cracking- I stop him at probably 12-15yards. I settle my pin and make sure my anchor points are in check like my brother told me. I'm confident, I release.

As I release I heard crackle, snap, crunch pop...I guess the wind blew this branch that I use as cover into my cams or string.

My bow torques and my arrow smacks the deer in the back leg.

I pulled up some photos to shot where I hit. I waited 20mins. Got down, marked impact spot and got out.

Just a few little blood spots, but I didnt look further and I know with the arrow burried deep in him, when it cracks, it could sever an major artery, and I hit RIGHT near or on a major artery.

Please help me. This is my first buck and I have worked hard and passed many smaller bucks waiting for this chance.


Important notes:


Deer was 12-15yards out.
I was 18-20feet up.
Deer was slightly quartering away.
Arrow burried deep and didnt sound like it hit bone.
I'm shoot 70lbs at 28" draw. Beaman ICS 340 9.5gpi(I think). and a Rage 2 Blade.
He jumped a bit, may have had a slight tuck to his belly. he charged off, never walking(in sight) into the a thicket not far off and then I heard nothing. Assuming he bed down.
Thanks,

Andrew

 

A similar thing happened to me last year, shotwise. Had a limb between me and the deer deflect the arrow and hit him darn near where you did. I was using a Montec G5 and it passed through. I cannot tell you which side the artery was severed on but this deer went 25 yds and fell dead. I couldn't believe the luck of a bad shot. Hopefully you will have similar results, it happens.

Here is a picture of the exit side, entrance was pretty much identical

 

I didnt see signs of aterial bleeding, but my brother told me to get the **** out of there. I really just marked impact location and looked(not walked) at the direction he went. I saw some other blood but it didnt look to be heavy.

If I caught any guts(cuz he was 1/4'ing a bit) he will expire, right ?

I dont want this thing to suffer, but I want him on my wall and next to my potatoes !!

Did he bleed a lot ?

This is EXACTLY the area I hit. My brother said its a good area to hit because there are bifurcations(whatever the heck that is) off of the main artery.

 

How far did you walk toward possible blood before you exited?

 

The shot was about 12-15yards away from my tree.

I walked TO the impact area, marked it and then left.

 

Well im hoping you hit that artery. Just give him several hours and go check what the blood trail looks like. If you jump him, back out and come back tomorrow!

 

I have no idea what I'm doing in the woods. If you have yet to notice, I rely on my brother and our friends, lol. He told me to wait until tomorow. Said its not worth messing the woods up and making all sorts of noise while trying to find little spots of blood with flash lights.

Was plannin on tomoro morning. Not good ?

 

Truthfully I didn't really follow the bloodtrail. I went back up to the house and grabbed the fourwheeler to give him time, I kept telling myself he bedded down although I watched him fall and never move. When I got back I retrieved my arrow and walked straight to him. I mean, this deer literally went 25-30yds and was expired inside of 15-20 seconds.

 

Wow..I hope have a similar story tomoro..

Congrats. Thats a nice buck.

 

Hopefully someone else will chime in but wouldn't this be a hit where you actually push the deer to make him bleed out? If the artery was hit then he should be dead by now. If not, would pushing the deer help Dwarf's cause by causing the buck to bleed out? Its probably alot easier said than done though.

Good luck! I hope you find him!

Edit: Also, did the buck sprint out of there or did he run and hunch up? Hunching up would definitely suggest a gut shot.

 

He kinda hunched just a little and then ran out like any other deer I have ever seen hit. He ran into the thickets and then I heard nothing else..Everything aside from where the arrow appeared to hit looked normal for a double lung shot.

I'm just beside myself right now. Thinking that there is a deer suffering because of my actions is worse than thinking I'll never put my hands on his rack and I had him, dead to rights.

 

I arrowed a 6 pointer in 2007 in which I hit the femoral artery. My arrow deflected off a limb and hit the femoral artery and came out low, mid-way on the far side. I remained motionless. He walked 30 yards and bedded down. He bled out within 15 minutes.

 

This.....and its good.

If he was quartering away and you hit where you said you did, you either got artery or he's gut shot. Always think the worst of the situation and wait accordingly....in this case, 10 hours.

You're better off waiting too long than not long enough. Night time temps should not be a problem this time of the year.....wait, where are you located?

 

Well, the couple I've gut shot have kinda ran several yards, hunch up, and then walk out. But I guess he very well could be gutshot but still ran out like crazy since he took an arrow in the leg.

It definitely sucks about the deer suffering but don't take ANY chances when it comes to the recovery. I'd much rather have a deer that the meat was spoiled than me not knowing/seeing that the deer was dead. Hope that makes sense. Good luck!

 

Actually, that is the last thing I would do on any shot animal. Either he's going to lay down and die, or you risk losing him by pushing him.

Again, I'm guessing its in the guts.....

Don't think this way....think, "What do I do next that ensures I get my hands on that deer?"

The answer is to wait.

 

I hope you do too, the angle of your shot is the biggest factor. Did you see how far the arrow buried in the deer? One thing you kind of have going for you is the rage, every bit of that extra cutting swath is going to help. How far away was this thicket you said he went into when it got quiet? Have you had rain lately or is the leaf litter dry and crunchy?

 

Temps wont be an issue. It will be between 40 and 50 all night.

Thanks everyone. I've replayed everything about the shot and after, in my head about a million times. I'm pretty confident that I hit in the area I said I did. I just have no idea if I caught guys or not. He was quartered away, but with the angle, I have no idea.

I'll find out tomorrow, I guess.

That makes plenty of sense, Finch.

A friend of ours shot a really nice buck a few years back. They tracked it for over a mile, across a road, through a cut corn field, across a stream. Never found it, but had some kind of blood the whole way. A week later, he was eating in a field, just off the side of the road.

Who knows..

 

The thicket is probably about 40 or less yards away...He kind ran in an "arc" so he probably ran 50yards before he disappeared.

Um, we did recently have rain, but it's not silent when you walk. I could hear deer walking today that were within 40yards.

Oh and I think the arrow burried up to the fletch, or at least really close to it.

 

Well, I only brought that up due to the fact I've read it in one of John Trout's books. I've never tried it and think I would be a little hesitant trying it myself. Sometimes while playing the shot over and over in my head actually makes me unsure of the shot. So, its usually best to wait it out. Thanks for the input.

 

Yep, understandable Donnie....wasn't chastising you. I know a lot of people who believe this is the thing to do.....but after my years of experience being a guide and tracking for people who made less than perfect shots, its a method I wouldn't use.