I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

Dad got a shot at a monster 12 the on Sunday night... he heard him playing and grunted twice... he came in pissed off and offered a 25yrd shot at perfect daylight... Dad said he hit the deer right in the kill zone and the arrow lodged in his opposite shoulder and he saw the arrow in his side as he leaped away... we waited exactly an hour... did not break the shoulder... we found the broked arrow where he broke it off and measured the arrow and got 13" of penetration in the deer... the blood trail started slow! and was the DARKEST blood i've ever seen (heart?) it soon turned red and he started bleeding better... around 75 yrds the deer bleed good.. almost in a continuous path.. it soon started letting up and we struggled to spot blood...we decided to wait till morning... luck has it that it rained that morning and we spend all day looking for the deer

WHAT HAPPENED???????????

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

You messed up during the recovery is what happened sadly. Read Rob's stickied thread at the top, and always know the weather forecast, ESPECIALLY if you plan to leave a deer lay. Don't give up a good blood trail just because the going get's tough either. Tried grid searching the area? I wouldn't give up hope just yet, if he hit as well as he thinks he did.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

with dark blood i am guessing he shot a little far back and hit the liver, and got a little of the guts. wait it out and follow what is left of the blood man if it does rain just try your hardest to recover the animal.
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RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

how far in a radius should i look??? we have the last blood mapped out

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

Tracked to soon. Most bowhunters IMO, track too soon. If you don't witness it drop, or see it perfectly take out both lungs,wait a minimum of 4hours..imo.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

entering the chest cavity where it did i see it impossible that the deer wouldn't expire in an hour

opinions?

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

ttt

please

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

You definatly picked it up too soon. As soon as I seen that dark blood I would back right out knowing that its a liver hit. The weather makes for a tough scenario, if you wait, you know the deer is dead, but rain will wash the trail out. BUT if you carry on you might push the deer causing it to plug up the wound, go on to neighboring property, etc. I would just wait it out then do a good grid search then check the thickets and near water. The harder you try the better your chances are at finding him, dont loose hope, but dont get too confident either.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

He may have got a single lung and since there is not exit the entry could have clogged with something. if it is hit where you say it is i would think it is dead. is there any ponds or a river in the immediate area you could look there since deer try to head to water when hit.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

The way you describe it,seems like liver andthe back of the farlung. I'd've waited 3hrs then trailed cautiously listening intently for him to get up and go again. It's too bad you took up the trail only after an hour. It's quite possible that had you waited just another hour, you'd've found him already. Instead, he probably still had an hour left on his clock and you pushed him even further. Experience teaches. The next best thing I found is this forum.

Good Luck

EDIT on hit: then again, I'm only going by what I have in my mind when I hear "dark blood". To you, the color of the blood from a muscle hit could be considered dark. There's alot of room for interpretation when we're not there looking at the blood with you.