Alright guys, I wasn't sure if I was gonna post this or not, but I have never lost a deer before and tonight was the first buck I've shot. I was up in my stand (buddy stand and he was filming) and had the first "shooter" buck walk by at around 4:45. He was at least a 6, possibly an 8, by no means huge but it was the first deer I deemed big enough to shoot at 32 years old for my first buck. I've passed on a bunch of forks and spikes the past three seasons and with my buddy filming, I figured better now than ever. We had just watched 4 does walk up to us and pass on the left about 50 yards out. I stopped watching them and slowly turned to our right and saw a buck coming in. Saw him first at about 50 yards and by the time he came in, he was 28 yards and broadside. I had an opening and let it fly. I will post the video below. We both saw the arrow hit and my buddy, who is way more experienced than me when it comes to hunting, agreed it was a good hit after we watched the video. We waited a half hour and climbed down. The buck ran off with my arrow still in him so we knew we wouldn't find that right away. After finding first blood and slowly tracking it, we found my arrow about 120 yards away from where I shot him and that was the last blood we found. We searched for about an hour after last blood around the area and up and down the creek with only a cell phone light and a headlamp because both our flashlight batteries had died. No more blood and no deer after that. We inspected my arrow and there was at least 8 inches of penetration and I know I either blew through his left shoulder or about an inch behind it. I'm going back tomorrow to search the property and look for him. I have a really good feeling about the shot and we never found any spot where he would have bedded down and we never jumped him at all. Just asking a favor of you guys. Please take a look at the shot (not great quality because it was with a cell phone) and let me know what you think. Initially I thought the arrow lodged in his far shoulder after passing through but now we might think that I went through his front shoulder and when the arrow fell out, it might have brought some muscle or tissue up to the wound and that's why we didn't find further blood. Is he dead? Here's the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLj3irwWsgU&feature=youtube_gdata_player Thanks Sean
The better spots of blood had bubbles in it. Not much, but it was some. I shoot 3 blade bloodrunners. Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
The bubble are good. You definately got at least one solid lung then. If you hit higher, its quite possible that the arrow was keeping the wound open and when it came out, he just continued to bleed, but internally. While it is possible for deer to survive a 1 lung, from what you describe I think he's done for! Keep us updated, and good luck out there
Nothing Fitz. Thanks for checking in. We didn't find any blood whatsoever after the arrow fell out. Grid searched the entire 55 acres and look for buzzards but nothing. Not even around the neighboring farms. I'm thinking I hit about an inch or two too forward and it hit his front shoulder rather than right behind it. I'm still a little confused about the penetration on the arrow and the bubbles in the blood. I think he will live to see another day. Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
