help please

thanks. one more question. if i shot it at about 1 pm and i let it be so it wouldn't bump away and say i get lucky enough to find it tomorrow, what are the chances the meat is salvageable?

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Originally Posted by punkrockerpj

i rattled in a nice buck who came charging in this afternoon with his nose to the ground. i aimed at the shoulder and let the smoke ring out. looking back, I wish i tried to stop him to get his attention. the first shot stopped him and he put his tail between his legs and hunched down like a dog. i went to take the 2nd shot and click-- a misfire. both slugs, at about 40 yards in the bush. after the click he didnt take off but he did kind of saunter off where i could not hear him crash and did not hear him run off like deer do when spooked. waited and then checked the site where i shot. no blood. looked in the direction where i saw him take off and no blood trail.

I'm really hoping i missed him, but some nagging feeling is telling me i gutshot him. i spent about 20 minutes looking for blood and when i saw nothing, i packed up and left wondering if i hit him and he bed down somewhere. of course i went home and googled "gut shot, tail between legs, hunched down like dog" and of course a plethera of comments came up.

without dragging me through the mud for not putting him on the ground immediately with a slug or trying to stop him, what are your thoughts?
of course i'm going to be looking for him, but has anyone ever had a similar experience?

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Based on your description of his actions after the shots were taken I would say you have a good possibility of a gut shot deer. When he heard that click of the misfire, he should have taken off like a rocket. The fact he hunched over and saundered off tells me he is in pain from moving. You not hearing anything (crashing or moving through the bush like a deer spooked) tells me he probably bedded down right away.

You looking around the shot sight probably didn't bump him. When you say you looked in the direction he took off, how far did you look? Again a cursory look (25 yards or so) may not have bumped him. If you did bump him, he will head to water (he probably will head to water regardless) and move downhill.

Packing up and leaving was a good choice. I was taught 8 hours is the minimum you leave a gut shot deer. Look for a murder of crows in the direction he was travelling, they might tell you where the body lays.

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Originally Posted by punkrockerpj

thanks. one more question. if i shot it at about 1 pm and i let it be so it wouldn't bump away and say i get lucky enough to find it tomorrow, what are the chances the meat is salvageable?

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In this weather,chances aren't good that the meat will be good,especially,if it's gut shot. Coyotes may have got at it already. I'm sorry to hear about this,but,despite our best intentions,sometimes this happens.

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Originally Posted by punkrockerpj

thanks. one more question. if i shot it at about 1 pm and i let it be so it wouldn't bump away and say i get lucky enough to find it tomorrow, what are the chances the meat is salvageable?

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Well, tbh, it would depend on a lot of factors. Right now, deer are insulated from the cold and retain heat very well. As we all know heat is what spoils meat. Coupled with the fact if it was a gut shot, you have intestinal bacteria contributing to the spoilage, there could be a good portion of meat spoiled. If the yotes got on to him, well, you very well might not have any meat fit for human consumption. on the other hand, the yotes may have done you a favour and opened him up for you.

I wish you the best of luck recovering him. While it may not be easy, he is recoverable.

Dyth

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

In this weather,chances aren't good that the meat will be good,especially,if it's gut shot. Coyotes may have got at it already. I'm sorry to hear about this,but,despite our best intentions,sometimes this happens.

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You beat me to it. :p

punkrockerpj,

Please let us know if you find him.

Dyth

Look for a squirrel maybe a flying squirrel leaped out to save the buck. Seems to be the new thing. The deer are maybe paying them with acorns lol.

Good luck with your search its been almost 24 hours since the shot.

thanks all. i went back this morning and looked around. another group had just shot a buck when i got there and found it right way. i felt jealous, but knew it wasn't mine as it was fresh and still rather limp.
buddy and my dog looked around for a few hours with nothing. he thinks i've missed. i like to believe him but there will always be the nagging feeling that i should've thrown buckshot in first and then a slug 2nd. there are many "what ifs" i'm asking myself, but i do that every time i get in front of a deer and either dont take the shot, or miss.

thanks for not flaming me over this guys and gals. i hope someday to have a picture of a deer down. for now, i'll live vicariously through the hunting group that hit the buck this morning and found it.

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Originally Posted by punkrockerpj

thanks all. i went back this morning and looked around. another group had just shot a buck when i got there and found it right way. i felt jealous, but knew it wasn't mine as it was fresh and still rather limp.
buddy and my dog looked around for a few hours with nothing. he thinks i've missed. i like to believe him but there will always be the nagging feeling that i should've thrown buckshot in first and then a slug 2nd. there are many "what ifs" i'm asking myself, but i do that every time i get in front of a deer and either dont take the shot, or miss.

thanks for not flaming me over this guys and gals. i hope someday to have a picture of a deer down. for now, i'll live vicariously through the hunting group that hit the buck this morning and found it.

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No one should be flaming you about the shot. We have all had it happen to us. However, I encourage you to keep looking. I was hunting with a fellow bowhunter and we looked two days for a deer he had shot before we had to give up searching. You tag has been filled and you might as well try to get the antlers from the body.

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Originally Posted by punkrockerpj

thanks. one more question. if i shot it at about 1 pm and i let it be so it wouldn't bump away and say i get lucky enough to find it tomorrow, what are the chances the meat is salvageable?

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Id of been looking all day if I shot at that time. Theres still 5 hours of light left. Why leave?