help please

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?

Possible brisket shot?! A little low maybe!? Wouldn't produce the blood a gut shot would in turn maybe why no blood. The fact he hunched like he did says you hit him. Thankfully dry night tonight, circle the spot extending your range on each rotation could travel fair distance before blod sign. If brisket he will be down. Guy in camp brisket shot couple of years ago and deer travelled half mile before down. Good luck, I know the sick feeling!

You might need to be on hands and knees. Blood trails aren't always that evident. Start your search where you shot, to where you last saw him. Mark any blood with trail tape or toilet paper. Good luck.

Ya good call Jim, marker tape. Should be in every hunters pocket. We all intend to clean kill when we shoot but sometimes it unfortunately does not happen. Always mark your last spot of blood. Always nice to have a bud with you, spot blood, stop, find next blood. too many guys ground gets trampled and lose your blood. I never let anyone get ahead of me when tracking, take your time. weather on your side. blood will still be there tomorrow

Grid search the area in the light. Sometimes the body cavity fills up with blood first before coming out causing a delay in picking up blood splatter.

If you were on the ground when you shot the exit and entrance holes are pretty much level so he might not bleed until the level reaches one hole or the other. He'll be bleeding into his body. Sounds like you hit him for sure. Did you wait an hour after you shot to let him die? If you started looking right away he likely moved when he heard you. It's safe to take a good look now.

Use toilet paper for your trailing markers. It picks up reflection immediately and so much better at night whereas red flagging tape doesn't (unless its reflector tape). Place it at chest height and use your flashlight to shine back and get an idea of a direction of travel. Hard to do this with flagging tape. The tp usually disintegrates after a period of time so theres no mess left behind.

thanks guys. i wish you were saying i missed. will let you know if i find anything as i would rather find this guy and tag him without the meat than to find a set of antlers a few months from now.

I have been there, know he feeling. You could call in a tracking dog if you do not find it, they will find it quickly:

http://biggamesearchon.com/

A tracking dog is the way to go. Good luck.

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?

work. i wish i could spend the whole day looking. i'll be looking the next time i get out there, as well as during other times when i hunt that property. also keeping an eye on the roads and letting neighbours know. it's a highly pressured area so it won't suprise me if someone else manages to find him or has already. if he's left the bush i hunt, it's very likely someone else saw him and shot him as there are a ton of other parties.

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Originally Posted by blasted_saber

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

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An active animal will restrict blood flow to it's secondary organs (intestines, etc) to increase oxygenated blood flow to muscles. When at rest, the opposite occurs. If a gut shot deer is bumped constantly and not resting, little blood will flow from the wound. The best bet is to leave it alone and let it rest (increasing blood flow to the wound) and hopefully it will expire.

it happens...hang in there

I would never leave an animal shot at 1pm longer then an hour before searching, especially in this heat. If its not found its wasted that night. I would be going crazy if I wasnt out looking for it.

The OP has extenuating circumstances though, so he cant be blamed.

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Originally Posted by Dythbringer

An active animal will restrict blood flow to it's secondary organs (intestines, etc) to increase oxygenated blood flow to muscles. When at rest, the opposite occurs. If a gut shot deer is bumped constantly and not resting, little blood will flow from the wound. The best bet is to leave it alone and let it rest (increasing blood flow to the wound) and hopefully it will expire.

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Originally Posted by blasted_saber

I would never leave an animal shot at 1pm longer then an hour before searching, especially in this heat. If its not found its wasted that night. I would be going crazy if I wasnt out looking for it.

The OP has extenuating circumstances though, so he cant be blamed.

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A gut shot deer doesn't die right away. It takes hours. Until the deer expires, the meat is fine. If you look too soon for a gut shot deer, you risk bumping the animal and since there is no blood trail to follow you have an extremely good chance of loosing that deer. The heat does suck but I would rather lose a good portion of the meat than bump a deer and lose all of it.

Ive seen gut shot deer with a bow still alive ten hours later. Only way I found him was snow on the ground.

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Originally Posted by Dythbringer

A gut shot deer doesn't die right away. It takes hours. Until the deer expires, the meat is fine. If you look too soon for a gut shot deer, you risk bumping the animal and since there is no blood trail to follow you have an extremely good chance of loosing that deer. The heat does suck but I would rather lose a good portion of the meat than bump a deer and lose all of it.

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Yup, I agree.
In my experiences a gut shot deer is usually a tough recovery if recovered at all. If they get bumped they can go very far and probably off the property.
Every gut shot deer I've ever helped track has headed for some water source. Look close to a creek, pond or a swamp. Try to follow the tracks if you can. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Obi-wanShinobi

Yup, I agree.
In my experiences a gut shot deer is usually a tough recovery if recovered at all. If they get bumped they can go very far and probably off the property.
Every gut shot deer I've ever helped track has headed for some water source. Look close to a creek, pond or a swamp. Try to follow the tracks if you can. Good luck.

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I have read they head for water because a gut shot deer usually dies from blood poisoning and the fever from it makes them hot and thirsty.

But, he shot it yesterday afternoon right?

Mark

One year,I killed a doe with the bow near last light and it was 60 degree weather ( long story) and I didn't find it until noon. It was still good.

The old timers use to say they would stand in the cold water the same reason you would use ice on a wound or injury, inflammation, swelling, pain relief and clot the wound but then again hunting season use to be a lot colder.

If you're not prepared to use a sick day then I don't think that hunting before work is a good idea at all.