6pt125lbs

it it was a good hit and a big puddle of blood he didnt go far when deer are wounded baddly go to the thickest spots first but when a deer is wounded look for trails learned that saturday night when trailin a doe shot with muzzle loader i think she was shot in the @$$ we never found her but she stayd on trails

Donald Fry

MATT

i didn' t see the arrow hit, but i did hear a crack and saw it fall under the deer in the blood. the crack was the arrow hitting the tree on the other side of the deer, i found meat on the tree, but i never found the arrow head, dag gone glasses were covered with rain.
i guess now i doubting myself and thinking i hit him in the shoulder, can he loose that much blood with a shoulder shot, and would the arrow mack a crack like a 22?????

eightwgt

SUGGESTION - GO FIND HIM ! If you have that much blood in a pool, AND a chunk of him, and a bloody arrow, you had to have hit him pretty solid. If you would have only popped his shoulder joint there would not be that much blood if Im undersatanding you right. As said above - get a Coleman lantern and go look with a buddie or two... Hes probobly not far.....

Good luck and be positive...

Matt / PA

Don,
It' s my experience that deer don' t leave " Pools" or " Puddles" of blood at the impact sight even with really good hits........they just don' t stick around long enough to allow blood to gather. I guess that' s where I' m confused.
It' s really hard to even guess what you may have hit, or if the sound you heard (crack) was the arrow hitting bone, or the tree, or even the arrow breaking.

To have as much blood as you are describing initially? The only hits I have seen that bleed THAT much are major blood vessel hits like the artery that runs below the spine area. That could explain the " Crack" noise, and that vessel will put out HUGE amounts of blood..........so will the femoral artery in the back leg. It' s amazing how much they will bleed if you hit these areas, and both can be associated with a crack against bone.

I don' t think shoulder blade, simply because its not typical to #1 blow right thru and into a tree........#2 They usually don' t bleed profusely, at least immediately.

I hate even giving these speculations because I too am assuming things I don' t know.......
I do know you hit SOMETHING major, and there should be sign.

If you are going the lantern route? Make a " Reflector" out of some tin foil.......wrap the back half of the globe so that it directs the light forward, and keeps it out of your eyes.
A cordless spotlight helps too. Dim lights stink. If you use battery power, have back-ups on hand.

Keep us posted.

xibowhunter

get a maglight ,coleman lantern a spot light any kind of strong light , get some help ,but get out there and find that deer , if you found meat stuck to the tree behind where the deer was standing you probably made a good shot and the deer shouldn' t have gone to far , but take your time and don' t leave a single leaf unturned ! good luck!

xibowhunter

you should get off the computer and start looking!

dabowhunter

If an artery was hit there probably would not be a puddle of blood but rather blood sprays. It does sound like a pass thru shot if the deer was standing in front of the tree. Did you check the tree to see if your broadhead was inbedded into it? Not sure why everyone if in a hurry for you to go get it when in doubt of the shot though. Certainly if it was a good hit he aint' going no where. And if a bad hit an overnight wait is only option followed by grid type search. ..........dabow

c903

I guess it is a matter of individual prefernce. If I hit a deer and signs are present that indicate that the hit may be mortal, and it starts to rain and rain is forecast for the next day, I am going to start tracking very soon but I won' t push hard.

As Matt said, the blood is not going to dissipate so rapidly you cannot find any blood in rain. In fact, moisture will often expand the blood drops before the blood is completely washed away. As Matt also said, trees, brush, etc, is going to protect the blood until the area is completely drenched.

dabowhunter:

I do not know about why other readers recommended getting on the trail rather than wait, but I will tell you why I would.

Visual searching just for the deer is not as productive as having signs to also follow e.g., blood, tracks, slides, falls, etc. If it is going to rain all night and the next day, most of the signs will be obliterated or completely gone. If the deer is hurt bad, he is going to harbor up in deep cover.

Regardless that you might be getting on a track earlier than usual, in the described situation I am going to try to determine a direction of travel before any signs that may have been present disappears and now I can only look for the carcass. While doing so, maybe I will also find additional signs that indicate how bad he is hit.

Of course, that is what I would do, not what everyone should do.

dabowhunter

My mistake ........I got wrapped up in the other details forgetting about the rain. In that case I too would go right after him. Seems like every time I am out this year it is raining or threatening to rain

txbowjunkie

I' m with the others here... Why not trail the deer? It' s not like the blood and other sign is just going to majically disappear. It takes a fair amount of time before that happens and it sounds like you had a pretty solid hit so he shouldn' t be far. Additionally, when a deer is hit solid it will always take the path of least resistence.

Leaving the woods without looking harder was your only mistake.

The buck I shot last year (a nice basket 8 point) was hit just before dark and it was raining. If I' d have walked out of the woods I' d have never found him.