Angus74

I can understand your getting antsy, but dont let it get to you, thats the worst thing you could do. Wait till morning, you already said you couldnt find any blood, and if you hit him back in the guts there probably wont be much blood anyway, so your probably going to find him by doing a grid search anyway, storm or not. Get out there in the morning with as many guys as you can get to go along with you, and start where you shot him, and search everywhere you can think of, like someone said look near water if theres any, look in the thickest cover you can find, hes hurting bad and will be looking to drink, and hide. If you didnt push him tonight, and left the area quietly he probably didnt go far before bedding, and he should still be there in the morning, if hes hit in the guts, hind quarter,, its hard to say but hopefully if thats where you hit him, you may have gotten the artery. Good luck, and dont forget the pics.

270GameOver

Well, I'm gonna give it my best effort in the morning. Hopefully I didn't push him to far with the small amount of tracking I did after getting down out of the stand. I'll keep you all posted with my results.

RWK

Good Luck!

sd_buckeye

hey 270GameOver,

I would like to know the outcome even if you don't get him. Like did you see anysigns? I shot a buck earlier this year right through the backstraps between the spinal cord and lungs, I tracked for 6 1/2 hours the next day, but couldn't find him. No blood, just a pass thru arrow with fatty blood all over it. anyways, good luck to you! Hope you find him.

270GameOver

Will post my findings tomorrow. Gonna give it my best effort and do a complete sweep of the woods. Gonna be a solo effort since most of my friends and family are an hour from where I live and hunt. I have a feeling I didn't kill him. I think I hit some muscle, the arrow was sticking out like it does on one of my lifesize deer targets. Scratching my head and thinking the worst. Hoping for the best but doubtful.

270GameOver

Well guy's, I walked my a** off trying to find the deer. I think he survived, I found my arrow about 100 yards from where I shot him. The arrow was fully intact with broadhead. There was a little bit of meat and blood on the broadhead and the shaft. Next to the arrow was a big cut of long hair. Here is the picture of the hair and arrow. Given the picture and the details what do you guy's think?

PastorHunter

Without being there, and even then, it is almost impossible to know exactly what happened; however, since you found your arrow intact, I don't think you got a gut shot. You may have actually hit him in the hip area. That would explain the lack of penetration and the arrow falling out. In that case, you can hope that no major artery was hit and that he will heal up. Since you've looked and looked and looked, the only thing left is to watch for buzzards circling. If you see some in the area, you might try to find what they are after. It might lead you to him if he died.

BobCo19-65

IMO, I think you imbedded the arrow in bone close to the hide. Doubt an aweful lot if you hit any major blood vessels. Did you hear a good whack when the arrow hit?

Will the deer live? Probably.

But he will be much more open to predators and possible infection.

MOTOWNHONKEY

The tip of the broadhead looks to have a nice point on it. I can't see any blood on the shaft above the washer. You prolly hit him in the ham. Atleast you tried to find him. You might move that shot up about oh, a foot and a half are so.

270GameOver

Well, I definately made an effort to find him. I heard a thump and really think I hit him in a ham or hip bone. The long hair leads me to think a high shot, I hope he survives. I would like to see him again for another shot.