Bad Shot?

[Big DV]

Got out this morning and had deer running around everywhere. 2 deer ran by before light. At 6 45 a doe came by with a 7 pt. on her tail and I could'nd pull a shot off. at 7 45 another doe came by this time with a wallhanger 8 pt on her tail. I was patient and waited for a good shot. I took a broadside 25 yard shot and watched my arrow hit low about dead middle between this bucks legs. AWFUL! Couldn't believe it. You practice your arsh off and are confident with your shot and a wallhangar comes by and you blow it! At any rate I sat in my stand for another hour and saw 2 more does before I got down. I retieved my arrow and it had guts on it and a small patch of white fur next to it. I did not track the deer. I did not want to push it. I'm getting off work at 3 and will try to retrieve my buck. Any advice would be great????

[done workin]

The best thing you can do, you've already done. Don't push it and let it lay. From here on out it's up to you and your tracking abilities.

Good Luck, it's a sickening thought to not recover any animal, let alone a wallhanger.

Watch the meat, as warm as it is better get it iced down ASAP, but 8-10 hours you're probably ok!!!!!

[white belly]

You did the best thing by waitng and giving him some time. If you have any water near by I would check it if you have no luck finding that deer. If his wounds were sufficient enough to kill him and he was hit in the gut, that will make him thirsty and he may lay there until the end.

Good Luck, Ive been there myself

[Tracker12]

If you had a gut shot try to give the deer at least 8 hours and then get help. Doubt there will be any blood. Most gut shots go more 100 yards before bedding. As be said l;ook for the water. There are a few guys in your area that have tracking dogs. talked to a fish cop down at Calvert Cliffs that said we could call DNR who would hook us up if we needed assistance.

[rock n crab]

Not sure what area you are in but I believe Md oked the use of tracking dogs as long as you informed DNR beforehand and keep the dog on a leash. You may check to see if this is legal for you and if so try to find someone with a bad rabbit dog that likes to run deer :)

[Pelagic Act]

I concur with the water comment. I shot two deer with gut shots in my early years and both were found on the bank of a small creek.

I would also suggest that you obtain a handheld GPS and mark the point in which you found your arrow. Then begin making circles going out from that point.

Please post a reply with an update. Hope you find him and are able to post some pictures.

[choptank]

Depending on high up the tree you hunt and the 25 yard shot ( angle of impact). I have never recovered a deer that had the tuft of white hair on the ground. The white hair grows on a deer at the most extreme bottom of belly ( not to discourage ) Give it every effert to recover but now you are looking for a different type of trail.

Here a few tips for tracking a wounded deer w/ no blood.

1- watch the ground for deer tracks (was he busting a$$ outa there?)
2- mentaly vision the lay of the land..fataly wounded deer mostly do not travel up hill...look for water, thickest briar patch around on gut shots.
3- watch for bugs on the ground ( eating guts/blood) I have picked up a blood trail again by finding ants and bugs on the blood
4- watch for runny green fecal matter (POOP)
5- And what I believe is most important mark every spot you find so you can back track or look back and get the idea of where the deer wants to go.
6- LAST RESORT walk around looking for dead deer.

Tracking deer has always been one of my favorate things to do!!

GOOD LUCK let us know what happened.......Jason

[HOOK1]

I feel for you buddy, I think we've all been there. Good luck finding your deer, even if it takes days, you could still recover the rack.

[Big DV]

First of all... thanks for the advice. 2 of my buddies left work early and met me at 3:30 to begin tracking. We followed the trail about 20 yards and found blood. Good sign. We continued to find fist sized patches of blood for about 80 to 100 yards. My buddy said "you might have hit this deer better than you think". Then the blood trail deminished to nothing. We searched all around the area where the last blood was and found nothing. The deer had made a circle and was headed for the creek bed (water) about 300 yards from my stand. We decided to swing wide on the creek bed and follow it up. We found a non-typical 11 point that had been shot with an expadable broadhead that failed to expand. Probally been dead for 10 days. Nice buck. At any rate we searched until dark and found nothing. I am sick to my stomach! We searched the u know out of the area and came up empty. I will continue searching tommorow and the next day, whenever I have time. Its tough to lose a deer. The saying " the thrill of victory...the agony of defeat" keeps coming to mind. Once again thanks for the advice and I will give and update of the outcome.

[choptank]

Did you get the rack from the 11 point? I know what you are going thru as I believe we all have done this. But it sounds like you have good deer in the area maybe wait il after the rut? besides the meat will be no good after another 70 degree day tomarrow. Go with your gut!! Good luck

[Big DV]

Yup. Got the rack. It is a scragoly buck. Your right, unfortunately the meat is a wash. I was thinking the same about the rut. When we tracked this evening we saw lots of deer, all does. I may want to let my spot rest a couple of days and then do a morning hunt/search for dead deer hunt.

[Mightyrjq]

We had a guy in our club shoot an 18" 8 pt with a muzzleloader. The deer was nearly under his stand and he shot it in the back and the bullet went into the midsection. It went down, he got out of the stand - grabbed the rack to check it out and the deer stood up, stumbled a couple of feet and fell down. This knucklehead went up to it again and repeated the process two more times. When he returned to the club without the deer he told us the story (that I just told you guys) We all asked him why he didn't shoot it again and he told us he didn't bring a reload. I asked him why he didn't cut it's throat - he didn't want to ruin the mount. He figured it would just die somewhere near. Problem was there was no exit wound which meant very little blood. We asked him why his son who was with him didn't shoot it, he kind of indicated he didn't want to ruin the meat... ??? (I know, I know)

We tried for 2 hours to find that deer and could not. He went out the next day and couldn't find it. We had to go to plan E, wait for the birds to find it and they did... 1 week later. Mount gone, meat long gone. He got a Skull mount.

Bottom line, in a week - walk down wind of where you think he may be. Even if there aren't any buzzards, you should be able to smell him. Bring a saw.

Good luck. Nothing worse than losing a nice deer.

[finfinder]

I feel yor pain! I stuck a large doe yesterday and hit her low in the brisket area. Judged her at 20ish yards and paced it off more like 25. Had good blood for 250-300 yds....then it petered out to spatter then nothing at all. She went about 350 yds nonstop and hit the swamp bottom, imposible to follow her in there so I circled around hopeing she came out the other side.....no such luck. Knew it was low when i saw the hit. I'm sure niether of us will make the same mistake twice.....at least this season!

[h2oboss]

If you head back to get the rack off the decaying carcass be carefull. I got a real nasty case of blood poisoning about 5 yeras ago while gettting the rack off an 8pt I found in a creek.

I had a little, tiny knick/cut from the skull plate. I accidentally brushed it against my left hand and knicked my thumb. Within 3 days I had a red line that went up my arm almost to my shoulder. Blood poisoning!