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Shot Forst Buck, Lost First Buck

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Shot Forst Buck, Lost First Buck

Old 10-18-2016, 03:08 PM
  #1  
Spike
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Default Shot Forst Buck, Lost First Buck

20 yard quartering shot with buck head towards me. Ran tail up, looked for 24 hours, no luck. Minimal blood trail. Arrow had blood the entire length including fletches as well as some hair. Some light, some combined light and brown.
The attached photo shows the broadheads I use. The one on the right is what it should look like after hitting target. One on the left is what it looked like when I picked it up in the field covered with blood and tallow and hair.
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Old 10-18-2016, 03:32 PM
  #2  
Nontypical Buck
 
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OK NO pic's
was this a quartering TO you shot, if so, sorry but thats a lower odds shot, better to wait
don't know where your from, BUT if you have anyone in your area(if legal too)
that has a tracking dog, things might still be recoverable yet, dogs have amazing noses, and trained tracking dogs even better!

its about grid searching now
how long after shot did you wait to start tracking?

loosing a deer sadly happens to us all, things happen

but like all experiences, they teach you things
if not found, call it a learning lesson, and try and wait for a quartering away shot, or broadside
watch impact and possible exit of arrow and use that to help decide HOW fast or NOT to go look
waiting TOO long is better than NOT long enough
MOST hurt animals NOT pushed will lay down and expire
push one and they can go MILES and blood can be far and few in finding to track!

sorry, best I can do here,
best of luck finding

Last, there are web sites for deer tracking services and clubs and such, maybe have a look
I know in Ohio, I know a few great one's, helped me look a few times
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Old 10-18-2016, 04:30 PM
  #3  
Spike
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Appreciate the reply. Unable to upload the photo. wont take a100kb file .jpg
I realize now the shot should have been broadside or quartering away. Deer was looking right at me. First buck Ive seen in many years of hunting. Im concerned about how the broadhead behaved. What I picked up as described above the blades were cocked forward, rather than back. Using Rage Extreme mechanicals Thas why I want to uplad photos the broad head as I found it and as it should be. .
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Old 10-18-2016, 06:45 PM
  #4  
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all expandable will be in different condition after going thru a deer as they can some what re close after hitting the ground as arrow impacts and then slows down
archery is all about hitting a vital, don;'t hit one and can be a lost animal real easy, NO magic broadhead out there will ever solve this
like I said, I just suggest waiting for a better position of deer to take the shot, NOT waiting and just loosing an animal, doesn't get you one any faster, NOT bashing, just saying'
we all live and learn some times the hard way!
But a dog again can still find this deer if its dead, they can recover them a few days afterwards, and once dead it will give off even more scents a dog can find
well worth looking into, I keep a few trackers numbers in my phone for if ever needed in several; states I hunted often!
Illegal here in PA to use a dog> which I think is Stupid, any help to recover an animal should be allowed IMO, well to a point!
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Old 10-20-2016, 03:12 AM
  #5  
dpv
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I have lost a few deer. Recovered some later. I have shot deer where the shot was directly thru the vitals and there was no blood to be found. Found the deer a few weeks later, about 150 yds from where I shot it....I had spend a few days looking. Even took a great hunting dog out there. I know it was the deer I shot because it still had the arrow in it. It had hit and stuck in the opposite shoulder. As for your arrow, I know that mechanicals can fail. I have been using the rage 2 blade 100 gr boradhead on my crossbow for several years now and have had very good luck with it. What kind of bow are you shooting? How far was the shot? Was the arrow in the ground when you retrieved it or laying on the ground?
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Old 10-20-2016, 02:09 PM
  #6  
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just to be clear here, a DEER tracking dog, and a HUNTING dog are two totally different animals
they do NOT do the same thing
there NOT trained to find the same game
MOST responsible gun dog hunting dog owners TRAIN there dogs NOT to follow deer
where a deer tracking dog is trained to do JUST that!

NOT saying a hunting dog cannot find a dead deer, just its not what they do by a long shot!
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Old 10-20-2016, 06:18 PM
  #7  
dpv
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Originally Posted by mrbb
just to be clear here, a DEER tracking dog, and a HUNTING dog are two totally different animals
they do NOT do the same thing
there NOT trained to find the same game
MOST responsible gun dog hunting dog owners TRAIN there dogs NOT to follow deer
where a deer tracking dog is trained to do JUST that!

NOT saying a hunting dog cannot find a dead deer, just its not what they do by a long shot!
Understood. My Dog is a hunting dog by breeding...He is rescue that I imported from Spain. I have never used him for hunting but his instinct is strong and his nose is fantastic. I have also used a beagle mix and a yorkie mix to track deer. The beagle/australian shepard mix was phenomenal. The yorkie was surprisingly impressive at following a wounded deer. I learned not to doubt him. The Podenco that I took out is one of two that I have. The other will chase a deer or any other animal but freaks out at the scent of blood.
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Old 10-21-2016, 11:54 AM
  #8  
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Originally Posted by dpv
Understood. My Dog is a hunting dog by breeding...He is rescue that I imported from Spain. I have never used him for hunting but his instinct is strong and his nose is fantastic. I have also used a beagle mix and a yorkie mix to track deer. The beagle/australian shepard mix was phenomenal. The yorkie was surprisingly impressive at following a wounded deer. I learned not to doubt him. The Podenco that I took out is one of two that I have. The other will chase a deer or any other animal but freaks out at the scent of blood.
gotcha
but I was just pointing out that just cause a dog is of SO called hunting lines or breeds, doesn't mean they can track

SADLY< IMO< far too many hunting breeds have been SO far out of the hunting game , there breeding them instincts right out of the breed
far too many bird dog breed owner DON"T hunt anymore, never mind hunt birds??

I was a big time upland game guy, traveled across the USA hunting birds
My last lab was world class bird dog, and a pet-agree to match his skills

but he couldn't find a deer if I wanted him to,
he was trained to ignore deer and deer scent
wasted energy in a bird dog , and can lead to a lost dog

lots of mutts I have seen over the yrs with incredible noses, and some great bred pure bred dogs too

but tracking deer is honestly a skill, they some have some don';t and to get it to its best, takes training
(sure flukes happen)
but a GREAT tracking dog is a well trained one!

some are just amazing

as are some of the working dogs in law enforcement,
known a few K 9 workers and WOW< what some of these dogs can do!

even some incredible blood hounds in search and rescue, track week old scent trails, just amazing!
Dogs are just cool when they get to do what they were bred to be!
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Old 10-21-2016, 06:07 PM
  #9  
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mrbb - I believe deer tracking dogs is legal now in PA. I know a guy who has been training one for a couple years now. In fact I would call him up and tell him I shot a deer even though I recovered it and got it out of the woods. I would take him to the spot where I shot it and told him where I dressed it out.
Last I heard his dog was doing a good job.
As for the OP, a quartering to shot is a bad proposition. I also learned this lesson the hard way many years ago. Since then I've matured and find its better to wait for a better angle or pass on the shot entirely. Its better to have more time hunting than searching.

Last edited by bronko22000; 10-21-2016 at 06:10 PM.
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Old 10-21-2016, 07:00 PM
  #10  
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Last time I looked tracking deer dogs were still illegal in PA, as the Game dept considers it HUNTING DEER WITH A DOG< which is Illegal still here!
Doesn't mean someone isn';t using one LOL
I think the law is silly, but 99% sure its still illegal here!
as a FACT and this too is NUTS< if you are HELPING track a deer, you legally HAVE to have a hunting lic here too, as that too is considered HUNTING a deer

up until I think, the mid 90's it was illegal to collect shed antlers in PA<
one of them rules NO one ever followed and seldom ever enforced, was finally changed due to so many people collecting hunting mags and TV shows , making shed hunting a sport, and MAYBE causing money to be paid in things by hunters LOL

every state I think has some nutty rules if you read them all!
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