How Hard Do You Look?

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Rich M
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How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Rich M » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:24 pm

This happened recently:

Guy shoots deer. Full penetration with Deer runs 40 yards and beds. Gets up a few minutes later, staggers around and basically falls within 10 yards. Lying there kicking and twitching. Fellow gets down to shoot it again, deer sees him and bolts. Arrow has dark blood. Guy leaves. Goes back next day, "walks around" and doesn't find deer.

What is the lesson here?

I'm trying to see past my prejudices.


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wmahunter
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby wmahunter » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:47 pm

he should have waited
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wmahunter
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby wmahunter » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:59 pm

there was a hunter that shot a decent buck like that down here and they kept pushing it. They did not find it until the next day after it had went about a mile.
Rich M
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Rich M » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:00 pm

Agreed, or got down and walked the other way instead of trying to sneak up on it.

I don't archery hunt much so I'm not much of a help but really feel he should have had this one... This was up north.

What kind of hit has dark blood, falling, twitching deer, and then the deer running off? Back-straps?
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Hawthorne
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Hawthorne » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:01 pm

Had that happen to me with a doe once. Jumped it. Backed out came back like 4 hours later found her about 400 yds away in a standing corn field. Tough track job

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Zona
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Zona » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:09 pm

Sounds like a liver hit, the deer is probably dead not far from where he jumped it. As for this "fella" and what he did or didn't do, who am I to judge.
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby llee873 » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:11 pm

The dark red blood usually means a liver shot which usually requires a longer time for the deer to die than other fatal shots.

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Gibby
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Gibby » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:13 pm

Rich M wrote:Agreed, or got down and walked the other way instead of trying to sneak up on it.

I don't archery hunt much so I'm not much of a help but really feel he should have had this one... This was up north.

[glow=red]What kind of hit has dark blood, falling, twitching deer, and then the deer running off?[/glow] Back-straps?


Sounds like maybe a liver hit, deer can take a little longer to expire from a liver hit.
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby mauser06 » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:14 pm

Sounds like he should have looked more than walking around...


Heck I spent more time than that looking for an arrow..steep angle shot and 2ft high and thick under brush..I knew I missed right away...flat out yanked the shot..

I looked for 2 days and still to this day haven't found that arrow..found where the deer was..the hill slopes off hard beyond where she was..I figure it is pretty well buried due to the angle being similar to the hill angle..



A landowner gave my buddy heck cursing my name telling my buddy to make sure I don't come back...my buddy asked why..what's the issue?

He said an 8pt was dead behind his barn and my ladder stand is 75yds away through open woods and a mowed trail...could practically see the buck from the stand..

My buddy knew right away that wasn't me because I don't leave stands in the woods and cleared it up..

I know another farmer to closed his land to bow hunters..I think it was 8 different buck he hit with the combine one year shelling corn..he said most of them had arrows sticking out of them...



Lost deer happen..but some hunters really do give us all a bad name..



And it's NOT limited to bow hunters by any means...I'd say most bow hunters are likely better than the one day a hear gun hunter...

Last year on opening day I was in a stand...2 small illegal buck come by...down the ridge I hear a shot.. figured maybe a jr hunter got a shot at one..antler restrictions don't apply to them..


Both bucks come back...one staggering and blood leaking..looked like a decent hit.. legally my hands are tied...it walks out of sight and looks prettu dang hurt...when I left at DARK..hours later...no one ever came by tracking it..and I had obvious blood I could see from the tree...

Disgusting...slobs...

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Rich M
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Rich M » Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:21 pm

Thanks, makes sense. That deer kicking into high gear - who knows how far it ran. He said there was little to no blood at the bedding site or the falling down site. That could lead to little blood on the trail.

Thanks for helping me make sense of this.
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tgreeno
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby tgreeno » Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:17 pm

Definitely sounds like a liver hit which is a fatal shot. Typically they will bed within 100 yards. I'm guessing when it bedded, it clotted the wounds, that's why there wasn't much blood. If it was the liver, that deer is laying dead somewhere. Yet many deer die and never get recovered.
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Dewey » Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:26 pm

Sounds like liver. Many times with that shot they seek water and that's where they usually die.

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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Ack » Tue Oct 04, 2016 7:27 pm

I've had some easy track jobs on liver hits, and some hard track jobs on liver hits. Let's just say if you get down and walk out as not to bump the deer, then give it at LEAST 4+ hours you should be able to walk right up to a dead deer. I think a lot of guys tend to track marginal hits way sooner than they should.
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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby hunter10 » Tue Oct 04, 2016 10:08 pm

I remember when I was younger and shot my first big buck. Hit him high and didn't know all the rules of tracking. Was so excited I probably only gave him 20 mins then I looked for the rest of the night until it rained, spent the next 3 days getting permission to every bush and fence row I thought he may be in. Never found him and still haunts me to the day

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Re: How Hard Do You Look?

Unread postby Jrichard » Wed Oct 05, 2016 1:47 am

Its all about the morals of the hunter. As hunters we agree to take high percentage shots and do everything we can to recover what we attempt to harvest. And who knows maybe in his mind he did "everything" he could do to recover that deer.

This year on opening day I shot at a doe. I heard a "CRACK". Almost sounded like ribs breaking. Between my hyperventilating and the ringing in my ears after seeing that deer I thought it was a perfect hit. And the deer ran into the brush. I heard the deer fall down and get back up instantly and start running again. (She must have feel or tripped on the thick brush). I went back with my buddy who had a brighter flashlight than I. We couldn't find a thing. Not even my arrow. So we thought it might still be in the deer. I could not even find a spot of blood in the dark.

The next day I got up. Drove an hour to the spot. When I Got there the sun was just coming up. I looked for about 2 hours for my arrow and blood. Walked all over trying to find anything. Blood. Arrow. hair. Walked probably 7 or 8 miles total. Then around 8 AM I went back to where I shot. I climbed the tree, tied my jacket to the tree where I shot from. Got down. walked over to where the deer was when I shot. I crouched down and looked back up at my sweatshirt in the tree. And there she was. A limb about a half an inch in diameter from a tree had fallen and I could not see it in the grey of the afternoon from 25 yards away. After finding absolutely nothing the night before and the next morning before work, and finding that limb that had recently been hit, I was confident that the deer was fine.

But some hunters aren't that dedicated. I don't think its hunting to them. Its killing. I know some people aren't too religious. I will be honest I have drifted from religion. Its been years and years. But when my buddy kills a deer. Or when someone gives me meet that was harvested naturally I thank god and the animal. IDK we owe it to the animal to do what ever we can to recover them after the shot. Or to at least do our best to recover them. I will admit that I climbed down only after 15 minutes after I shot I was so excited. But I did everything I could to avoid the area where the deer ran.


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