Phade

Thanks for all the help, and encouragement everyone!

The thing about that corn field...as I was getting down, he hit that field like a linebacker hitting practice pads. He was not interested in being careful or quiet. Sounded like he broke stalks left and right.

Charlie P

Man if I didn't have meetings all day I'd come up and help you look.

He won't be far,and might be still alive. My friend hit one just like that we found him around ten the next morning got up and ran before we could get another arrow in him, went about 75 yards more and died.

Phade

Thanks for the offer. I'm in this one alone, being it's a Monday. I'm going to wait til 9am to hit the woods. I want to let the other deer move about first. If I can't find this buck, I'll be calling Deer Search.

Pics of arrow on first post.

salty

keep us posted. I hope you find him

NY Bowhunter

Don't get too down on yourself. Best of luck retrieving him. A word of encouragement.......... We found a similar hit as yours on my buddies doe last night. We ended up following a gut trail instead of a blood trail.

livbucks

Under the skin, but before the abdominal wall, is a sticky layer of fat. If you gut a deer you will see what I am talking about. I believe that you just barely nicked the belly of the deer and sliced the skin at this point. A deer cut there will not bleed hardly at all, and if you in fact did not compromise the abdominal wall, will actually heal up quickly and survive. If you had passed through the abdomen, your arrow would be coated in stomach contents and stink unmistakeably like a gut shot. I believe the deer will probably never be found, as he is running around like normal. I hope this is the case as it is a better alternative to a gut shot, where you might find the deer, after it has rotted already.
I don't see enough evidence of a gut shot on your arrow. I have seen gut shots and the arrow is coated almost to dripping, with green goo and plant fibers. By all means keep searching, but let it go otherwise. You have surely punished yourself enough already.

BTBowhunter

After seeing your arrow, I think theres a chance that hes not hurt bad. Two things still cause me concern that you may have caught enough of the abdominal wall to be fatal. The stink on the arrow and the fact that he stopped 40 yards out. Let us know how it goes!

pipecrew

Don't beat yourself up over this. I know it's frustrating. I had a similar experience last season with a small 5 point. I took a quick shot right before dark, not exactly the best angle. I shot at it with my muzzleloader and couldn't see which way he ran because of the low light and the cloud from my muzzleloader. I found blood and hair but then realized that it was from a doe I had shot earlier that day in the same area. We looked for about 45 minutes that night and decided to try again the next morning. I didn't get a lot of sleep that night! About 6 of us looked for him thae next day. After about an hour and a half of not finding a single sign of hair or blood my friends had given up. I circled back around one more time to look. Every couple steps I did a sweep back and forth looking for him. For some reason I looked over my shoulder and I spotted white belly hair, I finally found him! He was about 150 yards from where I took the shot. I was lucky to find him because there was little if any blood or hair to track.
Anyway keep looking. I've helped friends 3 or 4 times track deer that we never could find. Don't be afraid to call deer search. Guys I've talked to in my area said they are very helpful.
My hats off to you for taking a young hunter under your wing to introduce him to bowhunting. I think that's great! This can be a little learrning experience for him.
Good luck. I hope you find him. I'd like to see a picture of that 8 point soon.

Mike

livbucks

The stink part worries me too, Bob.
I'm wondering if he is smelling guts or just deer skin smell.

wesmac68

Good Luck! Let us know!