One lung and tracking.

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oldrank
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby oldrank » Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:16 am

simpzenith wrote:If you have a dog, push it. If you don't, good luck keeping up with it.



How many true one lung hits have you tracked? I'm talking no guts, liver ect, just one lung hit. Do you see any patterns on a track job of a one lung hit? I would guess your typical one lunger's would be shoulder shots with minimal penetration or high angle shots. Would like to hear a little more of your opinion on this.


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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby oldrank » Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:19 am

Lockdown wrote:
oldrank wrote:I believe most 1 lung shots are not one lung at all. I believe most are brisket, high back, shoulder, or just bad angles and running along the rib cage. Hunters use the one lung description to describe in reality a poorly hit deer. In my opinion if a deer is smoked through one lung it will die quickly. Having gutted literally hundreds of deer I have seen a ton of dead one lunged deer.

Now with that being said, as Lockdown stated. A high angle one lung that maybe catches the outside could possibly be an issue. I personally have never seen it. I have read about bucks with one lung being shot and the other lung was basically a ball of scar tissue.

If I shot a buck and knew he was one lunged 100% I would let him die. According to my readings if the chest cavity is punctured deaths is pretty much certain. That decision would mainly be based on the fact that I wouldn't want to push the deer off of the property I am hunting.

If weather was an issue I would get a dog in.



After my 2017 MN doe, I don’t doubt at all that a deer can live on one lung or at least escape our recovery efforts. I more or less ten ringed that doe and I watched her bed down after the shot. She was alive for 20 minutes.

When I gutted her, one lung was a monstrous blood clot. NOTHING LEFT. The other lung was in tact with a perfect 3 blade hole right through the middle of it. My arrow barely cleared her heart and I’m not joking at all when I say it went through the center mass of the lung that was still in tact.

Would never have believed it without seeing it with my own eyes.




Now, talking pushing them, this deer is a perfect example of pushing one to get them to die quicker. The only reason she held on that long was because she didn’t have to exert any energy.

I’m with Simpzenith though... it would be risky business without a dog.



Interesting.
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby brancher147 » Sat Sep 12, 2020 8:47 am

Terrain matters too. Steep rocks and cliffs I hunt some areas are near impossible to push a deer while tracking-you will get hurt way out in middle of nowhere. It takes full concentration just to walk through some areas.

I had a “one lung hit” steep quartering away full pass through probably guts too couple years ago waited four hours then pushed the deer into a steep rocky canyon never to be seen again. I think if I waited overnight he would have been recovered but no way to know.
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby Lockdown » Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:15 am

oldrank wrote:
simpzenith wrote:If you have a dog, push it. If you don't, good luck keeping up with it.



How many true one lung hits have you tracked? I'm talking no guts, liver ect, just one lung hit. Do you see any patterns on a track job of a one lung hit? I would guess your typical one lunger's would be shoulder shots with minimal penetration or high angle shots. Would like to hear a little more of your opinion on this.


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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby dan » Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:17 am

I have seen one lungers live for quite a while. It seems like most dont live thru the winter. i have probably been on 100 single lung track jobs probably recovered about 7 or 8... ive seen 1 lungers a week after being shot, and found a few of them dead later in spring while scouting . out of all the deer i have shot, guided, or been around that were shot i only ever seen 1 that had a wound indicating a 1 lung hit, and that lung was just s nasty gross ball puss and clot. the would was healed over and it was from the previous season... almost all of them die, its jist a matter of days or weeks
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby oldrank » Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:45 am

dan wrote:I have seen one lungers live for quite a while. It seems like most dont live thru the winter. i have probably been on 100 single lung track jobs probably recovered about 7 or 8... ive seen 1 lungers a week after being shot, and found a few of them dead later in spring while scouting . out of all the deer i have shot, guided, or been around that were shot i only ever seen 1 that had a wound indicating a 1 lung hit, and that lung was just s nasty gross ball puss and clot. the would was healed over and it was from the previous season... almost all of them die, its jist a matter of days or weeks


That's not good odds..lol
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby dan » Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:07 am

oldrank wrote:
dan wrote:I have seen one lungers live for quite a while. It seems like most dont live thru the winter. i have probably been on 100 single lung track jobs probably recovered about 7 or 8... ive seen 1 lungers a week after being shot, and found a few of them dead later in spring while scouting . out of all the deer i have shot, guided, or been around that were shot i only ever seen 1 that had a wound indicating a 1 lung hit, and that lung was just s nasty gross ball puss and clot. the would was healed over and it was from the previous season... almost all of them die, its jist a matter of days or weeks


That's not good odds..lol

My point exactly...
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby treeroot » Sat Sep 12, 2020 4:48 pm

A few years ago we had a coyote problem. If i didn't take up the track quick and push the deer the coyotes would. Those were very hard to track unless it was a good hit. That is another aspect I weigh in when deciding to push them or not.
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby mauser06 » Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:57 am

Another 1 lung possibility is too far forward quartering away.



I lost a buck like that a few years ago. Buddy bumped out a small ditch to me. It was like a buck parade. Atleast 4 shooters. I literally just sat down and opened a granola bar.... normally I'm sitting a while before the deer get to me...but this was a new spot and he wasn't real far from me when he started the push...

I spotted the biggest and he was a goodun. They came at a mid range trot about 30yds in front of me...He was just about to hit the thick brush and disappear. 35 Whelen and 225gr accubonds. I sent her. To my surprise, he didn't fall in a pile like they normally do when hit with that combo.


Half hour or so went by and I started the track job. Didn't take long and he opened up. Spraying. Good lung blood. Very little question about that to me.

He went down the ditch and up the other side. Stood in 1 spot and lost a decent bit of blood. Still looked great. Maybe 75yds down the ditch and 50 up the ditch. Not crazy far but had me nervous enough.


Long story short, it dried up a bit and he went into super heavy posted ground with a mansion. We weren't granted permission. Shots rang out a goooooood ways away... probably at the same deer...but not sure if mine was with them or not. No closure on it.


I'm 99% sure he was quartered away more than I realized and I tucked the bullet behind the shoulder...bullet came out the brisket between the shoulders.


He was climbing some tough terrain....I don't know that he was going to die anytime soon. Had I been able to push him, I don't know if the results would have been any different. I'd THINK if you could push him yards you might bleed him out. But who knows...and will there be enough blood to be able to track fast enough to push him hard...?



Maybe the same year. I think it was. I shot a buck halloween night. Somehow my arrow missed it's mark by a LOT. Arrow entered in front of the shoulder in the neck. Appeared to be angled back.


Long story short, I spotted that buck laying in a field several hours later. Head was swaying and he obviously looked very very hurt and like he was about to die. I left and came back the next morning expecting to find him right there. He was gone. He survived. I have pics of him almost a month later.

VERY confident that had I pushed him off that last bed, he'd been in a pile. 3 of us were within 75yds of him with lights and talking at normal levels and he wouldn't get up.
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Sun Sep 13, 2020 11:57 am

oldrank wrote:I believe most 1 lung shots are not one lung at all. I believe most are brisket, high back, shoulder, or just bad angles and running along the rib cage. Hunters use the one lung description to describe in reality a poorly hit deer. In my opinion if a deer is smoked through one lung it will die quickly. Having gutted literally hundreds of deer I have seen a ton of dead one lunged deer.

Now with that being said, as Lockdown stated. A high angle one lung that maybe catches the outside could possibly be an issue. I personally have never seen it. I have read about bucks with one lung being shot and the other lung was basically a ball of scar tissue.

If I shot a buck and knew he was one lunged 100% I would let him die. According to my readings if the chest cavity is punctured deaths is pretty much certain. That decision would mainly be based on the fact that I wouldn't want to push the deer off of the property I am hunting.

If weather was an issue I would get a dog in.

I agree! Most shots I make all look perfect In my head at the time of the shot. But come to find out after the recovery I was 8” from where I thought.

1 lung hit deer are still dead deer. But it sometimes takes skilled blood tracking, woodsmanship, patients, and a lil luck to ensure recovery. If I don’t see/hear a deer do the crappie flop I give them ample time. Only time I don’t is blistering heat or rain. In those cases I take up trail pretty quick.

For me, a high single lung hit is the hardest. It takes til blood fills up in lung to level of hole b4 u get any blood on the ground. Based on the speed the deer burns off at, it can be close to a 100 yards b4 u get a drop. But then it usually starts to pour.

Low single lung hit deer are an easier find as long as u give em time. Blood trail starts at the scene of the crime and they usually bed down pretty close if not pushed.

Also, I will add. If I get only one lung I like the angle going forward like a quartering away shot vs a quartering to shot.
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby cw2gsp » Tue Sep 15, 2020 2:02 am

dan wrote:I have been on a lot ofr one lung track jobs... If you hit guts or liver, wait to track them. i would say sat least 6 hours for liver, and at least 12 if guts and no liver. But, of all the one lung only deer I have tracked over the years, the only ones recovered were the ones pushed immediately, and then in most cases it had to be finished off... and Occasionally one that hits major vessels in the front of the lung and that generally puts them down fast. Its the same scenario every time, you get decent blood at 1st, and then you find a bed you kicked em out of and the blood disappears.

Keeping him moving does a few things...

1 keeps the wound open
2 keeps the heart heavy pumping
3 keeps the adrenaline which is a natural blood thinner going
4 wears him out and keeps him from having time to consider escapes.

Now, with that said, I have not recovered the majorly of one lung hits... The ones I have were either chased down and finished with a knife, or an additional arrow. If there is one single thing that will keep me from pushing its a small property with unfriendly neighbors.



Couldn't agree more. And even if you don't catch up the them after pursuing right away you can be sure you weren't going to find them if you let them wait 12 hours.
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby Hawthorne » Tue Sep 15, 2020 2:43 am

I’ve recovered two that were one lung hit. One was my largest buck. Both took awhile to die and both were still alive when I started tracking. They didn’t make it far after the first bump. Luckily they didn’t run far before laying down or they could of made it to the next county in the amount of time it took them to expire
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Re: One lung and tracking.

Unread postby Cvanheel » Tue Sep 15, 2020 2:45 am

I shot a doe last fall, and the angle was steep, but in my head it looked good. Well long story short i hit higher then i wanted to, and my arrow missed hitting the spine on the off side of the deer went down through the off side lung busted through the humerus. That deer took off leg flopping, and in my head it was a dead deer. I gave her an hour then picked up the track. followed really good blood for 100 yards. Found a wound bed. After the bed the trail got hard to follow like a few drops every 75 yards or so. long story short I followed that deer for 865 yards as she did a big circle headed back to the the same area I shot her in. This took me 6 hours or so, and when I did find her she was still alive. She couldn't get out of her bed at this time, and I quickly dispatched her. It was my first time tracking a one lung hit animal. I have been thinking about that ever since it happened. Thanks everyone for your response's. This is by far my favorite forum there must be 1000's of years of combined knowledge here. lol


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