Interesting hunt tonight-deer are tough!
Whitetail Deer
Shot a doe tonight here in Michigan. 15 yard shot looked perfect although there was a loud crack. Deer ran off like not hurt but that's how they react with black hornets from my experience.
After waiting a bit I climbed down and found me arrow and a good blood trail that started good then nearly petered out and after 200+ yards I was wondering what happened.
Then I walked right up on her and of course she was alive. Couldn't get a shot try as I might and she jumped up and ran across the road. I could see the entry hole top of create and literally spraying blood everywhere so much so I could hear it. Tracked her another couple hundred yards and again found her bedded tho this time I was watching for her and was able to shoot her again and finish the job.
The post mortem was quite interesting. The arrow hit exactly where I aimed, top of crease but apparently her leg was back and arrow deflected back and exited out brisket. One lung only. Amazing she went that far with a hole that big in her chest. Tough creatures for sure. Glad I pushed her a little because I was ready to back out and find her tomorrow.
From those more experienced than I am, is this the way to treat such a hit? Again I saw the arrow hit and if I walked up and put it there I would have hit the same spot. Or is it better to wait on single lung hits?
Craig
I think u nailed the recovery. Backing out isn't always the right play. Sounds like your experience and intuition kicked in. Good job!
Tough call, especially when you felt like you made a great shot on her. Better to wait, IMO. They can go a long way with only one lung, even survive it. Lots of variables, but I feel you would have a higher probability of recovery by backing out and not pressuring her and hopefully she dies in her bed, or weakened enough that she might stay bedded where you could, hopefully, slip in to finish her off in a few hours.
They can be amazingly tough for sure. Good job doing what you had to do, and congrats!!!
I double lunged a doe on Saturday with a .243, she sprayed like crazy from impact. We followed the blood trail just a touch over 550 yards(measured track on my onX maps app). I knew where my crosshairs were when i touched off, i spent the first 100 yds thinking she would be around the next tree. The next 200 yds i was absolutely baffled she could make it that far and started to think of what possibly could have happened. The next 100 i thought i hit somewhere really bad and i might not get her. The last bit of the track i was sneaking as quiet as possible because i was sure i wasnt going to get her and my only chance was to catch her in her bed, then there she was stone dead. In one lung, out the other. If anybody woulda told me that, i wouldnt have believed them.....
I help the doctor put in chest tubes all the time on people that have been operating on one lung sometimes for a day or two. There was an article in North American Hunter about ten years ago of a large buck arrowed in one lung. They found him the next day swimming down the river trying to avoid being shot again.
Congratulations on the recovery! I am of the school of thought no matter how good it looks to wait an hour before taking up the trail. I have had couple of what seemed to be supernatural experiences with deer that deer that looked to be hit perfectly. This year on a buck I took pictures of entrance, exit holes, and internal damage. I wish I had done this on three previous deer because all were it at virtually the same angle which was from 22 yards at about 18 feet. Two died within seconds and crashed within eighty yards. One started to waver at about seventy yards and went on to go another two hundred the freshened a scrape while spewing blood and dropped twenty yards away from the scrape. The fourth I sat in the tree and could see the blood blood covered arrow and could see the blood trail for first thirty yards. Long story short I backed out and came back the next morning. When We found the buck he was still alive nineteen hours later still alive. He wasn’t going anywhere but was still required another arrow. Every hit deer is different but all must be treated with extreme caution if you don’t see them fall.
Gotta play the odds, eh? If you think it’s a muscle hit and bleeding heavily, it’s probably best to keep their blood pressure up and keep ‘em moving so you don’t get coagulation started.
And just a thought.... The flight response releases epinephrine, which sends more blood to vital organs, so a peripheral hit in the lungs could bleed out a lot more if you push them, and running/heavy breathing are probably going to contribute to lung collapse and coughing up blood for you to follow... All of which sounds contrary to the standard thinking, but what would you do if your partner had a sucking chest wound? Tell him to sprint for help??
Just sayin’...
But it really depends on whether that would likely mean running them onto property to which you don’t have access.
And tracking/trailing conditions would be a factor. Plus, pushing like that would be absolutely the wrong thing on a gut-shot animal. No small consideration, as they’ll bleed out more readily if you allow them to come down out of fight-or-flight.
Backing up a step or two... I don’t much care for a shoulder hit because all that muscle can make it hard to get enough air in to collapse the lungs AND it can make it hard for much blood to leak out - so much so that a perfect heart shot can leave zero blood trail (BTDT) AND as you found, there are big, heavy bones there AND why poke a hole in your roast if you don’t have to?
So it sounds like maybe holding a couple inches farther back might work well for you? More margin for error and a taller target as well.
GF... I'm with you on holding back and staying away from the shoulder. I'd much rather be too far back by 3" than too far ahead. I've killed a lot of deer and haven't hit shoulder/leg in 20 some years. It sure seems that many TV hunters are hitting much farther ahead than I would be aiming but they're killing deer so whatever works for them.
I never push a deer regardless of blood loss theory. Deer are individuals but I play the best odds based on my personal experience and popular opinion. When guys who track deer with dogs and recover fifty animals a year tell me to wait then far be it from me to choose bleed a deer out by keeping it moving. I have seen many a well hit deer jumped from it’s bed turn into a tracking nightmare. Many of these were from inexperienced hunters who called for help after the fact.
I would like more input from guides who end up tracking more wounded animals than most.
GF & Fuzz that's a thought for sure. I've always just brought the pin up the front leg, bury it in the crease, and squeezed off. Maybe need to work at a new aiming point.
No matter how many 100’s of blood trails you go on, everyone’s different. It’s never over until it’s over. Follow-up/finishing shots are an integral part of bow hunting. Good job.
99% of the time just wait.
Now sometimes you shoot a deer in a thicket that's surrounded by miles of open farm fields so if it runs out there's no chance for loss.
That said if it's mortally wounded it's going to die so just backing out and coming back is best advice.
Very good indeed. Congrats.
