I shot a nice 10 point tonight about 1830. He was standing broadside at 30 yards. I think i hit him a little bit further back than i wanted. After i shot he only ran about 60 yards, stopped looked around for a couple minutes then proceeded to trot another 60 - 70 yards before hunching up tucking his tail between his legs and stopping again, it was getting dark so i couldnt tell if he layed down or what, he was standing in about 4 foot high CRP. I waited til it got completely dark found my arrow, which was the opposite direction of what he ran and then backed out. When i found my arrow it was covered in dark red blood with what looked like a bunch of clots on my vanes, I am thinking a liver hit, what do you guys think?
p.s the arrow was a complete pass through tipped with a 2 inch rage. I couldnt smell and feces or stomach matter on the arrow.
Thanks for any input
Tom
UPDATE :
After about 3 hours of sleep we went out this morning and after a 2 1/2 hour track job we found him! He had bedded right where I last seen him last night then gotten up and bedded 2 more times before he finaly crossed a creek and we lost his blood trail. When he crossed the creek he went into some of the thickest nastiest cover around, not being able to find any blood i just skirted the creek knowing gut hit deer will seek out water and i have always heard bucks like to bed where they can here water running. After about a half hour of following the edge of the creek i found him, bedded right next to the water about 15 yards from a beaver dam. I hit him back even further than i thought, i did hit liver but mostly guts. He is a 10 point scores 138 5/8, not the biggest deer bet not to shabby for my first bow buck.
Sounds like you're right on with the liver hit. If it's as cold in MN as it is in NY I'd wait until morning just to be sure.
Sounds like you did the right thing by finding your arrow getting out of the woods. I bet he's laying right where you last saw him and he'll be there in the morning.
I agree it sounds like a liver hit. Check the weather and radar...if it looks clear wait till morning, if not wait at least a few hours. I went after a buck that was liver shot to early and bumped him from his bed...I got him but I should have given him a couple more hours.
I would wait 6-8 hours...sounds like maybe the liver and possibly gut. You can also read about this in Rob's forum, Recovery, what to do after the shot. Good luck with the search...let us know if you find him!
__________________
2011 Archery Team 6 "The B&C Boyz"
2010 Archery Team 8 "Pneumothorax"
2009 Archery Team 1 "Hooters Shooters" (2nd Place)
2008 Archery Team 45 "Nameless Assassins"
2007 Archery Team 48 "Whack 'Em & Track 'Em"
Mathews HyperLite - 29" @ 70lb
Carbon Express 350 Maxima Hunter Arrows
Rage 3 Blade Broadheads
QAD Ultra-Rest HD
Axion Archery Simplex Loc Bow Sight
Treelimb 5-Arrow 1-Piece Quiver
Extreme Archery Air Weight Stabilizer
Tru-Fire Edge FB Release
& Most Importantly...Faith
Also make sure you remember or marked where your arrow was, and would be able to remember where you saw him stop and hunch up. It will look a lot different tomorrow. Don't get discouraged or quick too early if you haven't found him right away. Good Luck! We start tomorrow and hope I have a similiar story to tell, but hopefully I shoot a little more forward. I say I hope because I would likely miss him completely if buck fever sets in.
stuck one.... need some imput: UPDATED
