PAhunterJEN

Today started off with a deer passing within 5 yards of me while it was still too dark to tell what sex it was. I hunt on the ground so this was very exciting. The deer made its way off in the direction of where my hubby was set up. About a half hour later I hear a deer running from the direction of my hubby. It turned out to be a 4-point - he then slowed and walked right by me looking at me as he went.
Then almost an hour later I hear a deer approaching from behind. As slow as possible I turn to see a buck. He starts to turn to go up the hill right in front of me. He looks at me then continues. (This is the huge buck that surprized me last year and made me shake my arrow off the rest) Anyway, I got ready to shoot and he turned about 3 steps before my shooting lane and started the other way. I bleated out to him but he just kept walking away.
A half hour later I hear deer running and turn to see a small 6-point chasing a doe. She runs away and he then beds down along with a tiny buttonbuck. I didn' t want them there cause I knew they would bust me if another deer came along to shoot. So I began making noises to try to spook them away. Nothing worked! I grunted, bleated, barked, whistled, oinked, threw small rocks and twigs. Finally I just stood up and walked toward them. Then they took off. It was quiet after that so I headed in for lunch.
Hubby went back out about 3:30. We decided to check out what was going on by some apple trees. We get there to see a buttonbuck feeding. I told hubby to sit on a milk crate by a tree where he could wait to see if he could get a shot. (This is only his 2nd year hunting and has never gotten a deer yet. He' s a senior so it' s his special doe season) I sat on the ground to see what would happen. It turned out the buttonbuck bedded down. Then I noticed there was also a doe there. It took over an hour but finally they got up to feed again. Then they started up the trail that leads to a field. I told hubby to take the doe. He shoots her at about 35-40 yards. We couldn' t tell where it hit but the doe ran about 10 steps and stopped. Then she turned around and started back towards us. The buttonbuck followed her and seemed to distract her. She then turned and went downhill into some thick cover. The buttonbuck followed. We could hear crashing then alll was quiet. Suddenly I can hear snorting off to the right in the direction of where the doe was headed. I could see a deer and it headed up towards the edge of the field. It was a big buck. I got out my bleat can and that seemed to catch his attention. He began to head towards us. I told my hubby " Don' t move a muscle!" . I got my bow ready and waited. And surprize - there are deer running at us from behind. I turned to see two mature doe. They stopped at 5 and 10 yards. So I turned and was just getting ready to shoot the one at ten yards as the other was right behind hubby. They then spooked and went downhill the same way the doe and buttons went. By then it was beginning to get dark and I couldn' t tell if the buck was still there or not. So we then decided to run back to the house and get flashlights to track the doe. We came back and found a blood trail. We found a small clump of tissue which appeared to be reddish-purple. It was not fat or skin. It wasn' t bloody but there was blood spattered all around it. Also, there were a few light colored hairs. We marked the trail and it seemed to go in a circle within the brambles. We looked and looked but could not find where the trail came out. This was some really thick stuff and in some places we couldn' t get thru it. We finally gave up three hours later. We' ll go out at first light to see if we can find her. Anyone have any idea what the tissue could be? There was a good trail (while we found it) and the blood was red - not pink or brown. No bubbles. When the deer was hit she kept her tail down and walked and trotted - no running. The hubby could have shot again but his gun is having trouble ejecting the shell. Any help on where he hit would be appreciated....

Power

Sounds like pretty much a good heart shot. You' ll probably find her right in the bottom of the draw perhaps crawled into the thickest nastiest stuff you can find. The clump of tissue could just be coagulated blood or perhaps part of the heart.

Gryan

Deer hit too far back walk away slowly with their tail clamped down (sometimes twitching from side to side) but with a gun at forty yards, even a gut shot doe would bolt from the sound of the gun shot. I' m betting on a gut shot or a liver shot that just barely touched the liver. Her reaction makes me think that. Was she hunched up? Did she walk funny? It is tough to tell without seeing anything but I agree that the clump fo tissue is either a blood clot or a piece of the lobe of the liver. Liver hits are funny. I have centered the liver and had the deer die in fifty yards just like a lung hit deer. I have also shot completely through the liver and had to finish the doe off the following morning. (both bow shots) In any case, don' t give up, that blood trail didnn' t come out the other side of the thicket! A gun makes a bigger mess of whatever it travels through than an arrow does. I like your chances.

Greg

mauser06

dark redish purple......id have to say liver too....could be blood but if you could pick it up and touch it it wasnt..blood in that form is still pretty soft and runny.....good luck finding her......grid search...make cirlces from the last blood bigger and bigger....randomly just bust the whole thicket back and forth up and down....head towards water.....head in the direction the blood trail went in last.........good luck...fill us in when your back

JeramyK

Hope all works out for the best. Keep us posted.

trophyhuntr

Nothing but guts my friend nothing but guts, sound like some bile mixing with the blood to get that color.

PAhunterJEN

Well, just got back (12:30 pm) from tracking and finally giving up. We located the trail not far from where we lost it. There were spots and occasionally groups of spots and blotches. Found one clot definitely different than the reddish-purple tissue. Anyway, the deer crossed the creek several times, then crossed our driveway and back into the woods. It took a while but she zig-zagged many times and then bedded down. There was decent blood there and in a circle around the bed. We couldn' t find where she went from there for a long time. Once the trail was found again it lead directly to the creek again and then was lost. We couldn' t find another spot anywhere! It' s really hard to track down there with really high embankments andd tons of red spotted leaves. If she continued on the course she was headed she would have crossed the road and went up a very steep embankment that goes straight up for about 100 feet. Of course onto the neighbors property who has a rottweiler and a doberman. They aren' t home right now but I don' t know what they do with their dogs!
I feel bad for the hubby since it was his first deer but....
Overall, I don' t think there was enough blood. Darnit anyhow....[:' (][:' (]

BarnesX.308

I might be opening a can of worms here, but I have a possible solution. I think it might be illegal too but it' s better than shooting a deer and not recovering it. If you have a dog with a good nose, take a walk in the woods with the dog. To make it more legal, don' t bring a gun or bow and keep the dog on a leash. If you think it' s expired by now you won' t need a weapon anyway. The dog will pick up that deer' s scent and find it very quickly. The one down side it that, if the deer is still alive, the dog could push it. Keep the dog on a leash and you won' t have to worry about the dog chasing deer. I know some of you might not like that idea but it' s a last ditch thing. Another option is to listen for the coyotes at night and they' ll lead you to a pile of bones and hair.

Gryan

I kept checking back for an update. Sorry to hear that!

Greg

JeramyK

Sorry to hear all didn' t work out.