sounds like you hurt him bad...and with there not being that much blood...you could have hit the liver, or sometimes deer just simply don't bleed that much....I shot a big nine a couple of years ago, and made a double lung pass through and didn't find a drop of blood until I found him...that buck ran about 10 yards after the shot, and started walking...sounds very similar to your situation...most important thing....make sure you can see and take your time which is very hard to do

Dead... Get him bro! Pull out all the stops and mark each drop of blood!!!

hell be dead soon. did you shoot him in some fenced in thing?

That was a great shot if you indeed hit him there and he was dead last night. What color was the blod was it bright or real dark or normal?

I have no doubt this buck is dead. You did the right thing by backing out. If youre not sure of where you hit him, back off and wait a few hours or till the mext day. I shot a nice 8 last year and wasnt sue of the shot but I knew I got him good when he came right off the ground. But it was a strong quartering away shot but I also heard him crash.. SoI sat for 45 minutes and climbed down. No blood, walked in the general direction, found 3/4 of my arrow, looked up and hes no more than 40 yards from where I shot him. Upon the examination, there was no reason the buck I shot should have died, I knicked one lung, never even punctured it, yet there was so much blood in him it was sick, the liver was in tact and so was the heart, im thinking I hit that big artery that runs through the upper part of the body. I was aiming for the exit hole. Heres another mistery....I never found the other 1/4 part of my arrow that shoudl have been inside him....well anyway, you made a good decission by backing off and hope you find him this morning.

You should find him within 100 yards pal.
Whats all that behind the buck? A campground?

Just to clarify, the picture he posted is not the buck that he shot. I think he just put that pic up to show his shot placement on his buck. Correct me if I'm wrong Jellio.

I really hope and THINK you will find your buck. Even if it was a gut shot; he should be dead by now. I hope you check near water while you're out there.

Another thing, don't put the bow away because of this incident. I know it's a confidence killer but you can't give up that easily. Bad shots/lost deer have happened (or will) to all of us. You just gotta keep at it.

Good luck finding your deer man. I feel if you truly put forth the effort to find this deer...you will. We want pics too.

I think TV has done hunters an injustice. They preach too much about wait an hour, back out for the night yada yada yada. I'd rather have 10 minutes of tracking light than giving a deer an hour or even 15 minutes for that matter. Quitely climb down, check your arrow and decide at that time. If you hit a deer in the vitals like you show in your mark, he's dead in seconds.... SECONDS. Track the deer quietly for the first 30-50 yards. If the deer starts pouring just keep going. If it's a bag of worms then you might want to back out. Deer don't generally bleed a lot the first couple hops of their escape. It usually takes them 20 or 30 yards minimum to start putting blood of any consequence on the ground. A few extra minutes of daylight tracking also allows you to use footprints and you have the deers escape path clear in your mind, that's if you did your homework as the deer fled.

In my opinion there are just too many people being educated to wait until tomorrow. Leaves the meat subject to ruin, coyotes, or whatever. You'll know in the first 100 yards if you're right or wrong. If the deer is down in that hundred yards he isn't going far even if he gets up. If he's not pouring blood or down in the 100 yards, by all means back out. Just go slow and quiet. I've NEVER left a deer in the woods over night.

David:

I value your insight a lot.....and I'll concur with you to an extent....based on a few examples:

1. EVERY deer I've killed and seen go down....was dead in 20 seconds or less.

2. I'm betting the two I had to track last year were dead in 20 seconds.....but I'll never know. BUT....if I had to base the end result (time of death) on the available blood trail.....I might would have backed out when i got down. (I backed out both time on principle)

3. Tracking at night with even the BEST lights money can buy is NOT EASY.

I wouldn't wish the night I had two nights ago on anyone.....but I did the right thing (in my mind). I had no trail.

I will likely get lambasted for this.....but if I see a good blood trail....I'm going to AT LEAST mark the POI and the first 40 yds or so of it before I leave.....if I am fighting light. Knowing the initial direction your deer flees is IMPERATIVE. They won't always stay in that "line"....(believe me)....but it's happened that way more times than not, FOR ME.

I am still a firm believer that waiting is the right thing to do.....but I will let individual circumstances dictate my next tracking job.

I understand what you're saying, but in this cases he had a good 30 minutes of daylight. Get down and check for 40 yards or so. The tracking might have been over in minutes. I don't mind tracking at night. It's cool and quiet. LOL I've gutted many a deer in the dark.