Lets Talk - wounded deer / tracking

[cosmic]

This is not a thread about preaching about ethicle shots etc. sometimes s*** happens and i would like to hear real life experience about tracking wounded deer, how far you have tracked them VS where the shot landed(if found).
i have heard stories of heart shot deer going a mile etc..

i have shot a deer that i could not find, that on the shot the deer dropped, for about 3 seconds rolled around on ground. then got up and ran. upon walking up to place of shot there was a large amount of hair and a bit of blood on hair.. following the trail there was bits of blood and hair along the way.
tracked this deer to a barbwire fence, where it bumped it and left hair, then walked further down, and jumped the fence. the deer made it to an open meadow where the snow had blown over any remaining tracks..

where would a shot placement be that would drop a deer and throw a lot of hair, but not be fatal ?

I'll make an effort to answer your question. This happened to me. I managed to make a poorly placed shot on a very large buck early in my hunting career. Buck was quartering toward me at about 125 yards, and it was my first hunt with a scoped rifle... Turns out the bullet skipped off a branch, causing the bullet to hit the deer in the rear haunch. Deer ran into a thicket and I lost sight of it. I knew I had hit it. Being excited, I immediately followed it. I was trying to sneak up on the animal that I believed was still in the thicket. When I got within 50 yards of the thicket, I began to make out the deer - it was laying down on its left side and squirming about with its back facing me. I decided to approach it with the intent of taking a follow up shot in the vitals. When I got within 20 yards it got up and took off. I tried to track the blood trail and lost it after 50 yards.
Fast forward to the following year and my buddy shoots a very large buck in the same area. Butcher comments that this buck had been shot in the rear left haunch, with no bone damage.
So the deer had survived. What was explained to me later by a very knowledgeable hunter - the wounded deer was attempting to seal its wounds by rubbing the wound on the muddy ground. Perhaps this is what your animal did after being hit in the haunch or the brisket? I suspect a lot of hunters mistake this behavior for "deer down", I know I did. I'll leave the cognoscenti on the board to point out my numerous other rookie mistakes.

 

[TheCoachZed]

I'll make an effort to answer your question. This happened to me. I managed to make a poorly placed shot on a very large buck early in my hunting career. Buck was quartering toward me at about 125 yards, and it was my first hunt with a scoped rifle... Turns out the bullet skipped off a branch, causing the bullet to hit the deer in the rear haunch. Deer ran into a thicket and I lost sight of it. I knew I had hit it. Being excited, I immediately followed it. I was trying to sneak up on the animal that I believed was still in the thicket. When I got within 50 yards of the thicket, I began to make out the deer - it was laying down on its left side and squirming about with its back facing me. I decided to approach it with the intent of taking a follow up shot in the vitals. When I got within 20 yards it got up and took off. I tried to track the blood trail and lost it after 50 yards.
Fast forward to the following year and my buddy shoots a very large buck in the same area. Butcher comments that this buck had been shot in the rear left haunch, with no bone damage.
So the deer had survived. What was explained to me later by a very knowledgeable hunter - the wounded deer was attempting to seal its wounds by rubbing the wound on the muddy ground. Perhaps this is what your animal did after being hit in the haunch or the brisket? I suspect a lot of hunters mistake this behavior for "deer down", I know I did. I'll leave the cognoscenti on the board to point out my numerous other rookie mistakes.

That's a weird one I've never heard of before, but I am sure animals do it. It's a good way to explain how some blood trails vanish.

 

[WhelanLad]

This is not a thread about preaching about ethicle shots etc. sometimes s*** happens and i would like to hear real life experience about tracking wounded deer, how far you have tracked them VS where the shot landed(if found).
i have heard stories of heart shot deer going a mile etc..

i have shot a deer that i could not find, that on the shot the deer dropped, for about 3 seconds rolled around on ground. then got up and ran. upon walking up to place of shot there was a large amount of hair and a bit of blood on hair.. following the trail there was bits of blood and hair along the way.
tracked this deer to a barbwire fence, where it bumped it and left hair, then walked further down, and jumped the fence. the deer made it to an open meadow where the snow had blown over any remaining tracks..

where would a shot placement be that would drop a deer and throw a lot of hair, but not be fatal ?

i believe there is a small triangle in the high shoulder, below the spine and above the lungs?
i shot a fallow buck once at 140-150m with a 300wsm, it dropped on the spot, thrashed a moment, then got up an bounced off.....
i never found it.

 

[Highwind]

to the Op I would say you likely hit the brisket. shaved some hair and caused a bit of bleeding. It happens. It happened to one time on a very large whitetail buck. I was using a 30-06 with a 150 grain bullet. I wounded it but after two days of searching I never found it. I figured that while it was wounded, it was not serious enough to kill it. And another time I shot a doe at about 170 yards with the 30-06 and a 165 SGKBT. These bullets do a bit of damage on a whitetail but have always performed well on moose. The deer ran down a hill, crossed a highway, ran down another hill and tried to jump a fence and ran out of energy. And there it laid, partially tangled in the fence. Upon observation, it was found with a substantial exit hole. What surprised me is that it made it about 120 yards from where it was shot.

 

[Ed Smurf]

If you have ever hunted deer with a muzzelloader on a calm day you may never see where or how you hit the deer nor will you know which way it ran.

 

['Boo]

i have shot a deer that i could not find, that on the shot the deer dropped, for about 3 seconds rolled around on ground. then got up and ran. upon walking up to place of shot there was a large amount of hair and a bit of blood on hair.. following the trail there was bits of blood and hair along the way.

Sounds like a high shot above the spine.

It will blow off a large amount of hair and temporarily shock the central nervous system causing the animal to fall like it was hit by lightning. Once it regains control of it's hind legs they will get up and head off to where they feel safe. Let them go for an hour or so and often they are slow getting up out of their bed when you catch up to them. Be ready for a quick follow-up shot.

 

[iron cat]

hair was greyish and wirey (older doe) , blood was well.. blood red bright. first blood probably 20yds from where it dropped and a bit splattery along the way , but mostly small drip here and there (easy to see in snow)
waited a while before really getting on the trail and it did not stop to sit down for 700 meters which is when i lost the trail

Bright red blood and greyish, wirey hair?
Sounds like it could have been a high shot above the lungs with a small vein hit.
A high hit like that would not leave a lot of blood on the ground.
Cat

 

[coleman1495]

Last year my buddy shot a fawn. Was a clean shot broadside maybe 75yds away. Used a 308 with 178gnELDX. The deer instantly ran away. He thought he missed it. It just so happened we had a fresh skiff of snow when it happened. There was a huge amount of blood spray where it was standing then little drops in a trail. I waited 15 minutes and followed the trail.
That deer had ran over a 100yds from where it was shot, across a gulley and through some heavy willow cover. I found it shot through both lungs with a tennis ball sized exit hole.

It was a clean shot, well placed with an overkill cartridge for the animal size. Still if it wasn’t for the fresh snow tracking the blood trail would have been a challenge. Naturally being my buddies first deer he thought he screwed up. It was a fine shot but sometimes they just run.

 

[RightWingIndian]

Watch my buddy shoot a 6 point buck this year at about 50 yards. Buck took off like a rocket, crossed the 100 yards of the field then jumped in the bush.

My buddy is positive he missed. I said no way just from the sound(massive THUD) before even the BANG.

First 100 yards we didn't find a drop of blood. He kept saying I think I missed.

20 yards inside the bush the buck is laying dead. Bullet took out both lungs high and he was moving so fast the body cavity didn't spill ANY blood

I wonder how many times people sat they missed because of the deers reaction and not finding sign at the shot. But in fact they in deed make a good shot

I've only "missed" one shot out of about 15 deer. A very easy close shot. The deer just looked at me and ran away with the others and jumped a fence. I spent a long time tracking with no sign of anything. After it was black outside I gave up and tried the next morning with no luck. I couldn't really sleep that night wondering if I wounded it, killed it or if my meat was out there being eaten by a dog.



The next year there were only two doe in that gang instead of three as well..

 

[track]

This is not a thread about preaching about ethicle shots etc. sometimes s*** happens and i would like to hear real life experience about tracking wounded deer, how far you have tracked them VS where the shot landed(if found).
i have heard stories of heart shot deer going a mile etc..

i have shot a deer that i could not find, that on the shot the deer dropped, for about 3 seconds rolled around on ground. then got up and ran. upon walking up to place of shot there was a large amount of hair and a bit of blood on hair.. following the trail there was bits of blood and hair along the way.
tracked this deer to a barbwire fence, where it bumped it and left hair, then walked further down, and jumped the fence. the deer made it to an open meadow where the snow had blown over any remaining tracks..

where would a shot placement be that would drop a deer and throw a lot of hair, but not be fatal ?

It's very possible that it is a graze shot, from what information you have given. I don't know the date this occurred, however I would go back in the area and listen for crows and magpies, or look for coyotes tracks leading to the same area. If it is a fatal wound, these animals will help you find whatever is remaining of your deer.

 

[jbmauser]

You go ahead and shoot the piss out of your deer, I'll stick with being a good shooter, and have confidence knowing the animal is already dead on it's feet.

I practice a lot and consider myself a pretty good shot but stuff happens. Learned that long ago. You can be as confident as you want in your shot but unless you can see the impact how do you know its exactly where you were planning on hitting? The animal moves right as you shoot, you hit an unseen branch, etc. Lots to go wrong. I'm not saying you should be spraying bullets at every animal you've shot but if there's an opportunity for another shot and the animal is still moving I generally take it. I'd rather have an extra hole than a lost and wounded animal. Nothing feels worse than losing something and hoping its not suffering.

 

[Demonical]

My brother shot a mulie buck that was standing looking directly at us. He hit the deer right in the tip of the brisket.

At the shot the deer flinched, so we knew he hit it.

My brother ran down there, huge spray of blood, it looked like the deer would be down very short distance.

So we started on the blood trail right away.

That was a mistake!

We tracked that blood trail for 3 hours, to where we were finding pinhead size drops of blood that might be 15' to 20' apart.

Very interesting to see how the deer would switch from one deer trail to the next, always cutting backwards to get onto a new trail.

Eventually the blood ran out completely, but we had come to a big opening and I knew that deer will quickly cross an opening then stop once into cover, to watch their backtrail.

So I looked and could see that there was a cutline on the edge of the opening, then thicker brush/trees other side of the cutline. I guessed that the deer would cross into the brush and then stop.

And sure enough, as soon as we got across and into that thicker stuff we found where he had stopped to watch his backtrail, and there was a big pool of blood there.

Then from there the blood trail resumed and only about 20 yards further the buck was laying there. Just bled out completely, his legs were red with blood.

Crazy how long and how far that deer took us.

 

[TheCoachZed]

My brother shot a mulie buck that was standing looking directly at us. He hit the deer right in the tip of the brisket.

At the shot the deer flinched, so we knew he hit it.

My brother ran down there, huge spray of blood, it looked like the deer would be down very short distance.

So we started on the blood trail right away.

That was a mistake!

We tracked that blood trail for 3 hours, to where we were finding pinhead size drops of blood that might be 15' to 20' apart.

Very interesting to see how the deer would switch from one deer trail to the next, always cutting backwards to get onto a new trail.

Eventually the blood ran out completely, but we had come to a big opening and I knew that deer will quickly cross an opening then stop once into cover, to watch their backtrail.

So I looked and could see that there was a cutline on the edge of the opening, then thicker brush/trees other side of the cutline. I guessed that the deer would cross into the brush and then stop.

And sure enough, as soon as we got across and into that thicker stuff we found where he had stopped to watch his backtrail, and there was a big pool of blood there.

Then from there the blood trail resumed and only about 20 yards further the buck was laying there. Just bled out completely, his legs were red with blood.

Crazy how long and how far that deer took us.

Starting on the blood trail right away might have been the best thing you did. A lot of people recommend trailing muscle-shot deer immediately so they don't have a chance to clot up.

 

[saskgunowner101]

I practice a lot and consider myself a pretty good shot but stuff happens. Learned that long ago. You can be as confident as you want in your shot but unless you can see the impact how do you know its exactly where you were planning on hitting? The animal moves right as you shoot, you hit an unseen branch, etc. Lots to go wrong. I'm not saying you should be spraying bullets at every animal you've shot but if there's an opportunity for another shot and the animal is still moving I generally take it. I'd rather have an extra hole than a lost and wounded animal. Nothing feels worse than losing something and hoping its not suffering.

Reading and comprehension are important on forums. It's as if you guys are making it out to be more than I've said.

When someone says

"This is where I stand by my claim that if you shoot something you fire until it stops moving or you run out of bullets." This wasn't regarding an iffy shot, it was pertaining to any shot at a game animal.

And then I say

"You go ahead and shoot the piss out of your deer, I'll stick with being a good shooter, and have confidence knowing the animal is already dead on it's feet."

Don't make it out to be anything more than it is. Yeah, things can go wrong and a poor shot is made, bullet failure etc, but advising to shoot a deer 4-5 times, just because, every time, all the time, is garbage. I just don't know why you guys are pulling the trigger if the shot seems so iffy. Don't you trust your load, the shooting you've done beforehand, trajectory?

 

[GRFCal]

I'd say you grazed either the spine or brisket areas, both these locations can create shock in the neurologic system enough to drop, or paralyze the animal temporarily. If one can find the article 'Follow that Shot" by Bob Scammell it is the best article I've read on following game that has been shot at. An excellent read if one can find it. Sadly is beyond my google fu to find it.

I'm a committed believer that as soon as one shoots you reload and get the sights back on the animal if at all possible and if there are ANY doubts about the "deadness" of the animal hit it again. I've seen deer down for several minutes looking very dead start to reanimate and try to get up.

 

[jbmauser]

Reading and comprehension are important on forums. It's as if you guys are making it out to be more than I've said.

When someone says

"This is where I stand by my claim that if you shoot something you fire until it stops moving or you run out of bullets." This wasn't regarding an iffy shot, it was pertaining to any shot at a game animal.

And then I say

"You go ahead and shoot the piss out of your deer, I'll stick with being a good shooter, and have confidence knowing the animal is already dead on it's feet."

Don't make it out to be anything more than it is. Yeah, things can go wrong and a poor shot is made, bullet failure etc, but advising to shoot a deer 4-5 times, just because, every time, all the time, is garbage. I just don't know why you guys are pulling the trigger if the shot seems so iffy. Don't you trust your load, the shooting you've done beforehand, trajectory?

I get it. I'm not saying to pump the thing full of lead all the time either. Just saying that I will take a second shot if presented even if I am pretty confident the first was good. Something I recommend to anyone asking about it and it's what I've taught any new hunter I'm teaching. I also don't recommend taking risky or iffy shots. If you're not confident you can make the shot you shouldn't be taking it. I just really don't see any disadvantages or harm, other than possibly a small amount of meat loss in a follow up shot so that's my philosophy.

 

[canadian hunter312]

Shooting a deer multiple times as "insurance" is just silly. If you cannot make a good shot the first time, what makes you think you're going to make a better shot on an animal that's now running full tilt? Not only are you going to waste more meat if you hit it again, if you miss you're going to get the animals adrenaline pumping even harder which is exactly what you don't want to do to an injured deer. That wounded deer will now run even farther, reducing the odds of recovery.

I'd much rather let the deer run off as even when its not the best shot they usually only go a couple hundred yards before making their first stop. This is where it'll lay down to die if you give it time.

There's a reason so many deer are lost during the controlled hunt. Inexperienced hunters unloading on deer and not allowing enough time before searching for the animal. The number of dead deer we find during and after controlled hunts is sickening.

 

[saskgunowner101]

I get it. I'm not saying to pump the thing full of lead all the time either. Just saying that I will take a second shot if presented even if I am pretty confident the first was good. Something I recommend to anyone asking about it and it's what I've taught any new hunter I'm teaching. I also don't recommend taking risky or iffy shots. If you're not confident you can make the shot you shouldn't be taking it. I just really don't see any disadvantages or harm, other than possibly a small amount of meat loss in a follow up shot so that's my philosophy.

I see where you're coming from, and I can get behind what you've said. I just didn't like the thought of an up and coming aspiring hunter/newb on CGN reading that (shoot it 4-5 times) and think that (that) was any kind of normal.

 

[coleman1495]

I see where you're coming from, and I can get behind what you've said. I just didn't like the thought of an up and coming aspiring hunter/newb on CGN reading that (shoot it 4-5 times) and think that (that) was any kind of normal.

The issue is you don’t know that the animal is dead after the first shot. Even if you are confident, its not over until it’s stopped moving. A lung shot animal can run 100yds and that can present a challenge.

If it really is a great first shot you shouldn’t need a follow up. A heart shot is fatal pretty quick I can’t see most people getting a second shot off.

 

[saskgunowner101]

The issue is you don’t know that the animal is dead after the first shot. Even if you are confident, its not over until it’s stopped moving. A lung shot animal can run 100yds and that can present a challenge.

.

Why yes, yes I do know the animal is dead, even if it doesn't know it. That's what happens when you're confident and put a bullet in the boiler room. I trust my shooting and don't need to wale away like I'm paying homage to Blackhawk Down or Saving Private Ryan-beach scene. I also live on the edge and don't use a meat thermometer...I'm just that good.