Blood trail.....
Whitetail Deer
My son hit a nice buck tonight. Took up blood trail after 2hr wait. We didn't find much blood the 1st 30yds. We started seeing more with each step. By the 100yd mark we had a really good blood trail. Everytime the deer stopped there were big puddles on both sides of trail. He was headed NW for quite a ways and then took a turn S. We stayed on the trail which was easy to follow for another 150yds. We found the 1st bed at about the 350 yd mark. The bed was soaked with blood. I said I'd We find another bed close and he's not in it we're backing out. (We're expecting a 1/2" of rain over night) which made it worse. We go another 25yds and find another bed. Not as much blood, but enough. From that bed we struggled to find blood. The deer was going S when he bedded. After the 2nd he was heading W. Just a couple drops here and there was all we could find. We marked it on onX and going to grid search in the morning. He obviously clotted. Just couldn't believe after the amount of blood he was losing he clotted that quick and that good. The impact was a pass thru. Blood and longer brown hair at impact spot. The odd thing is the arrow had very little blood on it, but you could definitely smell it. Not a gut smell, just a deer smell. No trace of the hit being a gut shot. No particles or anything like that on arrow. Any thoughts??
https://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/find-a-tracker/
Amazing how much punishment they can absorb. Good luck!
Hope you find him. About the time I think I’ve seen it all, they can still amaze me. I shot a doe this week, shot was high and back but she was quartering away so the exit was good. Clean pass through, arrow soaked in lung tissue. Shot her in the edge of my woods and I watched her run over 400 yards across the neighbors picked bean field and fell over in a tiny spot of standing grass 3 foot wide. Have no idea why she didn’t run back into the woods and I have no doubt that she wouldn’t have gone nearly that far if she had. Both of her lungs were toast. Best of luck to you.
My neighbor's son hit a deer that tracked like yours. Ended up being a neck shot. I ended up going small game hunting with the bird dog to keep bouncing it up out of thick stuff. Recovered it after about five hours, I doubt it would have died without the pursuit. We would find another blood clot pushed out then a blood trail again. If his son hadn't been so adamant about it being a boiler room shot we would have stopped. A "void" or high hit can do that also.
Good luck in your recovery.
Brisket or muscle
liver or lungs you would have found him and you said not guts. Not much out there that could fit what you THINK you saw
Picture of the blood??? I’m leaving twords Bou’s camp or muscle or brisket with the details provided..
Sounds like a meat hit. Two beds close together could signal that he’s uncomfortable but he went a long ways before bedding so it may not be fatal. You almost can’t hit liver without hitting the stomach. Muscle tissue damage can/will bleed ALOT and suddenly clot up and disappear. Best bet is to search all likely areas near where you lost the track and see if you can find anything. Good luck!
Im guessing brisket also. They can bleed like crazy and then just stop. Ive trailed a few like you describe, and havent recovered them because they were still alive a week later on cameras looking fine.
Any luck finding your son's buck?
My bet is he's either alive or within 100 yards of last blood
He’s still tracking him based on timeframe since last post…
Must have been trolling us
I really hate the bloodtrail help threads that end up with no closure. Find it? Great post it up. Find it spoiled or devoured by scavengers? We share your disappointment and we learn along with you. Didn't find ot? Again we share the disappointment and join in the learning experience. Please come back and follow us on these. After all it gives us something hunting related to focus on, keeps us off the politics and Trans crap. Lol
Thank God got that, eh, Fuzz?
I tend to think that Lost Deer threads are bad PR for Bowhunting, but I would much rather associate with people who can acknowledge an error and ask for help than those who are convinced that they have a pipeline to The Truth….
FWIW, I’ve seen a carotid/jugular hit clot up and stop bleeding enough to track by blood, but fortunately he was feeling sick enough to be dragging his feet and I was able to track him to bed #2; I bumped him from that one as well, whereupon he ran off as best he could, about 60-70 yards, and crashed. That’s where he died, but it took a good while. Too close to a property line and no safe angle for a follow-up shot, so I just had to sit and watch. Worst day of my hunting career by MILES.
And you talk about blood on the ground… I blood-trailed him to his first bed without even getting out of the tree. Binoculars were all I needed. Blew my mind that he got up from the first, let alone a second bed.
I still recall a similar situation from about 40 years ago. Had experienced bowhunters with me who couldn't believe how far the deer went with the extent of the trail. After two days lost it. That last sign was a big oak leaf filled with blood. Back up about 70 years my Dad had a friend with the same scenario, found it. The only wound they found was on a foot.
Reminds me of the time I ran a marathon with a cut toe. EMTs pulled me aside after the race as they were sure I stepped on a nail or something. Minor wound but due to the stress could have been serious according to them.
These days I really, really focus on body posture and shot placement. Most deer shot go between 15-60 yds. But, as will all things there are exceptions, that my friends is bowhunting and a tracking skill is worth more than any GPS, phone app, drone etc.
Good Luck and hope he finds it. I have one on my wall I found over a month later in a spot I was sure I scoured,.
