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Post by copper1 on Oct 25, 2005 0:10:52 GMT -5
OK , need some advice here!
Yesterday evening I had my boy sit by himself for the first time with me bowhunting about 40 yards away from him. a short time after I get into my stand I hear him shoot, the arrow impact and see the deer run away. I waited 20 minutes and go to his stand and he gives me the thumbs up and points to where his shot was at. He shot a big doe
I have him get down and we look at the blood, Good blood.
He tells me he hit behind the shoulder and a little far back but as we start to track the blood looks real good. I found 3 good spots about the size of a dinner plate where she blew out her nose, I also find little pink frothy pieces of lung material in them.
We track about 75 yards with good blood and then it comes to a complete halt. No more, nothing, not a speck.
I started to circle around and cannot find where she went to. I think she backtracked but try that route and nothing.
I've bloodtrailed lots of deer but this is a first for me. I can't believe this deer is not dead. I walked this area for 3 hours this morning again and could not find anything.
My boy is really disapointed as well as me and I feel horrible for him. I told him that things don't always go the way they should as much as we hate it to happen.
Any suggestions on tracking advice for a situation like this would be appreciated.( By the way it also rained overnight not helping matters this morning) Thanks
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Post by LawrenceCoBowhunter on Oct 25, 2005 2:04:55 GMT -5
It may not help much now but I have tracked a few deer that have hardly bleed at all.Here is a few things I do.If there isn't much blood on the ground I look for overturned leaves or paw indentions in the ground it gives you a little sense to what direction it may be going.Check out all brush piles or anything a deer can get in and bed down in,check around water sources.If all else fails it wouldn't hurt to have someone with a deer tracking dog.I know how it feels to loose a deer,there has been a couple I haven't found and it really sucks.Good luck
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Post by suitcase on Oct 25, 2005 9:01:21 GMT -5
I second that LCBH! 2 years ago I had my only gut shot to date. There wasn't much blood at all, and then it just quit. The ground was really matted from a rain a few days prior. I marked the spot that I saw blood, went and got my other two hunting buddies, and we all had a pow wow about where we thought it went. I got down on one knee, and when I was close to the ground, I could see a string of leaves kicked up that I couldn't see when I was standing. The doe was dragging a leg a little. Every so often we would all get down and try to find the leaves that were just barely sticking up. We found the deer, and I had to finish her off but we got her. I hope it is a long time before I have a gut shot again!!!!!!
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Post by DEERTRACKS on Oct 25, 2005 10:49:11 GMT -5
Check-out all of the downed trees, creeks, ponds, & thickets along established deer trails in the general direction she was headed after being shot. If no luck with these locations, I immediately go to the nearest high ground that a deer would go to watch it's backtrail for a predator. Mortally wounded deer "will" climb to higher ground when desperate.
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Post by chicobrownbear on Oct 25, 2005 11:46:28 GMT -5
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Post by budfields on Oct 25, 2005 12:32:18 GMT -5
Hello copper1..
I understand your situation all too clearly. In 41 years, I have assisted many deer hunters in the task of trailing a gut-shot deer and I assure you, it is NOT an easy task,
There are some really good suggestions being made here and I have a few of my own that I would like to share with you. They may not make alot of sense, but they have helped me out MANY times and hopefully, they may help you and your son.. as well as others in the same situation.
I try to establish a "direction of travel" and I place small pieces of toilet tissue along the trail for visual aid. (The tissue is bio-degradable and will dissolve when wet.) If I lose the trail, I will simply look at the trail of small pieces of tissue paper and line up the direction the deer was traveling.
Many times the deer will travel in a straight line unless it is disturbed by something. I have walked ahead of the last blood marking and relocated more blood, tracks, scuff marks, etc. indicating the deer "headed this way."
Also, a mortally wounded deer does NOT like to travel uphill. They prefer to travel on level ground.
Wounded deer also search for water.. I have found wounded deer laying in a creek, ditch filled with water or even oversized mudpuddles. They attempt to sooth the wound and many times, cannot get back up.
The deadfalls and heavy bushes are a real good suggestion. I have found 4 deer this season that actaully crawled inside and laid down. They NEVER got back up. I found the 7 pointer I shot earlier in a huge dead fall. He actaully tried to jump the deadfall and ended up expiring in mid air. He was almost standing on his head in the center of the deadfall..
You can also listen for crows that get very vocal when they locate a deer carcass or even coyotes like to let the other ones know it is "dinner time."
GOOD LUCK
Bud Fields
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Post by Woody Williams on Oct 25, 2005 12:38:11 GMT -5
It sounds like he got one lung, guts and probably the liver. My guess is the deer wasn't quite broadside, but maybe angling to him a little.
The deer should be dead. Just a matter of finding it.
I would look for the deer in a grid search AFTER I have checked out all the water holes in the area.
GOOD LUCK...
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Post by INBowhunter on Oct 25, 2005 13:02:05 GMT -5
Good luck in your search. Good advice so far and I can't add much to what has already been posted for finding this deer. For future deer in the same situation, my advice is to wait longer before tracking.
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Post by copper1 on Oct 25, 2005 18:32:46 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice guys, I even went to the extent of putting up a climbing stick on a couple trees and looking down into the thickets to try and see her with no luck. Unfortunately this one is lost as much as I hate it.
Woody, you hit the nail on the head with your version of his shot placement, I was thinking the same thing.
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