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Advice

I shot an 8 pointer on Saturday before the thunderstorms hit. I didn’t track my arrow well but saw a splash in the stream directly below the deer from 20yards and assumed it went low. I found my arrow about 10 yards away (maybe it bounced off a rock) and the mechanical had white cartlidge and short white hair about 6 inches up the arrow. The deer kicked off and sprinted off, never stopped. I didn’t have time to search for blood trail. Did I go low? Any advice on how to track without a blood trail?

Sounds like brisket to me

Or belly. Fat and not cartilage. Why didn’t you have time to look ?

Started to thunder and lightning. Storm blew in quick

You always look. You do everything in your power to find the animal. You don’t worry about getting wet or going to work….. go back and grid search. For days if you have to. Then you’ll understand what this is about and what you owe the animal.

And then go get some lighted nocks and practice with them. So you can see your arrow. Shoot straight.

Mis typed I looked and did circles at the last spot I saw the deer. Did circles to up 50 yards moving 5 yards at a time, but no blood spotted while down pouring. Also cautious to push the deer since it was 20 mins after shot

Saw a deer hit low like that go a very long way. When it was found ,it had eviscerated through the wound. It did leave a slight blood trail and there was no rain. When rain is predicted I often ask myself if I want to chance wounding and loosing a deer because of weather. Great that you made an effort to track.

What blood said!!!! This new generation of hunter baffles me!!!!.(.thank face f**k and tv)..get on your hands and knees and look for overturned leaves,broken twigs,bent grass..everything looks different when you're down low......yes deer move to an extent in or before major storms ..but like BD said,weigh your options

I agree that it sounds like a brisket hit. Also, there are plenty of guys on this site that would help find a deer. If it was light hit or bad placement of a shot I wouldn't go looking for it right away, you're going to push the deer further and further away which mean more area to cover. I would back out and wait several hours, depending upon the hit, and then do a grid search slowly and methodically. From the deer's reaction sounds like a non-mortal wound.

We’ve all been there and it sucks. It happened to me last year and I’ve been at this game a long time. What you will learn is that each and every scenario is different and you need to make a decision. The correct decision comes with years of experience, so stick with it and learn from each event. Blood is correct in that the best tool to help eliminate these occurrences is a good lighted nock. Obviously the other variable is shot placement. My shot placement was a bit low last year but I didn’t know that because the cheap lighted mock I was using didn’t light. I found the deer the next day but not before the coyotes and believe it or not somebody beat me to it and cut off its antlers. It was a dreadful experience! But I learned from it

LB, that's a horror show.

Blood x3

Yup. Not that the size of the buck makes a difference in these situations but it was a 130” + 8 point that I had passed on for two years. He was 4 1/2 yrs by my calculations.

I lost deer like everyone else. But I too like everyone else look for broken twigs, bent grass, turned leaves , blood drips and don’t give up till exhausted the trail - do you mark last blood with marker - don’t go tromping thru - take step by step

Glad letitfly made a typo in original post and he actually made a solid attempt to track. Also happy to see the (mostly) positive response from the usuals offering tips on tracking and weighing shoot/don’t shoot situations, specifically weather-related. Young hunters need encouragement and help. I’m a young(er) hunter myself, and the positive responses encourage me to ask for help if I’m ever in need. Best of luck out there boys!

Brendan, every season is a lesson. We've recovered deer after finding one telling drop of blood.

"Any advice on how to track without a blood trail?"

Deer tend to circle around back to the area they came from in a situation like that. I'm guessing you were not in the areas where the tornados touched down?

Big dog, you are absolutely right. Luckily I have never shot at one I haven’t recovered, but certainly had some difficult tracks. I remember one a few years ago that a buddy of mine shot and went into a stream; no blood anywhere; but we packed a cooler and sat in the area for a few hours until the vultures started to circle, then did a grid pattern until we found her. In my comment I was merely stating that I’m glad the OP did look for the deer and am appreciative of the positive encouragement most gave rather than slam this dude for a typo or somewhat inexperience. If anyone needs some help in the northwest corner area I’m always here to do so. Sitting my ass in the stand right now multitasking work emails and grunt calls.

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