Thoughts on shot?
Wisconsin
Contributors to this thread:
Is the ground soft where he shot? Did he hear the distinct crack of the arrow hitting bone? Either the arrow stuck into the top of the shoulder or buried into the ground far enough you can't see it. No way that arrow would have not exited that deer in a soft tissue hit that close. I would look at the area for hair or something of a hit.
A lot of things unknown. Yes there will be blood at some point depending on the hit. If it's stuck in the top shoulder of the deer, it would take awhile. I can't believe he could not see or hear a hit like that though?. You need to find that arrow or hopefully see the deer again.
I took a shot like this probably 30 years ago. The arrow hit at the side of the spine but between two ribs. The tip of the broadhead (likely a thunder head 125) went just far enough into the rib cage that it poked into the very top of one lung. Two of the blades cut into the two ribs right where they attach to the spine which is why the arrow stopped so soon.
The deer ran another 40 ish yards and stood there a minute or two then walked away. I backed out for several hours. Only a couple specs of blood where he stood. Nothing after that, all I had to track were disturbed leaves and a track once in a while. Found him dead about 50 yards later.
Don't be discouraged by lack of blood. The hole is as high as it can be and blood has nowhere to go but inside of him. If he cut into the spinal cord he would have dropped right there. If he is bleeding internally you need to track the old fashioned way, watch for birds, get a tracking dog, or grid search. Maybe a hand held heat sensor.
The best advice has already been given but once again I thing this proves the benefit of lighted knocks.
It is possible for the arrow to deflect several feet, depending on size and location of the branch. The buck wouldn’t blow at him if he was hit, but he could have been coughing to try to clear his lungs. If that’s the case, he would be dead within a few yards of that spot. Was it too dark for him to see the deer good enough to see if an arrow was in him? Was it too dark to see his arrow fly? If it was too dark, he was probably shooting after hours. If he wasn’t shooting after hours and couldn’t track the arrow flight, it more than likely had a major deflection off the branch.
I would hunt your stand if the weather is good, if you have the rain or snow like I’m having, I would take a little walk and look for the deer where he heard it blow and look for the arrow by his stand.
A walk might answer some of your questions if your not going to hunt that area today.
Don't worry about it, just watch for the deer, dead or alive.
What makes him and hunk it's the same deer? After an hour the buck he shot was likely nowhere near but ten other deer could have walked by.
Shooting straight down is not an easy shot and should not be taken unless you have practiced how to bend and know what pin to use. Typically it's 40-50 yard pin.
"Shooting straight down is not an easy shot and should not be taken unless you have practiced how to bend and know what pin to use. Typically it's 40-50 yard pin"
I dont understand that logic one bit???
I found a real nice buck a few years ago dead. The guy must have shot directly down as well. The broadhead was in the spine, but must have not severed his spinal cord. I assume there was no blood or very little. It's a bad shot to take. Hopefully it's a lesson learned for that guy
Sounds like it could be a arrow deflection by a branch to me. I took a stupid shot like this when I first started hunting and never found the deer. Now I wait for the perfect shot. I can live with a hit and no get on a broad side shot, but never again on shooting straight down on a deer. I would still go and check out the area where he shot at the deer.
This sound like a shot that might have been taken in really low light. Not knowing where the arrow went is troubling. I don`t use lighted nocks but use visible fletchings or wraps. Blood might not be found on a high hit as stated before. The only way to find this deer is to look. But only if you KNOW you hit the deer.
I have shot many "straight down" deer and recovered them. The target on a straight down shot is the heart.
Tough shot as the margin of error is smaller than side shots.Easy to torque bending that much and no way would i expect as much penetration as from a side shot. My 15 yard pin is 1" hi on a straight down.
“I dont understand that logic one bit???”
Any bow shot less than 4 yards usually requires your 40 or 50 yard pin to hit where you want, a straight down shot would be less than 4 yards. Horizontally, which is what you go with. The reason it works, is because your arrow arcs at 20 yards, even though you may think it shoots flat, so you will hit low at 3 yards with a 10, 15 or 20 yard pin. It works the same way on chipmunks with a scoped 22, at 5 yards you need to aim about an inch over its head to actually hit it in the head.
Try a 3 yard shot once, it’ll blow your mind.
Almost forgot, if you don’t bend at your waist, a straight down shot will be off too. Add that to the chance of your limb, cam or string hitting something unintentionally...there’s a lot that can go wrong with those shots.
I’d meet your neighbor at his stand and spend a few minutes looking for the arrow, I’d bet that it’s a few yards from where the deer was when he shot.
A blood dog follows the scent of the interdigital gland that is immediately going into shock. It does not need blood to follow a deer. Similar to seeing buck after buck following the same hot doe hours after she walked by. I love having the insurance of a blood dog near by.
Where I hunt ANY iffy shot should be avoided, and I mean ANY!
The old days of leaving one overnight, or even a few hours wait equals well fed coyotes. We're overrun with em. My son left one for 1 hour in broad daylight last saturday. He called me when he hit it, said it was a dead solid hit, and he heard it crash...but he still left to get a buddy to help.
In that 1 hour, yotes had already started on his ass.
If I don't have "the shot", I'm not drawing it back. Even at that, $#!+ happens...I get it...but I'm not going to risk a tough shot.
The deer ran, stopped, and blew = miss (and a pissed off deer). Darkness and non-lighted nock is probably the answer on the arrow. It can be hard to find an arrow in day light much less darkness. Would like to know what sound he heard at the shot though. Always nice to have a mystery solved so keep us posted!
maybe the arrow is sticking into the branch that he assumes it may have hit, look up maybe you will find the arrow.
Pete - Glad you mentioned that as too many guys I know think the dog needs blood to track.
Hit deer can definitely blow at you. My Dad shoulder shot a buck and it blew at us and sounded very pissed!
I'm willing to bet he hit that shoulder blade and the arrow stuck in it. He probably heard the loud crack at the shot. No way is he going to shoot down like that with a miss and not find the arrow.
My bet is the arrow is in the deer, and did not penetrate through the bottom of the chest cavity so no blood draining out on the ground. Deer likely dead or with a serious wound probably leading to infection/death in time.
I'm betting he hit the deer. I helped my friend track a buck that blew at him after he was shot. I've talked to other people who've had it happen to
I have assisted on many track jobs & heard many deer blow at that time but I don't think any were the wounded deer. Perhaps he missed seeing another deer while concentrating on the shooter. I have shot a couple straight down way back & saw both go down but was surprised that neither time the arrow stuck through or had a drop of blood. This was back in the 70 to 80 pound 4 wheeler bow days. That was enough to know not to do it again. It would have been nice to look for hair. I have also tracked & retracked looking for a missing arrow half & sometimes they must snap & land in no mans land.