Bowhunters nightmare

np307

Ten Pointer
Happened to me tonight. Nice buck came in and I took a 20 yard shot. Everything felt right. Thought I heard him crash. Gave it 10 or 15 minutes went to look, and couldn't find hair or blood or my arrow. He was quartered to slightly and I was hunting from the ground, so I'm not too sure what the outcome will be. Didn't want to push him and my light was dying so I backed out and will go back in the morning.

I'm fairly new to this, so I'll ask a probably stupid question. Will most guys with a dog come out even if you can't find blood? Planning on calling and asking tomorrow morning.

I keep replaying the shot in my mind and I'm almost positive that I hit him. Hopefully tomorrow holds either a clean arrow or a found deer.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
You are very wise on the dog. You can sleep tonight knowing you have done the best thing towards a resolution. that crash sound is hard to duplicate or imagine.

Good Luck. Look Forward to the happy recovery pics.
 

Sp8

Ten Pointer
Good luck finding the your buck. You did the best thing you can do in my opinion, you didn't try pushing the deer and disturbing the scent trail with your scent. It'll make it easier for the dog to pick up the trail since you didn't go walking around. Keep us posted
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You made the right choice.

Its hard to make yourself not track at night especially when its this hot and you want to save the meat, but by waiting for the dog you're giving him the best possible shot at recovering it; it would be better if there was some visible blood to start the dog on, but if there were, we wouldn't need the dog, would we? As long as you're certain where the spot is that the deer was standing when you arrowed it, a good dog should be able to pick up the scent from microscopic blood droplets that we can't see.

Good luck on the recovery. By chance, are you the fellow from Halifax county who called me last night around 830pm?
 

Crappie_Hunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Sometimes it takes a little while to see a blood trail depending on where the deer was hit. Sometimes a gut shot or a shot that was a little high might take a few yards to show up... hope you find him!
 

np307

Ten Pointer
Well sorry for those who wanted a happy ending. A big thanks to Jesse Houser and Semper because that dog did some good work. Never found blood or hair around the shot site but he picked the trail up. We went probably thirty yards and found a good patch of blood. Thought we were in the money and kept tracking. After 1/3 of a mile we finally saw the next drops of blood. It was fresh and it was high. We waited for thirty minutes and went back at it but no more blood and no signs of the deer bedding down. Pretty sure it was a high shoulder shot from the height of the blood on the brush. We finally had to back out and call the search off. Never found the arrow.

At least I know I wasn't imagining hitting the deer, but I'd honestly rather have a miss than a bad hit. Hopefully he lives but it's out of my hands.
 

np307

Ten Pointer
You made the right choice.

Its hard to make yourself not track at night especially when its this hot and you want to save the meat, but by waiting for the dog you're giving him the best possible shot at recovering it; it would be better if there was some visible blood to start the dog on, but if there were, we wouldn't need the dog, would we? As long as you're certain where the spot is that the deer was standing when you arrowed it, a good dog should be able to pick up the scent from microscopic blood droplets that we can't see.

Good luck on the recovery. By chance, are you the fellow from Halifax county who called me last night around 830pm?
You're right on the dog picking up the trail without any visible blood. That's amazing to watch. No, that wasn't me. I'm in Montgomery county.
 

kilerhamilton

Old Mossy Horns
I always like to say "if I had every buck I stuck an arrow in I'd have a trophy room full" not proud of that but if you hunt long enough it happens.

Happened this year. Found him after 5 days.

Shot one the year before last and couldn't find. Had great blood. Big velvet main frame 8.

Sorry to hear you didn't get your deer.

Sent from my ASUS_A006 using Tapatalk
 

Tar Heel Sportsman

Four Pointer
hate to hear that, i have had very similar situations to yours- last year, brother shot an 8pt with a 7mm Rem Mag and not a drop of blood... brought in a dog and he sniffed it up in a matter of minutes. Year before i shot a good buck with a bow and found a heck of a trail, but blood stopped and never could find the deer. unfortunately this time i did not bring in a dog. I am saying all of this to say that while yes your situation is unfortunate, getting a dog was a great idea, and i dont think you could've done anything better. The season is early, so best of luck for the rest of the year!
 

np307

Ten Pointer
hate to hear that, i have had very similar situations to yours- last year, brother shot an 8pt with a 7mm Rem Mag and not a drop of blood... brought in a dog and he sniffed it up in a matter of minutes. Year before i shot a good buck with a bow and found a heck of a trail, but blood stopped and never could find the deer. unfortunately this time i did not bring in a dog. I am saying all of this to say that while yes your situation is unfortunate, getting a dog was a great idea, and i dont think you could've done anything better. The season is early, so best of luck for the rest of the year!
No doubt. It's never as cut and dry as we hope. Still plenty of season left, but you don't get many opportunities at nice bucks on public land. He'll haunt me for a while I'm sure.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Sorry it did not end with a recovery. It seems though that you got confirmation of a less than lethal hit.
Hope you get dead on the ground verification this season. It does happen.
 

np307

Ten Pointer
Digging this thread up because I finally decided to go back to ground zero. Started walking the trail I had marked on OnX. Found the arrow about 20 yards from where the buck was. I'm assuming shoulder blade. The camera that I had put in this area got stolen about a week after I placed it and I haven't felt like going back in. Put another out today to see if by some crazy chance he's still around.
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DBCooper

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I found what would complete that broken arrow inside my 2010 buck, when I field dressed him.

Tough outcome. Get back on the horse.
 
Sorry to hear about your deer and your camera. It sucks that some people, in my daughters words "poopy" cant help but steal something that someone else worked hard to buy. Karma will come for them sooner or later.
 

np307

Ten Pointer
Sorry to hear about your deer and your camera. It sucks that some people, in my daughters words "poopy" cant help but steal something that someone else worked hard to buy. Karma will come for them sooner or later.
Unfortunately I expected it to happen. That's why I only put "cheap" cameras out on public land. Thankfully that's the only one I've had stolen so far, and I got lazy with its location.
 
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