BamaHuntin

I got an opportunity at a buck today but I'm a little worried about my shot.He was slightly quartered torward me so I aimed a little forward on the shoulder.When I shot he jumped straight up in the air pretty high and ran off looking like he was favoring his front leg.I thought for sure he was going to go down.Right before he got out of sight his tail started to move kinda funny kind of back and forth if I remember correct.I can't remember specifically what it was doing.I thought he was hit good.I climbed down and went to see if I could find blood where I shot.I found a good pile of hair but no blood where he was standing.I decided to go and see if I could find any blood in the last place I saw him where he ran into the woods.As I got closer to the feild edge I heard himblow at me and saw himtrot off.I can't be for sure but it did'nt sound like he ran too far but It's hard to say.I never found any blood.I never went into the woods where I last saw himbecause I figured I'd wait until tommorow so I did'nt jump him againincase of a bad shot.I thought it was strange that he never ran any further if I would have not hit him.Where he blew at me was'nt butabout 60 yards or so from where I shot him and I had climbed down the tree in my climber making plenty of noiseand he never ran off until I got closer.He was'nt but about maybe 30 yards into the woods when I saw him run off.Anybody have any ideas on my shot?I guess Ihad to of hit him because of the hair.I'm afraid I may have just skimmed but it does'nt make sense how he favored his legI thought he was going down for sure.What shot would make him jump straight up like that,and would he still blow at me if he was hit?
I know you guys hate these posts but I just need some help here guys.Where you at DD?
Thanks,
James

SRBowman

What color was the fur , if it's white you either hit him in the inside part of the leg or the belly, was there any meat with the hair. If it's brown you could have skinned him anywhere in that area. How good did you sight your rifle in.

mohunter09

Sounds like you gut shot him, hes hit or he would have bolted alot farther than it sounds, my spike did the exact same thing,but I hit him in the lungs. Just when I saw him again I took a second shot.

BamaHuntin

The fur was grey and I did'nt see any meat with it.The rifle is on.My cousin killed a fox with it yesterday.
JE

mohunter09

Well then, all I can say is canvas the area tomorrow.

BamaHuntin

I plan on going this evening after work.Anybody else have anything to add?
Thanks,
James

SwampCollie

The tail wag is ususally what they do right before checking out. The vertical jump likely means you hit him low (assuming you did). What really gets me is that when you jumped the deer (which ain't good) he blew at you. Every deer I have ever trailed that blew was superficially hit. May not be the case this time, but thats been my experience.

I know its closing the barn doors after the horses run off but whenever you have a questionable hit, give it lots of time. When it doubt, back out. I would have been anxious to see as well, and its suprising he didn't go very far. In all honesty, because he didn't go all that far, I think you just clipped him. Usually when a deer is hurt (as in fatally hurt), they will go for a good ways, or until they can't go anymore. Also, injured deer tend to head for water. So if there is a swamp or thick creek nearby, that may well be where he is heading. Go VERY slow this evening. Bring your binoculars, a coleman lantern, and a buddy if you can. Look for disturbed leaves and commonly used trails. See if you can get a good look at his track. Buck tracks are very diffrent from does and fawns, and are easy to distinguish. But I cannot stress enough, GO SLOW. If you overrun, walk on or lose the trail, you are sunk barring an act of God, vultures or plain luck. Mark the trail well and give yourself good reference points to see which direction he is heading.

Good luck.

davidmor

I shot a nice buck Sat night that sounds just like what you have. When I hit him, he jumped, but then he just sort of 'trotted' back to the woods. He went in about 10 yards (30 yards from where he was hit) and stopped and stood there. I watched him from my stand until it was too dark to see, maybe 30 minutes. Unfortunately, all I could see was his hind quarters so I never could get a second shot into him. When my buddy and I finally got out of our stands he bolted into the woods. I found good blood, and white hair. We tried to track him but lost the blood trail at about 60 yards. We decided to back out and try again in the morning. Sure enough, he ran down towards the creekbed and expired at roughly 300 yards from where I shot him.

The strange part was, when I gutted him out NONE of his vital organs or digestive organs had been hit. The slug went in just behind his shoulder and went downward and stopped just under the skin almost at the bottom of his ribcage. When I shot, I failed to compensate for the fact that I was sitting in an extremely high stand, much higher than the 20' stands I am used to shooting from. The slug went in at a fairly substansial downward angle and fortunately did enough shock / cutting damage to cause him to bleed out internally. We thoroughly inspected (ugh!) [:'(] all of the organs and a very small cut on one lobe of his liver, nothing else had been hit.

My suggestion is to wait and give it a good search with some friends in the morning when you can see what you are doing. You might just be able to find some blood in the daylight that you didn't see in the dark. Good luck! We are all pullin' for you!

BamaHuntin

Hey guys I appreciate the supportive info.I looked twice today and still came up with nothing.I'm not going to give up though.I plan on going over their some each day and looking in different areas.I went in the area where I saw and heard the buck blow but have'nt found anything.I've brought a buddy with me each time to increase my odds.I looked all up and down the creek and still came up empty.To be honest I hope I just knicked him and he's still running around with not much injury but I kind of worry about how he favored his leg.Anyways I'll keep looking.As much as I hate it the meatwould be bad because of the warm weather were having but as long as I find him I will be satisfied.
Thanks again,
JE