Ram96, you said the deer went 1/4 mile and you lost the blood. Can you answer somoe questions for me? Was the deer on a deer trail at any time during that 1/4 jaunt? I've learned that if a "wounded" deer gets on a trail and walks it for quite some time without bedding down, you're in trouble. If he's on a trail for a long time, he knows what he's doing, he's "thinking".

How 'bout hills? A deer loosing alot of blood will get weak, and will avoid climbing steep grades.....unless you jump him from bed, and he's an older, stronger deer. You said he went up a hill. Not a good sign. You also said nothing about finding beds with blood in them(unless I missed it). I would venture to guess that if he didn't bed down within 100-200 yards, he's not very weak from blood loss, or sick from a possible gut/intestine wound.

I'm not telling you to give up on him, just throwing some ??'s at you. Take a buddy or 2 out, and start doing some organized 'circles' through the woods if you've lost blood.
Mikey

ram if it was a sure thing it would be called deer killing not deer hunting. keep the faith. after all we are all human and can make a mistake now and then. NO ONE IS PERFECT!

Don't give up! And give it time to expire! If you got penetration through both sides and you didn't push it, you"ll find it! Give it time, and come back with a crew of guys.

Good Luck!

[Deleted by Admins]

He was following a trail and it was bright red blood. My luck in finding him may have been hampered by the owner of the next farm.

The deer went on to his property and he was out hunting small game with his dog in the area the deer went. Before heading up the hill the blood trail made a series of turns.

We never found an area where he bedded down. The blood trail went from areas of lots of blood for several yards to only drops that you had to find on your hand & knees and then back to lots of blood. But you could tell that he was still moving.

From my experence in teaching archery class, I would have to say he lost at least 1/4 of his blood volume.

We did not get any rain overnight, so I will be heading back out in about an hour.

Good luck Ram96, Sound like to me disorientation is seting in and he will go lay down. If you get this before you go, be careful, glass for him alot if possible. In this mode he could get up and make a death run and leave very little sign. In your favor, wet ground should leave better hooves sign. I shot an elk a couple of years ago on a step hill, right through the lungs and into the shoulder bone on the far side. No low hole, no blood trail, all the blood stayed inside. The hardest track job I ever did, it was all foot sign, bent grass, snaped twigs and stuff like that. You may be to that point, go slow and look for everything and keep thinking. The buck should go for water and cover, I know you already know these things, but the brain does weird things when you have a unrecovered animal out there. So stay cool and keep after him. If the unthinkable happens and you don't find him, YOU HAVE MADE A GOOD EFFORT, don't beat your self.
Gselkhunter

Ram:

There are many things that can be wrong or could go wrong. In being wrong, it could be your set-up or your form. In going wrong, it could be the deer's actions/reactions or things like dominant eye, playing peek-a-boo (watching the arrow), clothing interference, etc.

It's a shame you're so far up in PA or I would suggest that you stop by so that I could review your 'system'. If you can find someone that is a bowhunting PRO, I'd get their advice. I'm not talking about someone who has shot a lot of deer, but someone who knows how to set up and evaluate a bowhunting 'system'. There is a difference.

Good luck in locating that deer.

I'm having a very bad year recovering deer after never having lost one before. My uncle who is somewhat of a tracking expert gave me some advice on what I should have done in hindsight to my loss.

A deer apparently will do a "J" just before it expires. It'll hook around and watch it's own trail to see if it can get a glimpse of what's after it. If a blood trail starts to bend or hook, you're supposed to keep an eye to your sides and behind you as the deer is probably watching you that very moment. My uncle says to place a very visible marker at that bend, then do ever increasing circles around it in 10-20 yard increments. He says often the deer will be back in the direction the hunter originally came.

Had I only known this on my last track......................[&o]

Good luck and keep us posted.

I think your uncle knows the game pretty well Mr. Fritz. A lot of times, a hard hit deer will sometimes make a break or a 'j' in it's run before expiring, whether it's to look behind or because it's literally dying on it's feet and can't control it's own actions or thinking, could be debated for years. When that 'break' or "j" is to head up a hill, or to a deer trail for an extended period of time, that's when you're going to experience problems.

good luck finding him