Good luck, do you have access to a blood hound?

They work like magic.

I would say that if you found mostly dark blood, the deer is dead somewhere by now. One lung only...hard to say. Take a few guys with you and begin to grid search from your last known blood. Good luck...

Ya, I have an interview in an hour and then I plan on getting back out to search again...I just moved here a couple months ago so don't really know anyone. He ran out of the woods and hit a cut path (probably 8 feet wide) and made a 90 degree turn to the right (heading down hill). I only have access to 33 acres here, so small area. at the bottom of the hill, there is a creek that he may have crossed (thought about that last night laying in bed). I will probably put another 4-5 hours in after him today. I will let ya'll know how it goes when I get back.

Yep, the dark blood is a good sign. Don't fret over the lack of blood, doesn't mean he's not dead, just harder to find.

that 90 degree turn and that downhill run may of been his death dash. I hope it goes well for you.

if you get to read this........how far has he gone so far?

He is in that area somewhere. Hopefully you marked where you last saw blood and can pick it up again today. Look for blowdowns and thick nasty stuff he may have jumped in to hide. I have a good feeling about you finding him today. good luck and keep us posted.

I have looked now for about 4 hours w/ no luck, no more blood, no arrow...I am pretty sure I have scoured every square foot he could be on in this area. I went back for another look at first blood.

Heres what I found: I have dark blood, and after looking at it again im not convinced its liver hit, w/ a very small amount of brown hair in it. There isn't a whole lot of blood here, just a small circle where it looked like he coughed, but now im thinking its where he paused or laid down due to the hair. Shortly after that area, there is good blood for about 10 yards, then it starts to diminish. Where he exited the woods, there is small blood drops where he jumped over some brush. very little blood after that. I am beginning to think I may have gotten backstrap, just because of the hair and I know I hit him high, just unsure of how high. The arrow is probably still in him (and had to have exited due to the blood on the left side of the trail (I hit him on the right side). The blood didn't start until about 120-150 yards (I previously said 100, but after walking it a few times is probably more) from where he was hit. For some reason, the blood just doesn't look that thick to me.

Has anyone ever hit a deer in the backstraps and seen it alive later on? How did the deer react?
I talked to my dad and gpa about it and my gpa hit one last year during bow season in the backstraps and ended up killing it during rifle season 2 weeks later. Also my dad has hit them there and seen them alive later on. Im a little discouraged by this whole thing but I know it happens sometimes. I just hope hes still alive and I get another crack at him.

We have some trail camera pics of a doe my buddy shot two years ago in the backstraps. She has a nice scare, it makes it very easily to tell it is her. We get pictures of her every year and swore off on killing her, we figure we had chance and blew it.

nc, Being able to tell the hit from blood shades and thickness along with hair type takes a lot of experience to be accurate. You may want to take a look at the Deer Shack and check out their posters. We have a few of them hanging at my camp. They are very realistic.

It sounds like you sure did your part, so keep your head up!

And yes, there certainly is the possibility that your deer survived.

I like that.