DID I HIT HIM????....HES HIT (update pg 3)
 

An hour ago I had 5 does funnel past my stand. Right behind them was a 4.5 year old buck that I have on camera for three years. I put my 20 yd pin on the middle of his chest when he was slightly quartering towards. I am worried becauseI think the shot may have been closer to 17yds and if he jumped the arrow i may have shot over him. It all happened so fast that I can't say for sure whether or not I heard a whack. He ran off with his tail down, went 50 yards his tail started flicking like crazy, that's when I lost sight of him. I went to where he was standing couldn't find any blood and couldn't find my arrow. If i missed him shouldnt my arrow have been stuck in the dirt?? I'm twenty five feet up. Sorry for rambling but as you guys no this is the worst 2-3 hours of a bowhunters life.

Does the way he ran off mean he's hit????

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I have seen the tail start flicking like that just before a deer crashes

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Sounds like what a hit deer dose, but chances are you will have little or no blood to help you find him with a qurtering to shot. Good luck and be sure and let us know how this turns out

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If you were 25 ft up, an arrow in the dirt should be easy to find. Best get back out there and look again for that arrow and then for that buck. Hope you made note of where you last saw him.

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I'll bet youhit him. If you missed that arrow would be right behind where he stood. Good luck.

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and then squeezed the trigger? Where is this middle of the chest you're talking about? You don't mean his chest plate between the two front legs?

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A liver shot deer will almost always flick their tail like that even if you did get one lung. I would stay out until in the morning and then resume tracking!!!!!

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The fast tail wag is almost a certain sign that you mortally wounded him. Unless he was looking at you or aware of your presence, he can't jump the string at just 17 yards unless you're shooting a recurve or long bow-- compound bows are just too fast at that range. Three yards makes no difference for a kill shot hit, half an inch tops. Sounds like youhit him though. Goback andlook forthe arrow at the spot of impact. If you still can't find it, the arrow is probably still in him soslowly and quietlystalk to the spot you saw him slow down and wag his tail eratically, if the blood looks good, advance, if not, give him until morning to look for him.

Did you hear the arrow crack? Did you catch shoulder bone? Even if you did with that quartering shot,the arrow might have deflected forward into thelungs. Thefast tail usually means you caught the goods.

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I am almost positive that I heard an impact. But just as positive that it was a double impact sound....like impact then antler or bone almost. I just cant be certain it all happened so fast so don't quote me on that. All I can say for sure is that he turned, ran down the hill on the exact trail he came up, and once he reached the bottom he started kinda walking and stopping while flicking his tail like crazy. He definitely didn't look up at me while he was doing this so that's why I'm leaning toward the fact that I hit him. This happened at 4:15 I'm gonna head back out around 7:30, under what circumstances should I back out??

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Hope you find him bud. Look for hairs, anything that might give you a clue. Where in SE Pa. are you?

Shane

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Sounds to me like you hit him, probably nota great shot and won't have much blood. Let him sit overnight then in the am start circling.. He may not be far..

Good Luck and let us know.

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I beg to differ on this,most deer that duck the string do it less than 20 yards.

Plus,there has yet to be a bow that shoots faster than the speed of sound.;)

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The last two deer I shot was from 22" feet in the tree. Last night I shot a doe I might of hit the shoulder but the arrow went in 8 - 10 inches. Do you think I could find any blood? NO I been hunting higher up in the air this year which is causing no pass throughs at closer yardages cause of the angle. Needless too say it rained today and I still never found that doe. So hopefully you find your deer and best luck on finding a good blood trail. IA

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If you're a good shot and you practice and you're confident in your shooting, this deer is dead. When I shoot a deer and I see the tail start to go fast side to side, I jump for joy as theyusually drop within 5-10 seconds from that point.

Here are the circumstances that you definately go back after him tonight.

1. You're on public ground or heavily hunted ground--you don't want some guy finding a gift walking into his stand in the morning. You don't want to walk up toa big deer body with no head.
2. You're on ground where you have otherhunters you don't trust or he's close to the borderline with otherguys you don't know.

Is it raining by you? I don't think this makes a big diffeence though if you made the hit I think you did from how you're describing it, you'll just take longer to find him is all because the blood might be mostly washed away.

If you're on a big tract of land then it really does not matter if you let him sit over night, worst thing, the yotes eat his ass end up.

Let us know how you do? We're pulling for you here.

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What did the 5 does do? If he turned around as you said and ran away from the does, my experience tells me you hit him. Good luck. Please keep us posted.

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Find that arrow and you will know for sure.

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You came to the right guy for this argument ;-).

The speed of sound is around 767 mph, an average carbon arrow travels at around 200 mph.Meaning that the arrow will travel about 5 of those 17yards before the deer hears the string. In the remaining 12 yards, the deer will have approximately 1 tenth of a second to react to the noise. Imaginehaving 1/10th of a second to react to a surprising noise?

I read a very interestingarticle several years ago by a wildlife biologist and avid hunterabout deer string jump.He did tests on deer and tested the deers reflexes. The conclusion of the study was that once a deer is alert, meaning it's looking at something that's spooked it or it's heard something that has it on hightened alert it can react to sound or danger in an instant and can potentially jump the string atbowhunting ranges; however, if the deer is in anormal pattern, like feeding or walking and it has not yet identified a threat,then the deers brain has to first identify the threat and then engage flight mode which takes up to a second, enough time for any arrow to strike its mark at 17 yards. It made sense to me and I'vefound that to be the casefrom my own observations. If this buck was on a doe, oblivious tothe hunterspresence,now way is it jumping the string at 17 yards. He also saidin the articlethat there is a distance where string jump is impossible even for an alert deer, I think it was 10 yards but I forgot for sure.

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A second?? I think not. A second is an eternity in that situation.

On the subject...

Where were you aiming at this buck? It sounds like you hit him good. Like VA said, find the arrow and that will answer a lot of questions.

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Longer shots are less likely of experiencing string jumping IMO. I've seen video of a fellow board member's hunt where the arrow went EXACTLY where he'd aimed.....at about the same yardage (17yds). When the arrow got there....the target had moved. The video was amazing to watch in slo-mo.

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If I were you and its not suppose to rain I would wait till morning to go get him sounds like he is hit

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I am in agreement that it is LESS LIKELY for a calm deer to jump a string than an alert one but I believe it to be more than opinion that deer will jump the string less than 20 yards,calm or otherwise than at further distances.I have only had it happen once and it was about 7 yards,but it was a very alert deer to my presence.[:'(]


I like to call it the BOO factor,if I yell boo right behind you,you will flinch,if I am standing 30 yards away,you will most likely just turn and look.A deer reacts the same way.imo

Have you ever seen a deerjust stand there when a rifle was fired within a couple hundred yards and just go back to feeding? I have.;)


OH,and I am not arguing,just saw a good discussion to be had.:) Sorry for the hijack.

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So after giving he about three hours we went back to the spot he was standing. I found the arrow about 15-20 yards down the hill. It didn’t have that much blood on it but the 2 rage blades were missing. There were some drops of blood going down the hill to the point where he stopped and flicked his tail. From there he made a hard left and started spraying blood for 75-100 yards. It was bright red and DID have some bubbles in it. Unfortunately, the blood just vanished. He could have done one of 2 things. Stayed on the bench he was on which would take him onto a goat path behind some houses. Or dropped down and headed to thicker cover.

I think I may have caught the shoulder and deflected it back into the lungs. What does bright red blood with some scattered bubbles entail. How far could a deer hit like this travel, and will he definitely die???

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Sounds like a lung hit but maybe a single lung. Few deer have survived but chances are slim. My thought is give it till the am and go back out hoping you did not jump him already. If you did not jump him then I don't think he's too far from where you left off.. IMO, if what your saying is correct thats a dead deer..

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dead.deer!!!!

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Sounds like a dead deer. You must have caught some bone. My 2blade rage also was missing both razors and I had caught one rib and also the bottom part of the vertebrate. Bright red with bubbles equals good news. Post pics in the morning when you recover him.

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Sounds to me like you've got a dead buck...go find him in the AM! Good luck.

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Sounds like a single lung. Should be a dead deer. Id check the easiest travel route for him. He may feel safer up towards the houses if he is a smart one.

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I am in agreement that it is LESS LIKELY for a calm deer to jump a string than an alert one but I believe it to be more than opinion that deer will jump the string less than 20 yards,calm or otherwise than at further distances.I have only had it happen once and it was about 7 yards,but it was a very alert deer to my presence.[:'(]
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You make some good points T-Fox. Lots of times I think I've seen everything there is in the woods and then I see something that defies my understanding of nature and normal deer activity. We all know that deer jumping a string isn't that at all, the deer does not see the arrow, it's simply dropping to the ground to load thelegs muscles for a quick bounding escape and in doing so, it ducks the arrow.I think the x-factor for a deer to jump a string isthe deers anticipation of the shot. When you shot at the deer at 7 yards and he ducked, I think you'd find that it started to drop a split second before you punched the release, that's the only way he'd be able to get out of the way of a speeding arrow at that range. I don't think range has anything to do with it as some guys suggested that longer ranges have less odds of string shot.I think it's more likely that a deer at 40 yards will duck the string if he is spooked but also heis less likelytohear the bow go off andalso is less likely to have detected the hunter at that range too.

I'm looking forward to hearingan update on this deer. Ihope that glew has found this deer already but I wish he were using a fixed head instead of the Rage that shedall of itsblades as soon as it found bone. Even though theRage head lost it's baldes on entry, I think he still might find it if the penetration was good enough. Even a field tip will kill them if the goods are hit.

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I would think you'll find him in the thick stuff

good luck with finding him!

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Bright crimson blood could also mean muscle hit. And yes, you mightfind a few bubles in it.

Tail flickering like that though usually means he is pretty sick. Which would mean more of a liver/stomach/intestine hit. I think I'd go on that assumption mainly because it is real tough to be able to decipher blood color with wounds with great accuracy.

If you can not absolutely find blood, then I'd really suggest getting friends together andstart circling looking for blood. Start in close a few yards and gradually work your way out. If that doesn't work, then grid search.

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I agree with the 1 lung sentiment. It sounds like this will be a dead deer. Hopefully he laid down not far from where you last had blood and you'll be able to find him. Time is what he needs right now. Coyotes are few and far between here and a fox will do minimal damage. Give him time and you should be able to find him. I sent you a PM in case you want a hand looking.

As far as jumping the string goes, I videoed a hunt earlier this year where a buck came in feeding. He was perfectly calm and content. When the shot was taken it ended up being a spine shot at 22 yards. The hunter thought he had misjudged the distance, but when I was editing the video I looked at it frame by frame and the arrow was headed for just under center line in the chest. The deer ducked in the last 5 yards or so of flight and nearly got under the arrow.

You can never know when a deer is going to jump the string, and it's amazing how quick they are when they do.

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Any word on this buck?

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Poor thing is probably fox food!

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Well I wish I had good news to update you with but I can't say that I do. I searched for about 5 hours friday and couldn't find a drop of blood/ a dead deer/ or buzzards circling anywhere.The blood trailw as parallel with a cliff for about 75-100 yards which drastically limists the directiones he could have gone. About 400 yards in the direction he was heading, from the spot of impact, is a road, that seperates 2 woodlots. Both woods are pretty open and fairly narrow, with some scattered bedding. I combed over both woodlots extending about 800 yards from the original spot. I spoke with a local expert from QDMA and asked what he thought about the situation. I explained the type and consistency of blood, the approximate arrow penetration, and the fact that the arrow had not been snapped off. He said that it sounds like an arterial wound, he went on to explain that if a major artery is severed the deer will bleed out in 6-8 seconds. Whereas a minor artery could clot up, explaining the change from heavy blood to nothing at all. To reiterate, the arrow was found 15 yards down the trail, there didnt appear to be much penetration and it was not snapped. After about 50 yards the deer started bleeding heavy. The trail alternated from paper plate sized piles of blood to the heavy lines of blood drops connnecting them. I would say that this would usually indicate the deer bedded but there was about 15 of these piles and the trail seemed to be more continuous motion. The blood was bright red with SOME bubbles. The gentleman with QDMA informed that there is really no mistaking a lung shot, that there would be tons of bubbles in it and a pinkish color. However, if an artery was struck there could be some bubbles in it because of the oxygen being carried in the blood. He also stated that the blood trail seems to indicate the buck was walking away opposed to running. He was moving with a cliff on his left, and on the outermost portion of the 15 yard bench that extends away from the cliff. When we were trailing him we couldnt believe just how close he was to the end of the bench we kept thinking he wanted to break down over. However, in retrospect if the deer was walking it would make sense for him to walk the outermost edge so that he could scan the woods below him for danger. I'm soory this was long-winded but to sum it up. I was told that if this deer didnt bed within 200-400 yards the odds are it was a minor arter/muscle hit and he will make a full recovery. I'm still sick to my stomach and I'm heading back out there tomorrow morning to look some more.