What the hell went wrong?

[LuketheDog]

Below is an example of this shot. This wound was about a week old. The deer was killed by another hunter while chasing a doe.

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This deer had a similar wound, I shot him during 4th rifle in mid-Nov and he looked completely healthy. I was very surprised to find the existing trauma when I started skinning him, I could nearly put my fist in the wound. I'll bet some dude was real sad to see him get up and run away like @Ben Long 's did...

 

[Nameless Range]

Sorry to hear it. I’ve been there, and it’s why “Bullets fly till the spirit’s in the sky”.

 

[mtmuley]

This type of thing doesn't happen when you shoot a RUM. mtmuley

 

[SagebrushSlayer]

This happened to my daughter on her first buck she shot. The crazy thing was there snow on the ground. She shot it about 2 hours before last light. It was a 300 yard shot, dropped in its tracks, slid down the hill about 10 yards resting gains a tree. We gathered our gear and after 5ish mins, decided my wife would wait until we circled to it and drag it down in the draw below. I think we were out of sight of the deer for less than 2 mins. We popped out of a draw on a ridge directly across from where it was laying. We couldn’t see my wife, saw the body print in the snow. No blood, stayed high and glassed th draw and hillsides lower than us for a few minutes. We bailed off the ridge and thought maybe it had a death kick and slid into the draw. Nope, my wife yelled that it just stood up and walked down the draw. We searched until dark, never found blood, tracks in the snow were a plenty from another deer in the area. Snow was almost melted and about 4 days old. Figured she hit it in the dead zone above the shoulder. Was a disappointing but big lesson on the deer isn’t dead until you walk up and check on it. Also shooting and hitting above the lungs, isn’t a kill shot.

 

[jwatts]

This deer had a similar wound, I shot him during 4th rifle in mid-Nov and he looked completely healthy. I was very surprised to find the existing trauma when I started skinning him, I could nearly put my fist in the wound. I'll bet some dude was real sad to see him get up and run away like @Ben Long 's did...

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View attachment 353107

Their will to live is incredible

 

[kansasdad]

Not a drop of blood. Not even clipped hair.

I’ve seen several YouTubers hit an antler stunning the deer/elk, down immediately and then eventually up and on their feet. This might explain the lack of blood and hair.

Sorry about the spectacles. Maybe it was time for a new prescription anyway??

 

[npaden]

I have had similar things with my crossbow (gay I know) the last 2 years. Thankfully I was able to catch up with both bucks later in the season.

Last year it was just a week later and you could clearly see where I had hit high in that zone that Jwatts is talking about. Above the spine there is some decent room to make what seems like a good hit but really it isn't. People talk about the high shoulder shot but it's easy to get too high.

On October 10th this year I shot a mule deer buck with my crossbow and felt real good about the shot. It was a big bodied buck and I was surprised that the arrow didn't pass through. I had lighted nocks and I could see the lit nock sticking out of his shoulder and figured I must have hit the shoulder. As he ran off I kept expecting him to fall over dead but I kept watching and he kept running 400+ yards through a cotton field. It was right before dark but the time I waited to start tracking it was dark. Starting the track I found about 6" of the arrow with the nock broken off with a good amount of meat on it about 40 yards from the shot.

That was it, no blood, no buck. I turned my dogs loose and they didn't find anything so I looked for 2 more days (this was at my house) and never saw him. 3 weeks later I saw him limping by the house but overall moving pretty good. It was still archery season so there wasn't any way to get in front of him so I just watched him. Over the next couple weeks I saw him a couple more times and he looked better each time. 5 weeks later and rifle season opened and a few days after that I connected on him on November 26th. I was really excited to do the necropsy and find out exactly what happened. Well, he was completely 100% healed up. There was a little bit of discoloration on one shoulder but that was it. Thought I saw the entry location but then started second guessing myself that it was just a bad tick bite spot. Even crazier when I was cutting him up there was a copper jacketed bullet in the shoulder. I was shooting monos so I thought I must have grabbed some ammo out of the wrong box or something. Looked a little closer and it was a .223 caliber bullet and I was shooting a .30 caliber. Someone else had shot that deer very recently in the front shoulder and I didn't even notice that he was limping when I shot him.

So I shot him in the high shoulder with my crossbow and the arrow broke off in him and then must have worked it's way out. He was holed up for a while but I saw him 3 weeks later. Then someone shoots him in the shoulder with a .223 and he's not even showing signs of limping from that before I actually kill him.

These deer are tough, no doubt about it. I know you feel bad, but I would bet that deer is out there running around unless someone else shot him after you did.

 

[Skiller]

I hate wounding loss and am pretty conservative with my shooting to avoid it. I had a bad hit this November I am still trying to make sense of. Wondering if you've had similar experience:
I was still hunting whitetails in a logged forest. I was sitting on a stump, rattling antlers. A mature buck came in and stood broadside at perhaps 100 yards, somewhat downhill but not a steep slope. It felt like a chip shot with elbows on my knees, crosshairs on the kill zone. I exhaled for the shot -- and damnit my breath fogged my glasses. I tossed them aside, resumed my aim and fired.
I was not surprised when the buck dropped like struck by Thor's hammer. "That's a dead deer," I thought. I didn't even cycle a round, just watched what I thought were a few death kicks through the scope.
To my dismay, the buck rolled over, rose to his feet and bounded away. I mean bounded, no problem moving at all. Long story short, two of us (both experienced trackers) searched for four hours. There was no snow and the ground was frozen. I found the spot where he hit the ground and two running tracks where he scraped the duff. That's it. Never saw the buck again. Neither of us found any sign of birds or other scavengers in that area over the rest of the season.

So what the hell happened? Rifle was a 308. Bullets were copper Barnes TXSS 165 grain. Scope was sighted 2 inches high at 100.
I'm trying to learn my lesson here. My guess is between operator error, the slope and the point of impact, I hit high, stunned his spine, but he shook it off and I did no more damage. Anyone experienced anything like this?

Another lesson: Send another round. And be quick about it.

 

[Skiller]

I hate wounding loss and am pretty conservative with my shooting to avoid it. I had a bad hit this November I am still trying to make sense of. Wondering if you've had similar experience:
I was still hunting whitetails in a logged forest. I was sitting on a stump, rattling antlers. A mature buck came in and stood broadside at perhaps 100 yards, somewhat downhill but not a steep slope. It felt like a chip shot with elbows on my knees, crosshairs on the kill zone. I exhaled for the shot -- and damnit my breath fogged my glasses. I tossed them aside, resumed my aim and fired.
I was not surprised when the buck dropped like struck by Thor's hammer. "That's a dead deer," I thought. I didn't even cycle a round, just watched what I thought were a few death kicks through the scope.
To my dismay, the buck rolled over, rose to his feet and bounded away. I mean bounded, no problem moving at all. Long story short, two of us (both experienced trackers) searched for four hours. There was no snow and the ground was frozen. I found the spot where he hit the ground and two running tracks where he scraped the duff. That's it. Never saw the buck again. Neither of us found any sign of birds or other scavengers in that area over the rest of the season.

So what the hell happened? Rifle was a 308. Bullets were copper Barnes TXSS 165 grain. Scope was sighted 2 inches high at 100.
I'm trying to learn my lesson here. My guess is between operator error, the slope and the point of impact, I hit high, stunned his spine, but he shook it off and I did no more damage. Anyone experienced anything like this?

Another lesson: Send another round. And be quick about it.

I've had this happen to me and others I hunt with. One instance was west of Glasgow, south of the Milk River. Had a 175 yard shot at a very nice 6 x 6 whitetail standing on a dike. Dropped like a rock to a .270 130 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. There were numerous other bucks nearby. I was leery of a spine hit so waited about 12 minutes to see. The buck stepped back onto the dike. I could see the hit was high shoulder, on the spine. Held bit lower, shot him again, and investigated the damage. First shot blew a fist-sized hole in the very top of the shoulder and some vertebrae. Shot did not sever spinal cord. Bullet disintegrated on impact. Rancher/Outfitter told me he did not like Ballistic Tips for that reason. I would think Ben's buck may have had something similar happen.

But I also had a really weird happening on a MN buck at home. I shot a 10 point, 228 pound dressed weight deer quartered away with a .270, 150 grain Nosler Partition. Deer dropped and never twitched. I stayed put in a tree stand to cover buck to be sure. In 5 minutes it tried to rise. I tried to neck shoot it at 75 yards. It dropped again, surely dead as a stone. All of a sudden, another 5 minutes and it runs off into thick woods. I missed it. Went to trail it and found entire antler shot off near base of skull, a result of missed neck shot. The next morning I put my son in a tree stand about 300 yards from the original shot location, while I snuck into the wind to try finding the trail. Son was in the right place and killed the buck in his bed about 80 yards from him and 25 yards from original hit. The first shot blew up on a few ribs and never did any internal damage to the buck. Knowing the woods and how deer moved on the land saved losing a really nice buck. So 2 screw-ups on this buck. Quartered shot knocked him out but not dead out. Neck shot hit an antler. As Ben said, keep shooting and don't get too cute trying to save meat. Get him down!

Last, a friend's son rifle shot a nice buck in the woods, not a long shot. Deer dropped so kid immediately texted grandpa that he got one. Deer ran off never to be seen again. Don't brag till you are positive of the shot being lethal, as in standing over a dead deer.
66 years of deer hunting does teach you a little. They are really tough.

 

[mtmuley]

Bad shot. mtmuley

 

[Skiller]

Bad shot. mtmuley

Bad shot? Which one? Glasgow was 3" h

 

[Skiller]

Bad shot? Which one? Glasgow was 3" h

3" high. Shot the Horn Buck was in the right place for a quartering shot. Penetration was poor. The rest of the shooting was poor.

 

[ismith]

This type of thing doesn't happen when you shoot a RUM. mtmuley

Or a 338 Winchester Magnum! I clipped the brisket of a big buck once and the trauma to the heart was impressive. Bullet didn’t even enter the rib cage, but by the time I got him gutted the heart was clotted.

 

[Caseknife]

@Ben Long, with the shot angle and how the buck reacted, highly likely that you clipped one of the spinal processes above the backbone. I have done that with a spike bull, dropped like a sack of spuds, got up shortly after on very wobbly legs so I had to keep shooting. Had a hunting partner who liked to shoot them in the neck have it happen with a raghorn bull, he fiddled around until the bull got up and ran off never to be seen again.
Dad when he was in his early 70's shot a spike bull with a quick 30 yard shot. The bull dropped and Dad walked up to him all tangled up in the down lodgepoles, noticed blood pumping out of a hole in his neck and pulled out his knife to slit the bulls throat. Bent over and put a hand on the bull's antler, the bull untangled himself, stood up and ran off. Dad flung his knife, reached behind him for his rifle leaning against a tree and got another quick shot. The bull ran by me and I got a bullet in his ribs. Took Dad a while to find his knife, he said elk are big when you have your hand on their shoulder and they stand up!
Dad also killed a nice muley buck, when he got up to it he noticed a big chunk of antler freshly missing at the base of one antler. That buck quickly had his neck slit, no other bullet hole in the buck.

 

[rjthehunter]

This reminds me of a Facebook post I saw a couple of years back. A guys kid shot a buck, and it dropped. They walked up to it and realized they shot an antler off. No blood, at all. They either knocked it out, or it was enough trauma to it's head on impact to kill it.

It was shot with a slug. Not sure if it was a 12g or 20g.

 

[steveshuntn1]

This young fella came almost under my tree. It was most likely a broadhead that split him open. It’s worse than the picture shows. Big infected gash in the meat. He seemed fine looking for a girlfriend though. They are tough animals for sure.
I once watched a doe kick my best friend in high school square in the chest as he ran up and grabbed her back legs after dropping her with a round of buck shot. He was 6’2 and almost 250 pounds at 17. It knocked the wind out of him. Funniest damn thing I ever saw as he gasp for air and looked at me in shock. We caught up to her about two hundred yards away and put her down. I’ll never forget that moment though.

 

[LuketheDog]

This type of thing doesn't happen when you shoot a RUM. mtmuley

Sure it does, when you close your eyes and flinch

 

[BearFoot]

I hate wounding loss and am pretty conservative with my shooting to avoid it. I had a bad hit this November I am still trying to make sense of. Wondering if you've had similar experience:
I was still hunting whitetails in a logged forest. I was sitting on a stump, rattling antlers. A mature buck came in and stood broadside at perhaps 100 yards, somewhat downhill but not a steep slope. It felt like a chip shot with elbows on my knees, crosshairs on the kill zone. I exhaled for the shot -- and damnit my breath fogged my glasses. I tossed them aside, resumed my aim and fired.
I was not surprised when the buck dropped like struck by Thor's hammer. "That's a dead deer," I thought. I didn't even cycle a round, just watched what I thought were a few death kicks through the scope.
To my dismay, the buck rolled over, rose to his feet and bounded away. I mean bounded, no problem moving at all. Long story short, two of us (both experienced trackers) searched for four hours. There was no snow and the ground was frozen. I found the spot where he hit the ground and two running tracks where he scraped the duff. That's it. Never saw the buck again. Neither of us found any sign of birds or other scavengers in that area over the rest of the season.

So what the hell happened? Rifle was a 308. Bullets were copper Barnes TXSS 165 grain. Scope was sighted 2 inches high at 100.
I'm trying to learn my lesson here. My guess is between operator error, the slope and the point of impact, I hit high, stunned his spine, but he shook it off and I did no more damage. Anyone experienced anything like this?

Another lesson: Send another round. And be quick about it.

Been there. What seemed like a sure thing, was not.

 

[COEngineer]

My son hit a small buck with a 50 cal sabot from a muzzleloader at <100 yards with the exact same results. We even found a chunk of the fur with a bit of spinal (process) bone on the ground.

 

[JDH]

I've had the same thing happen but unlike most of the other posts on here, the shot was low. It was a 50 cal MZ bullet. I shot and the deer dropped. I climbed down and walked over to it, was about 5' away and I shuffled my feet in the leaves and he got up and walked off. I ended up catching up to him and put another in him. Apparently it hit a rib and deflected down. I had an entrance wound low on the ribs and a bruised looking streak under the rib cage and an exit on the bottom of the rib cage.