Blood Trailing help
 

I hit a 4-point this morning at 9:00. The shot was behind the right shoulder, 50 yards. I was shooting a Hornady 250 grain sabot, .50 caliber with 100 grains Hodgdon's. I have meat on the ground where the bullet exited. I have a spotty trail, for the most part, with areas of copious blood where I believe the buck stopped. At the last point there is much blood, and maybe some stomach fluid, and it is as though a Pteradactyl swooped down and picked him up! The entire trail until it disappears is roughly 30 yards lonrg. I have searched for the tiniest spot of blood in a circular pattern, emanating outward. I can't find anything more. I had two of my sons with me to help. The area is planted pines. There is much leaf litter and some understory, but it is relatively open. I can't stand the idea of losing a deer. Can anyone provide additional tracking help?

Do you have a dog or have one you can borrow? take him to were you shot him and let him get some good scent and LET HIM take up the trail. Don't pull him in the direction of the deer let him go that way on his own. If after a while he hasn't found it take him off lead and let him run around. I have found 2 deer doing this. If you do have a dog even if you find the deer next time take him out and let him track it and find it that way he knows whats going on next time (hopefully there won't be but SHtuff happens).

Yeah... tried it. Although it's not necessarily a dog that's good at cold trailing. It has been successful before so we had high hopes. I think the problem is that there is so much deer sign. We're really loaded with deer here!

I have killed several deer with Hornady bullets in my Encore and for some reason I don't get much of a blood trail. I shot a doe 2 seasons ago with about 6 inches of snow on the ground. There was not one drop of blood for the first hundred yards until the deer jumped over a small creak and then it loooked like somebody had dumped buckets of blood. I think the cavity was filling up with blood and it didn't reach the bullet hole until it jumped. Both deer I killed last year with the Hornady's left no blood trail either.

may have layed down and clotted up. if theres alot of blood and no access to a good dog. Id go back to the sight and pick out which way I think he went. If theres alot of good blood and by this I dont mean gut blood he shouldnt be far

Was the buck quartering towards you?

iSnipe

Well It seems to me that you have a dead deer by now. A bullet placed behind the shoulder with that load and range should have done the job - especially with a pass through.
You said it was planted pines and fairly open, so I'm picturing an area where a deer could not crawl under the lower branches of a tree and be concealed, right? I have found a deer that had done that once.
About the only thing you can do is keep looking, and try not to scuff the pine needles or leaves too much as you make those widening circles around where you last saw blood.
One thing to keep in mind is that a deer can abruptly change the direction of travel from one jump to the next, so it may not continue in a straight line.
I also would check more downhill, if there is a downhill there, as they often will naturally take the path of least resistance (down) if possible.

Good Luck!

Also keep in mind that many times a deer will backtrack its own footsteps and go a new direction. I've had that happen before. Start your trail over again and check to see if somewhere the blood trail splits away from the path you've already taken.

rw

Kerrdog, I hope you've found him by now. If you haven't, the backtracking idea is a good one to look into. I too hunt in north Fl and have had 2 deer do this. Also are there any palmetto clumps in the immediate vicinity? I ask b/c 3 yrs ago my father's wolfhound had his head(and body) buried in a clump and my father was literally standing on the deers rear leg before he realized it was the deer I shot the night before. We literally walked around the deer for 4 hours, in the dark, and never knew it was there. The area may look "open" but believe me, there are so many nooks they can bury themselves into. Good Luck!

Are you still using the Hornadys? I used Maxi Hunters up til now... never had a problem. First time for the Hornady sabots.

Tried doing just that. We ended up in a last ditch effort and formed a skirmish line and advanced through woods. Got nothing but chiggers!! They're real bad this year...



No... he was standing full broadside. Easy shot...

It is mostly open but there is still plenty of areas where it gets thick. There is a creek at the bottom... almost assuredly he went there, but we could not pick up any trail. My thought is that he never made it that far. Looked in all the places of concealment we could find. They sure can get themselves into some crazy places! After half a day and 4 additional helpers we called it a day. I feel sure that he is dead. The landowner thinks he is still going... but that is optimistic at best.

My son, in my avatar, shot his first doe last year. She did exactly what you are talking about. Ironically, my buck was in the same patch of woods. His doe went through a mean patch of woods, full of briars, and died on the trail on the "other side". If I had walked around the corner of the trail I would have fell over her! But I went through the thick stuff! Thought of that...

We didn't find him. This is the first deer I have ever lost with a rifle! You're right about the nooks and crannies.

Thanks, ALL, for your input. I appreciate the help.

Kerrdog

That just sucks. Now the only thing to do is keep an eye out for the buzzards, or the strong smell of black bears (they smell like dog crap to me). I found a friends kill (two days after he shot) several years ago; I kept walking into the wind following the scent of dog crap and found the remains of his buck not a hundred yards from his stand.

Sounds like you flinched or pulled off at the shot. A .50 thru the boiler room of any make would pile one up fairly close by.

I doubt the buzzards will find it, but the hogs, foxes, and coyotes will. My wife and two youngest sons saw a black bear last Saturday, although it wasn't around here. I have never seen one in my life! I'm not sure there are any around here anymore, but we have a pile of coyotes!

I think something was wrong... I found some fluid that I took to be stomach or intestinal, which would indicate I hit too far back. The gun is on, so I know it was me.

I gut shot one with my bow last friday and it took me 7 hours to find him. There was very little blood where I shot him. I looked all over our woods and never found him. I didnt push him so I figured he'd lay down within 200 yards and die... WRONG. Later in the day I checked a trail that crosses between our woods and our neighbors probably 2 or 300 yards from where I shot him and there was a blood trail rite across the road. He ended up goin through that woods crossing a creek and a hay field layed down got up and died about 40 yards later. It can be really tough I know I walked 10 yards rite beside where he was laying and never saw him because of the grass he was laying in he's prolly rite under your nose but a wounded deer can go a long way even if they arent pushed. A wounded deer in shock can cover a lot of ground walking aimlessly very slowly. Bucks can get a long way from there home and sometimes I think wounded ones may just be trying to get back to there home turf but who knows. If you havent lost a deer you havent hunted long enough it happens to the best of us. You just owe it to the animal to do everything you can to find it and sometimes thats not enough.

It's amazing you found his blood trail. Congrats on finding him... probably made you feel a little better!

I have never lost one with a modern gun. Lucky perhaps... I've had to look for some, but I've always found them. I lost my first with a muzzleloader this weekend. I've lost three bucks during archery. That's a total... not this weekend! ;) I've been hunting for 37 years.

Yes it did lol I have lost one during bowhunting in 10 years lol. It's just part of it sometimes you gotta be lucky.

The deer's dead. Theres no way a deer as small as the ones in FL would take a piece of lead that heavy and live. He's there. Try using google maps and read the terrain and see if you can map out different escape routes. Good luck!

Kerrdog, where approx. are you located? I hunt in the Palatka to Interlachen area and we are loaded with bears. Just two weekends ago I had a bear not 15 yds from me as I climbed into my stand. I didn't realize this until getting into my stand, smell, and hear something...I removed the red filter from my flashlight and shined him. He could have cared less....me I'm not so sure.
As for Florida deer being "small", sometimes I wonder. Several years ago my father killed a 6pt that weighed (FWC scale) "dress-out" 180lbs. Not sure how this relates to 'dem yankee hoss's' but not small. Fer sure he ded tho' som'eres...spit!

Agreed. No need to use Google Maps. I have been tromping this land for 9 years... know it very well.

I live in and hunt Hamilton County, almost into Georgia. There are some large deer here (for Florida... pushing 200 pounds), but not nearly the numbers there once was. Too many Yahoos around here that shoot everything! Most commonly they are in the 135 to 150 range. Bear sightings have been reported in the area, I just have never seen one. We have an occassional Panther and Jaguarundis... which are kinda cool.

That's good shooting! It always bums me bad to lose a deer, especially a buck, since you spend so much time "hoping" for that trophy. I never could figure out how you can have a double lung shot, enough blood that you can walk the trail without bending over, and then have it end abruptly. Like maybe a medical team hooked up with it! I know there's an answer... I'm just not smart enough to figure it out!

My dad shot a doe one time with a 12 gauge bright red blood with bubbles had to have been a lung shot. She ran for a bit and stopped and stood. I guess dad thought she was down so he got down to look and off she went. Where she was standing there was a pool of blood on the ground and where she went we still dont know to this day not a drop of blood after she ran. We walked the entire woods never found any sign of her. Just remembered that story lol I was pretty young at the time.