Kicking Myself

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Well last night everything was going great. Got out of work a little early, got into the trees with about an hour before sunset.

10 mins before the end of shooting light a doe runs over into the trees I'm sitting over. Perfect timing, she turns broadside and walks. I wait for her to clear the trees and twigs.

When she's finally clear, I give her a "meeep" to stop her. Let the arrow fly, solid thump heard. I watch her run a loop into the trees she came from.


Now for crappy part... Go put the tree stand back in the truck, grab the mag light. Go to where she was standing when the arrow flew. Nothing, no blood, no arrow, no hair.

Follow the path she took, nothing. Not a spec of blood in the light layer of snow on the field. Tracked her for 200 yards before calling it quits and retracking her path a couple more times.

No blood. not one spec.


I figure one of two things happened:

1- I hit the shoulder blade, bit of wind that I didn't account for, only a 30 yd shot so within my comfort range.
2- Clean miss, but I really don't think this is the case because the thump I heard was not like an arrow hitting the dirt. It was the sound of hitting something solid


Had to go into work, but once I get off going to try and track her again in the daylight, see if that helps...


Kicking myself for messing up that shot, also lessons learned:

• Lighted nocks are worth it, just ordered some for myself
• Don't forget about the wind. I knew about it, but in the heat of the moment I totally forgot about it
• Seeing a doe come in still gets my blood pumping and my hands shaking. I thoroughly enjoy that feeling still, even if it was only a doe!

 

[Nick87]

If you hit the shoulder blade I think you would still find blood not much but some with the snow.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

If you hit the shoulder blade I think you would still find blood not much but some with the snow.

I kinda thought that too. but the whack seems off for a miss. Hopefully the daylight sheds some light on it. (pun intended)

 

[MThuntr]

In my experience a gutshot deer will make a thump and may not bleed and will continue to travel as long as they are pressured...lung shots make a different sound more of a crack.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

In my experience a gutshot deer will make a thump and may not bleed and will continue to travel as long as they are pressured...lung shots make a different sound more of a crack.

Two reasons pointing me away from gutshot: she never once hunched up like they do with a gut shot, and to hit in the guts would mean I missed real bad because that would be into the wind with how she was standing. As in to hit the guts I would have hit the ass or behind on a windless day. Not saying its not possible, but I think more unlikely in this particular case.

 

[sluggo6850]

Losing an animal always sucks. Good luck in your search.

 

[warmer]

I'd start by looking for the arrow where you shot. Should be able to see where it went thru the snow in the daylight. Good luck.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Lighted nocks are definitely worth it. I hope you find her in the daylight. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[midwesterncrosshair]

If you find your arrow spray peroxide on it and if it fizzles it’s likely a gut shot... that’s was my first arrow I let go this year...and I had to track with a bottle of peroxide for 100yds until blood showed up. Never recovered and never once enjoyed that experience.

 

[rjthehunter]

The doe I shot last year did something similar. It was a perfectly placed shot, she took off running and I knew she was hit hard. She ran and disappeared over a ridge. I got down after a bit and went to check for blood. Not a single drop. I found 1 piece of hair where she was standing when I shot her. No blood, no more hair, just fresh tracks in the snow. I followed her tracks and 50 yards away there she laid. Odd how she didn't bleed until she hit the ground.

 

[singleshot1]

Possible off side shoulder hit made the noise?? My past experience with this has been not much, if any, blood for lack of exit wound. Makes for tough tracking but always found dead within 200 yards

 

[MNElkNut]

My son shot a 4X4 whitetail buck last weekend with a 20 ga slug. Double lung hit, complete pass through. Not a single drip of blood between where the deer was standing and where it layed about 75 yards away. Not one single drop anywhere. He actually thought he missed cuz we could see the snow fly behind the deer and up until I found the deer, I was starting to worry myself. He was pretty distraught with himself (as only an 11 year old can be!) before we found it.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

The doe I shot last year did something similar. It was a perfectly placed shot, she took off running and I knew she was hit hard. She ran and disappeared over a ridge. I got down after a bit and went to check for blood. Not a single drop. I found 1 piece of hair where she was standing when I shot her. No blood, no more hair, just fresh tracks in the snow. I followed her tracks and 50 yards away there she laid. Odd how she didn't bleed until she hit the ground.

That's what I'm hoping to find after work, figured I would let her bed over night and hope for the best with this cool weather.

Possible off side shoulder hit made the noise?? My past experience with this has been not much, if any, blood for lack of exit wound. Makes for tough tracking but always found dead within 200 yards

Honestly, possible. But have never had this happen before so I can't really say one way or the other...

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

My son shot a 4X4 whitetail buck last weekend with a 20 ga slug. Double lung hit, complete pass through. Not a single drip of blood between where the deer was standing and where it layed about 75 yards away. Not one single drop anywhere. He actually thought he missed cuz we could see the snow fly behind the deer and up until I found the deer, I was starting to worry myself. He was pretty distraught with himself (as only an 11 year old can be!) before we found it.

That's honestly crazy. Think the blood just pooled in the chest cavity without being able to spill out the holes?

 

[Gut Shot]

I shot a doe one winter. I was on the ground sitting against a brush pile when a line of does started coming out around the end of the brush pile one after the other. I got drawn and shot the last doe in line. She wasn't 15 feet from me. At the shot she flinched and took a little hop. Then she walked out into the field to feed with the rest of the gals. The shot was about as perfect as it could be, maybe an inch or two higher than ideal.

I watched her for fifteen minutes as she fed from left to right in front of me until they all fed out of sight. I found the arrow, it was covered with fat and blood. I followed a few splatters of blood on the snow until it ran out, she had stopped bleeding as she fed in front of me. I followed tracks until the deer all got back into the woods on a well used trail where the tracks got lost amongst dozens of others. I never did find that deer. All I can figure is that the wound was plugged up by the deer's winter fat.

 

[Rzrbck918]

Good luck finding her. I had a friend this year have almost the exact same thing happen. His arrow was embedded at a oddly steep angle with about 8 inches of arrow showing from her upper shoulder. No blood for a couple hundred yards and then only a few drops. We found her the next morning.

 

[MNElkNut]

That's honestly crazy. Think the blood just pooled in the chest cavity without being able to spill out the holes?

Well, kind of. But that deer was running flat out at the highest deer speed it could muster. It only made it about 70 yards. So I don't think the blood had time to pool and spill out. But I have shot a lot of deer with double lung shots and they always have good blood. Did fat clog the hole(s)? Possibly. there was some blood right where he died (especially on his foot). Good sized inbound hole and real good outbound hole. I am just not sure. I am sure glad that I followed up as well as I did. I was going to track him until I lost the tracks (a real light dusting of fresh snow, but a woods full of deer moving around). I can say for sure, I had much more confidence in his shot than he did and it was a good lesson for him to learn....don't doubt your shot until you have exhausted all efforts looking for it.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Well tough news everyone. Went out yesterday after work, the snow layer had burnt off in the days sun, so I lost that advantage.

Tried finding my arrow and looking for blood for a couple hours. Walked the entire length of the tree line (the main shelter in the area minus standing corn) with a fine tooth comb, even recruited a pair of fresh eyes to help out.

In the end I didn't find a drop of blood, nor did I ever find my arrow.


Still not sure totally what happened, but I guess she will be the one that got away, sadly.

 

[kylemcintyre67]

Sorry to hear that.

 

[COEngineer]

Coyotes gotta eat too.

I wish I knew someone with a tracking dog for situations like that.