am i crazy
 

i just shot a buck at about 30 35 yards with a 12ga and when i looked back at it it was walking away..i shot it somewhere in the ribs .so my question is if that thing just walked away did i hit it ?i went looking for it but couldnt find a blood trail and im sure i hit it

RE: am i crazy
 

I hope you weren't using bird shot, because if so you're crazy.

RE: am i crazy
 

are you serious ? i was hunting deer so a slug i use

RE: am i crazy
 

At that range, you should have knockedit of it's feet before he got up and walked away. You sure you hit it good? What kinda set-up are you using? Hunting from a standor from the ground?Need more info to help you out.

RE: am i crazy
 

i shot it from a stand thats about 14 15 feet in the air after i fired i lost it for a sec and then spoted it again maybe 10 feet from where i shot it and it was walking

RE: am i crazy
 

this is my first deer

RE: am i crazy
 

Not trying to sound rude, but just trying to gather facts, have you sighted your gun in? Areyou using a scope or iron sights? Wasthe shot in good light conditions? Need more info...

RE: am i crazy
 

I don't know if he should have been knocked off his feet i shot a buck 2 years ago with a 12 gauge slug at 15 yards he jumped then trotted off looked back then fell to the ground dead. I hit him right behind the shoulder.

RE: am i crazy
 

The only time I've ever seen a deer just walk away after being shot, he collapsed about 15 yards from the impact.

To answer your question, I have no idea if you hit him or not, but a shot "somewhere in the ribs" is not a very good indicator of a well placed shot, especially at 30-35 yards. So even if you did hit him it could take a while for him to die, which means you may not want to push him further away by tracking him to quickly.

If you did shoot him there will be blood somewhere, you just have to find it.

RE: am i crazy
 

just had the gun at the range clay shoting and it was coming on dark but i had a clear shot to its ribs so i took it just ball sight i guess it is

RE: am i crazy
 

i did get out of the stand to find it because it was just walking away so i thought that it would just drop but from what ive been reading i probably shouldnt have done that

RE: am i crazy
 

sometimes if you hit a deer a little back in the guts, they will walk away instead of run if they're busted up inside. also blood trails "Can" be scarce if the slug did not exit.

RE: am i crazy
 

Like buck747 said at that range if you did hit it in the vitals area you should be able to find blood, Things are not always as they seem when hunting from a treestand in low light conditions. If you feel that you did indeedhit the animal, then you owe it to him to try to find him. Good luck.

RE: am i crazy
 

i am sure i hit it buckmark but trying to find it now might not be a good idea from what ive been reading it was shot about 2 and a half hours ago

RE: am i crazy
 

You must find this deer.

RE: am i crazy
 

let him lay for a few hours prior to looking for him. if it was a bad shot, he'll need more time to expire. if you go in too quick, you will keep jumping him up and push him further in the woods possibly losing him.

RE: am i crazy
 

You owe it to the animal to do every thing you can to find it or find evidence you hit it or missed it. Sounds like a miss to me.

RE: am i crazy
 

Sounds like a gut shot to me. He will probably be within 200 yards or so of where you shot it.

RE: am i crazy
 

You missed him. IF you hit him he wouldn't have looked back and walked away. You would have found blood and stuff. Sorry, you missed him.

RE: am i crazy
 

So you were using rifled slugs? What choke did you have in the gun?

RE: am i crazy
 

well w/ gut shots they dont always bleed at first... my answer to every trakin question is first thing find out if there are any ditches in the direction he was walkin.. deer almost always go to water or follow ditches for hope of water... if no ditches just get 2 or more buddies and you start where you last saw him and one walk a strait line and the others walk at various angles and walk about 200 yds befor givin up ive never lost a deer using this knowledge and friends..... but i dont claim to be and expert traker so im still lookin for more and better ideas if yall have one

RE: am i crazy
 

If you haven't found him using a few friends going in the general direction he was headed try to see if the slug came out of the deer a rib shot with a 12 gauge at that range should have been through and through. If you find the slug see if the the area around it has spray. If there is no spray at all there is a good chance that you missed him. But you owe it to the deer not to give up on assumptions, you either know you hit or know that you missed him.

RE: am i crazy
 

Slug may have tumbled, and you missed, or you shot further back than you think and got guts.

RE: am i crazy
 

If your shooting slugs with the same chokes you use to shoot clays, my best guess would be that you missed. Also, any deer i have ever shot that close with either a shotgun or rifle does a lot more then just walk off. They usualy stumble and run and collapse or just plain get knocked off there feet.

When the deer walked off was its head down and its back arched? If so thats a good sign you got guts, typically though they run a few feet then start walking, but there back hunches up just like they got punched in the stomach and there head tends to hang low.

No offense but it sounds like you missed, a slug would leave a big hole and one way or another a deer is going to feel that and bleed.