First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


User avatar
Ognennyy
500 Club
Posts: 703
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 5:47 pm
Status: Offline

First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby Ognennyy » Thu Oct 26, 2017 11:54 am

Today was an exciting but disappointing day. I shot two deer with my bow today; my first ever. I was unable to find either deer afterward.

The first I shot in the early morning, around 40 minutes after first light. She had initially come directly under my tree-stand and was inspecting my climbing sticks. Eventually she went on to browsing, and moved out from underneath me. When I released my arrow she was at about 10 yards. I know the arrow hit and did not pass through. I cannot remember if she mule kicked. I remember seeing the fletchings, protruding from her side, moving rapidly as she took off. My first impression was that I hit shoulder. That was fine by me since at that range my broadhead should've penetrated the shoulder blade I figured.

After 30 minutes I got down to start looking. I never found her. I never found so much as one spec of blood. But neither did I ever find my arrow. I don't get it. I have no one to call to help me, so after six hours I gave up the search. Searching the forest floor for blood is... difficult when there are lots of sugar maple leaves on the ground, and they're wet.

Determined to brush it off I got back in the stand around 2pm. After 15 minutes another doe came by at what I guessed to be 28-32 yards. My shot hit again. This one definitely mule kicked, and ran faster and harder than the first one had. I couldn't find blood for her either, and again began grid searching in the general direction she ran. 50-60 yards from where she stood when I shot her I picked up the blood trail.

I don't think there were bubbles in the blood, but I did see a few small bone fragments and also what must have been small chunks of some organ. Most of it was neither bright red, nor dark red, somewhere in between. Strangely I did see some spots of bright red blood every now and then. Even stranger was that at one point I found blood smeared about 18" off the ground on a small sapling, but on the side of the sapling facing my tree stand. In my mind that means it must have come out the opposite side of where I shot her. But how could that be? I never found my arrow at the site of the shot, and I only found blood on the sides of trees facing me just that one time. And generally speaking there was not nearly as much blood on the trail as I would have expected with an exit wound.

I trailed her over 100 yards, and the blood just dried up. I spent the next three hours grid searching up ahead in what I could see was the general direction of deer movement through the area. No dice.

I don't get it. When I hit the second deer I would've sworn it was a heart shot. Unintentional, as with the 30 yard shot she had time to jump a tiny bit before the arrow hit. And then... no deer. I've wounded two beautiful animals. Maybe I'm "lucky" and at least they're dead, getting devoured by coyotes right now.

What gives with the no blood on the first shot, and not much blood on the second one? I mean how is it possible to shoot an animal with a razor-tipped arrow and not have blood? Granted she was close and my tree stand was 20' so the angle I hit was steep. But shouldn't some blood still escape a wound like that?

And what with no penetration? I don't know exactly what my draw length is, but I'm shooting a 60-65 pound draw with 350 spine Carbon Express Pile Driver small diameter (meant for better pass through...) with 100 grain Montec G5 carbon steel fixed blade broadhead. The bow tech and I clocked the arrows last week with 100 grain field tips at about 270 fps.

What gives?

Sorry for the rant. I'm just, disappointed. I know this thing happens eventually. I just didn't expect it to happen to me the first two times I connected with my bow.


User avatar
Boogieman1
500 Club
Posts: 6589
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:18 pm
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:21 pm

At that range with your set up u had to hit major bone prob high guessing on the first one. 2nd one is a dead deer for sure, blood trailing is a art, u get better at. Even when I see a deer drop I follow a blood trail to learn from. Question.... How long did u wait b4 picking up the trail? Also if u have any near by water my long runners head for it a lot of the time. It sucks to lose deer, but in the game of bows and arrows it happens, all u can do is make your very best effort to recover. Sorry for your bad luck
Life is hard; It’s even harder if you are stupid.
-John Wayne-
Buckbreath
Posts: 134
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 12:41 am
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby Buckbreath » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:30 pm

First deer- 20 feet up and 10 yards away is a sharp angle. If the arrow had passed through, the exit wound would have been on the bottom of the deer leaving a much better blood trail. When there is only one hole and it is high, the blood must "overflow" from the entry wound resulting in a faint blood trail.

Second deer- In my experiences, mule kicking deer are heart shot. I have also had trouble finding blood on a couple heart shot deer in Maple leaves. I can't explain it. I shot a buck in the heart once and watched him for close to 10 minutes walking away from me. Not physically possible!

I'm not trying to promote products or make yours sound insufficient but I've terrible blood trails with Montec's.

Sadly, losing animals happens and is part of hunting. Nothing goes to waste in the wild though. Keep your chin up and if you put in hard work and hunt smart, good things will happen. Good Luck to you!
User avatar
oldrank
Posts: 6158
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:32 am
Location: USA
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby oldrank » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:35 pm

High hits that don't exit will not bleed sometimes. How much arrow was sticking out when the first deer ran off? Shoulders will take a broadhead hit if you hit them right on the boney point.

Your second shot sounds like you hit leg. It could be opposite side or not. Bone chunks usually mean leg wound. Did you see the arrow hit deer 2?

Deer are extremely strong animals. They can go 100-200 yrds quick. I've double lunged deer that drop in sight n I've double lunged deer that made it 100 yrds and more. I heart shot a buck that ran towards my stand. He stood there with blood pumping out of him like a faucet. I thought he would fall. After a couple minutes he stopped bleeding and started walking away. I shot him again and he ran another 100 yrds before dieing. First shot was right through the lower heart muscle. It didn't get into the chambers or hit main arteries....

I would go search more. That's all you can do. Call a dog if you can.
User avatar
WV Bowhunter
500 Club
Posts: 1629
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:39 pm
Location: West Virginia
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby WV Bowhunter » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:36 pm

Try tearing off small pieces of toilet paper and dropping it on each drop of blood while you are tracking. This will give you a direction of travel while tracking and while looking for the next drop of blood, you can look back and see where to look next. Look for tracks or disturbed leaves. Don’t get ahead of yourself when you loose blood and mess up the sign in front of you. That’s a sure fire way to make a tough tracking job even tougher.

You can get blood on opposite side of deer if part of the arrow poked through that side and the deer can still be carrying the arrow.

One of the best things to do after a shot is watch the animals reaction. If I don’t see them fall, that is a good indicator of when I will pick up the blood trail.
Luck is when preparation meets opportunity!!
User avatar
Bonecrusher101
500 Club
Posts: 3079
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:09 am
Location: West TN
Status: Online

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Thu Oct 26, 2017 1:24 pm

On your first deer imagine a coke bottle that is 3/4 full and turned horizontal. That is a deers chest cavity, if you stab the top with a pencil, nothing or not much will drain. If it doesn't exit through the bottom it won't show any blood. I've done that same shot before, unless you spine bust the deer it can make things tough.

You killed both, it's part of bowhunting. Learn what you can from it and keep shooting. I know several hunters that only gun hunt and have hung the bow up from feeling bad after losing a deer. The veteran bow hunters who have stuck with it have also made bad shots and lost deer. There are very few with a perfect track record.

A good handheld gps can also work wonders when grid searching but after 6 hours alone and no blood you have to call it. Keep your chin up!
Be original and Enjoy every step along the adventure.
User avatar
Ognennyy
500 Club
Posts: 703
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 5:47 pm
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby Ognennyy » Thu Oct 26, 2017 1:52 pm

Boogieman1 wrote:2nd one is a dead deer for sure

In my heart I knew it. I've known it all night and man I don't want to sound like a pussy but this is eating me alive.



WV Bowhunter wrote:Try tearing off small pieces of toilet paper and dropping it on each drop of blood while you are tracking. This will give you a direction of travel while tracking and while looking for the next drop of blood, you can look back and see where to look next. Look for tracks or disturbed leaves. Don’t get ahead of yourself when you loose blood and mess up the sign in front of you. That’s a sure fire way to make a tough tracking job even tougher.

The one man I knew who ever served as a hunting mentor did teach me the toilet paper trick, and they're still hanging on the trees out there. Unfortunately after hours of searching and desperation setting in, I did get ahead of myself. I started following recently disturbed leaves, but eventually was unable to do so due to my own movement through the area. Out of desperation I began quickly canvasing the area hoping I would find the deer itself.



oldrank wrote:High hits that don't exit will not bleed sometimes. How much arrow was sticking out when the first deer ran off? Shoulders will take a broadhead hit if you hit them right on the boney point.

Your second shot sounds like you hit leg. It could be opposite side or not. Bone chunks usually mean leg wound. Did you see the arrow hit deer 2?

Deer are extremely strong animals. They can go 100-200 yrds quick. I've double lunged deer that drop in sight n I've double lunged deer that made it 100 yrds and more. I heart shot a buck that ran towards my stand. He stood there with blood pumping out of him like a faucet. I thought he would fall. After a couple minutes he stopped bleeding and started walking away. I shot him again and he ran another 100 yrds before dieing. First shot was right through the lower heart muscle. It didn't get into the chambers or hit main arteries....

I would go search more. That's all you can do. Call a dog if you can.

For some reason every time I shoot at an animal I always feel like I just threw the first punch in a fist fight, and unfortunately my memories of the next few minutes are always splotchy at best. I don't know how much arrow was sticking out. All I do remember is seeing the fletchings being violently jostled around as the deer ran, so I knew the arrow did in fact hit. There were more deer in the area, all around my tree stand, that I didn't even know about. The motion of those deer bolting after my shot drew my eye away from my target deer. To lock my eyes onto my target deer is a lesson I just learned the hard way.

I could believe that I hit the leg on the opposite side, or clipped the front one on the way in perhaps. But these were tiny little fragments, like bone meal you buy in the garden section of Lowe's. I remember the same kind of bone fragments from the deer I killed with a 12 gauge last year. That was a double lung shot, and the fragments were from the ribs on the exit wound.

As far as the arrow hitting, yes it did hit. I remember the distinct impression that my arrow had hit, and being excited because I thought it was going to be a dead deer. She was at 30-35 yards and I'm hunting in thick upstate NY woods on a cloudy day so it's hard to see precisely where an arrow hits, but I remember being happy with the hit. There were even big chunks of white belly hair in the blood spots in the first 20-30 yards of blood I found.

I want to keep looking, every part of me wants to. But I don't have any more vacation time to use, and it was almost 70 degrees today. I hate to say it but to be quite frank I don't suppose I want to find those deer anymore. I'm not sure how I'd feel about eating them at this point.

Anyway, thanks for all the words of encouragement guys. I appreciate that.
User avatar
Ognennyy
500 Club
Posts: 703
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 5:47 pm
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby Ognennyy » Thu Oct 26, 2017 10:49 pm

I was thinking about this some more last night. I think the first and most important take-away is keep my chin up, this is just going to happen. But I'm wondering about my both my shot placement and my stand placement.

Bonecrusher101 wrote:<snip> I've done that same shot before, unless you spine bust the deer it can make things tough.<snip>


Putting my stand down lower when possible seems like a good way to reduce the odds of this scenario in the future. But in this case my tree stand was placed up at 20' in this set for a reason; I felt that's where it needed to be in order to have proper cover and not get picked off by the deer as they came through. At the risk of starting a raging, heated political debate I will ask; Should I intentionally aim for the spine when the shot I'm presented is such a steep one?
Buckshot20
500 Club
Posts: 1969
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:02 am
Location: Central Florida
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby Buckshot20 » Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:36 am

Aim for a heart shot. If they duck you are still good. If you miss low the deer is unhurt, and its a low exit wound. I typically hunt over 20' high. There are no "always" in deer hunting but if the shot is in the lower 1/3 and there is an exit you should have plenty of blood. Shoulder shots don't bleed well. Too much hair to soak up the blood.
User avatar
<DK>
500 Club
Posts: 4484
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 10:02 am
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby <DK> » Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:47 am

I agree w the other members and iv been there too. I'm sorry to hear about your experience its part of being a bowhunter unfortunately... An arrow just doesn't blow them up like a gun. Keep practicing. The next shots are rarely the same as the last, all we can do is try and prep best we can.

Its so easy to give up out there, alone. It takes forever to move 50 yards and rambling thoughts break a guy down, step by step.

My first tip is finding a buddy or a dog that can be called upon. A buddy system is important bc having someone not emotionally invested help search pays off. Also, plenty of lighting.

Lastly, it's good to stop and take a break to slow things down when you're alone. It helps to pull out the map, check the wind again & decide on possible bedoing areas they could go. The best thing iv found though is mark all the breaks/creeks/transitions the deer could possible cross and they can be checked quickly.

Last season I wanted to quit bow hunting bc of my blown opportunities or lost deer. My buddy had a rough start to archery as well, now he puts good hits in them. Good luck and sorry about your deer.
superblackhawk
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 2:09 pm
Status: Offline

Re: First hit with a bow; and no dead deer

Unread postby superblackhawk » Thu Nov 02, 2017 1:36 pm

I'm always watching video and trying to learn more about blood tracking.

One thing i saw that i havent tried yet, but will is taking a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide. When you loose blood, spray and it will bubble up.

Sounds like that could be of help.


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bonecrusher101, Bowhunting Brian, Luv2BowHunt and 59 guests