ktughill

I have been shooting deer for some time now. My question is tonight I took a nice buck at short distance broadside right before dusk. I believe that it was a lethal shot. We did not find any blood trail. My husband thinks I missed because we could not find any blood after dark with our flashlights. However the deer seem to slump and appeared it want to drop, then stood almost upright and started to slump and went into the woods and heard a some crashing around. We are going out in the morning again to continue hunt since it was too dark to really search. We did not find any hair at the site of the shot either. I shot a big buck a few years ago with "no" blood trail at all and found the deer not to far in the woods. It turned out this shot was a liver shot. What are your thoughts of no blood or hair and missed shot vs lethal shot. I am pretty sure it was lethal.... this was nice buck!

kidoggy

sounds to me like you shoren heck hit him.I would sure as heck be back at daylight and spend the day searching. try and track him if you can. if not I would do a search grid starting where you heard the crashing and work out from there ,take your time ,glass and look for sign.

you owe it to your prey to make every effort to recover.

ktughill

Is is normal not to initially see blood? I never saw any blood with my last big buck. I am thinking maybe a lung shot????

super_hunt54

It's extremely rare for no blood with a lung shot if you got a pass through. Was this with archery or some form of firearm? With most other shots, it is actually kind of common not to IMMEDIATELY pick up blood sign. If it was a heart shot, then the chest cavity has to fill to the entry/exit hole/holes before it leaks out. With lung or arterial then you will get pretty much immediate sign. Follow what kidoggy stated. Go back to the spot you SHOT from, pick out where you think you hit the deer, go up to that spot and pattern out in a circle from there. You might have misjudged the location of the deer at impact. If the deer "spun" out of there, there will be heavy impressions left by it's hooves. Those will give you the initial direction to start your search. If you hit it hard, and from the way you are saying the deer reacted I am guessing you did BUT it may be gut hit, then you should pick up some sign. IF it is gut hit, entry,exit wounds tend to get sealed up so you will be relegated to hoof trailing. IF gut hit, 99% of the time, the animal will head to the nearest water source. Good luck.

ktughill

Yes it was with my 243 rifle shot. I was aiming for lung shot however with all the adrenaline going, at dusk and with the buck in motion it is very possible that I missed the lungs. I sure hope it was not a gut shot. I helped a friend gut a deer out that was a gut shot and that was not easy on the stomach! Possibility of liver shot?

MudderChuck

That is why it is always nice to know someone with a good dog. My last blood tracker could follow a pin prick drop every 20 feet, at almost a dead run if you'd let him. Most dogs with any sort of hunting drive go kind of nuts with Deer blood.

Maybe it was asked, but what weight and bullet type were you using?

I've had Core Loc make a hole in and a hole out and never seemed to expand any. Left very little blood.

The trend recently seems to be light fast bullets, I never have figured out the reasoning besides a flat trajectory. A flat trajectory doesn't really count for much under two yards with many calibers.

I've shot many Hogs that stopped bleeding fast, Finding them in a ripe Wheat field can be a chore. I started using Silver Tips, tears up some meat but IMO almost guaranteed to bleed.

It has been mentioned in other threads, when a Deer bolts after being shot, it is often better to wait awhile before charging out to find your Deer. They will often lay down within fifty yards to die or at least go no farther than the next cover. If they are wounded and hear you coming they will take off again.

Ridge Runner

go to the last spot you saw the deer, walk in the same direction he was going, casting back and forth looking for blood, if it was a lung shot you will find him
RR

FlaBoy18

You could of also possibly hit that buck high and that could be why u aint got much blood. Above the lungs but below the spine is a void area of just meat. But ive shot deer with a 30.06 and had weak trails at first so maybe that cud be the case with ur buck! Use a roll of TP to trail him. Whenever u find a speck of blood or his runnin track drop a small piece of TP on the ground. This helps in tracking and lets u know the clear direction of his travel. If he is hit hard he will typically run in a straight line. Good luck!

alleyyooper

A Colman gas lantern is the best thing I have ever used to find blood after dark. Blood just jumps out to be seen. My neck of the world if you left a dead deer out all night isn't much you can use when found the next day coyotes have a picnic all night long.


Al

blessed n born to hunt

I'm sure the way he acted you took him and should have been able to find him after you waited for him to expire , I've got a good dog and will help in the future I've also read on this site organizations that help you with dogs , hope the coyotes didn't get him , God bless n good luck , I'm sure you've g ound him by now - post us pics when your able