first off hope everyones hunting is going well. i had a nice 8 point come in on me at about dark .i could see to good for a good shot ,i first watch him for about 10 min. before he gave me a shot ,i was about 15 ft in the tree and he was about 12yards from the stand ,standing broud side i drew back the bow and placed my shot for a double lung hit.i released and i heard a smack and the buck jumped about 5 ft in the air and then he toke off,i was real happy with it until i got down from the tree and i couldnt find any arrow or blood , i guess it might have hit the front sholder .i really dont know i have always heard if the jump like that then it was a good hit .could someone tell me the facts on that .i have search the surrounding area about a 100 yard radis and have found nothing no blood or arrow . i will be back out there in the morning . what do you all think does it sound like a shoulder hit and if so do you think he will live or die .

Sounds like you hit bone,maybe the leg.

i dont think that i hit him in the leg maybe the shoulder .will a sholder hit kill them, whats the odds

A shoulder hit can very well be fatal...but sometimes blood it at a minimum.

Look for all you're worth...If you hit him good, you'll find him.

give him 6 hours at the very least and cut loose the search party. you could have hit the far shoulder? that might have left your arrow in him i dont know though. Good luck finding him.

You have to go more than 100yds. That deer could still go another 50-100 yrds even if you double lunged him.

My SIL's cousin shot a buck at my brother's place and the blood ended 100 yds from the shot (rifle), he figured the deer would make it [>:] I picked up the track and when the blood ended, I got down on hands and knees and felt for prints. He said: "what are you doing" I explained, "never heard of anyone doing that" was his reply.. 3 hours, 120 yards, and a few pinhead drops of blood later, I found the deer. He had left during hour two and when I called him he said, "you can tag him, I just saw a 10 pt". Nice guy but an ahole when it came to hunting.

IMHO, until you have bloody knees you haven't looked hard enough.

Urban Redneck

Once you get out there in good light you should be able to find something. The should be hair and blood even if minimal. If the sound you describe was a loud crack sound it sounds like a shoulder hit. wether you hit the near of far shoulder will mean the diffrence of wether or not the shot is fatal IMO. You describe the shot as broadside so I'd be willing to bet that if you caught a shoulder it was likely the near shoulder.

Don't let this discourage you though. Get out there and see what you can find. Hopefully I'm wrong and you find him in short time.

Good luck!

I think you have a good chance of recovering that deer. The jump in the air is a good sign. It's hard to tell from just the crack without hearing it myself. But it sure could have been ribs.

On a steep angle like that, maybe you hit high and the arrow didn't go all the way through. If this happened, then there won't be much blood, even on a good hit. Keep lookin, don't give up!!
good luck.