My latest lesson in finding a deer

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bikeinxs

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One of the best things about hunting is I always learn something.

I shot a small buck just before dark (about 15 minutes before the end of legal shoot) this year at about 200 yards during the rifle hunt in Ontario. It felt like a good shot, but when I got to where the buck had been, I could not find any blood trail at all. The deer was about 30 yards from the edge of the woods when I shot, and ran into the woods after the shot. I spent about 15 minutes looking for sign in the field and at the edge of the woods. No blood anywhere. It was now DARK and I was starting to question if I had hit the deer or not.

To make a long story short, I did find the deer about 50 yards into the bush. The deer ran in a straight line along a nice wide trail and died there - probably 10 seconds after I shot him. It was dark enough when I shot that I couldn't tell that he had been partly facing me. The bullet entered just behind the shoulder but because he was slightly facing me punctured the diaphragm before exiting the other side. Neither hole was very big, and they were high enough in the body that combined with the punctured diaphragm the blood just pooled in the lungs and abdominal cavity. Hence zero blood trail.

If I wasn't confident in my shot I might have left that deer in the woods. That plus I knew that another guy that hunts the same property had lost a wounded deer earlier in the week, and there was no way I was going to have the landowner find another dead deer.

Anyway, the point of my story is that you can rarely be 100% sure that you missed a deer clean - so keep looking even when you are ready to give up.
 
Good for you to keep looking. A bullet can go clean threw with no sign of a hit. I personally like bullets that make a big hole. A deer can still run for over a hundred yards even when you blow out its heart. I only take shots that I know 100% will be hits and within my ability with that rifle. When there is no snow or little snow, I mark my spot from the shot with two flags because it always looks different when you walk 100 yards out, especially for field shooting. If I look back, I line up the two flags where I shot from to know I'm in a straight line.

There are lots of little tricks that combined with good experience will find your deer. On occasion, you don't find the deer, but as long as you make good choices and know your rifle, the odds are always better. I never spend less than an hour looking for a kill, even though it ran away. Vigilance pays off and usually finds it.

Never give up. If you find you make too many clean in and out shots, then you need to change your bullet.
 
Good that you followed up after the shot.After every shot I fire at an animal I will do a good search for any sign of blood,hair,splayed hooves prints,broken branches,flattened grass whatever it takes to ensure it was a clean miss or a hit.My wife and I have pulled a few deer out of the bush after hunters said they cleanly missed,....the shock on their faces.
Deer can do some pretty knarley things when they are wounded and drag you through some pretty wild terrain.Deer hunting after the shot can be a real educational experience.It is nice when they drop on the spot....but when they don't as my wife refers to it deer hunting "csi" kicks in.
 
had 4 deer come running out to me the first day of the controlled hunt . i shot at two of then and nether showed any sighn of being hit at all not even a flinch . sure enough 30 yards down the trail i found blood and the deer was dead anoither 20 yards down . if i had not be so sure of myself and my gun i would have figgered i had missed . as thy both ran off with out even limp . double check every time you shoot DUTCH
 
If you find you make too many clean in and out shots, then you need to change your bullet.
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Also if you find that there's too many deer that didn't even look hit. Its stressful for me to start looking for an animal that made it out of sight. Somewhat less so if I see his whole side cave in and knees buckle first, followed by following chunks of lung material. These are also arguments for lots of gun, and higher velocity.
 
Good thread. I shot a little buck this year, was very confident in my shot, I called my brother right away to bring the bike because I figured it was good as dead. I start looking for blood and I don't even find one spec. I was on my hands and knees looking for hours and never found one spec of blood or my arrow to find where the deer ran. Now i'm thinking i missed some how(shot over top of him) I continued searching for another 2 hours that night doing a grid search just looking for blood or any sign where he went. No dice. Two weeks later I'm walking in the same area and I find my arrow covered in hair and fat. O no.....Do another search and finally find my buck (skin and bones) under a pine tree not 80 yards from where I shot him. He ran into the bush then cut straight left and died I figured since I walked right past that spot many times in the dark the night I shot him. Coyotes had him eatten to skin and bones, I should of knew he was dead from the amount of coyote tracks around that spot. I'm still kicking myself for not getting my dog or doing more of a search. If I would of found one drop of blood I would of looked a lot more, but I didn't. I should of never questioned my shot because it felt really good and I have practiced with that bow countless hours over the summer.
 
fiddler said:
Never give up. If you find you make too many clean in and out shots, then you need to change your bullet.
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I've been using Winchester 130 grain powerpoints and I've been generally very pleased. Usually the deer only takes a few steps. When they have traveled, this is the first time in ten years (that I know of) where I didn't get a big enough hole for a good blood trail. I'm not ready to blame my equipment:)

I've always followed up when I thought I missed, but after seeing first hand how far a deer can travel with no blood trail I'm going to be more careful than ever in the future.
 
Good advice to keep looking after a shot, I too have had deer that left little or no sign for quite a distance. We never stop learning if we pay attention in the woods. It is truly amazing how far a deer can travel with a mortal wound. It's been thirty years since I shot my first deer and I still get that moment of uncertainty when you look for the first blood sign and it's hard to find. I now tend to use the high shoulder shot a little more on game with firearms if there is no snow or the tracking conditions are poor. It leaves a little more damaged meat to clean up but generally drops animals with very little tracking. I used Lumenocks this year for the first time when archery hunting. What a cool gadget and a real bonus to find your arrow right away after the shot, especially in low light, and be able to asses your hit from the arrow condition.
 
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