Wounded Buck

[cutty98]

I need y'all's help. This was actually a whitetail buck but I figured I would ask here for a little more exposure.

This morning, my wife wounded a really nice buck up here in northern Idaho. After some searching we decided to pull out and give him some time, just in case.

In the meantime I wanted to run the situation past some folks who might be able to give me some helpful advice.

She shot the buck at about 120 yards, broadside. Upon getting shot, he reared up on his hind legs then ran about 20 yards into a thin strip of trees.

I felt pretty confident that she had made a good shot but decided we should give him some time anyways. At about the 20min mark a really nice buck stepped out in the exact same spot where the previous buck had been. This new buck was following a doe and in the back of my mind I thought it might be the same buck, but I hadn't seen the original bucks antlers good enough to be confident. We watched him stand there for a minute then he followed the doe off into the trees.

At this point I decided we should go in and look for blood, which I found pretty quick. After getting shot he went about 20-50 yards into the trees then spent the 20mins right there. The small, maybe the size of a dinner plate, pool of blood here was pretty dark with some bone chunks and lots of fat. He then circled around, and came out in the exact same spot again. The blood trail on the small circle he made was really spotty with some pin pricks here and there. In some cases the fat looked like someone had carried a candle along dripping wax with small drops of blood in it.

The blood trail dried up and I could no longer follow it after he followed the doe off and yes, it was definitely the same buck.

Any insights, thoughts, or tips would be appreciated.

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[Muley_]

Bummer situation. If it’s been long enough to the point you know it should be dead, you could grid search the area.

 

[TK161BOONER]

Sound like brisket shot.

 

[aks]

Similar situation with a friend last year bow hunting. We ended up coming back the next morning and found it. Thick thick timber. We looked up, found the crows and found the deer right above where they were circling.

 

[Jmoore]

I agree with sounds a little low in the brisket. My wife did this 4 years ago on a late evening shot. We found very little blood and some small bone fragments. It got dark and was cold so we backed out for the night. We found the buck alive the next morning and she made a great shot when he jumped up and took off. Initial shot had gone through the sternum and clipped his offside leg which slowed him down.
Good luck

 

[cutty98]

Bummer situation. If it’s been long enough to the point you know it should be dead, you could grid search the area.

Yeah, we'll be back in the morning to grid the area.

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[cutty98]

I agree with sounds a little low in the brisket. My wife did this 4 years ago on a late evening shot. We found very little blood and some small bone fragments. It got dark and was cold so we backed out for the night. We found the buck alive the next morning and she made a great shot when he jumped up and took off. Initial shot had gone through the sternum and clipped his offside leg which slowed him down.
Good luck

Funny you mention that. When I saw him the second time it looked like he was holding his off side leg a little funny but I couldn't figure out why that would be the case. Maybe this is what happened.

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[HairyScandinavian]

Agree with brisket or leg meat shot, betting not fatal.

 

[LoH]

hard to say without being there, or even being there, but to me a couple things suggest liver and stomach. Liver blood is dark, like what you describe. (Brisket or leg / muscle blood is bright red) The stomach is wrapped in that web of caul fat—could be the source of that fat. It is rare to hit the liver without involving the stomach. The handful of liver hit ungulates I’ve seen all demonstrated the behavior you describe, of running a short distance and then standing like a statue for a prolonged time. Rather than running and then bedding down quickly, as a more typical paunch or gutshot animal would do. For whatever reason they kept to their feet instead… but almost frozen in place. Depending on where the liver was hit, they lived 30 minutes to an hour plus. But a pure stomach or gut shot animal can live in some cases 8+ hours.

 

[rookieforever33]

Good luck on your recovery. Call some friends. You cant have too many on a grid search

 

[TK161BOONER]

Liver shot would not produce chunks of bone, I think sometimes we say blood is dark because we’re used to looking at pink frothy blood from a lung shot Deer, but non-lethal meat blood is darker color compared to pink lung blood, yes liver is very dark, but brisket would produce meat blood,fat and cause a deer to jump from bullet impact.
I once shot through the brisket of a buck and he jumped head first straight up into the air probably 9-10’. Luckily I got another shot off at him and killed him because he is the biggest deer Ive killed to date.