last night i was sitting in a stand that i don't sit in very often on my property. i got there about 3pm. i am sitting uptop a hill facing a creek, hill to the right of me hill to the left of me and about 100yds in front starts a cow pasture. i set out some doe estrus and buck pee. every half hour or so i would use my grunt tube on doe, buck then doe. i would also use my primos can.

alright at about 6:20pm i see two buck out in the cow pasture with a doe. i call to them loudy with a buck and doe grunt. i grab my bino's and lose sight of them as them move off to the north. couple seconds later in the pasture i see a doe go running by. about 10 minutes later (getting pretty dark) i hear leaves crunching to the north and i see some ripples in the water in the creek. i grab my bino's but do not see anything. what ever was making the noise was on the other side of the hill i was sitting next to. so i look at the water so i can get a reflection of the noise maker. i couild see that it was a deer,then it turned it's head and i could see anlters. it continued to walk in my direction in the creek. it walks up the hill i am perched on. I am standing waiting to the right moment to come to full draw. he sees me and looks at me for a few seconds and continues walking. he gets into my shooting lane and i come to full draw. well the lane i had to shoot to was clear when i was sitting, but when i am standing there is a limb in the way. i could not find a shot and he kept on walking. i sit back down and am cusing myself. i then hear more leaves crunching coming forom the north. i turn and see a even bigger buck coming. it is standing 15yds, right where the first one was standing when it was looking at me. i come ot full draw and turn to shoot (I am sitting down) but my tree is in the way for me to turn. my arm is hittin the tree i am sitting in. so i stand and get ready to shoot. it is pretty dark now, but legal time. i have small target peep sight on my bow string which makes it hard to see through i low light. i also didn't get time ot turn on my light that i have on my toxonics sight. i put my pins on him and release. the sound was hollow. it is now 6:32. the buck takes off running. i get my things together adn get down. 6:45 don't find my arrow but i find blood and stomach matter. i turn and go home. i come back this morning at 8:30 am and find small drops of micro-dot blood for about 150-200 yds. then find no more. i walked around the woods, thickets, fields in circles (3 other people were helping me) and found nothing.
i found my arrow this morning, only one feather on my arrow had blood on it and it smelled like deer (you know how they smell after you dress them). it was at least a 10 if not a 12 point over 200 lbs. i don't know what to do. i could have swore i was going to make a good hit, it was quarting to me a little.
i'm going tomarrow after work and look some more.
Do all gut shot deer die?

Good luck !!

yes he will die, good lcuk finding him!

Look near the creek.....they will often head to a water source when hit. Good luck finding him...

now that i think about it some more and look at my arrow more i think that i didn't hit guts. my arrow only smells like blood, it does not stink like guts. only one feather has blood on it. maybe i just hit a none vital area that did not bleed much, or just grazed him.

Did you find the deer?? Sounds like a real horror story but we probably have all been there before.

Looking at the world from 15 feet up.

In my opinion due to low light, target peep and the deer quartering to you, you had NO SHOT. Also, when you draw on a deer is not the time to learn where you can and cant shoot. In the future, every time you sit on the stand the first thing you need to do is draw your bow and figure out where you can shoot and in what positions. iestanding, sitting, left & right). Fortunately, to me it sounds like you only grazed this buck due to the fact that there is only blood on one feather. Good chance you will meet again during the rut. This time have a hunting peep in. Pick-a-peep works well. You can pull the slide clear out for hunting and still shoot very well in low light conditions. He'll be back to visit those does and I look forward to you posting his picture for us in November. Good luck.

If you found blood & stomach matter...you hit the gut. Might have taken the liver or another organ too.

JRW

IF THERE WAS STOMACH MATERIAL I WOULD SAY HE IS GOING TO DIE I HAVE READ OF SOME SURVIVING BUT I THINK THAT IS EXTREMILY RARE. KEEP AT IT FROM THE LAST BLOOD START A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH IN ALL DIRECTIONS. GOOD LUCK.

well i looked for another 4 hours tonight. i drove my 4 weeler all over the near by cow pasture that i was facing and found nothing. i walk all over the creek bottom in the direction that he took off running. i didn't find any more blood or hair or anthing. it is a narrow creek bottom and i walked down a trail that i think he may have taken for about 3/4 of a mile, up and down hills, over ditches, thick and thin cover. i didn't find anything.
talked to the farmer who owns the cow pasture and he said that he saw a big deer while he was cutting corn on thursday night. from what he discribed it sounded like the same deer. i gave him my phone number and told him to call me if he happens to find the deer or just see him still alive.

i did find alot of fresh rubs and scrapes though.