Question on a deer I hit.
 

I shot at a rack buck and I am wondering how to know if I hit it in the guts.
I think I hit back too far in the deer. I remember seeing the crossairs a littl in front of the back legs when it went off.
I went down to where I shot and I saw no blood what so ever.
I did find some strands of dark brown hair.
I tracked it for a little bit but gave up on it thinking I had missed it.
I was thinking about it on my way home and I remebered seeing the buck kick his legs straight back after I had shot. Is that a sign of a gut shot.
I was shooting a 30 out 6 150 grain bullet.
As I was thinkning about it I thought that the bullet hitting the guts may never open up leaving a small hole, one that lets no blood out.
My question here is does anyone know what the signs are for a gut shot deer?
And do you think it is worth a shot to go back and try to find it?
Thanks.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

If you are sure you hit it ....always go back and look.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Well . . .an 30-06 is gonna make a size sized exit hole. But if you hit him way back in the body you may see a bit less blood. You still should have found some internal sign on the other side of your shot. I would be walking those woods for a few hours at least trying to find that bad boy, even with out a nice rack.

Good luck;)

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

First of all if you found hair you hit him.

Second deer will generally hunch up on a gut shot, one indication of a heartshot is a deer mule kicking with his hind legs.

How far did you track this deer? Certain hits may not produce blood for 20-30 yards, some may be a killing shot and hardly bleed at all.

I would say from what you have said the deer was hit hard and you need to get out there and do some serious tracking, more than likely that deer is down for the count with in 100 yards, maybe more.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

First of all, if you saw the cross hairs a little in front of the hind leg, why did you pull the trigger?


That being said, look around until you 100% sure you missed or 100% sure it can't be found. Look in water, in the thick brush, etc. If you can't find any blood or other sign, do a body search.

Greg

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

I'd grab a buddy, go out and run a zigzag pattern to try and find blood. Good Luck!

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

I did not know this, but I witnessed it on 11/29. I shot a doe at about 80 yards. When I shot she mule kicked then ran away with no other indication that she might have been hit. I sat in the stand for a few minutes cursing my scope because I was sure I had not hit her and I knew my aim had been true. I got out of the stand to look for blood and found a few drops, so I backed off for about thirty minutes. When I began to trail her I found a lot of blood and found her about 100 yards into the brush. When I was cleaning her I discovered that I had indeed hit her heart.

I thought this was just some kind of fluke, because every other deer I have heart shot has died within a few feet of where I shot them.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

You need to change the first paragraph a little bit. It should have said "you remember seeing the crosshairs a little bit in front of the back legs when you pulled the trigger". You most likely hit the deer in the gut as this was where you aimed. Go back with a couple of experienced hunters and see if they can help. Should be a gut shot trail not far from where you shot the deer. Thet hit will kill him, just take a while.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Like Taz said a gut shot on a still deer usually produces a hunch up, blood will be small but should still be around in speck form, also you should find a greenish/bile tinge if you gut shot him. The leg kick is usually a vital hit indicator, however it is possible you grased him in the rear ham area which can produce a kick/slip response. Dark brown hair you found would most likely indicates a body hit of some sort. What position did you notice his head to be in when fleeing?(this can also indicate how hard he has been hit)
By the sounds of it, there is little doubt you put a hit on him and most likely he is down for good, I would head out with a couple of guys and comb the area. I have usually found a deer hit heads for the lowest, thickest stuff and then pile up if at all possible. Flat terrain they will usually head to some sort of heavy grass or terrain then bed down.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Taz is right on regards to a deer hunching up when gut shot. Heck, I might as well quit typing since he covered it all very well.
burnie, the best deer I ever shot was with the same round you used, I got one speck of blood about 20 yards from where he was shot and found the deer about 100 yards later. YOU GOT TO LOOK HARD!!!!

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Thanks for all the help guys.

The only reason I shot back that far is because it was pushed to me and was on a fast move.
I was in the process of pulling the trigger in a small opening.
I couldn't move the gun with the deer.
That being said, it was following six doe so I had tracks going everywhere and we didn't really know which ones were the bucks.
We made circles around that area for hours and then gave up.
The Buck broke off from the rest of the does when I shot.
The does stayed together and went out across the hill.
We believe the buck got back on there trial, because we could find tracks going anywhere else.
We followed the tracks for about 75-85 yards with no blood.
And gave up.
I wish he had went further.
We are in the middle of a 10-12 inch snow storm in PA right now so I have to wait for it to clear, then go out and look for it.
It was the biggest buck I ever shot at in the 13 years that I hunted.

Two of you said that a heart shot will make it kick both legs back like it did.
How far can a buck go on a heart shot?
I thought they couldn't go far and that a heart shot would bleed a lot.

Oh yea, I shot 4 more times at it but they weren't good shots.
It hung in my area long enough to fire some more rounds.
Everything happened so fast, and I had a little buck fever.
As it ran away I heard it crash once and then louder a couple of seconds later, making me think I hit it.
But for the life of me we couldn't find blood.

The crashing and the kicking make is sound like a vital shot but why couldn't we find blood?
I killed a lot of deer and everytime I had a blood trail.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

With 10 inches of snow, you will never find it's tracks. And you will have a hard time finding the deer laying on the ground dead.

Looks like the deer is lost to me.

Sounds like you took a bad shot, or one that you wern't capable of taking.


Out of curiosity. What kind of bullet were you using?
I gut shot a deer (bad shot) with Nosler Balistic tips, 25cal, 85 grain, and the guts looked like they had gone through a blender. Deer dropped and died instantly.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

30-6
150 grain bullet.

It has worked well for me in the past.
I needed it to mushroom this time and it didn't.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

If you didn't find the deer you don't know if the bullet mushroomed or not.In any case don't blame the bullet because you took a shot that you shouldn't have.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

I don't know if I took a shot I shouldn't have because I don't know where I hit it, I am trying to figure that part out.
I am guessing it didn't mushroom because I couldn't find any blood.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Let me ask two question. When you practiced with your gun before the season started. How many shots did you take at running targets? If the answer is none, you proably shouldn't have taken the shot right?

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

The only thing I've learned over time after the shot, is to always assume that it was a hit and track it until you can positively rule out the possibility of a hit, if that means following tracks for 200 yards then so be it, but I have learned that if an arrow or bullet is shot at a deer then I will be tracking none-the-less.

Sorry to hear about not finding the buck, the snow didn't help matters either. After it melts I would go back in there and look for the remains.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Gut shots don't leave a lot of blood(like I said before specks and green bile coloured sign). Even if the bullet performed perfectly a gut shot is going to leave a poor result, trail and tougher follow up. I have seen deer hit vitally with good shots that left poor blood trails and are work to find, but that is part of the sport-tracking. If you have snow coming down a large grid search or look for scavangers is your best bet at finding this animal. All you can do is try and hopefully learn from the experience for the future.

good luck

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Burnie, first off i shot a buck this year with a .30-06 in the heart from 20 yards & he ran 100 yards. So a buck could run a little ways before he stops. Second where in PA do you live? I know some people in a couple parts of PA that would help you find him if you needed. That snow storm is bering down on us fast! Already 3in. where I hunt & still more coming. Good luck

Tim

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Like skeeter said a gut shot will not always leave blood, this i know :(-was a bad shot on my behalf only found three little drops and no more. found him 75yrds later. Good luck on finding yours.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

missing four more times, better re-sight that rifle or attend a hunter safety course.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

The best way to tell if a gut shot is with your nose. Go to the point where the deer was hit and start sniffing. Did you smell the deer after the shot? Don't confuse the tarsel smell with a gut shot smell; the gut shot smell is much stronger, and in some cases will allow your nose to lead you to the deer. Problem is that the deer will live long enough to outpace you even if you wait a half hour, and then you had your snow conditions. Also the other animals come to the gut shot deer quickly, using their sense of smell, so he may not be in tact when you get to him. Finally, a gut shot deer heads to water as it feels thirsty.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

if you heard it crash twice --- quit looking for blood and look for the deer:D

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

mums the word.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

The 6 point I killed two weeks ago was gut shot in the evening. No blood or hair was found at the spot I shot so I came back the next morning to make sure I didn't miss. I walked a zig zag pattern on the deer's exit route and finally found a little blood about 100 yards. Then found more blood and a crash spot about 5 yards away. Then nothing. Finally resulted to just looking for the deer. Found him about 30 yards from the first blood trail lying next to a fallen tree and creek. (slightly downhill). Look hard.....he's laying somewhere!!

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

I am hoping the reason you have not replied to this thread is because you are out there looking for this deer, that deer is down and out, he was hit hard whether it was gut shot or heart shot. Even if he is gutshot a lot of the meat will still be good with the snow and cold you'll had.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Yeah, and sometimes you can even see pieces of un-digested food;ie. acorns, corn, to confirm a gut shot.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

update??

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

This is a tough crowd. I can understand taking a shot you feel good with right up until you have pulled the trigger and know you were off target. I have done it at the range many times. taking my time, release half a breath. squeeze. Boom. dont even have to use the spotting scope. I will know I was off target. hunting will only make that more likely. Moving target? well I've done it. I got lucky. would I do it again. Not under he exact same conditions but if I feel I have the shot, I will take the shot. I agree with teh others, that deer is likely down. I would be back out there. TAKE A DOG. I have a mutt housedog but if I tuook him out there I know he would help me out. If all else fails you will have learned something from this.

Good luck.

David

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

We're still waiting for an update.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

I dont' think we're going to get one. Another one laying dead in the woods. Ridiculous!!

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

crap crap crap.


go deep hunt hard.;)

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

what I dont get is.. if he know he hit bad on the first shot then why shoot 3-4 more times??? the likely hood of you getting a shot off after the 2nd rounds is probably pretty low. Mushrooming had nothing to do with the badly hit deer.. Its not using a well placed shot. Why people blame it on their equipment I will never know.. Its called human error.. its not the equipment.. you made a bad shot. chalk it up as that and stop making excuses

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

I think that he just choked. He said that it was the biggest buck he ever shot in all the years he's been hunting. I also think that if he hit the deer that he hasn't used very good hunting skills to find it. That's another one lost in the woods. DOn't nothing make me more mad then that. Especially since he said that it was nice buck. I hope u find, even though you shouldn't have taken the shot. You must be smart when hunting. How did u know he wasn't going to stop or come back by.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Egggsakly! He took what sounds to me to be an uncertain (I want to say wild ass, but won't [:@] ) shot at a moving target and then threw 4 more wild ones at it as it was running away??!! - just as likely to hit it in the ass or legs as anywhere. Then blames it on the bullet? I'm sorry, but you gotta have a little self control and not shoot in a small window at a moving target! (unless you're a far, far better shot than me). Cripes, that's part of being a hunter, let the thing go if you don't have a for shure shot. I'm very impatient with these lead slingers -zeke.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

look for buzzards

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

may not have hit it? just go out and spend the middle of the day tracking.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

I suspect he took his dolls and went home. Really is to bad since he is new member, we gave it to him he felt the heat and may never return. We have all made bad shots, poor desicion I am sure, it is easy to say why did you...blah, blah, blah. However if he learned from the experience and admits to making a mistake well that is also part of the sport. Blaming the equipment was wrong I agree, shooting 4 unlikely times at the deers arse after paunching him on a broadside not smart, poor tracking skills and so on. To me it appears he is relatively inexperienced just due to his thinking and handling of the situation...ignorance is one thing but lack of experience well how do you get it without making a few mistakes. To bad but it is part of the sport, guys miss, guys wound and guys don't always find...best we can do is say hey try this, show errors in thinking or practice and hopefully they learn. You know I have seen a number of posts on deer taken my members that reference poor shots but they harvested or found the game...so not everyone make solid decision but some are better at following up on. I bet it is experience that helped get some of those deer and they would admit to a poor shot not equipment failure. I agree bernie or his party didn't have enough to keep on the task immediately....hopefully that will not be the case from now on and he learned a very tough/valuable lesson. The same lesson that I am sure we have all learned, I know I have made poor decision which resulted in a poor outcome that is how you assess a situation and make the decision based on your abilities to ensure a positive outcome.

Not to say I side with him one bit or am against what any of you have said, just remember it is easy to point and soap box after years of experience, etc. If a hunter admits to their mistakes chances are they have learned something and gained experience to change the circumstance in the future. If they keep making the mistakes well then they should get the shaft, cuz obviously they don't give care enough or are humble enough to admit wrong doing.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

Thanks to all who responded to my questions and story.
To give you an update the deer was looked for and not found.
No sign of scavenger tracks or ravens flying above, nothing.
No dead body, no cut out horns.
This one will go down as a miss.
Thanks again for the advice.

RE: Question on a deer I hit.
 

we got an update anyway.