I'm sick

[adamgarbett]

This morning I shot what I consider my buck of a lifetime. Found good blood and bit of either liver or some organ at site where he was shot and then the blood disappeared quickly down to a single drop here and there to the point the trail went cold.....no sign of blood, no sign of struggling nothing! Searched for hours and nothing.

http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww23/twojoints444/4DD847F0-F03B-437D-A590-154975832996.jpg (http://s702.photobucket.com/user/twojoints444/media/4DD847F0-F03B-437D-A590-154975832996.jpg.html)


I tryed calling "hot load" and he is out of town.

Have any of you had any luck going in the next day and letting the Ravens lead you to your kill?

Thanx for any help/advise or response,

Adam :o

[The Hermit]

Hopefully someone here that lives close to you and has a dog can help out. Sorry man that sucks

[monasheemountainman]

to me ( and I am no blood expert) that looks like it is not lung blood. a lot of times a flesh wound will bleed quite a bit a thick red blood and then it will dwindle off. The piece of meat, could be just that, a piece of meat, either from above the spine, neck meat, etc... If I were a betting man, Id say you probable fleshed him and he will be ok...Happens to the best of us... that being said, if you can get a dog and check it out, you should try.

don't beat yourself up!

[adriaticum]

Yes go out the next day and try and have some dogs with you. Even untrained they have better nose than we have eyes.
Bring a bunch of dogs if you can and you'll find him.

[Gilmore]

Thats a tough one. Bring a dog. Not necesarily a hound either, my lab can find dead things like you wouldn't believe.

[Taurusguy]

Think "path of least resistance" if you were shot... And had to get away... Which way would be the easiest? I have tracked many deer like that... One time I placed my dad at the last sign of blood so I could get a bearing on direction... And be able to look back at him and each time I found new blood I moved him up to stand there and went looking for more blood... Every hats happened its alays been the path of least resistance.

[835]

That looks like a fair gag of blood. Dark blood too. I'm not thinking lung.. looks more liver..
like has been said see if you can find a dog. the deer will be fine overnight so dont get down yet,, ralley a team up and give a good go tomorrow morning.

[J_T]

Are you talking arrow penetration or bullet? What I see in the image is not a lot of blood. What was the distance? What was the body position of the animal? Where do you think the projectile penetrated (entrance and exit)? Shooting uphill? Downhill? If you're looking for someone to simply hook you up with a dog, I can't help you. If you're looking for information on what to expect and track the animal, I think more information is required. Good luck.

As for ravens. Seldom been able to rely on ravens to help find a wounded or downed animal.

[J_T]

Think "path of least resistance" if you were shot... And had to get away... Which way would be the easiest? I have tracked many deer like that... One time I placed my dad at the last sign of blood so I could get a bearing on direction... And be able to look back at him and each time I found new blood I moved him up to stand there and went looking for more blood... Every hats happened its alays been the path of least resistance. Toilet paper. You don't have to leave your Pops there. Just pull out some toilet paper, it will confirm blood and you can leave it on the ground as evidence of the trail you are following. And for the most part its going to disintegrate.

[steveo]

From what I know of a liver hit is that it is fatal but may take a couple of hours for the animal to expire. I agree with the liver hit theory and with the dog theory. Usually a hard hit animal will go in a straight line and seldom double back. Good luck.

[Weatherby Fan]

From what I know of a liver hit is that it is fatal but may take a couple of hours for the animal to expire. I agree with the liver hit theory and with the dog theory. Usually a hard hit animal will go in a straight line and seldom double back. Good luck.

Ive seen a cpl deer shot in the liver also, and they bled out very quickly.

[scoutlt1]

That sucks! Try not to give up on it.
We'll be at the east side of 8-6 tomorrow evening for the weekend. Not sure if that is close to you.
Probably a bit late to help out but if you're still working on it shoot me a PM and if there's anything we can do to help we're in!

[444marlin]

I just got back from the QCI's. My son shot and hit a deer hard one evening. The bush was very thick and there was little light. W

[rocksteady]

Go to the drug store. Buy a big bottle of peroxide and food colouring. Mix the food colouring heavy into a spray bottle with equal amounts of peroxide and water...

spray at it along the suspected trail of where you think he went. It will foam instantly and show color where it hits blood

[lovemywinchester]

That's a shitty feeling B&T. Looks like you got him pretty good though. I rattled in a nice WT buck a few years ago and shot him. He was walking straight at me so I am pretty sure I shot him in the armpit and he took off. I had snow and I left him for a bit then started looking for him. I caught up to him once but he took off and that was it. I followed him for three hours and 5 km. He stopped bleeding and I lost him in a bunch of rabbit tracks. I still think about him all the time. I have several buddies that have gone through the same thing in the last few years with big mulies and it haunts each one of us..

My advice would to do whatever you can to try and find him. Beats years of regret and wonder. Oh, and its always a cranker that gets away.

[444marlin]

I just got back from the QCI's. We could not find a hard hit deer one evening (fading light and very thick bush).
There was no blood trail. We came back the next morning a did a grid search. Found it within an hour.
We cleaned it and washed out the cavity. Even with a 12 degree night the meat was fine.
Don't give up.

[Husky7mm]

I see coagulated blood in there, was the photo taken immediately after you found the blood? I have been on a few tough blood trails and sometimes its hundreds of yrds between the blood and all I have is the odd track or disturbed leaf. When I am out of sign for a long time but have a general direction I walk a large grid. If the animal keeps doubling back its often not to hurt. I also find if its alive still and you keep after it it will often return back to the starting point, especially true with whitetails. Good to have a shooter there, also good to have a fresh set of eyes as sometimes the shooter is worked up and doesn't see things right. Good luck.

[walks with deer]

I have found them the next day on 2 occasions.

Typically I just mark last blood and work a grid from there. A dog is good but so is just keep working a grid.
funny one I couldn't find as it got dark fell in a hole found it next morning no problem.
was there any other deer with him did you see them loiter.

[Dannybuoy]

From what I know of a liver hit is that it is fatal but may take a couple of hours for the animal to expire. I agree with the liver hit theory and with the dog theory. Usually a hard hit animal will go in a straight line and seldom double back. Good luck.

I have only seen 2 animals hit with a liver shot (243) , neither went more than 20 ft ... (deer & bear) having said that , ravens would be a good indictor if the buck is dead . I have found Mulies head downhill if on a death run . Too bad Rod is out of town ... Carlos is awesome !

[adamgarbett]

In route with a dog. Wish me luck

[Andrewh]

Great to hear you are heading back, just remember they will always head downhill and most likely towards water to bed.

[Taurusguy]

Good luck!

[srupp]

Hmmm got to agree if you can get dogs..experienced dogs even better..
Deer hit significantly are not super special..enough blood loss..internal or external will create an extreme desire to find water. .most times they dont live long enough to get there.
With enough blood loss they lose strength..so will ultimately head downhill..with bloodloss comes lack of circulating oxygen to the brain..head for thick cover? Or vote Liberal..oooops.
Mark last blood, where shot was..then slowly methotically work outwards..paying special attention to water, downhill thick cover. .watch for blood..tracks..wandering or straight?
Good luck let us know
Srupp

[two-feet]

Been there, its a bummer. I managed to recover a bear this spring through persistance though.

[caddisguy]

I had a similar incident last fall and it made me sick, quite literally. I know what you are going through... a hunters nightmare for sure. All you can do is try your best. Sending hope, luck, positive energy and all that good stuff.

[300H&H]

A good lesson here about shot placement.
If you are not 100% sure it is a kill shot....WAIT !
Give the animal time to expire.
This kind of thing happens to everyone if they hunt long enough.
Sadly it has happened to me also.
I made a good solid shot and good bullet placement but I went after the animal right away. HUGE MISTAKE. Lesson learned.
Good luck I hope you find your deer, should make for a good story.

[M.Dean]

I've hunted a fare bit, and thought I could see and follow a downed animal like a blood hound, "But", I was wrong! Quite a while back I happened upon 3 guys that had shot at a buck and couldn't find it, so I said I'd help them out. It was bleeding pretty good, so after following the trail for about 200 yards I had the general direction it was going so into the brush I went, and no buck anywhere? So there I am, looking stupider than Elmer Fudd, when I happened to glance into the under brush about 3 feet from my feet, and what's staring at me with eyes the size of dinner plates? The small wounded buck! I near crapped myself when he got up, and thank Christ bolted "Away" from me! The brush he was hiding in was only about 14 inches high, there was willows and other green brush growing there, but come on, not enough cover for a buck to hide in!!! And this is what I learned from that buck, use your "Bino's"! Glass every dam blade of grass, every clump of clover, glass everything! And not just the brush a hundred yards away, glass 20, 30 40 feet in front of you, look for a ear or maybe a tip of a horn, and eye ball everything that looks a bit out of place! I've seen deer crawl dam near under a fallen tree when there wounded, so look at, and under every dam chunk of tree or brush you can't see through, and good luck tomorrow!

[Blainer]

In route with a dog. Wish me luckGood luck, keep us posted

[takla1]

Its been mentioned here that once wounded they will generally head down-hill.Ive had 2 bucks over the yrs that did just the opposite.On both I had good blood trails and they went straight up hill.Nether one was found and neither one strayed from a straight uphill escape route.Im sure at some point they will tire especially if the lungs have been hit as they basically drowned in their own blood.

takla

[rifleman]

yeah I know how ya feel.. look and listen for ravens and other meat eating birds. good luck let us know if ya find him..

[Daybreak]

It's painful to rehash this but I nicked an absolute pig once at 35 yards. He was in full rut and I wasn't expecting him at all. He was completely non-typical and looked like an elk. Scope was dialed too far up and all I saw was hide. Clipped his upper neck and tracked him for two hours. He did a full circle and came back to the exact spot I first nicked him to see what stung him. Went in the next morning with help and there was no sign of him at all, no ravens , no nothing.

Still haunts me to this day and that was over twenty years ago.

[adamgarbett]

Are you talking arrow penetration or bullet? What I see in the image is not a lot of blood. What was the distance? What was the body position of the animal? Where do you think the projectile penetrated (entrance and exit)? Shooting uphill? Downhill? If you're looking for someone to simply hook you up with a dog, I can't help you. If you're looking for information on what to expect and track the animal, I think more information is required. Good luck.

As for ravens. Seldom been able to rely on ravens to help find a wounded or downed animal.

It was shot with a 270 win. About 65-70 yards, broadside very slightly downhill aiming right at the kill zone. I think it was a trough and through with all that stuff (gel like clumps/liver) that was in the blood

[adamgarbett]

Thank you for everyone's responses with all the info and best wishes. Tonight's second attempt came up negative as well. Going to give it one more kick at the can tomorrow and look for Ravens. Going in solo so a grid patter might be tuff.

[Blainer]

Thank you for everyone's responses with all the info and best wishes. Tonight's second attempt came up negative as well. Going to give it one more kick at the can tomorrow and look for Ravens. Going in solo so a grid patter might be tuff.Shit, good luck. It will be a restless sleep

[walks with deer]

I never have found from ravens
they pecked me in the head once though it hurt bad must have been close

[Caribou_lou]

If you did hit liver I'm sure he's down. They can cover a lot of ground fast. I wouldn't concentrate on looking for water where he might head to if your certain it's liver. Chances are he is down whenever he stopped to check his back trail. Which is often uphill from where you shot him. Good luck. Great to hear you went back and are going back again. More often than not I don't think hunters look long enough for game that is wounded.

[adamgarbett]

If you did hit liver I'm sure he's down. They can cover a lot of ground fast. I wouldn't concentrate on looking for water where he might head to if your certain it's liver. Chances are he is down whenever he stopped to check his back trail. Which is often uphill from where you shot him. Good luck. Great to hear you went back and are going back again. More often than not I don't think hunters look long enough for game that is wounded.

The blood trail has led me down hill but not straight down. Just so little blood and far between makes it all tuff and discouraging

[Sofa King]

what area are you in?
roughly.
not coordinates, but closest town.

[CaribooBC]

Hunting with my wife a few years ago, she spotted a big 2 point, she took the shot while I glassed it. The deer went down as soon as it was hit by her 30/30, then promptly popped back up and took off at a sprint into the old growth behind it. It was about a 75 yard shot and I had seen the bullet hit right in the lung area as I was glassing it. The deer was quartering away from us when the bullet struck. We waited a bit and my wife went to look for it. Problem with that though as she is colour blind (why we normally hunt close together) and can't differentiate between red and brown. She did find some blood but could not find the buck. I was certain that it would not go far after seeing the bullet hit. I then went to her to see if I could track it, there was blood everywhere, lots of it coagulated and/or foamy. I was certain he was just around the next tree. Started to track, found a good trail, he was headed downhill. About 300 meters in there he is, about 100 meters further in, he jumps up and takes off at a sprint again WTF! We sit down and wait for what seemed an eternity. Then we started to track again where we had seen him get up from, the blood trail had been starting to get sparse and I had thought he had bled out. I found where he had bedded, just a few drops of blood, getting a bit worried now as the blood was starting to very sparse. We were able to track him about another 1500 meters before we had one final drop of blood and could not find another nor a trail that he may have went down. My wife was crestfallen, in tears. We were both exhausted as we had spent 6 hours and still had to trek back about 3 kms back to our truck.
The next morning we went back to the last blood drop. I stood there for a couple of minutes, then started to search. My wife had just went straight to searching and was walking circles around the last blood drop. I saw a small, dark ravine, I walked straight to it and down it. About 50 meters down into the ravine, there he was. Shot through one lung, out through the esophagus in the lower neck. We had under estimated how much he was quartering away he was, therefore his heart and second lung was intact. How he survived with so much blood loss is beyond me. He had continued to head downhill most of the time, and he headed into the darkest woods in the area. He was headed towards water as well. It was about -7C overnight so the meat was still edible. The hardest deer we have ever taken.
Edit: After reading Srupp's post. I should mention that we had been using flagging tape to mark blood drops and that the couple of minutes that I had spent at the last blood drop, I was visualizing the route he had taken to get to that spot and then I scanned the area trying to get into the mind of where a deer would go for it final rest. That few minutes of concentration with a fresh rested mind is what I believe led me to him.

[srupp]

Hmm the description of the blood alone tends me to believe it was a lethal hit.dead deer.the thin watery blood that is the result of non lethal hit is not what you have.
Mark every speck of blood with flagging tape.from shot to where it so far runs out.you should get an idea of direction..wandering or straight line? Is he using a trail? How far from the shot do you still have blood? Anything thick in the line of travel scour completely..keep looking for the next blood ..or where he lay down..thats where the flagging tape trail marking pays off..it writes a xtory for you to see the big picture.step back to the side and visualize what has happened on the trail..the blood/flagging tape will spell it out for you.go slow be thorough..be patient. .go get your buck.
Cheers
Steven

[Bugle M In]

I seen one deer, that was shot and hit, not by me, that took off into the tree line.
It had been close to cattle in open fields.
Anyways, buck ran a straight line to the trees.
Last drop of blood was just inside the trees.
Than nothing!.....
Turn out, even though it had been hit, the buck decided to make one sneaky move.
It hopped a perfect 90 Degrees to the left.
If you had seen the last prints, you would have assumed he kept going straight.
That buck jumped straight up and into the thickest pile of 4 - 8 of evergreen/other stuff patch, 15 ft to the left.
Sadly, it never crossed anyones mind that that was what had happened, and that the buck went straight.
And ya, everyone did circles, ever bigger, looking for blood, but nothing.
Found the remains the next season, when it was talked about, as we were standing in the same location.
And for whatever reason, suddenly, there to the left by those thickets of evergreens, just on the outside, was a leg bone.
Only than was it realized what the buck had done, and how close by everyone was, and didn't think of that scenario.
Hope you find him and good on you for looking...

[Muliechaser]

Ive seen blood like that with artificial wounds created by bad shots with archery equipment ..
Thin watery blood at point of shot and were the deer stopped a mere 60 yards away was dumping dark clotted blood just like the picture .. seemed like a liver shot .. after a couple hours tracking we finally cuaght up with him and observed a low low brisket shot . He got shot a few days later and was healing well .

Mc

[Glenny]

Liver like hunks could be clots. Bummer man. If he's down I would find that last spot with the blood and then head for the thickest gnarliest snarliest, woods around you.

[GoatGuy]

Take a dog with you, get it started on the trail in the right direction.

Don't be surprised to find it has burried itself in a clump of bush or behind a log. They seem to hide if they don't expire right away.

[adamgarbett]

what area are you in?
roughly.
not coordinates, but closest town.

peachland!!!!

[boxhitch]

Thank you for everyone's responses with all the info and best wishes. Tonight's second attempt came up negative as well. Going to give it one more kick at the can tomorrow and look for Ravens. Going in solo so a grid patter might be tuff.The dog didn't help out last night ? tough. Going solo suks

[Sofa King]

do you want another set of eyes?
do you feel he's actually down?
or that he has actually moved on with just a wound?
if you have searched pretty thoroughly, and with a dag, then it's maybe escaped i suppose.
this is another reason why i so much prefer hunting in the snow.

[Fisher-Dude]

Take a dog with you, get it started on the trail in the right direction.

Don't be surprised to find it has burried itself in a clump of bush or behind a log. They seem to hide if they don't expire right away.


Yup. I shot a WT last week that took off running with 2 others. Found scads of frothy blood where it had been standing when I shot and figured it had run down the hill or at most it sidehilled, not a chance it would go up with a good double lung shot, right?

After I had covered about 80 yards or so, looking downhill and ahead and seeing nothing, I started to get a bad feeling and wondering if I had a shitshow on my hands. All this on an open fir ridge with great visibility. This thing should be dead and easy to spot!

I looked to the crest of the ridge and saw an old fir log on the ground and figured "Aha!" Yup, there's my dead deer lying just on the upper side of the log, the only obstruction on the ground in the whole area, and it had buried itself against that log.

If there's a hidey-hole of any kind, check it out, because they always seem to find it!

[Husky7mm]

Yal'll need a 270 wsm, shoot a deer anywhere and it will just fall over and die, now coyotes thats a different story......

[BigfishCanada]

Man its close to where you where, happened to me and hours to find it had circled behind me and crashed into some thick stuff. Good luck

[wideopenthrottle]

we got a nice mule buck 6x5 near gang that had been previously shot from facing the shooter..the bullet went in the chest travelled down the inside edge of rib cage and exited without hitting any vitals...it was at least weeks old as it was a tunnel of old green pus...when we got it, it was chasing does like nothing was wrong...they can be pretty tough animals but that looks like a fatal shot you had there (if I had to guess)...good luck

[Islandeer]

Might have been said,but do circles from initial contact bigger and bigger,then from last blood,small to big circles again. hope it works out.

[adamgarbett]

we got a nice mule buck 6x5 near gang that had been previously shot from facing the shooter..the bullet went in the chest travelled down the inside edge of rib cage and exited without hitting any vitals...it was at least weeks old as it was a tunnel of old green pus...when we got it, it was chasing does like nothing was wrong...they can be pretty tough animals but that looks like a fatal shot you had there (if I had to guess)...good luck

He was chasing a doe like it was the last doe on earth. Hopefully his desire has kept him alive until he can get his rocks off.........

[adamgarbett]

Yal'll need a 270 wsm, shoot a deer anywhere and it will just fall over and die, now coyotes thats a different story......

I useually shoot a .300wsm finnlight but have been hunting with my grandpas old .270 family hand me down, last time ever! Hahaha. Never EVER had to track anything with a .300 mag or short mag haha

[Sofa King]

so, are you thinking it was just a fleshwound then and that he's moved on?

[Husky7mm]

He was chasing a doe like it was the last doe on earth. Hopefully his desire has kept him alive until he can get his rocks off.........

Thats great, if he's alive then he will be back! The urge to mate is too strong.

[adamgarbett]

so, are you thinking it was just a fleshwound then and that he's moved on?

I am thinking he got taken by aliens hahaha. I'm sure I hit him good just can't explain the disappearing act......

[rocksteady]

I am thinking he got taken by aliens hahaha. I'm sure I hit him good just can't explain the disappearing act......

if you saw him today why did you not shoot him?

[Wentrot]

if you saw him today why did you not shoot him?

I think you are misunderstood. He didn't see the deer again

[604redneck]

Get ahold of hotload on here he has an unreal tracking dog

[M.Dean]

I really hope you find that buck! But if you don't, many of us older hunters on here have gone through this same thing, and all's you can do is your best at trying to find it. I've lost a few animals over the years, and like you I spent many hours out there reliving the shot, and trying to figger out why in hell that animals not laying right where I think it should be? All's a guy can do is hope like hell you only wounded the deer and he's off trying to find a hot doe with a new scar to show off! If you hunt lots this will happen at some point, it sucks I know, but put your time in trying to find it, and if not try, try again! Good Luck out there!

[Lozzie]

My dog recovered another lost buck today. Blood grew scarce so we started circling the area where we had found last drops of blood and whamo all of a sudden Samson nearly yanked my arm out of the socket. The buck had piled himself up in a tree well under a bunch of branches and was nearly invisible. I could smell him and it took me getting within 2 feet of him to actually see hide. I swear you could not cover up an animal better if you tried. Hunter was happy, Antlers to chew for Samson and Delilah.

Ps. Sam now has a record 4 wins and 1 loss (I wasn't present on the loss though).

[Bugle M In]

In spite of the unfortunate event, this turned out to be a really good thread.
Gives me some stuff to think about the next time this happens.
And the chance of this happening is always high when hunting.

[doubled]

Was this "Buck n trucks" lost buck?



My dog recovered another lost buck today. Blood grew scarce so we started circling the area where we had found last drops of blood and whamo all of a sudden Samson nearly yanked my arm out of the socket. The buck had piled himself up in a tree well under a bunch of branches and was nearly invisible. I could smell him and it took me getting within 2 feet of him to actually see hide. I swear you could not cover up an animal better if you tried. Hunter was happy, Antlers to chew for Samson and Delilah.

Ps. Sam now has a record 4 wins and 1 loss (I wasn't present on the loss though).

[Rich_D]

Was this "Buck n trucks" lost buck?

Sorry....missed the quote...

[Wentrot]

Edit....Rich is a LIAR lol

[steveo]

Yes it is.
How do you know?

[Rich_D]

How do you know?

I thought he was referring to the thread...I missed the quote.... apologies.

[Boner]

we got a nice mule buck 6x5 near gang that had been previously shot from facing the shooter..the bullet went in the chest travelled down the inside edge of rib cage and exited without hitting any vitals...it was at least weeks old as it was a tunnel of old green pus...when we got it, it was chasing does like nothing was wrong...they can be pretty tough animals but that looks like a fatal shot you had there (if I had to guess)...good luck

My tripalm moose this year had an old GSW. A tube of green pus going to a broken rib. I saved the fractured part, I should measure the impact with calipers.

[adamgarbett]

No my buck is still M.I.A.

[Wentrot]

No my buck is still M.I.A.

Fhack......confusion at its finest