I feel for you. Happened to me too recently. Never could find my big 8 pt. hoping he made it ok.
The One That Got Away
- Thread starter cotty16
- Start date
Thanks for sharing Mike, sucks but sounds like he will live long enough for you or your boys to get another crack at him.
Spencie
Senior Member
That's a tough pill to swallow. You did all you could to recover the deer. Maybe he survives to be hunted another day. I did something similar this year with my WV target buck. I also was unable to find it after a steep angle high shot that I think deflected off bone and stayed high without passing through.
motorbreaker
*Supporting Member I*
It always sucks not to know what really happened. Keeps you questioning yourself. Its happens to all of us at some point. I hope you can get over it soon. And I hope you get another chance at him if he is still alive. Or at least get some pictures of him to ease the pain.
Sorry to hear the news Mike, that sucks. Years and Years ago I shot a doe that was kind of the same story, lost the blood trail and I searched all day and part of the next. Long story short she circled back to the area I shot her and died, my buddy found her several days later. Keep the faith.
Buckmaster
Senior Member
My theory....a low single lung hit perhaps a little forward. If he went 1,000 yards without a bloody bed it wasn't a mortal would.
Last week I tracked a deer that was hit in the armpit with an arrow and a complete pass through.
The remnants on the arrow was white fat, white hair, and no blood. I said no way we are recovering this deer.
He left no blood trail. 100 yards outside of the hit....we found him. Post autopsy: a 3/8" deep graze across the heart.
The buck's front shoulder paddles had withheld all the blood until the last few yards where he fell dead.
Mike, If he's dead and you find him he will be in that swamp. Play the wind to help narrow down any swamp search. If not, I hope you get another encounter. Set your boys up in that area this weekend with shotguns.
Last week I tracked a deer that was hit in the armpit with an arrow and a complete pass through.
The remnants on the arrow was white fat, white hair, and no blood. I said no way we are recovering this deer.
He left no blood trail. 100 yards outside of the hit....we found him. Post autopsy: a 3/8" deep graze across the heart.
The buck's front shoulder paddles had withheld all the blood until the last few yards where he fell dead.
Mike, If he's dead and you find him he will be in that swamp. Play the wind to help narrow down any swamp search. If not, I hope you get another encounter. Set your boys up in that area this weekend with shotguns.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
By the looks of the arrow I'd be thinking a grazing wound for sure. Then you see the blood and all and it makes you wonder how in the heck... I remember one year my dad hit a doe in the shoulder while hunting from the ground. The arrow barely went in much past the broadhead and we wouldn't have tracked it much if we didn't have the blood we did. Was a very easy blood trail to follow and soon we just ran out of blood. No less than a mile track as it went parallel to a road and we came straight out to it and had a long walk back to the truck. They are tough critters for sure. Get those cameras out, he will be back IMO.
I got some closure...
A week and a half after I shot this buck, I went looking again in the swamp where I lost his blood. I did a grid search just hoping to find anything; scattered fur, a leg bone from coyotes dragging it around, etc... Or maybe a foul odor. NOITHING!
It's still been on my mind everyday and in my heart I thought for sure this deer was dead. So, I called the lumber company that owns the property where I lost him again. I left a message to please have the guys who lease it call me if they happen to come across him.
Immediately after, I called the property owner on the opposite side, a good ways off from where I lost him, but basically where he came from that morning. Maybe he was heading back to his sanctuary? I told the owner, who also allows me to hunt, what had happened and if any of the other guys that hunt there would happen to find him to please call me.
He proceeds to tell me that one guy shot a nice 10 Monday morning that had a high wound on it. He didn't know much more, but told me it was hanging in the guys garage. So, since I'm at work my dad ran down to the guys house. The buck had already been skinned, but my dad gave me his number so I could call him.
We talked about the deer and proceeded to tell me that the wound was a pass through shot just below the spine and right above the opposite lung. He also said he couldn't remember for sure if the entrance was above or below the spine, but either way, I was 1" from dropping that buck.
First off, I was not aiming for the spine. I was aiming for the vitals. However, as I may have stated in the original story, I tried to thread the needle through some saplings. It is quite possible I hit one and the arrow deflected to that spot. It is also quite possible that I just missed my spot. Either way it was a shitty shot and I'm pissed at myself for that and for just wounding this deer.
Long story short... I have closure. I now know what happened to him and to be honest, I am grateful that this guy got him and the buck did not just die and go to waste. Am I disappointed I won't get another crack at him? Absolutely! But, I feel much better knowing what happened.
Here he is...
One other side note... he is not the same 10 as the one in the pic in the original post. The one in the pic was arrowed by the guy who killed mine back in early November (I actually have a pic of him tracking). It was killed a week before gun on another nearby property.
So, my main target, which I though I had shot, was not shot by me, but twice by two other people. Craziness!
I guess it's time to focus on the rest of the season now.
A week and a half after I shot this buck, I went looking again in the swamp where I lost his blood. I did a grid search just hoping to find anything; scattered fur, a leg bone from coyotes dragging it around, etc... Or maybe a foul odor. NOITHING!
It's still been on my mind everyday and in my heart I thought for sure this deer was dead. So, I called the lumber company that owns the property where I lost him again. I left a message to please have the guys who lease it call me if they happen to come across him.
Immediately after, I called the property owner on the opposite side, a good ways off from where I lost him, but basically where he came from that morning. Maybe he was heading back to his sanctuary? I told the owner, who also allows me to hunt, what had happened and if any of the other guys that hunt there would happen to find him to please call me.
He proceeds to tell me that one guy shot a nice 10 Monday morning that had a high wound on it. He didn't know much more, but told me it was hanging in the guys garage. So, since I'm at work my dad ran down to the guys house. The buck had already been skinned, but my dad gave me his number so I could call him.
We talked about the deer and proceeded to tell me that the wound was a pass through shot just below the spine and right above the opposite lung. He also said he couldn't remember for sure if the entrance was above or below the spine, but either way, I was 1" from dropping that buck.
First off, I was not aiming for the spine. I was aiming for the vitals. However, as I may have stated in the original story, I tried to thread the needle through some saplings. It is quite possible I hit one and the arrow deflected to that spot. It is also quite possible that I just missed my spot. Either way it was a shitty shot and I'm pissed at myself for that and for just wounding this deer.
Long story short... I have closure. I now know what happened to him and to be honest, I am grateful that this guy got him and the buck did not just die and go to waste. Am I disappointed I won't get another crack at him? Absolutely! But, I feel much better knowing what happened.
Here he is...
One other side note... he is not the same 10 as the one in the pic in the original post. The one in the pic was arrowed by the guy who killed mine back in early November (I actually have a pic of him tracking). It was killed a week before gun on another nearby property.
So, my main target, which I though I had shot, was not shot by me, but twice by two other people. Craziness!
I guess it's time to focus on the rest of the season now.
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Big_Holla
Senior Member
Well will you look at that, proof in the pudding! Bittersweet for sure knowing he survived yet fell to another hunter. Sounds like the deer in your area are true survivors after getting skewered by arrows and then falling to different hunters LOL!
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Joel
Senior Member
That's a nice deer. Sorry you weren't able to drag him out right after the shot but at least you know. Go shoot a bigger one. Good luck man.
Good to hear you know how it all ended. A better ending seeing another hunter get the deer than it rotting away for coyotes and critters.....
Nice you have closure.
Like i have said before,deer are one tough animal,you shoot us like that we are gonna roll over.lol
Like i have said before,deer are one tough animal,you shoot us like that we are gonna roll over.lol