Dead or not
 

I went over to check the neighbor to see if he had been seeing anything yesterday afternoon. He was just coming in from hunting. So he still had his gun. We were talking and here comes a buck running by and it stops and takes a poo and then looks at us. He raises up and boooom. The buck does a supper high backleg kick. I said you hit him but give him an hour at least just to be sure. He didnt want to do that. So I went with him and we found blood right away in the snow. Found 20 30 drops the whole way along the deer tracks. About 200 yards in we found where he bedded and there was a pool of blood, The size of a volleyball. Again lets pull out and wait No he is dead. OK. We are following the blood and it is getting harder to see even in the snow. We hear on take off about 30 yards in front of us. He finally says lets give him some time. When it was bedded I looked and the blood look to be a far back shot. No lungs or heart. Maybe liver I was thinking it was a dark red. Question is, is it dead or could it make it if the shot did not kill it. I know the neighbor but I dont know him, know him we just talk during hunting season so I wont know until next weekend or later if he is working if he found it.

RE: Dead or not
 

Was there any guts/green stuff in the blood?

If not it sounds to me like a liver shot and the buck should be dead. Keep on the trail and he should be found.

RE: Dead or not
 

I saw no guts or green stuff. I just wish he would of waited.

RE: Dead or not
 

Could it survive a live shot? This was a younger guy with not much experience in hunting and tracking. Not that I am an expert.

RE: Dead or not
 

My bet is the deer is dead, but whether you are able to find it after pushing it, well???

RE: Dead or not
 

It's a shameyour buddidn't follow your advice. You probably would have found him dead in the first bed the next morning. He should have expired eventually but if you lost a blood trail it could be tough. I've had heart shot deer do the donkey-kick and die within a minute of the shot, but this season I also shot a big doe in the shoulder who did the donkey-kick and ended up going almost ahalf-mile before another member of our party put her down, so you can't always view the high kick as a sure kill.

RE: Dead or not
 

No.

RE: Dead or not
 

I wouldnt call him my buddy. The neighbor who I talk to a couple times a year down where I hunt.

RE: Dead or not
 

The deer is dead or will be, but finding him after all that.......who knows. Wait a day for the buzzards to show up.

RE: Dead or not
 

Thats one problem its 20 degrees out right now. Its bad it is a deer but it was a buck I had seen several times during the year. A high racked 8 with an 18 inch spread I would say.