What did I do wrong?

[foxchef]

Hey guys,
I shot a small muley buck yesterday at 15 paces. My first trad shot at a deer.  

I am using a vintage 55# Bingham kit bow, cedar arrows and 145gr two blade Eclipse.

The shot was a slight quartering to, almost a perfect broadside. The arrow hit a couple of inches behind the crease and entered to the fletching. He then walked off and was a bit wobbly and I could see blood coming from his mouth. Looked like a good lung shot. I hung out for 30 minutes or so then went after him.

I found the back half of my arrow a few yards from where I shot him and the front half 10 yards further both drenched in foamy blood. I followed the blood trail for a few hundred yards then nothing. The blood stopped completely. I searched til dark, I had shot him at noon, and found nothing. Searched all morning today a didn't find anything. The last spot of blood was just a couple of drops on some pine needles. Tracking was difficult because there were too many other deer tracks all over. What did I do wrong?

[magnus]

Only thing that i can think of the quartering to. Possibly only hit one lung and if high blood will fill in the body cavity. Mark the last sign of blood and get help for a grid search. If at last you don't find it don't get discourged. Unfortunetly it has happened to a lot of us. Learn and continue to grow as a trad hunter. I learn something new everyday! Good luck my friend!

[Mo. Huntin]

I don't think you did anything wrong.  You should get some buddies and go back and look for him.  A dog might help. Good luck bud.

[30coupe]

Nothing wrong with that shot. Put it in the crease on a slight quartering to shot and you'll get both lungs and maybe the liver too. Foamy blood is also a good sign. I suspect he veered off and laid down and you walked by him. What is the terrain and cover like in that area?

[Over&Under]

I would have to agree with 30Coupe he has got to be close by.

[acadian archer]

when you lose the trail and can't find it then you might want to try a grid search. run a staight line, using you compass, for 200 metres or so past the last point you found blood, if nothing on this line then move over 10 metres or so (depending on visibility)and walk another straight line. Do this sector by sector until you find him.

remember to run the same compass bearing and mar some points along the line to make sure you remember where you were.

it may be a little time consuming but this type of seach is how we recovered a good bear.Blood stopped and too many tracks/bears in the area and fat plugged the holes.

 If the animal is not found in the first search you just start over at the 200 metre mark or whatever distance you started with.


Conti

[T Folts]

Keep at it and good luck.

[tarponnut]

I would follow the above advice even if you think the meat is spoiled. You will learn a lot about trailing which may help you the next time.
Sounds like a very good hit, I doubt he is far.
I've found when they are about to expire they veer off or backtrack a little and lay down.
Good luck.

[dpowers311]

With loss of blood come confusion or panic.

Back track from the last blood you found and look close for where the deer might have turned. Deer will back track sometimes.

Dave

[Bill Carlsen]

It is not unusual for  big game animal to leave less blood at the end of the trail as he is essentially running on empty or close to it. It is is also common at that point for the animal to waiver and  meander a lot and end up several yards off the trail. In the end, unless they die running, they will not necessarily be in a straight line or even on an established game trail. My best guess is that you were pretty close to where he went down. Go back and do a grid search where you found the last blood.

[Tom Leemans]

dog

[twitchstick]

I too feel your blues,I hit a nice mule deer this year in the guts.I don't know if I just shoot bad or he jump my string.I look for him for week only thing I found was a green arrow and two green drops about 500 yards away in the next canyon.Don't give up like tarponnut said even if the meat is spioled keep looking and learning.It sounds like a high lung hit,maybe only one lung,if thats the case they can go a long way but he will go down.Start looking in a grid and start checking all beding grounds and any thick timber or bottoms of revines gulleys ect.Make sure he did not double back on you.I'm pretty sure I seen my buck still alive(I hope!) in my spotting scope week later.He was with the same other 4 bucks and had brown spot just behind last rib.My piont with this is find your buck and get some closer.It has left a big pit in my belly and the mental games are had to fight off.good luck and keep looking.

[Builder]

I agree with Tom. If you have a dog, especially a hunting dog of any sort my guess is he will track that deer right down. I have been on searches for hours criss crossing, going the extra hundred yards to no avail and then I went got my dog and literally within minutes they find the deer.

[wollelybugger]

Good luck on your hunt for your deer, I hate to not get them.

[foxchef]

Thanks for all of the input and support. My friends and I did a thorough search, back tracked and went into areas we didn't think he could possibly be. The terrain is  pretty rugged pine forest with a creek with willows and some meadow areas. We covered both sides of the creek up and down stream, really thick willows and grass,checked bedding areas. I had to get back to work, ran out of vacation time, so I had to put the search on hold til later on this afternoon. Thanks again.

[kadbow]

Just an FYI for some of you guys, it is illegal to use a dog in Colorado while hunting bear, deer, elk, pronghorn, or moose.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

I lost the biggest buck I ever shot about seven years ago when I still shot compound. Tracked him into an old slurry bed about 500 yards wide by about 700 long, Deer tracks everywhere.
Long story short I gave it up after a week of looking up and down every holler coming out of that slurry and no luck. A fellow that lived a few miles from there found him next spring while mushroom huntin. If I would have went a hundred yards farther or got a dog I would of tagged him. Made me sick and I didn't hunt the rest of the season.
If any body says they ain't never lost one then either they're lieing or they ain't shooting. Happens to the best of'em. I can't give you any better advice than what has already been given.
Hang in there and good luck.
Kris

[Brian Krebs]

A high shot has a couple factors - the blood loss can be mostly or virtually all internal- settling in the bottom of the chest; and the movement of the shoulder can block off the blood flow out.

 I shot a whitetail the other day that I hit in the top of the lungs and the top of the heart; but it was a tad bit quartering on. It ran off leaving a little blood for a while; and then nothing. I had an expectation about where it would go; and it ran in a straight line until it dropped...probably a good 250 yards from the hit.

 Heart shots can produce the longest weakest blood trails sometimes. I really think the double lung is the quickest kill and the easiest trail; and the quartering away on the right ( liver side) has the longest recovery and the biggest blood trail.

 I like leaving a marker; like a piece of toilet paper along the trail; and then looking back at it for reference.

 Then too; get down on one knee and try to find the easiest path for the animal to follow. If it can see thick brush ahead; or a big log; it most likely will not take that route. Try to think like the animal would.

 Bubbles in blood can mean a lung shot; but also a vein shot or artery shot. Vein shots seem to have the ability to stop bleeding; I believe due to the contraction of the vein. There is a name for it. Artery cuts produce light colored -often pink blood; while vein cuts produce dark blood.

 Your shot sounds true; and the deer is out there. My son gave up on a deer that was hit like you described. He decided to give up; and when he went to walk away: he fell over the top of it.

 Finding the deer laying down in thick stuff can be a challenge !

 Keep looking back when following; and keep a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide when trailing. If you spray body fluids it will foam up.. Its really cheap; and using a lot costs little.

 Good luck with your tracking.

[JimB]

Bill Carlsen makes a great point.that was the first thing I thought of when I read this post.Often when the blood trail peters out,you are near the end.

When a deer really starts to get in trouble,it may start going downhill if it isn't already.It may not be applicable in your country but they often also head to water.

When I hit the end of a blood trail,I first continue on the same direction I have been traveling.If that doesn't work,I examine some other options.

Another scenario that you have to rule out when you hit the end of a blood trail is that occasionally,an animal doubles back on it's own trail and then after some distance,leaves the trail,headed in some other direction.

I know of several instances where this has happened and it causes great confusion and can send you off on a long,wild goose chase.Back track for some distance and look for tracks going back,changes in blood spatter,blood on the wrong side of the trail or blood drops leaving the trail.

If you are truly at the end of the blood trail,and are starting your grid search,really search,don't just skim.If you are filled with doubt,you may go too fast and cover too much ground,too fast.

Think about how small a surface area a deer's body will cover,in a laying position, and you cannot pass up anything that could hide something close to that size.It could be behind one bush,a log,laying in a depression etc..Check EVERY brushpile,log,bush,clump of weeds etc..

I just know of too many instances where someone missed a deer that he would have found if he took 10 more steps,looked behind a certain tree,checked behind a bush etc..A hunter was here yesterday and told me 3 different stories like that.

It takes a lot of skill and patience to get an arrow in a deer but it takes at least as much sometimes to trail it too recovery and this is where you really have to slow down and apply due diligence.