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.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

Was the shot from a stand or on the ground??? If from a stand, and the arrow lodged in the opposite side shoulder, he maybe be above all the goodies, which would explain why the deer was not at the end of the blood trail. Look how high the blades REALLY are on an animal and you'd know exactly why I say this. Dark blood is either LIVER or MUSCLE, HEART blood is A LOT, and a SHORT TRAIL, don't try to over-rationalize. I know it's your DAD, but sometimes we are WRONG about where we "thought" we hit them. Trust me, I have a doe with a hole in her head because she moved that far on the shot, and i thought it looked like it was a decent shot, except maybe a bit high when i released and watched the arrow fly!!!!

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

Update?
Deer is dead somewhere IMO. Look for the ravens to be on it.
Dark blood in my interpatation is liver.
Was this deer quartering away? Sorry if I missed that in the read somewhere.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

I had one this year make it a half mile with a hit like that. He went pretty much downhill all the way if that helps in your situation.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

I would grid search the area. Take a GPS and walk everything within a half mile start close and make circles. use the GPS so you can see where you have went dont leave a spot on the GPS screen uncovered. also check out his bedding area that is where he will head back to somewhere he feels safe. check water wounded deer willgo to water to help replinish their blood loss. Main thing dont give up you owe it to the deer

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

I am inclined to think such, but also sounds like blood coming from a muscle. Ive noticed that liver blood is dark, but usually greenish as well.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

If you have a dog try to bring them out to look they can smell the carcass allot better than you I know mine found one I lost last year. Keep looking sounds like he drilled him and he should be far, it's not often a mortally wounded deer will do a death run but occasionally they do. Good luck

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

Deer should dead. If all the info is right then he got liver and you guys went too early. What happened to the blood trail...... fat or hide covered the hole. Simple.
I shot a doe this yr and waited 2hrs just to be safe. I thought I either had 1 lung and liver or both lungs. I wasn't completely positive on the hit so thats why we backed out. When we took up the trail we had good blood for about 70yds....... then it became sporadic. It was dark and we only had one flashlight so we decided to back out and come back the next day so we didn't push her. Little or no blood and a pushed deer = a lost deer. We got back out to the rd and and started walking back to my car. I put my light in a filed and saw what I thought was a clump of snow in the field. My buddy was at a different angle and saw brown...... he said that's your deer. We went and got it and found that her hide had covered the hole. I had to move the hide at least an inch to get back onto the hole. When I field dressed her I found out that I gotten a double lung hit. Shwe ran a total of 125yds.

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

we looked again today and couldn't get very detailed because its shotgun season here in ohio and we didn't want to be in the thicket... we are def. going to keep up the search and the water idea is an idea we will consider

thanks

i wouldnt mind to hear more comments?

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

Dont just consider the water idea, do it. More times than not they run right to the nearest water source to lay down in/around it. Search until either you run out of property, or you know deep down that you gave it all you got.

Now strap on the boots and go pound some ground!

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

i can't wait till gun season is over soo we can look better!!!!!!!!

RE: I'm SOO confused!!! no recovery
 

water would be the first place I would look. You can take it for what its worth but I am not making this up.