HELP!! please read give thoughts/ advice...buck shot

cwanty03 · 10-28-2009, 04:11 PM

alright i dont wana waste your guy's time so i will make this short and to the point, if i recover i will give story.....
Shot at a 145'' deer. 17 yds away about 12-15 ft up... i think it deflected but anyway.....
i hit him about 3-4 inches below spine...he dropped about half way and caught himself and took off.....the hit was in perfect line so it WASNT left or right just high.....i shot him at 5 pm tonight 10/28....i am going to look in the morning.....i saw my arrow sticking in him when he ran off and it was still in, i looked a little and saw couple drops of blood it was a watery red.....it seemed to me that the arrow didnt have much penetration, but i got to thinking maybe it hit a far rib and kinda came back out

any thoughts/ tips/ advice would be superly appreciated!
thanks 4 takin time to read,
cwanty

DeBauche11 · 10-28-2009, 04:16 PM

Good idea to back off. Since the hit was higher your not going to see much blood at first because the cavity of the deer hasn't had time to fill up with blood so if your not seeing the type of blood you want right away dont get too discouraged. Take your time looking for blood and be patient. Best of luck!

*twodogs* · 10-28-2009, 04:29 PM

Like you I'd let him lay for the night then I would go in with a hunter I trust. Pick up the track and if you loose it from that point start a circular pattern from the last point you know he traveled. Mark the blood trail with survey tape along the way so you don't trample it. Since he's hit high look for blood/hair on the brush and sides on the trees about 3 feet up. If you can't find him I like to step back and look at the survery tape from a distance and the terrain I know that is off in the distances. I'll move to the heaviest cover first as we grid search it.

Good luck I hope you find him. I am also going to say one other thing because I have had the same experience with the Rage heads - lack of penetration. On you next hunt use a cut on contact head, they never fail (I shoot phat heads they fly really well.) Again good luck.

cterbow · 10-28-2009, 04:45 PM

i have never seen a deer go half way down and then come back up. what was he acting like when he ran away.... hesitant or bounding off llike crazy???? also the shot 3 to 4 inches below the spine does not sound super high to me. the only thing that worries me is if it is the two blade the cut could be horizontal and not vertical which means that you just might have cut above the lungs rather than through them. (just a thought that i have worried about with the rage heads) but also with him dropping down a bit it could be that you clipped the spine but not enough to cause serious damage to it. and if so i believe there is a major artery that runs along it so you might have him bleed out pretty quick. if the blade came in vertical then you will have a dead deer without question.

just like others said. very little blood in the beginning if at all. last years buck for me bled only a few specks. he only went 40 yards but ran through tall grass. i had to track him through it off of bent over grass. so the moral is look down but you will also have to look up and track off of broken limbs and skuffed leaves and the like if no blood is present. most important is take your time and stay off the trail when tracking. the blood will come it almost always does once the arrow falls out.

snake123 · 10-28-2009, 04:52 PM

I shot an 8 point this year (sorry teamates haven't had time to post pic or story) with the same situation. I hit high, the deer dropped, got back up, ran 10 yards and dropped again before getting back up for its death run. I found it about 70 yards away. Very little blood to go on. The main thing is to focus on where you last saw him and go from there. Scour the area. Good luck

cwanty03 · 10-28-2009, 04:54 PM

he was movin pretty good after he started running,,,,it was a rage 3 blade....

cwanty03 · 10-28-2009, 04:56 PM

ps thanks for all the replies i gettin my moral seems to be going up....if you have had this same situation i would love to hear about it!!!!

solocamcan · 10-28-2009, 07:19 PM

What was his tail position? Was it tucked? was it up? Was it "twitching"? I believe you will find him if you hit him where you say you did. Good Luck

cwanty03 · 10-28-2009, 08:00 PM

ya my buddy asked me that too,,,i cant remeber the tail position. but i had a lumenok(green) so i pretty sure on the shot

2 Lunger · 10-28-2009, 08:05 PM

If he went halfway down and got back up you did some damage to the spine. Good new is there is no way to hit below the spine without hitting lungs. The "void" that people speak of is a myth. If you hit above the spine the deer lives barring any infection that could set in. Below the spine and the deer is dead.