what the hell is going on
 

I have gone hunting the past 2 weekends and shot 2 bucks.......see the problem is that i never found any of them. My gun is sighten in dead on, and im hittin them and theyy bleeding like crazy but i never find them. The second one i shot there was snow so i could see the blood easier, and it was all over the place. I have a 30-30 and it was a 40 yard broadside shot. there blood in huge anounts, blood squirts all over.....i tacked it for 3 miles bleeding like this and then it started snowing heavy and covered up his tracks, 2 MILESSSS. how can a deer bleed like that and survive, and what did i hit that hes bleeding like that but not going down within a few hundred yards. i even found a bed he was in, and it was covered in blood it was ridiculous and nope he wasnt dead.I dont know.......i feel bad now, it was a spike and the way it was bleeding it was going to die and im confident it did,but the snow covered it up and i couldnt find him. well i needed to vent, any idea on where i placed the shot that he was bleeding like crazy and squirting blood but kept goin for miles......???

RE: what the hell is going on
 

Leg Shot!;)

RE: what the hell is going on
 

Reb's probably right, a leg shot! With lots of blood loss, he's a gonner! The best thing to do in this type of situation, is to back off, and let 'em lay down, and bleed out!
I learned this the hard way! Probably my best tracking job ever! Except, I didn't recover the deer! Tracked it most of the day, over two miles and through water! First I had a good trail, then in the end, I had a drop here, and there, until I finally lost it completly! Don't push 'em!

RE: what the hell is going on
 

Murph999,
I have a good bit of experience with deer shot with a 30-30. An unpusheddeer hit anywhere in the vitals with a 30-30 will go no farther than 75 yards. Here is my formula:

Shoot, wait 15 minutes, go to the spot you believe the deer was standing when you shot. Find blood, and follow it to the deer. 75 yards is the long track with most being under 50. 3 floundered and died under 10 yards.

I would recheck the zero on your rifle.

C. Davis

RE: what the hell is going on
 

Yep!

RE: what the hell is going on
 

I hate it when that happens. A shoulder shot deer can bleed a lot but still go for miles. I had two guys hunting on my place this year that wounded four deer and they got over on leased land and could not be found or recovered. It happens but it makes a guy feel bad.

RE: what the hell is going on
 

James, that's because they did'nt use a .243!:D:D

RE: what the hell is going on
 

While I agree with everything you said about being patient when following a hit deer, your statement about the 75 yards is not always true. The last buck I shot with my 30-30 was a through-through double lung shot (missed the heard, but the lungs were solidly hit). 40 yard shot. The deer, unpushed, went 130 yards before it crashed and burned. He died right at that point, well before I got out of my stand.

I will have to say that this deer was surprising in this regard. I've never had a deer or moose that went more than 75 yards with two holed lungs.

RE: what the hell is going on
 

Murph, as a taxidermist, Ive had a lot of deer come in with healed scars from arrows and bullets in every part of a deer, EXCEPT his heart. See what Im saying? They can live through alot, and thats still sad, but they dont live through a heart shot. That heart is lower and further back then any shoulder shot, and sometimes a guy needs to re-familiarize himself with exactly where that heart is. Lung shots are good, but if you hit only one, he can live. Liver shots are tough as the blood doesnt pump hard and fills the chest cavity instead, and any further back just makes him suffer and harder to find. A nice heart shot, low and just behind the leg is fatal.

RE: what the hell is going on
 

"What the h3ll is going on?"

Nothing new, nothing new at all.

Deer are walking triage units man, their bodies are much more capable than ours. They can change their bloods chemistry to clot, create chemicals in their bodies to block pain, have natural instinct to go towards water (knowing water is more critical than food), lay down and heal. But number 1 they are.................






tough SOB'S!