Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

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mtmaggard
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Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby mtmaggard » Mon Nov 03, 2014 1:39 pm

I posted this in the live from the stand thread and got some good responses. Now I have more info so I am looking for advice, thoughts, etc.

Around 9am I had a 150's 10pt come in trailing some does. I pulled back once and he never presented a shot before chasing them away from me. I got him to come back after grunting. Action was fast paced, he caught my scent as I was at full draw waiting for him to hit an opening at 25yds, and he ran back another ~7 yards and stopped quartering every so slightly away from me. I panicked and took a leaning shot to shoot around a small tree that was blocking part of his vitals. Not proud about attempting this shot.

I hit him low and back towards the middle of the body. And I mean really low. As he was running off I could clearly see blood from the wound but it wasn't pumping out. Here is an Image of where I believe the arrow hit (red dot):

Image

I backed out and gave him ~8 hours. Which only gave me 1.5-2 hours of daylight to try and see how things looked this evening. The arrow had very little blood on the shaft but it had a white fatty substance and blood on the fletchings. It did have a smell to it.

There was a good chunk of white/greyish hair at the spot he was shot and he started bleeding 5 yards after. But there was never a lot of blood anywhere. Just steady drops for the first ~80 yards then less as I went along. In total I believe I searched 200-250 yards where all I was seeing is drops of blood and at times it was hard to find. I stopped tracking at dark and decided it would be best to get some feedback and proceed tomorrow morning.

Any chance this deer will die from a shot like this? Any input is appreciated. I feel pretty bad about this situation.


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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby PLB » Mon Nov 03, 2014 1:49 pm

Tough to say? Thats pretty low. A little higher I would feel a lot more confident in your chances of recovery. You took him 200-250 yards after 8 hours with no beds or without jumping him. I would say your chances of finding him are slim. You gotta do all you can though tomorrow. Good luck!

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby HoosierG5 » Mon Nov 03, 2014 1:56 pm

If say no. If you didnt open his guts up or touch his liver he will live.

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Nov 03, 2014 1:58 pm

HoosierG5 wrote:If say no. If you didnt open his guts up or touch his liver he will live.

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Agreed, but you still need to look.

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby JoeRE » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:10 pm

If you hit where that dot is you caught guts and he will die. I guarantee the broad head sliced open the stomach on anything more than a graze all you have down there is skin, then maybe 1/2 thick fat and meat on his abdomen then its just stomach and intestines laying there. Low hits in the stomach are bad news, they seem to go further than normal gut shot deer.

Hope you find him - just treat him like usual with a gut shot deer. He will be dead unless it was just a graze or your blades were really dull.
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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby Zap » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:14 pm

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby Motivated » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:17 pm

Was it a mechanical broadhead? Did the arrow smell like guts or poop? If so you may want to keep looking.

In Indiana it is legal to use a leashed dog to track a wounded deer. I just checked.

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:20 pm

JoeRE wrote:If you hit where that dot is you caught guts and he will die. I guarantee the broad head sliced open the stomach on anything more than a graze all you have down there is skin, then maybe 1/2 thick fat and meat on his abdomen then its just stomach and intestines laying there. Low hits in the stomach are bad news, they seem to go further than normal gut shot deer.

Hope you find him - just treat him like usual with a gut shot deer. He will be dead unless it was just a graze or your blades were really dull.

I agree. If that's where you hit him an open gut wound will eventually kill him. Doubt it was a graze unless it was a very sharp angle shot which it wasn't.

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:23 pm

Was it flat terrain or hilly? The tallow on the arrow suggests brisket which puts the arrow farther forward.

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby mtmaggard » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:25 pm

It was a rage mechanical. Smelled bad but not intense like poop.

As far as shot angle. He was above me on the hillside 32-33 yards away so it wasn't a harsh angle at all.
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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:27 pm

You got guts.

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby mtmaggard » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:27 pm

BassBoysLLP wrote:Was it flat terrain or hilly? The tallow on the arrow suggests brisket which puts the arrow farther forward.

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Hilly. Gradual sloped hillside. Like I just posted he was above me so the shot angle is pretty good.
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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby Motivated » Mon Nov 03, 2014 9:29 pm

Please let us know what happens and good luck!

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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby dan » Mon Nov 03, 2014 9:45 pm

You got guts and the deer will die... You should contact the dog tracker guys before the scent gets to old. If that deer still has a good scent the dog will run right to it.
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Re: Bad hit on a buck - Need opinions

Unread postby PLB » Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:19 pm

dan wrote:You got guts and the deer will die... You should contact the dog tracker guys before the scent gets to old. If that deer still has a good scent the dog will run right to it.

Agreed. I used a dog the next morning on my 10 pointer in 2008.

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