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Had a good buck come in at 9 am this morning. Extremely tight quarters at this stand meaning they can be on you & gone in seconds. Stopped him at a tight quartering away at 18 yard as I was settling the pin. He was on a good cruise when I stopped him. He continued to charge forward just as I shot. I think I hit him pretty far back. Maybe just before the ham or the ham itself angling pretty sharp into the deer. He bolted down the trail & into a mowed field. I lost sight of him because of the trees around me at about 100 yards out. Waited a bit & got down. Went to where I shot him & found a couple light gray hairs. Followed him down to the field & found a couple clumps of white hair. Then started finding blood. A little bit at first then lots of it. I'm a bit color blind so not sure if it's bright or dark.....looks kind of in between to me. Looks like he stopped about where I lost sight of him then took a hard right turn. Followed good blood for about 40 yards then it petered out to nothing. I did find a three or four foot area 10 yards past last blood that was covered in clumps of very dark hair & clumps of white hair. Just beyond that is a small hillside that drops down with very thick & tangled cover. I believe he hunkered up in there but not sure because of lost blood.
My question is should I wait till tomorrow morning to search the hillside or could I go an hour before sundown which would give it about 7 hours? We do have coyotes.
What kind of head? Cutting diameter plays a big part at this point in a gut hit IMO. Good chance you got something good as well though. Any idea if you got a pass through?
I'd wait five hours and that will give you a couple hours of light. If you can't follow blood, then use binos and move very slowly through the area you think he bedded. Good luck.
APauls........Muzzy Trocar HB Hybrid.
Not sure on pass through but with the clumps of dark & white hair I'm guessing it did but the arrow is still in the deer because I never found it. Using lighted nocks so should be easier to see.
Yep agree 5-6 hours. He will probably bed within a couple 100yds or so. Hope you find him.
gut shot never should have trailed him. probably push him out of the area. gut shot wait 8 hours minumin
I agree with Lamb. You may have bumped him already and lost him for good. I know its incredibly difficult to force yourself to back out and not start trailing, but that's what I do anytime I'm not absolutely certain I got both lungs. I had to learn that lesson the hard way. Hopefully you're lucky and didn't bump him, and find him not far off.
“ I did find a three or four foot area 10 yards past last blood that was covered in clumps of very dark hair & clumps of white hair. Just beyond that is a small hillside that drops down with very thick & tangled cover. I believe he hunkered up in there but not sure because of lost blood.”
Does that sound like he was biting at the arrow, trying to dislodge it?
Impatience is never your friend. Three times I’ve bumped mortally wounded animals that simply weren’t done dying yet. I don’t really recall on one, but neither of the others left any appreciable amount of blood past the first bed/stopping point. All recovered, but I could have made it easier for all concerned by just taking a seat for a couple hours.
Easy to say from here, but the white hair… I guess that’s a longer sit.
Question because of the color-blind thing…. Does one of those blood-trailing lights help you any? I’ve heard they make blood droplets really stand out, but I wonder if it would help with color blindness? Makes me wonder if they help any in daylight, for that matter….
A steep quartering away angle offers you very little white hair in the area of a normal kill shot. "or the ham itself ", very likely with that being where the white hair is, rearward and between the legs. If that is the case, hitting a femoral artery would be the only way it drops dead from your arrow.
If your stand is at regular height or higher, and you got white hair you hit him low. you know you hit him back, so all you can count on is guts IMO. Only deer I ever gut hit was last year. I gave him 4 hours, then bumped him. Came back 16 hours later and he was almost toast. Couldn't really move, but still technically alive. And that was with temps waaaay below freezing. Give him 8 minimum and all the best of luck.
hard quatering should have hit liver. He's dead, give it a couple hours and go.
Just saw this was yesterday, any followup?
Sorry for not responding sooner. Went looking around 2:30 Sunday afternoon. Brought my wife & a friend. My wife's one of the best blood trailers I know. It's uncanny to me how well she sees blood. Went to last blood I had found & she found a few drops more for about 40 yards then nothing after that. The area that had clumps of dark & white hair turned out not to be along the blood trail from this deer like I had initially thought. I had found the lower portion of a deer leg when exiting this field last week so I think coyotes must have gotten one.
The blood trail seemed to be heading to a trail that goes downhill & leads to a neighbors property. He & I are on good terms so there were no problems there. We grid searched till dark Then came back yesterday morning to look further. Never found it. The neighbor will call me if it shows up on his property.
So what I know for sure now is there were a couple of grayish hairs at point of impact. Found a couple clumps of white hairs where it entered the field. No blood at first then drips then a couple of pooled spots. The blood petered out to drips & pin drops after that.
For those of you who think I bumped the deer in the morning by trailing too soon I don't believe that is the case. I waited about 20 minutes before I got down & went to point of impact. I followed it into an open mowed field that is about 100 yards wide by about 250 yards long. The deer was not in the field & by all accounts had run across the field & left immediately. I never followed it further then part way through the field. I thank everyone for your comments & advise. Sometimes you second guess yourself & it's good to get others opinions.
Good luck guys!
Corax…...I've tried (fallen for) those blood trail lights. They don't work. I've found all of those color blind aids to be gimmicks. Like the guy says "a lot of fishing lures are designed to catch fishermen not fish"! :)
LOL…
Like I said… I’ve heard people rave about them, but I have not been motivated to plunk my money down just yet.
A good blood trailing dog would help the color blind!!!
Usually there is a local chapter who you can call to help. may cost a bit but if its worth finding the deer do it.
Nomad, I am really colorblind and have always needed help tracking my deer unless I see them go down. Last year I bought glasses called Blood Vision and they have been a game changer for me. I was on a track this year and I was the first to find blood and had no issue seeing the smallest specs. They even work well at night with a bright flashlight. They cost about $90 bucks and for me were so worth it I bought a back up pair.
Well Steve I looked them up & the videos are pretty good. I bought (maybe fell for again) a pair from Amazon which gives me free return till January 31 2022 so I figure I have nothing to lose. Our season here goes to December 31st so hopefully I'll have a chance to try them. Thanks for the tip!
Any blood trailing dog guys in your area? Probably would have been your best bet given all circumstances. Sorry you didnt find him - sounds like you gave it your best.
