Shot a deer but could not find it.

spenom

spenom

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Kamloops, B.C.
Well today was bar none the worst hunting experience of my life. I have a LEH mule deer doe tag and went out today to get that doe. Sure enough I found one and took the shot. I was about 70-80 yards away and had a solid rest. I used .308 150 grain federal blue box ammo. I had the perfect shot lined up and I took it. It was a smaller animal and was just what I was looking for since I already got my buck this year.

The shot put the doe down and I figured that was that. I had aimed and shot right where you are supposed to for a solid kill shot, just behind the shoulders, in the center of the body. Anyway the doe got up after the shot and took off behind some trees. I did not have time for a follow up shot. No big deal I figured it was a done deal. So I waited for a while before heading into the woods. I always do this because they usually lye down and die VS running scared and then dieing farther away.

So once ready I headed down to were I had knocked the doe down. No blood was the first thing I thought was a little weird. But the deer was only down for a half second before getting up and there was no snow at the spot that I had made the shot. Long story short I looked until dark (a solid 3 hours or so) and could not find the doe. I feel like Sh@t! I started to second guess myself thinking maybe I had bumped my scope at some point in the hunt and when I had fired the shot the deer slipped and fell and I was wrong in thinking I had even hit it (deeper down I knew that this had not happened). Still I took a break from looking for the deer and set up a target right where the deer was and re-took the shot from the same rest adjusting nothing on my scope and the shot proved my gun was bang on.

So I searched until I was soaked with sweat and in the dark. Nothing. I drove home and pretty much decided I was never going to go hunting again because I felt like garbage knowing that I basically killed/wasted a deer. I think at one point in the drive I even planned to sell all of my guns and take up squash or just get really into fishing. I have gotten more reasonable now and and going to keep hunting and shooting but god is this an awful feeling. I am probably going to go back tomorrow and look some more because now that I am home all these scenarios of where it might have gone are popping into my head. Plus this happened in an area that there has been some problems with criminals shooting animals and leaving them (mature moose etc).

I guess the whole point of my post is to ask if this has happened to anyone else? I am hoping that .308 150 grain right in the kill zone means that even though I didn't/don't find it, at least means that it won't suffer to much. The no blood thing was weird though.
 
I remember a post from last season, where the fellow had shot a deer a tad bit high over the lungs, but under the spine. Punched a clear hole and hit no vitals. IIRC, he ended up getting it another day and found the hole...

It may be there, maybe you just overlooked it. If you can, get a buddy or two and go back tomorrow and do a grid search of the area. If you don't find it, at least you did your best to try...
 
Don't get too wound up yet! Go back tomorrow, mark your spot and start doing an organized search pattern. Do either a grid or a concentric circle pattern and use flagging tape to mark where you have been. Take a buddy if you can to help. It's amazing how you can miss things (even deer sized things!) sometimes. Best of luck to you!
 
I shot one in the last hours of evening and it jumped and bolted. I looked for it in the dark until the wee hours of the morning. I laid down some orange marking tape where I saw the last blood drops. Went back in the morning light and crawled on my hands and knees. It turned out that after the deer left my sight running straight to my left, it took a 90 degree turn and crumpled up in a small bluff. I thought it had ran straight the whole time because thats what I saw and that was as far as I could track blood. Go back tomorrow and you may find it. I was surprised I could still see fine blood drops on grass and leaves the next morning. Go slow and be a bloodhound. Don't go far from the last sign or evidence if you don't find anything. Get right down on the ground if need be. You can find hoof prints, tiny blood drops. If you can't find anything furhter in the direction it went, go back to the last bit of evidence and spead out from there. Try your best to figure out the exact spot to start from. There's usually a blood spot there or a chunk of lung or flesh at the starting point. Good luck. It may not have gone far, but it can be tricky to find them if there is tall grass or brush.
 
My last whitetail didn't bleed enough to leave a trail until it had gone about 10m. Go back in the morning, take a friend or two and a good dog on a leash if you know of one and start at the beginning. The situation sucks but you will find the deer. Do a grid search, etc. And if you don't find it then take solace that you tried your best and fed the local predators and scavengers.
 
If you were using the Federal blue box(Power-shok) it should have opened up quite well. Shot my spiker last year with those cartridges and it did a good number. I'd go back and look tomorrow, things show up much easier in the daytime with the sun high in the sky.
 
Don't beat yourself up too bad. It happens.Go back tomorrow and start grid searching .Doing figure 8"s . If you hit it where you figured . It should'nt be too far away.
 
Don't give up hunting. It happens. The only positive way you can look at it is that the coyotes, wolves, and other critters will get a good meal. Crappy way of thinking but a wise old man told me that once. Sure everybody wants the one shot one kill, but deer are resilient. Who knows, it might not have even mortally wounded it.
 
You may have put the bullet just below the spine, enough to stun her for a minute, but if it didn't hit anything vital she may be just fine. I've heard of alot of guys shooting through "the void" without putting the critter down. (of course that was usually with an arrow. I'm not sure if the shock of a bullet would allow that) If that was the case, she could have called in an airlift to the vet for all you know. Don't sweat it, try again. If you can find no blood check for other sign. If she was buggered, she won't be as graceful as usual and would be hightailing it. Check for marks on downed logs or fur on wire fences. If you find no sign or any blood, she's probably a little sore but just fine. Keep looking and I'm sure you'll find her on the move again, good luck.
 
There might not always be blood at the spot the deer was standing, but there should be hair.

Like others have said, get right down on your hands and knees if you have to and flag the blood trail frequently.

How is the temperature where you are hunting?...your deer will still be edible if it's cool enough. Good luck. :)
 
Fact is most hunters will go through this sooner or later. You'll here from some that will thump their chest and say that never happens to them. Usually two reasons for that:

1) They are full of crap
2) They haven't really shot much game

Go back tomorrow if you can but if you've truely given it your best then try to learn something from the situation and keep on hunting. You have to take the good with the bad. Sounds like you really tried so good on you. A lot of guys would of walked away a lot sooner.
 
I am planning on going back tomorrow. I did the heaviest of searching in the direction it ran. It pulling an un expected 90 degree turn could change things up. A dog and looking for crows are good ideas. Only thing is that I won't be able to get out there until 2:30 That is going to be about 20 hours it will have been dead for with the guts in. It gets down to -3 to -5 but not sure I want to eat something like that. Regardless I at the very least want to know where it ended up.
 
Doe standing on steep hillside in couple inches of snow. Long shot, took good rest. Held right on top of back, thinking bullet would drop eight or ten inches. Boom. Deer slid, tumbled, rolled down the hill. Lots of noise in small dead trees. Deer at bottom of hill, I start to walk over, deer jumped to her feet and took off.
No blood. Walked up hill. Saw where bullet hit snow, where back had been. Cut hair. No Blood.
Bottom line, over estimated distance on dull day in the snow. Easy to do. Bullet tickled its back, knocked it down, basically uninjured.
Deer in posting could have been the same.
 
H4831 said:
Bottom line, over estimated distance on dull day in the snow. Easy to do. Bullet tickled its back, knocked it down, basically uninjured.
Deer in posting could have been the same.
Click to expand...

Nope. Not a chance. This was at 70-80 yards no holdover or anything. I smoked that deer guaranteed.
 
Bullet might not have exited so there might not be much of a blood trail, I shot one last year in the neck at 89 yds the bullet travelled along the spine and never exited. Also a few years back shot a whitetail with a 30-06 left a huge hole right through the lungs,turned the heart to mush, deer still went 134 yds before dropping. You could try going crossways on the trail 50 yds either side at 10yd increments found a few animals for friends this way, actually never lost a animal tracking it in the described method.
 
Factory ammo can do some funny things at times. Just because you verified doesn't mean there wasn't a problem and you hit high in the "void".

Best of luck.
 
There has to be hair

If the bullet touched it, there has to be some hair on the ground.

Look hard for some hair which will show you exactly where she was standing. Then you might be able to find some blood and follow up.

Good luck and don't let it get to you. The point is that you are trying hard to find it.

This is one of the things about hunting that can happen to anyone and can indeed turn one off of hunting. Thats just the way it is.
 
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