6.5 CARCANO

A friend of mine shot a big ten point this evening at about 5 PM. He trailed it about a 100 yards then decided to come see if he could catch me coming out from hunting, well we went back to where he shot it and he showed me where the deer was standing when he shot it and here' s what I could get from him he said the buck lunged forward when the arrow hit and the buck run about ten yards and stopped right then the buck that had come up with the buck he shot tuck off running and the buck he shot jumped and ran again about ten yards stopped and looked like it as licking it' s side then tuck off running again out of site.
He wonted me to help track it because it his first big buck and the fifth he' s ever shot and the first that made it out of site before hitting the dirt
Here' s what I found, there was dark blood but it had kind of a pinkish look to it right under where he said the buck was standing light but essay to trail blood trail to where the buck stopped the first time where the buck stopped the first time there was a puddle of blood about the size of both your hands put to gather same way to and at the next place the buck stopped. about every 30 yards there would be puddle of blood and in between the blood trail was good tracking but light. we got to where he had stopped tracking around 7:40 PM and he wonted to start trailing the buck but I told him I thought It would be better to come back in the morning and try to trail it nether one of us know what the weather was going to be like in the morning but when I got home I checked and it said 40 percent chance of thunder storms and it' s cloudy out now.
any way the arrow was a pass through and looked like it had alot of fat and blood on it the broad head quite a bit of meat in the cutouts on the blades... {it didn' t look like a gut hit no watery spots} {I' m thanking maybe a possible liver hit?}

I' ve tracked many of deer' s but this is the first one for anybody other then family. and my friend was so hyper he could barely tell me what had happen so I didn' t have much to go on but what I seen almost all he could say was it had about 18 in spread and 12 inch tines and was a ten point.

I got two questions 1 where do you thank he hit the deer and 2 do you think " I" did the right thing having him hold tell tomorrow and not going after right then and there not knowing the weather ? because If he loses the deer he' s going to hate me.

P.s the buck was broad side at 20 yards

Big Country

Always hard to say without actually being there. I have found that anytime you hit the guts, you can smell it on the arrow, whether you can see it or not. Dark blood sure sounds like liver. Liver hits are funny. Sometimes they are almost instantly fatal, other times they can take a few hours to do the job. In either case, if you don`t push the deer, you should find it easy enough.

If there was a little bit of pinkish blood, he may have clipped a lung too.

It is a tough call for sure, but I would definately have walked away like you did, regardless of the weather forecast. Push him too much, and he could be in the next county.

Make sure you let us know what happens!

Good Luck.

BOWFANATIC

I think you probably made the right choice. Usually , if you any doubts about the shot placement it' s best to give it plenty of time to expire.

PAHUNTER21

I agree with Big Country. You' ll never forgive yourself if you push him off his bed and never find him. Hopefully he ran a hundred yards or so and bed down, where you will find him in the morning. Remember, he may not be bleeding on the outside but he is on the inside.

Good luck, I hope everything works out for you and your friend. Keep us updated. We want to see a picture tomorrow!

CBM SC

Hopefully ya' ll found him today. But I agree that no matter what way it turns out......you did right by backing out and waiting !!

Tazman

I agree with the others, you did the right thing, as psyched as your friend was it very well could have been a liver hit and leaving him overnight was the best thing to do. I hope to hear you got him today.

Stickemup

I always give a larger deer more time on a questionable hit. They are very strong and can go a long ways on a one lung hit if you push them. It sounds like you' ve got a decent blood trail. I would get out there at the crack of dawn though to beat the rain.

I shot a doe once and let her lay overnight. I woke up the next morning to a steady rain. I figured the trail was gone. It turned out that the rain hadn' t disturbed the blood trail at all. I found her in just a short while.

Good luck finding him!!

WV Hunter

Definitely you did the right thing, regardless of the outcome! I hope you find him...let us know.

wimp

Finally some one is making the right decisions and following things correctly. I hope you guys find him, you are doing the right thing so far.

NorthernHunter

You did the right thing based on my opinion. A friend of mine nailed a nice buck a few years back an hour before sunset. He knew once the arrow hit that it was a bad shot, most likely stomach. He saw the deer run up the hill, then across a field and into some adjacent woods. He marked the spot visually before getting down from his stand. We met at our usual meeting spot at the end of the day. He told me the story and how the events unfolded. I was amazed that he was so calm and that he didn' t even bother to start tracking it. With quite calmness he said he knows where it was headed and will start trackinig it in the morning. He was honest with himself that it wasn' t one of his better shots and he knew it. He was rewarded the next morning when he found it about 10 yards into the woods where he last saw it go. WOW!

So, you did the right thing!