Help! Wounded buck

I shot a giant this morning. 40 yards out. Think I hit him a bit back. Found arrow about 20 yards from where I shot him with the broadhrad abd about 4 inches broke off. About 25 yards later, alit of bright red bkood. After I hot him he ran about 60 yards n started walking again. Followed blood for about 00 yards. Bright red blood with no bubbles. Finally lost blood and no deer yet. Any ideas?

Soooooo.....Ya got a good look during gun season?? and he isnt dead why?? The air pocket between the lungs and spine.

sorry for such a late post on here. but no I never did find my buck from last season. I believe I have a camera pic of him from later that season and I saw him during gun season. walks pretty good and only has a little limp. saw his left side during gun season so couldn't really tell where I hit him on his right side. but glad he lived and not going to make that mistake again this year. thanks everyone for your input and advice.

Oh how I miss these threads especially with all the crossbow debate for the last month. Nothing new from either side. Just beating the same dead horse over and over. Lets talk about anything else for a few days guys.

IMO, don't shoot over 20-25 yards. Remember this feeling, and hope you never have to feel it again. Learn from your mistake, sorry you didn't find your buck. Better luck next time!!!

This is the experience that i had this year. I had a buck come in at 25 yards, tried to stop him in my shooting lane but he kept on going. I squeezed off the shot which was a mistake now looking back at it. I thought i hit him good, he ran 10 yards and walked into the brush with his tail tucked. I waited for 30 min. and got out of my stand looked at my arrow and it was full of bright red blood which i thought looked good. I shot him at 8 a.m. and started looking for him at 11:30. We tracked him about 60 yards when we jumped him and he walked off. So we backed out thinking i hit the liver. We went back out at 3 and tracked him on hands and knees for about 100 yards and lost blood in a big section of marsh grass so we started grid searching the grass with no luck. It was about 6 when we decided to call it for the day. Right before i jumped into the truck with my dad i asked him if he checked the pond that we were parked by. He said he walked around the outside but never checked in it. SO i went up the bank and walked around the edge. I jumped him about half way around he ran 40 yards and stood there starring at me. After about 5 min. he started getting lower and lower and then he collapsed. So with that i got out of there and left him over night. The next morning we creped in real slow and found him laying dead where i saw him bed down. The longest and hardest track job i have been involved with.

Sorry to hear about your experience. I know a lot of hunters can make a 40+ yard shot under ideal conditions. But the problem is were the conditions ideal? If you're in the woods how often do you have a 40-50 yard shooting lane. And if you're draw weight is mediocre the arc of the arrow may glance off something you didn't think was in the way. Tough lesson but it happens. Just have to make the next one count!

last year, I shot one and thought for sure that it would be dead. The way that the blood trail looked, but it went on for ever and no deer, blood went dry, game over, sometimes it just happens. It's hard to stop but eventually you have to stop. I still cant forget about mine!

Do you know anyone with a "blood dog" they say that up to 7 days even after a hard rain they can still track the deer, I would give that a whirl, if interested I have a guy you can call. But to me it sounds like a muscle hit and he will live, but like I said see if you can find a blood tracking dog.

Sadly enough the honest truth if you spend any amount of time in the woods whether you are a "woodsmen" or weekend warrior it happens. Part of hunting. I have 3 or 4 nice bucks that should be on my wall that I hit and thought I took good shots and never found them. Part of hunting. I had a dandy 2 years ago come in broadside at like 15 yards and I thought I smoked him perfect. Found my arrow and only like 3" of penetration in his shoulder. Found lots of blood but eventually faded away. That buck still haunts me.. You just have to accept it and learn from your mistakes. If anyone bowhunts enough and spends lots of time in the woods its bound to happen no matter how much you practice and spend time shooting.

Sorry you dint find him, it sucks happened to me last year , good luck rest of season !

If you are a bow hunter it will, or has happened to you. It makes any hunter really feel bad when he wounds a deer and doesn't recover it. I too shoot a 50# bow and have beaten paper targets to death over the years. I have won a couple of times in archery leagues and consider myself a fairly good shot. But, shooting targets and shooting deer are two totally different things. I will not shoot in the woods over 20 yards with my 50# bow. I also would not take a shot at a deer in, or slightly before it's going to rain. I am not questioning your thinking, I am just stating my thinking, right, or wrong. I wish you the best in your future hunts, but please be aware that you are limited with a 50# bow.

I dont think I saw it mentioned but have you considered getting some blood glow? Take a look at this thread on the QDMA forum. I have no affiliation with this company/product just saw it mentioned on this other forum. http://www.qdma.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53454

sorry for the delay, well after looking till 11 am that day, and from 7 am till noon yesterday and a few hours this morning, still no dead deer found. i guess its a lesson learned the hard way which sucks but its life. looked around the creek in the corner of my property, looked by the pond, looked through some tall grass where there are a ton of rubs and a mess of beds, looked in some thick nasty cover, still nothing. rain that we had that night washed any blood away so we just started grid walking the property and never found any more sign of the deer. im sorry if this offended anyone or made them made, but like i said, lesson learned. im going to think twice about taking any shot over 30 yards now. also forgot to mention that my bow is maxed out at 50 pounds which im sure isnt much. dont know if i was shaking too much, misjudged the angle of the deer, or what happened but this is all my fault. im not going to put the blame on the arrow or the broadhead or the deer, its on me. it sucks this happened this way but the season continues. thanks everyone for the advice and tips. i really appreciate it. ive been sick to my stomach since the moment we lost blood. going to put some trail cams out and hopefully he survived and i can get some pics of him to know for sure he is still there. even though the error was all me, im still hoping for the best results. good luck to all you hunters out there.

I really hate these threads because we never seem to get closure. I can only assume they hunter wasn't successful in recovering his deer, which stinks.

Deer tend to curl up and dig down in the thickest nastiest cover there is when they are at the end. Brush piles, briars, and downed trees are all possibilities. My cousin shot a deer a few years ago and we tracked it for only about 100 yards and just completely lost blood. There were 6 or 7 of us all standing within 20 yards of the deer and none of us saw it because it was underneath a downed tree in some really thick cover. Sometimes they just go where you don't expect them to go. Good luck on finding the deer.