Friday night I shot a great 8-pt. It was a chip shot I've made before but for some reason I made a big mental mistake. Instead of pivoting at the hip, I lowered my arm and shot the buck low. I had great blood on my arrow, along with white hairs. I shot it at a pretty great angle so I could see the arrow exiting under the deer. While tracking we noticed air bubbles in one of the blood spots. Lung shot, right? We tracked the deer for 200 yds and lost blood. We pulled off the trail and headed back the next day. Nothing. I looked at anotomy pictures on line and it looks as though I got the bottom portion of the lung. What are people's opinion about this deer: Dead or not?? It is still haunting me, what a stupid mistake.
I waited 3 hours before going back out to track him. After the shot he ran about 60 yards and just stood there, I thought he was going to fall. Then he turned to walk directly away from me and as he did his butt was wobbly and I thought for sure he would go down. I know by now the meat is probabl bad or the coyotes got to him but I would feel a whole lot better if I found him.
Hmm. It's hard to say at this point. I'm really sorry to hear the bad news. I've been in that situation before and all you do is second guess yourself. Keep your head up, you did the best you could. Just gotta get back out there and just use the experience you learned.
So you got a full pass through that looked low, the blood was bright (not a gut shot), and the deer ran 60 yards and then started walking? That is bizarre. The only time I've ever heard of deer walking and not running away is when they are gut shot. Did he lay down anywhere in the 200 yards you tracked him? If not, I'd say he might not be dead.
Maybe it you just missed the lung and hit no vitals and just got him enough to get good blood at first.
That thought crossed my mind but when I saw the bubbles in the blood, that's when I was certain I hit a lung.
same they only act like this when gut shot, ill bet you gave him a nasty gash and he'll heal up if you only saw bubbles in one little part of the blood, its likely just a coincidence
I'm almost wondering if you didnt just come across the ribs and down through the brisket, never entering the body cavity.
A few bubbles in the blood does not mean that you hit a lung. I think if you hit a lung and you didn't push him in the first 30 minutes, he would lay down within 200 yards. Also, I think if you had hit a lung he would have kept running and not stopped and started walking. I think the reason that most of them run until they fall over is because a lung hit deer will have trouble breathing, which causes them to panic and keep running. Anyway, by now you should be watching the sky for buzzards. If you hit one lung he died within a few hours and he is already attracting scavengers. If you didn't hit a lung and didn't hit guts, I'm guessing he is still alive and will probably make it unless he gets an infection.
Not bending at the waist and just lowering your arm will cause a high shot, you did something else "incorrectly".
Yeah you might have pushed him too far.but he's dead...alot of guys ask me about shots..and i tell them to use lumenoks it makes to see your shot flight alot brighter and you can judge your waiting time...anytime you make a so so or just not sure it's best to wait...sometimes even back out for a few hours to give the deer time to laydown...Thunderbolt
Yup you might have pushed him too much,but he's dead...anytime your not sure about your shot,its best to back off and just wait...sometimes just come back in the morning ..if the weather will let you...try useing lumenoks to help you follow you flight path works for me...hav'nt lost an animal since shooting them...
With none of us having been there it's darn near impossible to say exactly what happened, but here's my theory. On those close shots the deer can be ever so slightly quartering towards you and it's almost impossible to tell. My guess is you hit one lung, liver and possibly exited at the very front of the guts. The only deer I've ever had stop running and walk off have been gut shot or liver shot. With the low exit if you did go out the front of the gut, the hole could've plugged up which caused your lack of blood trail. While most deer will bed up within a few hundred yards from a shot live that, often they'll get up and move and lay down several times before dying. I've seen deer travel 500 - 1,000 yards before expiring on a hit like that, even when not pushed. My best advice would be to seek out the closest water sources and give them a look. If there's any liver or gut in the hit, generally they will seak out water. If you can't find him and he's lost, check there and maybe you'll get lucky.
Thanks for the advice. That is on my agenda. The only problem is that my closest water source is Lake Michigan. That's alot of territory to cover.
Rob is absolutely right. Hopefully you might find him. See about getting a dog on the trail if you are allowed.
