.....hit help.

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mauser06
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.....hit help.

Unread postby mauser06 » Tue Dec 06, 2016 3:49 pm

I'm baffled with this one. 6 of us doing some pushes. They bounce a good one and he's literally trotting directly at me. Completely front on. 20-25yds


He's ever so slightly running down a hill...it's slight.


WHOOOOM! 35 Whelen barks. 225gr accubond.

He hunches/buckles but doesn't collapse. My pump gun self ejects from the recoil. I was standing and my rifle was braced against a tree...the recoil tried ejecting the empty case but it hit the tree and jammed up tight. Buck turns and runs a few yards into a small brushy ditch.

The does he was with go a completely different direction.

I get the case freed and get a live round in. I spot him coming up the other side of the small ditch. (ditch is really small).

I can't get a shot but I can see him in my scope and looks like the classic staggering and fumbling around.


I never see him again. He didn't cross the road..if he did it was well above me.

I never saw him go very far. 30yds from POI.


5 other buddies never seen him. We had doe going every which way. Noone ever saw another buck.



I find hair at the POI. But it's white. Some is fine. Some course and kinky.

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There was hairs down the trail a few yards. It never rained out of him. There was never a LOT of hair. Some hairs were clearly fragments of hairs. 1/4" or whatever. None were long..maybe an inch? But they all appeared white.

I find leaves kicked up where I saw him stumbling around. But there isnt a single drop of blood anywhere.



We combed the area but it was quick. We figured he had to cross the road and wanted to get after him since we only had an hour of light.


They say I missed.


I felt great about the shot. 20-25yds rested on a tree...I don't know how he took a step. I was baffled by that alone..


I searched a few hours in the dark knowing rain is a sure thing before tomorrow. I couldn't find a blood trail. I couldn't even determine where he went after I last saw him because there was deer running everywhere.



With a frontal shot I just don't know where white hair came from. Brisket hair is dark typically.


I've seen grazed deer and that always leaves a ton of hair.


I was literally hands and knees for a while and couldn't find where the bullet would have hit the dirt.


I've seen frontal shots not bleed but can't remember what the hair looked like. Lots of fat and a pencil sized hole and no exit..

Only thing I can figure on the white hair though is it did exit but hard to believe it came out and there's not a spec of anything.




Any ideas??? I'm going back after it gets light. There's plenty of thick multifloral rose patches and downed trees etc. And if he crossed the road there's a few more ditches. At night he could been feet away and I could missed him.

If it wasn't for the hair I'd say I missed. But that hair didn't fall off him for no reason. The white hair isn't making sense though.




I did shoot a doe with the flintlock 2 years ago. I was in a stand. It exited between the legs and left white hair but clearly long white belly hair. She went a good 100+yds and never dropped a drop.

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PK_
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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby PK_ » Tue Dec 06, 2016 4:04 pm

Dang it man. I hope you find him right there somehow. Good luck.

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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby Rich M » Tue Dec 06, 2016 4:15 pm

My ex-wife shot low on a deer and cut tons of white hairs off it - belly and some off the hind leg. Never did find any blood - I shot the deer the next day while doing a push.

White hairs could have come off the inside of a leg.

Can't see how the deer went anywhere getting frontal hit with that bullet/caliber/gun. Shoulda dropped him.
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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby mauser06 » Tue Dec 06, 2016 4:32 pm

I was baffled that he didn't crumble.


Only ever had 1 deer take a step from it. I initially passed on him. As he was hard walking away I saw his guts hanging. I set the angle for the front left shoulder exit. Entrance was the right ham. Bullet lodged after it smashed the front left shoulder. He ran a decent ways and never a drop of blood...

Broadside deer I've dropped every one hard.



If it's low I'd expect blood. And/more hair.

But that doe with the flintlock exited right between the legs and went atleast 100yds and never dropped a drop.


Sick. I really hope come day light I walk right to him piled up. But I don't know. Don't know how in the world I could have missed lol. It happens. But come on...there's no excuse and I know where the cross hairs were smack in the middle of his chest.


Definitely would be my best buck. No monster but a very pretty buck. 17-18" wide. High rack. Decent tines but not a sky scraper. Nice dark horns but not chocolate.

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Stanley
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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby Stanley » Tue Dec 06, 2016 4:33 pm

Keep us posted.
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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby vtbuck » Tue Dec 06, 2016 5:43 pm

Good luck!

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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby dan » Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:49 pm

My guess is you rushed across the road to fast... Look closer to where you saw him stumbling. A better view will come with the morning light.
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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby mauser06 » Tue Dec 06, 2016 9:13 pm

Hope you're right Dan. That wasn't my decision. But at the same time made sense. Asked my buddies where they went and noone actually went through where he would have gone.


He was last seen pointing towards the road...but he could have easily turned up the road or doubled back...

People like to say a well hit deer won't go up hill. Shot a doe with the bow this year and clean double lung shot. She went up a 4ft creek bank 10yds before she piled up.



Wish I'd focused on him a little more than the gun jam. Him locking up and the gun jam both caught me by surprise. The hair, him not running with the doe, noone else seeing him, the tracks I could see of his...20-25yds rested on a tree all make me believe there's a 225gr Accubond in him. And if I snaked right through the center it could be low enough not to shock the spine or hit heavy bone to give more of a reaction and brisket fat clogged the entrance right up...


Unless I'm nuts and whiffed it. Just think there'd me a lot more hair if I grazed his belly and definitely blood/bone if I hit a leg.



Couple more hours and I will have some answers. And they took the chance of rain way out till 3 now so maybe I can find sign I missed.

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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby dan » Tue Dec 06, 2016 10:48 pm

Stay focused... A frontal hit might have a gut or meat, or no exit... Blood might be sparse. He could of hid and died, he could of gotten a ways if one lung and liver / guts... But likely he is close. May have hidden in thick.
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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby Outdoor814 » Tue Dec 06, 2016 11:56 pm

I wish you the best way f luck and hopefully you find him. I'm pullin for ya!

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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby Islandhunter » Wed Dec 07, 2016 12:29 am

I shot a doe during the rifle season, it was point blank. The deer was quartering towards me. Absolutely no blood at impact, a little light colored hair. I was convinced I missed, didn't know how....but I was really disappointed that I somehow missed.
I took up the trail about 45 minutes later, "just in case". I ended up finding a faint blood trail and a dead deer 70 yds later.
It was a single lung shot with gut, no exit.
I shoot a 270, 150 grain.
You easily could have a dead deer down.. good luck this morning.

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kurt
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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby kurt » Wed Dec 07, 2016 12:34 am

I had something similar happen.

I shot a doe in the front with a rifle with snow on the ground. Never found a drop of blood. Couldn't find her at night. The next morning found her pretty fast. I knew I heard her crash.

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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Wed Dec 07, 2016 12:39 am

I bet he is laying stiff an cold this morning. That 35 probably did not come out. Not a lot energy there for such a heavy round. I bet it did its damage before it stopped. He probably with in 200 yards if you didn't push him. Grid search.

Good luck.
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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby cedarsavage » Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:13 am

The only advice I have is keep after him if you feel good about the shot. I shot at a doe one time felt great about the shot, never reacted at all, spent two hours on my hands and knees following pin drops for 145 yards, and found a double lunged deer. If I wasn't so confident in the shot I wouldn't have stayed after it long enough to even find blood. Good luck I hope you get him

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Re: .....hit help.

Unread postby Octoberjohn » Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:28 am

Good luck with the recovery. Your eyes don't lie. I'll bet you end up finding him a lot closer to where you took the original shot than where where you were looking last night. I'm not sure what to think about the white hair, hopefully you'll be able to tell us when you recover him!


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