Help with shot/wounded deer

[Turbo6]

Hey guys I need a little guidence on a deer I shot at today.

A few weeks ago, I had a deer jump the string on me for a clean miss at 37 yards. Today At 7:30 am the biggest buck of my life stepped out at 30 yards and I took a shot, maybe a little low because of what happened a few weeks ago.

I hear the arrow hit and he jumped up and ran towards the woods. Ashe enters I see my arrow get flung in the air and I start thinking I hit the shoulder blade. It all happened so fast. So I stayed in the stand for 30 minutes then got down to just go look at the arrow. Looks like a complete pass through. HereÂ’s a pic:




So I looked where he entered the woods and saw some blood:


Decided to walk a little more since it was pretty consistent and 10 yards away I see this:

5 more yards:

I look about 10 more yards down the trail and I see him laid down. I step on a branch and he pics his head up, stares at me for 15-20 seconds then runs off.

This was the last spot he was laying in:


I walked out of the woods and went back to camp to meet a friend and we let him lie for about an hour. We went back and were not able to pick up and blood and spent about an hour just walking in circles. I then called a buddy with a trained dog and we went out about an hour after that to try and pick up the trail.

The dog was able to find 1-2 spots of blood every 25-50 years or so for about 200 yards. We then kicked up a deer without seeing if it was him and that was it. We walked and tried to get some blood the area it was at but nothing. The last spot was a single drop similar in color to the pics.

So any idea on what happened? Too low? Too forward? Do you think he will live to fight another day or should I get back out there tomorrow am.

Thanks

[Chance Love]

You need a better dog. How big is your place?

[Turbo6]

whole ranch is about 1000 acres.

Why would I need a better dog if he found the blood?

[JudoLeyba]

I think you may have gut shot the deer. That would explain why he bedded down fairly quickly (10 yards down the trail), and the solid material on the arrow.

[Krivoman]

A better dog will usually get the smell of the deer along with the blood. He dont need blood. Good luck but that is alot of Blood to not find him.

[Quackerbox]

Buzzards in the morning

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[TXJIM]

Anyone's guess here is just that, a guess. Had a very similar experience last year with a buddy who shot low on a big buck. Similar looking arrow after the shot and similar blood trail to your pics. Dog helped us find blood after we lost the trail. Dog lost the trail after a few hundred yards into the neighbors ranch (after we got permission). Deer showed up on camera at the same spot a few weeks later.

[fish4food]

whole ranch is about 1000 acres.

Why would I need a better dog if he found the blood?

Dog would have stayed on trail without blood or any other visible signs. Dog would have caught and bayed the deer till you got there to kill it.

Why didn’t you shoot it when it looked at you 15-20 seconds.

[Sika]

whole ranch is about 1000 acres.

Why would I need a better dog if he found the blood?

Not all tracking dogs are created equal. Some dogs are better than others.

[Grayson]

Where are you located?

[ghost]

I hit one low (right under heart) this year and she did the exact same thing. I recovered after three hour wait 300 yards away and tracking was rough. Found huge pools of blood where she laid down four times.


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[Burnadell]

I know that sickening feeling. Good luck.

[txhunter007]

I hope you recover him.

[Turbo6]

Where are you located?

San Marcos.

I called another tracker and we are headed out there tonight. More experienced dog.

[flywise]

I wont try and guess where you hit him or how good the dog was but I'd reccomend keeping shots to 20 or less and dou let lung them.