Kountrykristi

My husband shot a nice buck yesterday, and hasn't found it yet.
He's never lost a deer so we're hoping today we'll see buzzards and at least get the rack. This was nice for a FL buck, even had some drop tines! There was a blood trail, but not a whole lot We think the arrow is stuck in him.

Anyway, when he went to track it last night, he found his light up nock (nockturnal brand) on the ground and no arrow! What in the world? If the arrow is stuck in the deer, do you think the buck could pull the nock off? We were hoping to see the light last night that would lead us right to the deer. No such luck.

Mojotex

Nock probably struck something as the deer ran off and was stripped off the shaft. If shaft is still in buck and not a full pass through, or been pulled out the opposite side, blood trail probably will be weak. Stay methodical in your search and good luck.

scribe

Sounds to me as though he hit a big bone. That would pop the nock off, leave a scant blood trail and result in the arrow being carried some distance. I also, unfortunately, think it is a non-fatal hit.

halfbakedi420

another awesome lost deer story.
lol at gettin the rack, cause thats whats important!!!
maybe a good lesson will be to let them get closer.
just leave that one layin and tell him to go practice on another one.

scribe

Hmmm. Halfbaked of the red mist logo looking in askance at another hunter perhaps not showing proper respect for the animal? Perhaps intimating that once the coyotes and such have eaten the carcass it would be bad manners to get the rack? I must have misunderstood.

Surely not suggesting that to many hunters, the rack is more important than the meat? And for sure knowing the above hunter took too long a shot? Perchance a seer? I could not find where anyone said it was a long shot.

Come one dude, How do you know how far he shot and how do you know how capable he is and you surely aren't suggesting you never made a bad shot. How else could youget the extremely tastefull, red mist? Did you go to high school in Austin or maybe Elgin?

Or did I totally misunderstand your entire post?

jdweim

I have to agree with Scribe here, that post by halfbaked was somewhat distasteful, atleast that is the way it came across, we are here to help each other. As stated in the original post, this is his first lost buck. I don't know how long he has been hunting but 1 lost buck can happen to anyone.

halfbakedi420

what outta this story tells you all the conditions were right?

maybe i am harsh, its the holidays..a lil edgy with all the stuff goin on im just testy. i apologize, but it seems to be the on going thing is people posting about a wounded or unfound dead deer. my bad

jdweim

halfbaked - I am not trying to bash you either, and I gave the benefit of the doubt that we are dealing with a responsible hunter, esp. when it is stating 1st lost buck. But I do agree there has seemed to be quite a few stories with lost deer this year

scribe

I agree on the number of lost deer and even talked with one of our state W.O.'s about it. He said he felt there were three main causes. 1-More deer were being shot. 2- More deer were shot by hunters with little or no blood trailing experience. 3- Too much dependency on broadhead advertising and not enough concentration on shot placement.

I personally have seen posts where the successfull hunter stated the broadhead he was using was so great, even with a bad shot, he found the deer. I'll name no brands but you can read between the lines.

I might add a feeling I have on my own. I think hunters are waiting too long to start blood trailing. I'll not take up the bandwidth explaining that.

Kountrykristi

The shot was approx 25 yrds and the nock wasn't found where he shot.. it was about 50 yrds away from that area (where the deer ran) The meat is important to us, but this particular buck was for the trophy! He would've mounted him. My husband has been hunting since he was old enough to hold a gun. I haven't met many as passionate about it and more ethical! He is the man people call to help track THEIR deer. Thanks for input everyone. We haven't given up yet. I'll post pics when we find it! That's me speaking in faith