Hit deer at last shooting light this evening!!!!
12-17-2013, 05:37 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Dover, Ohio.
Posts: 1,434
Hit deer at last shooting light this evening!!!!
I hit a deer at last shooting light this evening. It ran off about 30 yards then staggered around for about 30 seconds then walked away gingerly and hunched up. It was quartering away pretty steep when I hit it so I shot back on it hoping to go up into the vitals. I'm pretty sure I either gut shot it or liver shot it and possibly hit the opposite lung. I didn't even go after it this evening I am going to pick up the trail where I last saw it walking last night. Now it is snowing. But it's only suppose to snow 1". Anyone have any advice on tracking a hit deer after it snowed some. I am hoping at the last spot I saw it that it didn't go very far and laid down and died. Also hoping the yotes don't get it. I will update tomorrow. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
12-18-2013, 06:09 AM
#4
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: southwestern va
Posts: 753
you did the right thing and didnt push it, most deer are going to bed down within 100 to 200 yards after that. Hopefully you have a good idea where the deer was first shot and where it entered the woods at.
Id go in slow with binos and try to find it, hopefully its dead in a bedded position but in case not you might be able to get another shot. If you dont jump it up its probably dead and youll have to grid search for it.
Id go in slow with binos and try to find it, hopefully its dead in a bedded position but in case not you might be able to get another shot. If you dont jump it up its probably dead and youll have to grid search for it.
12-18-2013, 07:23 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: MN
Posts: 1,260
The bggest buck I ever shot was late season and he did the same thing. I came back the next morn and he only went 75 yds. Pass up the shot next time. Whatever you were the hunter there and through your eyes you felt you could make the shot and you did. Sounds like you drilled it. Everyone thinks just cause they didn't dance around and drop in sight it was a bad shot. Good job now finish the job.
12-18-2013, 08:34 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Dover, Ohio.
Posts: 1,434
Sorry it took so long to update but working midnights, then tracking, then sleeping, then church and now back at work. Anyways, I did not find the deer. But this was one of the most unbelievable insane tracking jobs I have ever been on. Even with an inch of new snow down the blood trail was pretty easy to follow. Tracks were close together and it never seemed to run except maybe the first initial 20-30 yards. I do believe the reason we didn't find it was because of coyote's. There were yote tracks everywhere. First off we followed good blood for about 3/4 of a mile before it finally started bedding. We found a total of 18 different spots where it bedded down. Most of these beds all were within a couple hundred yards of each other. In this area I thought we would find it because the blood trails were circling and crossing paths all over the place. This is the last area we saw blood nearly 1 1/4 miles form the point of impact. From here we fanned out in all directions and found nothing. In this particular were a number of ravines with deep thick cover on them. Besides this area being loaded with deer tracks everywhere it was very difficult to remain on the right trail. I don't believe I have ever saw a deer drop so much blood and not be able to find it. Obviously this deer was being pushed by coyotes and I feel it is dead somewhere close by where we ended our search. I do believe if it weren't for the coyote's we definitely would have found it. I was definitely confident in the shot I took and made and the sign we saw was indicitive of a good solid hit. I just didn't realize the problem with the coyotes is as bad as it is. This will definitely make me think twice about shooting a deer again late evening at least in this particular area.
Last edited by ManofTheFall; 12-18-2013 at 08:38 PM.
12-19-2013, 04:03 PM
#7
Fork Horn
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Maine
Posts: 328
Stay with it. something similar happened to me. I shot a buck and was giving it time to expire, when after 15 minutes two coyotes came down a trail and started to follow the trail my buck went down. I got down checked arrow and everything was good. Good blood for about 3/4-.9 of a mile and blood was gone. There was beds and coyote tracks and I think the two coyotes kept bumping my deer. I spent 8 hours that day and 3-4 hours a day for 3 days following, never found deer.
