Shot an 8-pointer 29 yds (25ft up) broadside. I think the deer turned away slightly at impact. So almost a semi-quartering away at impact. The carbon arrow broke and the front portion is in the deer, so probably hit the left shoulder and lodged there. Seemed like it hit in the center (top to bottom) of the buck. So I found solid red blood only - no bubbles, guts, etc. Drops, then areas with good drops, but only one entry hole, no exit hole. Shooting G5 Striker 100 grain, Mathews Reezen 70#. Shot at 5:40. Buck ran about 10 yds, then walked off. Stopped a few times for 20 seconds, but continued to walk off 100yds+. I packed up, climbed down with the climber and headed to the truck (opposite direction from where buck headed) to drop equipment and get cart. Came back at 6:40 and found drops, then good blood. About 50 yds into the track I heard a deer get up and trot off. The blood trail lead to that spot where I heard the deer. I'm on state land, so I decided to pull out and hope to find him in the morning. I'm totally bummed. I'll attach a pic of the last blood. Hopefully a more seasoned hunter can tell me if they think it was a kill shot and if the deer will be dead. My first big buck ever with a bow. Any advice would help. Thanks, Mike from Delaware
I don't know if he will die or not but the shot does sound promising. You did the right thing backing out. Good luck in the morning.
Sorry to say if you hit him in the should, it could take him days to die ,if at all. Muscle bleeds a hell of a lot at first and then stops. Also if it is muscle you are suppose to keep him moving so he bleeds out. Every shoulder hit I took I never recovered the deer. I know it's not what you want to hear but this is my experience.
You did the right thing backing out but should have done that before jumping him. Live and learn.Good Luck ! If it stuck in the opposite shoulder he is dead or soon will be.
Anytime I've ever had a deer walk off and bed down within 100 yards of the shot, it's been due to a hit too far back. If there's no gut smell on the arrow I'd venture to say liver, possibly one lung. If he didn't go far after you bumped him chances are you'll find him no problem in the morning. Good luck and post a picture when you get him.
I've never had or seen a shoulder hit deer lay down after the shot. In my experience they always travel quite a distance, and in some cases never bed down before I loose. Not saying he didn't hit the shoulder because he may have, but it doesn't seem very likely to me. Anytime they bed down quickly it's a good sign IMO.
Of coarse he bedding down, he is hurt and has an arrow in him. He will probably pull the arrow out, clot up and be around for next year. I had an 8 pointer I shot in the neck, Feathers out one side and broadhead out the other side. I tracked him and he pulled the arrow out and was bedded 20 yards away, where I jumped him. It was a muscle shot and I never recovered him.
im gonna have to agree with justin here that blood looks to be a deep red and dripping not a light spray so i would say you got liver. i hit a doe in the liver this year and never did find her unfortunately but it looks like you have alot better blood than i did. hopefully he didnt get jumped too far but im willing to bet he only went about 50 yards max and found his death bed. good luck with it tomorrow!
Probably one lung/liver. You will more than likely find him within 100 yards of where he was last bedded if he wasn't pushed any further. GOOD luck.
I may have shot in front of the lung and into the opposite shoulder? Or above the lung? No bubbles/ guts. We will see in the morning. Thanks for the input.
25 feet up at 29 yards and the arrow is not at an extreme angle. If that arrow hits the opposite shoulder on a quartering away shot, the arrow went through part of the boiler room. IF you hit the offside shoulder, something nasty was hit which more than likely was the liver and one lung.
First, I hope to read that you find him in the morning... good luck... I'm a firm believer that if you don't hear or see a buck/deer go down, you shouldn't start trailing a deer within the hour, or hour... if it's a fatal shot, you'll USUALLY see or hear them go down, one reason I always grab the bino's immediately to try to follow the deer. Bino's allow you to see through brush that block your vision otherwise... If the deer doesn't go down within sight or hearing, you likely didn't double lung or heart shoot them and it's time to back out and wait... perhaps in this case, the buck wouldn't have been bumped and would have laid there a couple hours later or more... once bumped, they know they are being tracked and tracking just became more difficult, I've seen whitetails, even young doe do some amazing things when they know they are being tracked... Again, many hopes that you are successful in the morning... I look forward to pics.
IMO if the arrow was close enough to the shoulder on the side the deer was shot to bust off after being hit, then the shot was closer to the heart and lungs than the majority of the liver. And it may just be my laptops screen but to me that blood looks pretty bright. If it is, then its probably got a fair amount of oxygen in it and could have grazed a lung. I personally think that you'll find him right away in the morning and am looking forward to seeing a picture of him. Good Luck!
Thanks pc, I always thought lung blood would be bubbly, but the blood was very, very bright red. Rob, he definitely walked away, didn't run after the initial impact, and I glassed him til he disappeared into the brush. My excitement with the bright blood got the best of me. hopefully I'll gt a deer as well as a good learning experience. I really want to determine what went down with the shot.
Good luck when you look in the morning. If half the arrow broke off, I think you hit the off shoulder as well. Sounds like that deer will be dead, hopefully you will be able to get some sleep tonight.
I don't know. The buck I shot tonight was right through the heart and lungs and the arrow broke. If you look at the photos of my buck you can see the arrow causing a bulge. I think you did the right thing by backing out. Go back in the morning and pick up the trail in the daylight. Good luck!
X2........... I'm out of there if I don't see/hear the deer go down. If he's dead, he'll still be dead later or in the morning. If he's not, he's either going to die where he bedded down or live. Once bumped it just gets that much more difficult. Best of luck finding him. Good to see you posting again Rob. Maybe we need the annual recovery/ what to do after the shot sticky started up again. One of the most usefull threads we could have here IMO.
