jerseyhunter

Well its about time for an update. Donald what happened to the deer? Did you ever get back there to look for him?

Rack-attack

Something is not making sense to me. I have NEVER had a deer leave a large puddle where he was hit - nor have I ever seen or heard of it. Unless the deer went down and stayed there for a few seconds then got up and ran.

You need to take your time and recount everything that happened and you saw.

I can see the arrow hitting a tree after the pass through and bouncing back - but the puddle thing has me confused.

I to would get out there and give it your best tonight - then try again in the morning.

And don' t ever " assume" you know where a wounded deer will go - 99% of the time it will lead you astray.

And remember - going out and looking for the deer itself is a LAST resort - that many more times than not leads no-where. So put 100% of your effort on the blood trail and the sign.

Good Luck

Donald Fry

JERSEY HUNTER

went last night with a mag lite and batteries, didn,t find any blood other than where the shot took place, i did find his tracks and followed them sometimes on my hands and knees, he went down a deer path which lead to a soybean field. i found where i beleive he jumped the ditch, tracks were deep and fresh as far as i could tell. it rained three inches last night.
came home this morning called off work along with my son, we went back and tried to make some sence out of it. we couldn' t find any mark on the tree where i think the arrow hit, couldn' t find the other half of the arrow either. the meat on the tree was where he turned around between two trees. as far as the puddle of blood it was mixed with rain and looked to more than there was.

we set up a north south grid pattern and started with the outside of the woods not just where i beleive he went we search the entire woods, we then did an east west pattern, we marked both patterns with surveyors tape, you should look through the woods, it looks like a surveyor went nuts, the woods is only 15 acres,

got back home this afternoon, exhausted and two rain suits torn to shreds.
my wife wants me to rent a plane and fly over the soybean fields, that might come tomorrow.

i have learned not to hunt in the rain especially the pouring rain, and yes i do have a new shiney coleman lattern with extra mantels in the back of my truck.

thats the update for now.

jerry606

Im not here to rip on you Donald. It happens to everybody, give it you best shot. Goodluck finding him.

Split-Hoof

I' m not a bowhunter yet, but I do like to browse the forum now and then. The only question I have for you is do you feel (gut instinct) that the deer is dead? If you do, then don' t give up! Trust your instinct and keep searching if you even suspect it may be dead. Cover every inch of ground, every thicket, every blowdown, every square inch of cover that the deer may be laying in. I have spent a day and a half searching for a nice buck I just knew was dead, even though there was no blood trail. That buck was shot with a .30-06 and left NO blood because of the shot placement. I knew the shot was good though, and he didn' t go too far. He was dead on his feet at the shot, but still managed to go over 50 yards, first uphill, then straigt down towards water. It took me and two other friends a full day and a half to find him. He was laying right under the low boughs of a spruce tree. Do a grid search and cover every piece of ground if you think he' s dead! Shouldn' t be too hard to cover 15 acres. Hope you find him!

jerseyhunter

Thanks for the update, Good luck in finding him. In a few days if he is down you might be able to smell him. At least you' ll have the rack. Sorry about your loss. Both the deer and the rain jackets.

Donald Fry

JERSEY HUNTER

man it really bothers me not knowing, i have either killed a deer that is wasting away or i have gravely injured the animal, both ways it is a real bad feeling. i guess i will get over this but at the present time i don' t even want to go hunting,
over 40 years of hunting this is my first loss. i guess i will relive the shot a lot of times what i should have done and what i shouldn' t have done.

i need to thank everyone for their help and suggestions.

Tazman

Donald have you tried a dog yet? Knock on wood I haven' t lost one yet, I hate to think what you must feel like.

vikingvictory

You mentioned trying a dog.I' m wondering if any dog would follow a wounded animal and a blood trail or do you need a hunting breed?A dog bred to do it such as a Blood hound,maybe a beagle?

Donald Fry

you know you may have given me an idea, my neighbor is a cop and has a bomb dog, he has also used him for tracking, it worth a try.

many thanks