Tracking injured muley

[FrontRangeDude]

Hey guys I'm new here. I'm on my first big game hunt ever. I'm hunting public land mule deer buck. I had a 65 yard shot approximately 12 minutes before legal shooting was over. It was a nice buck. I took a shot and when the smoke cleared I saw it limping away slowly with its head down. I reloaded and quickly moved towards it to get a follow up shot before shooting hours were over. It then jumped up 40 yards from original location and ran off, down hill and to the right. I took another shot and in hindsight I don't think I should have at a moving target. It's my first big game hunt and I was worried about it being injured and getting away. Anyways, it beds down a second time within eye shot of me. 80 yards at this point. I look at the time and there's 3 minutes of legal shooting and there's no way I can reload and shoot a third time. I just watch it and I can see him get up and slowly walk towards some trees (it was walking pretty slow). I just sit there for another 10 minutes and decide to back out and not bump it again. So I walk the opposite direction. I just got back to camp. It was clearly injured. I'm going back first thing in the morning and spending all day to look for it. Based off the description of the events, do you guys think it'll be in the same general area? Do you think it's a gut shot? And what's the best way to track this thing down? How should I go about it? What could I have changed besides aim better? I'm not sure I can even sleep tonight!

 

[turbobrick]

Where are you hunting? It might be worth checking out if there is a UBT member nearby who can help. I might look for blood and see if you can find him in the AM, if he was bedding that quickly he probably is dead now, you just need to find him. Sending good vibes your way, best of luck.

 

[ismith]

Go slow, mark the blood trail and good luck.

 

[FrontRangeDude]

Where are you hunting? It might be worth checking out if there is a UBT member nearby who can help. I might look for blood and see if you can find him in the AM, if he was bedding that quickly he probably is dead now, you just need to find him. Sending good vibes your way, best of luck.

I hope so. I'm trying to stay optimistic.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Sounds like a decent hit. I'm guessing he is gonna be piled up in the general area you last saw him. You made the right move backing out until morning.

 

[Walkathon]

If he bedded down that soon, he's probably hurting fairly bad. You may have hit it in the liver or guts. Like others have said above, go very slow this morning and keep scanning for him in front of you. If you don't see him laying somewhere, then start looking very closely for blood in the area and try to track him. He might be dead, or he may be alive and need a follow up shot. Hope you find him. Good luck today. Keep us posted

 

[44hunter45]

Good call backing out.

If you see them go down, wait it out. Your instinct is to push them, but you don't want their adrenaline to get pumping.
I had this happen with a handgun shot buck. I jumped it up 5 or 6 times. I set ribbons to mark my spot and went back to move my truck closer. It was about an hour round trip. I found him down about 100 yards from the ribbons.

I think that it is a good idea to treat a muzzle loader hit animal like an arrow hit animal. Especially if you are shooting round balls. I've had deer drop right there and I've had them make a death run. If they run, give them time and don't push them.

 

[Sheltowee]

Agree with @44hunter45, you made the right call marking the location and backing out. Hunched up, head down, bedding down quickly suggests a liver or gut hit. Did you get a look at any blood? Whether it was a dark red, almost purple vs. flecked with undigested food matter will tell you a lot. Either way, I'd guess he'll die fairly soon. Ease back into the area and try to glass from a distance before busting in. Look for ravens, vultures or other scavengers circling.

Good luck, man. Sick feeling hitting one and not being able to put your hands on it right away. Happens to anyone who hunts for very long.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Head down and hunched up is always a sign of a gut shot imo. Good call not pressing that evening. Go back in the daylight and see what it looks like. Find a blood spot and see what it looks like. Most gut shots will look like bile or another non blood color

 

[jpcoll01]

Amen, when in doubt BACK OUT!!! You did the right thing, he is dead, you'll find him since you didn't really push him.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

agree with the others, bedding that quickly right in front of you is usually a really good sign.

Only 40 yards from original spot, I’d probably of went up for a second shot as well, I don’t fault you there.

That things dead, all you gotta do is find him. First big game animal!

I like to mark the blood with both flagging tape and on my OnX, so you can get a good idea of the arc, or perhaps see the terrain leading that direction.

 

[jpcoll01]

Also will say that guts at impact site doesn’t mean just gut shot depending on angle. I shot a deer quartering slightly to me and the arrow was straight guts but the deer died in 40 yards.

 

[Sam Colt]

Good luck this morning. Hope you got some sleep.

 

[kansasdad]

Taking a mental picture of where the shot originated from, where the buck was at first and second shots and the direction he was last seen moving is fine. Taking an actual picture (camera or cell phone camera and marking waypoints ASAP is better. Things sure can look different in the morning than they did in the last minutes of legal light.

Blood tracking dog handlers would ask you to consider calling them sooner rather than later. If you start to criss-cross the deer's travel pathway, you can really muddy the scent picture for a late arriving dog. If you are following a known trail, it is better to be just off of the actual trail, leaving the scents dropped there undisturbed. The handler will want to have a detailed description of behavior after the shot to aid in helping determine where the shot/s hit the deer. Hair, blood/guts evidence help in this as well.

I've seen real success in finding dead animals by using your own nose too. If a track is headed towards a likely bedding spot, mark where you left the track, and circle downwind of the suspected last resting spot. Overnight deer that were liver/gut shot will start to send out a death perfume that can lead you to the spot.