Where did I hit this deer?

[SHoff10]

Yesterday morning I shot a big 10 in Kansas at 725. I found good bright red blood but wasn't sure where I hit the deer so we backed out. Came back at 10:45 and started tracking.

No bull, we tracked this deer for over two miles with blood the entire time. Found three puddles of blood the size of paper plates and found baseball sized chunks of either coagulated blood or lung/liver. It was dark red and was hard to pull apart.

We tracked for 6 hours yesterday and until we lost blood. We are going back to do a body search today. What do you guys think? Dead deer? High shot? One lung? I am sick to my stomach as this deer is my biggest by far.

Thanks guys! We never found my arrow and he was only bleeding outa one side. Blood was bright red and didn't smell at all.

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[RaisedByWolves]

I don't consider myself the expert on this, but I'm thinking shoulder/brisket in which case you would want to keep pushing him to prevent the clotting. Hopefully others will chime in

[JakeJD]

Sounds like a muscle hit to me, but typically the muscles will swell up and seal the wound after 100-200 yards. A brisket shot will usually be accompanied with greasy fat on the arrow shaft, again the wound should swell and seal after 100-200 yards.

Maybe the arrow stuck in his shoulder keeping the wound from sealing shut?

[SHoff10]

Thanks for the responses. Do you think a deer that bled that much will live or do you think its dead somewhere?

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[dan]

If it bled heavy for as far as you said, its likely dead. Can't say for sure, seen some deer survive hits you would be certain would kill them.
Sounds like the hit is in the front somewhere, and you have enough bleeding to make me believe you cut a small artery or heavy blood vessels. Might be a hard hit one lunger, or in front of the lungs... To late now, but I agree with the earlier comment this would of been a good candidate to push hard while tracking right after the hit.
Did you find any places where he bedded down?

[SHoff10]

He bedded down once for sure and I think we bumped him when we were tracking. Like I said, we found 3-4 plate sized pools of blood.

Any tips for finding this deer without a dog? Listen for coyotes? Crows?

I've never seen a deer bleed this much without dying.

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[dan]

Why without a dog? Some of those guys don't even charge...

[SHoff10]

I don't know how to get ahold of one where I am hunting. And I thought I heard it was illegal in Kansas?

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[SHoff10]

I would do a tracking dog for sure if I had access to one. Any other thoughts?

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[virginiashadow]

http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org

[dan]

http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org

Not sure about the law there... But check these guys out...

[bowhunter15]

About 8 years ago my dad shot a buck perfectly right behind the shoulder. His expandable deflected off a rib and went into the space between the shoulder and the rib cage. No vital organs were hit, but an artery was severed. We followed what looked like good bright blood for 100 yards, then 200, then 600. We got permission to cross one property line, then another. It seemed nuts that it was still bleeding after all that time. My dad was second guessing himself the whole time for what he thought was a perfect shot. Eventually the blood started to thin out, and we bumped him from a bed, not looking too strong. At the bed, we found a large clot, and he began bleeding again. We backed out and went looking again. He made it another 600 yards before running out of blood. We found him dead about 100 yards after last blood. Simply died of blood loss.

From the description, it really sounds like a small artery hit to me like Dan said. Good luck in the continued attempt to recover. Dogs like suggested or circling birds are typically a good sign.