Help determining shot

[cofen380]

Video:

Tough morning. I shot a buck at 10 yards broadside and thought it was a bit back, and didn’t get much penetration. Watched him run hard with the arrow in him.

Got down, backed out and came back 3 hours later to find fairly consistent blood, not great but I could follow it. Then I get a text with this photo and video of the same deer on a property almost a mile away. So that’s about 3.5 hrs after he was shot. What are the odds that this deer beds down, dies, lives, or any other possibilities?

Would love to hear anyone’s thoughts. I’m going to meet the property owner this afternoon to look for him.

 

[Skerhunter]

How much penetration (inches)?

Do you think you got into body cavity or just back strap (stuck in rib/ between back strap and cavity)?

How far did consistent blood go? Muscle blood runs out pretty quick… Was it mostly muscle blood or some decent blood?

 

[cofen380]

How much penetration (inches)?

Do you think you got into body cavity or just back strap (stuck in rib/ between back strap and cavity)?

How far did consistent blood go? Muscle blood runs out pretty quick… Was it mostly muscle blood or some decent blood?

I feel like there was more penetration than what the videos show, so maybe it moved, maybe not. But I would guess 8in penetration. I never thought of he shot was high, so I was always thinking it was in the body cavity, not the backstrap.

Blood started after 15 yards, trailed it for about 50 yards. I backed out after that once I got these photos, but it kept going. I would say it was darker in color than it was light. No bubbles or stomach matter


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[Kyguy]

From what can be seen with that photo, the arrow looks like it's 4 ft long. What's your draw length? I'm thinking you hit the area between the vitals and the spine. Too high for lungs and too low for the spine. It'll be interesting if you find him.

 

[cofen380]

From what can be seen with that photo, the arrow looks like it's 4 ft long. What's your draw length? I'm thinking you hit the area between the vitals and the spine. Too high for lungs and too low for the spine. It'll be interesting if you find him.

Draw length is 31.5”. I’m questioning everything about where I thought I hit, so take it with a grain of salt, but I feel like I saw less of the arrow than this sticking out when he ran off, and I swear I thought the up and down was solid. I’m surprised he didn’t bed down before this.


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[Skerhunter]

I would assume the arrow came out by the time that pic was taken based on the angle it’s hanging at (10 yard shot from elevated stand should be a steep angle) and doesn’t reflect actual penetration.

I would go back and confirm blood trail goes more than a couple hundred yards. If it’s just muscle you should run out pretty quick (sub 100-200 yards). Initial trail can look good on muscle shots for the first 50 (lots of bright red blood). Liver will be a lot darker. Try to find arrow and see if it came out hole or if broadhead broke off inside!

My assumption from what you have provided so far - clipped top of ribs/spine due to close shot and hit mostly liver before it made it to lungs (possibly single lung). It’s a dead deer, question is how long it lives. I have found a lot of lost deer hit like this bedded in thick thick vegetation within feet of water. I have also seen bucks live for days, but they won’t travel far but enough it’s hard to get another arrow in them.

Best bet is put a dog on it since he is not bedding. Wouldn’t risk bumping him yet today based on how far he travelled.

 

[cofen380]

I would assume the arrow came out by the time that pic was taken based on the angle it’s hanging at (10 yard shot from elevated stand should be a steep angle) and doesn’t reflect actual penetration.

I would go back and confirm blood trail goes more than a couple hundred yards. If it’s just muscle you should run out pretty quick (sub 100-200 yards). Initial trail can look good on muscle shots for the first 50 (lots of bright red blood). Liver will be a lot darker. Try to find arrow and see if it came out hole or if broadhead broke off inside!

My assumption from what you have provided so far - clipped top of ribs/spine due to close shot and hit mostly liver before it made it to lungs (possibly single lung). It’s a dead deer, question is how long it lives. I have found a lot of lost deer hit like this bedded in thick thick vegetation within feet of water. I have also seen bucks live for days, but they won’t travel far but enough it’s hard to get another arrow in them.

Best bet is put a dog on it since he is not bedding. Wouldn’t risk bumping him yet today based on how far he travelled.

That’s a good point about the angle of the arrow in the video. It makes sense that it probably worked its way out some and is now hanging lower. Based on the color of the blood I wouldn’t be surprised if it was from the liver.

Really appreciate your insight.


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[Skerhunter]

That’s a good point about the angle of the arrow in the video. It makes sense that it probably worked its way out some and is now hanging lower. Based on the color of the blood I wouldn’t be surprised if it was from the liver.

Really appreciate your insight.


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No problem!

Getting the trail cam pick of him should be very helpful in tracking him. When they just take off walking like that is when it gets really hard put it all together and most ppl give up.

 

[cofen380]

No problem!

Getting the trail cam pick of him should be very helpful in tracking him. When they just take off walking like that is when it gets really hard put it all together and most ppl give up.

100%. I talked to two different blood trackers today and they both think the deer will probably live if he loses the arrow. Neither one seemed to think he’ll die soon. I’m still going to go with the property owner and look around, but it’s sounding like I didn’t hit vitals


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[LostArra]

Compound or recurve?

 

[hibernation]

It's tough from that pic, but that arrow looks like it's really far forward. I don't really buy that it's worked its way back out, the upward angle of the arrow looks like it's pretty firmly stuck in there - again, hard to say from a single pic.

My guess is that it's forward, got stopped by bone (shoulder or spine), and that deer isn't going to die anytime soon. If it loses the arrow, it could go either way - eventual recovery, or infection/sepsis/death. I've seen both.

 

[cofen380]

Compound or recurve?

Recurve


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[cofen380]

It's tough from that pic, but that arrow looks like it's really far forward. I don't really buy that it's worked its way back out, the upward angle of the arrow looks like it's pretty firmly stuck in there - again, hard to say from a single pic.

My guess is that it's forward, got stopped by bone (shoulder or spine), and that deer isn't going to die anytime soon. If it loses the arrow, it could go either way - eventual recovery, or infection/sepsis/death. I've seen both.

You could definitely be right. We went to the property where the video was taken and looked around for a bit. No blood or sign of him. There’s a good chance from the direction he was walking that he crossed a road and went to another property.


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